B2B Sales & Marketing in UK Health & Social Care: What Works for Us

York Woodford-Smith — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 08:34:34 +0000

How to Sell to the UK Health & Social Care Sector: What Really Works

By York Woodford-Smith

After more than a decade running a B2B company, we’ve learned a lot about what works (and what doesn’t) when it comes to selling in complex markets. Over those years, we’ve built particular expertise in one of the most nuanced and challenging sectors: Health & Social Care.

From NHS hospitals to care homes, home care companies, local authorities and private care groups, we’ve worked hard to understand how to market and sell into these organisations and now we help other B2B companies do the same.

If you’re a supplier looking to grow in the care sector, here’s how we approach it.

First, A Reality Check

Let’s get this out of the way: we’re not the kind of company that promises you “guaranteed leads” because you know as well as we do that it’s nonsense.

Selling in the health and care sector means navigating:

Long and unpredictable sales cycles
Budget shifts
Decision-making committees
Procurement roadblocks
Constant change in roles and responsibilities

So why do we do it? Because with a valuable product or service, smart marketing, strong sales systems, and yes, a little luck It’s absolutely possible to grow in this space.

Our 7-Step Approach to Sales & Marketing in Care

Step 1: Understand Your Customer

Before anything else, you need to deeply understand:

Who your customers are
What motivates them
Why they buy from you (or don’t)
Where they go for information
What keeps them up at night

We start every project by working closely with your team to build a clear customer profile and ensure your sales and marketing strategy is built on solid foundations.

Step 2: Create a Clear Plan

We then work with you to develop a focused 12–18 month sales and marketing roadmap. It’s easy to get bogged down here, so we keep it agile and actionable, aligning marketing activity with your company’s growth goals.

Step 3: Build Awareness (Get Known)

People won’t buy from you if they don’t know you exist.

That’s why the first job of marketing is to build awareness and visibility in the right places. In this sector, we typically use tools like:

Strategic campaigns
Content creation (video, podcasts, photography, blogs)
LinkedIn & targeted social media
Search engine optimisation
Events (attending, sponsoring, exhibiting, or running your own)
Building referral partnerships

We also look at ways to use your team’s personality and credibility to stand out, because in a crowded sector, bland doesn’t cut through.

Step 4: Build Trust (and Likeability)

Once your prospects know who you are, they need to trust you before they’ll buy. That trust is built through:

Consistent email newsletters
Useful articles and resources
Regular event presence
Thoughtful partnerships

We help you create a strategy that keeps you front of mind while positioning you as helpful and credible.

Step 5: Streamline the Sales Process

When a prospect is ready to buy, your sales process needs to make that as easy as possible.

We help clients:

Define what a good lead looks like
Understand profit margins on different products or services
Simplify proposals and contracts
Use online tools for quoting and signing
Implement tracking and follow-up systems
Get a great CRM working for you

Understand how the buying process works within care organisations

Step 6: Get to a Final Answer

One of the most frustrating things in this sector is uncertainty. We help our clients:

Map out the organisation’s decision-making process
Stay in control of the sales journey
Know when to push, and when to move on

Always aim to get a clear “yes” or “no”

Step 7: Deliver Exceptionally

None of this matters if what you’re delivering isn’t excellent.

Over the years, we’ve seen companies force prospects through sales and marketing funnels only to struggle post-sale. That’s why we only work with companies who are genuinely delivering value.

When your product or service is strong, you attract the right customers, the kind who:

Appreciate what you do
Make decisions quickly
Don’t nit-pick every detail
And become advocates for your work

Who We Work Best With

We work with a wide range of B2B suppliers in the Health & Social Care market.

You’re likely a good fit if:

You sell to organisations that care, from beds to tech
You have 5–20 team members and are ready to take growth seriously
You want a partner to help shape your long-term sales and marketing strategy
Or, you’re a larger company (20+ employees) looking for specific services like video production
You’re entering the UK market and need sector-specific insight
You attend events like UK Care Week, Care Show London & Birmingham, Care Roadshows or LaingBuisson conferences

Lets Talk

If this sounds like your business, we’d love to speak with you. No pressure, no hard sell, just a genuine conversation about whether we might be a good fit.

Drop me an email or
Connect with me on LinkedIn: York Woodford-Smith

The post B2B Sales & Marketing in UK Health & Social Care: What Works for Us appeared first on Five on a Bike.

Our Ethos When Working in Care Settings

York Woodford-Smith — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 09:26:22 +0000

When we start to work with new clients, we like to book a pre-production call to get to know them, and what they need on the day of filming. We make sure to create a well-planned and organised day, so things can run smoothly for everyone in the home. We also like to remind team members to let their residents know that we are coming ahead of time, as seeing people come in with lots of equipment may be a little scary and intimidating. Our intention is to build a personal relationship with the client, and not just a business relationship. We care deeply about the project and the outcome, but we also care about who we are working with and how we come across. We always strive to make the day enjoyable for staff, residents, and families.

How we Stay Flexible

Staying flexible while working in care is crucial, and we always take into consideration that lots of different people have different levels of mobility, as well as working with a lot of people who are in different stages of their dementia journey. This is something we have a lot of experience with and always try to remain aware of their different needs. When we’re set up we always stay mindful and make sure they feel as comfortable as possible. Our whole team is flexible and we are always happy to change the plan to whatever the residents or clients need.

Filming Interviews

Generally, being in front of the camera is very nerve-racking, and there are lots of different techniques we use, but overall, it all comes down to being nice and friendly to whoever we are interviewing. Whether they are a professional and do it often, or starting for the first time, talking to a camera can be uncomfortable, that’s why we prepare everyone in advance, tell them who will be there, and get to know them. When starting some people get right into it and some people take it sentence by sentence. We understand that cameras and people looking at you are very intimidating, just know we are patient and our team will never pressure you or make you feel uncomfortable!

Receiving Feedback

The best feedback we receive from clients is how genuinely friendly we are, and how we help them feel relaxed when filming. Our team goes above and beyond to make sure we are considerate of the environment, always respectful, and overall make the day as enjoyable as possible, for everybody in the home. When working with residents, vulnerable people, and even nervous members of staff, we always make sure they are comfortable. Most of our clients are amazed we are not intimidating people, in a highly sprung video production, wanting the best content. Our team is a group of friendly and genuinely caring people, that are committed to making everyone have a nice time and creating a good relationship with everyone in the home. If you like our help with your care home marketing, click here to find out more.

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