Healthy nurture cadence
2 / monthTwo meaningful touches per active partner per month. Below that, drift sets in. Above that, the relationship turns transactional.
Source · Higglo cohort studyA six-step playbook for nurturing referral-partner relationships across the months between active conversations. Bi-weekly cadence, touchpoint triggers, the quarterly capacity-update email, channel decision tree, and a minimum-viable CRM that fits in a spreadsheet.
Built from 14 ABA referral programs across 24 months. The full playbook is below — cadence table, the quarterly capacity email, channel decision tree, and the spreadsheet-CRM column structure included. Free, no signup required to read.
The goal of nurture is predictable presence — not constant contact. Two meaningful touches per month per active partner is the target.
| Week | Touch type | Channel | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Value email (resource, article, update) | 5 min | |
| Week 3 | Personal check-in or office visit | Phone / In-person | 15 min |
Use these triggers to make touchpoints feel natural instead of scheduled:
Use this quarterly to clarify what kinds of referrals you can actually accept:
Subject: Quick update on our current capacity Hi Dr. [Last Name], Wanted to give you a quick update on what we're able to take right now: ✅ Ages: [X–X years] ✅ Diagnoses: ASD, ADHD with behavioral components, developmental delays ✅ Insurance: [List accepted plans] ✅ Availability: [Openings in which days/times] ⚠️ Currently at capacity for: [Age groups, diagnoses, or insurance plans you can't take] If you have families that match, the fastest path is to [call/fax/email] — our intake team typically follows up within [X] business days. Thanks for keeping us in mind. [Your Name]
You don't need expensive software. A shared Google Sheet works. Track these columns per provider:
The best referral relationships are mutual. Find ways to add value back:
Drop your email and we'll send the formatted PDF — same content, easier to share with your team.
Free · no credit card · unsubscribe anytimeTwo well-chosen touches per month sustain a relationship. Three or more reads as needy. The cadence matters more than the volume.
Most provider relationships drift because the partner doesn't know what you can take. A 90-day capacity update keeps you top-of-mind without asking for anything.
Referral relationships are mutual. Refer back when appropriate, feature them in newsletters, invite them to events. One-way relationships rarely survive year two.
Five columns in Google Sheets does the job for most practices through 100 active partners. Software is a nice-to-have; cadence is the actual lever.
Two meaningful touches per active partner per month. Below that, drift sets in. Above that, the relationship turns transactional.
Source · Higglo cohort studyPractices running structured nurture retain 7 of 10 active referrers across two years. Practices without nurture retain about 3 of 10.
Source · 24-month cohort, n=14Sustainable cadence: about 3 hours per week of nurture work per 25 active partners. Scales linearly to ~10 hours for 100 partners.
Source · Higglo benchmarksNurture is the part of the referral pipeline most practices skip — and the part with the longest compounding return. We'll show you how to wire the cadence into actual operations without adding headcount.