by Diane Masson | Nov 9, 2014
Rated by Amazon Editors as one of the best books of 2014!
“Diane’s book is an important resource for the senior housing industry. It contains tips and advice to help the novice, as well as the experienced marketer, build or maintain census. It is also a terrific guidebook for executive directors or administrators to use in managing the marketing function.”
— Chris McKenzie, VP Marketing, PR & Communications, multi-site CCRC organization
“Smart senior housing professionals understand that full occupancy means better cash flows and an improved bottom line. Diane’s practical, relevant strategies and tactics are must read material for any senior housing professional wanting insight on how to best fill and maintain full occupancy at their community. Presented in a positive and direct manner, this book is full of useful information delivered straight from the front line.”
— Richard M. Mazza, senior housing consultant, development & finance professional; former Chief Accounting Officer and Interim CFO
“A useful guide for both non-profit and for-profit senior housing organizations, with checklists, ideas, and reminders of essential elements all good managers and sales people need to be effective in filling senior living homes and apartments. Diane’s techniques can bring immediate results.”
—Thomas Becker, retired CEO & President of Pacific Retirement Services
There are 14 more testimonials on Amazon. If this book has helped you or your organization, please share your experience on Amazon or in the comment section below.
Diane Twohy Masson is the author of “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” available at Amazon.com with a 5-star rating. The book is required reading at George Mason University as a part of its marketing curriculum. Within this book, the author developed a sales & marketing method with 12 keys to help senior living providers increase their occupancy. Masson developed this expertise as a marketing consultant, sought-after blogger for senior housing and a regional marketing director of continuing care retirement communities in several markets. She has also been a corporate director of sales and a mystery shopper for independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled care nursing communities in multiple states. Currently, Masson is setting move-in records as the regional marketing director of two debt-free Continuing Care Retirement Communities in Southern California – Freedom Village in Lake Forest and The Village in Hemet, California. Interestingly, this career started when she was looking for a place for her own mom and helped her loved one transition through three levels of care.
© Marketing 2 Seniors| Diane Twohy Masson 2014 All Rights Reserved. No part of this blog post may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials. You may share this website and or it’s content by any of the following means: 1. Using any of the share icons at the bottom of each page. 2. Providing a back-link or the URL of the content you wish to disseminate. 3. You may quote extracts from the website with attribution to Diane Masson CASP and link https://www.marketing2seniors.net For any other mode of sharing, please contact the author Diane Masson.
by Diane Masson | Mar 23, 2014
What Diane Is Reading
Success in sales coming from a good attitude. Negative news sells newspapers and TV commercials. News commentators get paid to glamorize fear and a collapsing world. Overcome this fear by turning off the news and feeding your brain with positive thoughts and energy.
- What book(s) are you currently reading?
- How often do you read?
- Is there a certain time of day that works best for you?
- Do you read one chapter a day or multiple chapters?
It seems like there are readers and nonreaders in the world. Do you have a friend who is always starting or finishing a great book? Hint: I bet they are more positive than your friends who don’t read regularly.
These are my current go to books for working in senior living:
“How to Win Friends and Influence People,” by Dale Carnegie. I have read this classic about five times, just finished it with one sales team and currently on part two, chapter one with another team. This is one of the greatest books ever.
“Live Your Life Like It Matters,” by Scott V. Black. This book has sparked ideas for me to create team sales meetings and most recently an entire marketing retreat. I just finished this book and the last two chapters are due for a team review in the next two weeks.
“The Sales Bible,” by Jeffrey Gitomer. I have read this great book twice, just selected it for our book review at two Continuing Care Retirement Communities and chapter one is due next week.
“How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success Through Selling,” by Frank Bettger. Another classic that I have read several times, currently assigned this to a successful senior living sales person to pull them out of rut and chapter one is due next week.
“Ego vs EQ,” by Jen Shirkani. I am really excited about this new book to improve myself and grow, just finished chapter one last night.
“Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” By Diane Masson (me). I just used excerpts from “Chapter 10 – Internal Customers – No need to worry about them, right? Wrong!” for a concierge/receptionist training. It is the best book for training new sales team members and can help all communities increase their occupancy.
Current personal books:
“The Better Part, A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer,” by John Bartunek, LC, THD. This is my daily bible reading with outstanding reflections.
“Los Angeles, San Diego and Southern California,” by Lonely Planet. This is a resource I use to travel through Southern California, since I have lived here less than two years. We are going to L.A. tomorrow for a Lakers game and wanted to learn what else that my husband and I could explore.
“The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything – A Spirituality for Real Life,” by James Martin, SJ. A friend gave me this book for Christmas and I have been slowly absorbing the recommendations for simplifying my life for the past three months. This book has really helped me.
“Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,” by Jamie Ford. Another friend let me borrow this book and I want to start it this weekend.
Typically I read my daily bible reflection daily, several chapters a week from my other personal books and one chapter a week from each of my books for work.
Would you be willing to share your current reading list or favorite books?
Please share your successes, failures or comment below to join the conversation and interact with other senior living professionals on what is currently being effective to increase occupancy on a nationwide basis.
Diane Twohy Masson is the author of “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” available at Amazon.com with a 5-star rating. The book is required reading at George Mason University as a part of its marketing curriculum. Within this book, the author developed a sales & marketing method with 12 keys to help senior living providers increase their occupancy. Masson developed this expertise as a marketing consultant, sought-after blogger for senior housing and a regional marketing director of continuing care retirement communities in several markets. She has also been a corporate director of sales and a mystery shopper for independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled care nursing communities in multiple states. Currently, Masson is setting move-in records as the regional marketing director of two debt-free Continuing Care Retirement Communities in Southern California – Freedom Village in Lake Forest and The Village in Hemet, California. Interestingly, this career started when she was looking for a place for her own mom and helped her loved one transition through three levels of care.
© Marketing 2 Seniors| Diane Twohy Masson 2013 All Rights Reserved. No part of this blog post may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials. You may share this website and or it’s content by any of the following means: 1. Using any of the share icons at the bottom of each page. 2. Providing a back-link or the URL of the content you wish to disseminate. 3. You may quote extracts from the website with attribution to Diane Masson CASP and link https://www.marketing2seniors.net For any other mode of sharing, please contact the author Diane Masson.
by Diane Masson | Oct 13, 2013
It can be so simple to alleviate someone’s fear by giving a simple explanation of what to expect in the coming minutes or hour. If you skip this simple step at your senior living community – learn what can happen.
Yesterday, I was at the dentist for a routine crown. I received a crown 20 years ago and had no bad memories or fears coming to the appointment. Once I signed that I would pay for the crown, there was zero explanation of what would happen next…
It was tough hearing, feeling and smelling procedures in my mouth with zero knowledge of the reason. Could he have not taken a moment for some quick explanations to elevate the fear of the unknown? The dentist did warn me about the pounding that was about to come. That was my only warning. He asked me to open up and bite down on something squishy, then he just walked away and left me. What was in my mouth and why? Well it turned out to be a crown mold that needed to set in my mouth for 8 minutes. When the dentist came back, I had pretty much made a decision to never go to this dentist again.
When a prospective senior resident arrives at your senior living community, they can have fears. A senior can fear being sold, giving up his or her home of 40 years, change in lifestyle, losing the size or view of the current home, downsizing, moving, mortality, being accepted by other residents, losing control and etc.
Simply take two minutes before touring a prospective senior resident and share what can happen on the visit. Then ask for his or her permission to proceed. Watch them visibly relax before your eyes.
Maybe you say something like, “Today, you will have an opportunity to learn what our retirement community (assisted living, skilled nursing care, memory care or Continuing Care Retirement Community) has to offer and to see if this community could possibly be an option for you in your future. Why don’t we take a few minutes to determine what is most important for you to learn today and then I can determine what areas of the community to show you first. This will save you a lot of time. My goal will be to answer all your questions as we tour the community and see a model home. When you leave today, I will give you a brochure with all the floor plans and pricing included. How does that sound to you?”
Relaxed seniors buy and stressed seniors go to the next senior living community who will relax them. What do you say or do to relax your perspective residents at the beginning of a walk-in tour or appointment?
Please share your success, failures or comment below to join the conversation and interact with other senior living professionals on what is currently being effective to increase occupancy on a nationwide basis.
Diane Twohy Masson is the author of “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” available at Amazon.com with a 5-star rating. The book is required reading at George Mason University as a part of its marketing curriculum. Within this book, the author developed a sales & marketing method with 12 keys to help senior living providers increase their occupancy. Masson developed this expertise as a marketing consultant, sought-after blogger for senior housing and a regional marketing director of continuing care retirement communities in several markets. She has also been a corporate director of sales and a mystery shopper for independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled care nursing communities in multiple states. Most recently Masson was recruited to consult for two debt-free Continuing Care Retirement Communities in Southern California – Freedom Village in Lake Forest and The Village in Hemet, California. Interestingly, this career started when she was looking for a place for her own mom and helped her loved one transition through three levels of care.
© Marketing 2 Seniors| Diane Twohy Masson 2013 All Rights Reserved. No part of this blog post may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials. You may share this website and or it’s content by any of the following means: 1. Using any of the share icons at the bottom of each page. 2. Providing a back-link or the URL of the content you wish to disseminate. 3. You may quote extracts from the website with attribution to Diane Masson CASP and link https://www.marketing2seniors.net For any other mode of sharing, please contact the author Diane Masson.
by Diane Masson | Aug 18, 2013
Are you juggling these 10 things all at the same time in your assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing care or Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC)?
- The phone is ringing with a new inquiry
- There is a new walk-in in the lobby
- Scheduled tours are arriving
- Going to a meeting requested by your Executive Director or Director of Marketing
- Working with maintenance to make sure the apartment is renovated properly
- Finishing the paperwork for a new move-in
- Calling the doctor to have them send back a medical report for a new move in
- Touring a family member of an upcoming move-in
- Residents coming in the office to ask questions
- Preparing for the next event
What is not on this list? What about calling or following-up with anyone in your database? I know…you don’t have time. But you do have time…
Did you know it takes 25 to 40 percent longer to get a job done when you are multitasking? Yes!! So how do you become more efficient? Work on one task at a time. Shut the door to your office for one hour and just make calls in the morning. If you do this everyday, you can make about 15 calls a day.
Two things will happen if you take the time to increase your calls:
- Your sales will increase, because you will be proactively marketing versus reactively waiting for every customer to call you back.
- Your occupancy will rise, because the percentage of senior prospects who select an apartment on the first tour are low. The average person touring assisted living needs to see it three times and CCRC sales can take three to six visits.
Focus on one task at a time and become more effective and efficient – EVERYTIME.
Please share your success, failures or comment below to join the conversation and interact with other senior living professionals on what is currently being effective to increase occupancy on a nationwide basis.
Diane Twohy Masson is the best-selling author of “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” available at Amazon.com with a 5-star rating. The book is required reading at George Mason University as a part of its marketing curriculum. Within this book, the author developed a sales & marketing method with 12 keys to help senior living providers increase their occupancy. Masson developed this expertise as a marketing consultant, sought-after blogger for senior housing and a regional marketing director of continuing care retirement communities in several markets. She has also been a corporate director of sales and a mystery shopper for independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled care nursing communities in multiple states. Most recently Masson was recruited to consult for two debt-free Continuing Care Retirement Communities in Southern California – Freedom Village in Lake Forest and The Village in Hemet, California. Interestingly, this career started when she was looking for a place for her own mom and helped her loved one transition through three levels of care.
© Marketing 2 Seniors| Diane Twohy Masson 2013 All Rights Reserved. No part of this blog post may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials. You may share this website and or it’s content by any of the following means: 1. Using any of the share icons at the bottom of each page. 2. Providing a back-link or the URL of the content you wish to disseminate. 3. You may quote extracts from the website with attribution to Diane Masson CASP and link https://www.marketing2seniors.net For any other mode of sharing, please contact the author Diane Masson.
by Diane Masson | Jul 21, 2013
Which type of self-image describes you or your senior living sales team members?
Low Self-Image
- “I don’t have anyone interested in moving in.”
- Sits in their office and complains about a lack of leads and has no energy.
- They feel frustrated and think all the prospects walking in the door are poor quality.
- When a senior says they are not ready yet, this senior living sales person believes them 100% and will put them at the bottom of the database.
Average Self-Image
- “I have a few people interested in moving here.”
- They have part time enthusiasm in the office.
- This person has a desire to build relationships with prospective senior residents and nurture move-ins.
- When a senior says they are not ready yet, they “kind of” believe them.
Great Self-Image
- “I have a lot of great leads, they just need to come back to our retirement community a few more times and fall in love with the residents – then they will move in.”
- Looks forward to each walk-in appointment or call in – as a possible quick move in.
- Believes in themselves and sales ability to help anyone move in.
- When a senior says they are not ready yet, they know the senior is just scared and continue nurturing the relationship to build trust.
As a manager, you can coach someone with an average self-image. A sales person with a great self-image can be coached to be a super star in sales. A senior living sales person with low self-image will not increase your occupancy. Let them go…
Please share your success, failures or comment to join the conversation and interact with other senior living professionals on what is currently being effective to increase occupancy on a nationwide basis.
Diane Twohy Masson is the author of “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” available for sale at Amazon.com. Masson’s book will be required reading at George Mason University in the Fall as part of the marketing curriculum. She is currently consulting with two debt-free Continuing Care Retirement Communities in Southern California – Freedom Village in Lake Forest and The Village in Hemet, California. Connection and partnership opportunities: Email: diane@marketing2seniors.net
by Diane Masson | Jul 14, 2013
One of the most common mistakes in senior living sales is believing the potential senior resident when they say, “I’m not ready yet!”. Please, please, please – don’t believe them. When you hear those four common words, simply change them to “I am scared”. It is so hard for a senior to give up their home of 30, 40 or 50 years and make a move. Just the idea of packing up all of their worldly possessions can be overwhelming.
Be professional, reassuring and always ask them their timeline for making a move. If they say they will move in a year, it will really be 6 months. If they say 5 years, it’s really about 2 or 3 years. You simply take the number they say and cut it in half, then you nurture that relationship with a touch every 3 months. If you do this already – way to go! Congratulations, because you are in the minority of senior living sales people.
Most senior living sales people, hear “I’m not ready yet” and bury that lead in their database. In our world of instant gratification, sales people just want to grab the people who say, I am ready now. Well guess what? Those are only 20% of the sales, so if your occupancy is down – here is probably why! 80% of seniors need to be listened to, nurtured and coddled into moving in.
Increase your senior housing occupancy today with this simple mind shift!
Please share your success, failures or comment to join the conversation and interact with other senior living professionals on what is currently being effective to increase occupancy on a nationwide basis.
Diane Twohy Masson is the author of “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” available for sale at Amazon.com. Masson’s book will be required reading at George Mason University in the Fall as part of the marketing curriculum. She is currently consulting with two debt-free Continuing Care Retirement Communities in Southern California – Freedom Village in Lake Forest and The Village in Hemet, California. Connection and partnership opportunities: Email: diane@marketing2seniors.net
