by Diane Masson | Aug 30, 2015
This is one of the chickens!
Would you build a chicken coop to have a senior move into your retirement community? Are chickens even allowed? What would your senior living community promise in order for a senior to move in? How many cats does your retirement community allow per senior resident? Would you increase it? Are you willing to take on two 100-gallon tanks of fish? One fish tank contains large koi and the other fresh water bala sharks.
“I still have my wits about me and don’t want to leave my animals,” said a prospective senior resident. “The administrator has promised me that he will take all my pets and if I pass away, he will let all of my precious chickens live with him at his home. He loves my chickens.”
This senior is waiting for a two-bedroom apartment to become available, but she has still not decided to actually move. Her family and friends (I am one of them) have been encouraging her to make a move for two years. She currently lives alone in a two-story home with a caregiver who helps several days a week.
One of the two fish tanks!
Who knows how many years my senior friend has left? I don’t know. What I do know is that my friend would thrive in a retirement community with live music and weekly entertainment. She used to be very active with dozens of friends and now she is isolated in her home with early dementia and a lack of mobility. My senior friend comes to life over a lunch or dinner conversation. I told her that she could have social connectivity everyday if she moved into a retirement community.
In my entire career, I have never heard of a senior living community accepting all the animals that my senior friend currently loves. Never have I ever heard of senior moving into a community with chickens. Have you? Would you allow any or all of my friend’s animals? I personally think she should jump on the offer and told her so. She is still deciding…Would you build a chicken coop to get a sale?
Do you know a senior that is struggling? Diane Masson’s new book can help walk you or them through, “Your Senior Housing Options.” Diane has helped educate thousands of seniors in her career and shares weekly real life stories like this one. Join her blog at Tips2Seniors.com or follow her on Facebook at Tips2Seniors.
Her first book “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” has helped new and experienced senior housing professionals (assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing care and Continuing Care Retirement Communities) around the world. Both her first book and second book, “Your Senior Housing Options,” have a 5-star rating on Amazon.com.
by Diane Masson | Jan 4, 2015
Are you ready for a high-occupancy New Year? Did you hit your sales and occupancy goals for 2014? Congratulations, if you did. If you did not, draw a line in the sand and start over for 2015.
Here are five goal-setting tips for you and your senior living sales team:
- Have a goal meeting with yourself and then with your boss.
- What is the budgeted occupancy?
- Do you have enough walk-in traffic and leads in your database to generate the sales you need?
- Should you create some events to bring in new faces?
- Are you proud of the first impressions of your senior living community?
- What is your competition doing? Have a plan to differentiate yourself from them. Remember, no negative…
- Determine your “A,” “B,” and “C” players (the definition of “A,” “B,” and “C” players is HERE) and what each of their sales goals will be.
- Meet individually with each of your sales people. “A” players will automatically believe they can hit the 2015 goal. “B” players will believe after you individually coach and believe in him or her. “C” players will usually whine or complain about the goals. (Your coaching may turn them around or you may need to let them go if they don’t want to WORK to hit the goals.)
- Have a kick off meeting for the New Year or a marketing retreat. Acknowledge ALL good and great sales performance from 2014. Your “A” people will love the recognition. “B” people will be proud of their accomplishments. Everyone will thrive in this format and feel supported in achieving their personal and team sales goals for 2015.
- Implement a weekly and monthly tracking system to determine if your team members are on track or need additional coaching support.
Good luck and have a great 2015!
Photo credit: www.stylipics.com
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 | Jul 6, 2014
How many move-ins have you produced in the last 12 months? Are you staying ahead of the move outs? There seems to be a heavy attrition in all levels of senior living from independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing care. Is this what you are currently experiencing in your city?
Older and frailer residents are moving into all levels of care. They stay for a shorter amount of time. As a regional marketing director at two Continuing Care Retirement Communities in CA, I have experienced new independent residents move through three levels of care in less than a year and expire. At the same time, I am seeing a new wave of younger senior couples moving into our communities.
Maybe the senior housing industry has turned a page since 2008? Since that epic stock market drop, seniors moving in their 70’s and low 80’s had literally evaporated. Have you witnessed a come back of younger seniors moving into your retirement community or not?
Can you share what is happening in your city and state, so we can all understand senior housing from a national perspective? It’s as easy as making a comment below. Thanks in advance for joining the conversation and sharing this blog with other professionals in the senior living world.
Diane Twohy Masson is currently writing a new book for seniors on how to select senior housing options. Her first book, “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” is available at Amazon.com with a five star rating. Masson continues to set 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. Her mom’s struggle with dementia is inspiring Diane to pen a third book to support adult children.
© 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 | Jun 8, 2014
Discarding Great Leads?
There are thousands of senior living sales people across this country. After each tour, they have choice to pursue a viable lead or simply ignore it. Is your frontline sales staff making the right decision? Do you review new inquiry leads with them?
If not, why not?!!? It costs your senior living organization thousands of dollars to bring in new call-in leads and walk-in tours. Just this last week, I know of two sales people who each blew off a lead because it was not quick move-in. Luckily I caught them in time, so that follow up phone calls could happen.
One prospective resident couple had a complicated situation with a wife who wanted independent living with a husband who was qualified for skilled nursing care. They wanted to bring in their own caregiver and the man could not feed himself. The sales person felt it was too complicated to pursue.
I shared a story of a couple that came to my Continuing Care Retirement Community several years ago. The man was dying and the couple wanted to move to independent living together. My executive director said no, it was too hard on the other residents and he was not independent. In spite of this decision, I loved on this couple. Five months later, the husband died. I sent sympathy card. The wife appreciated me reaching out with caring kindness. Within weeks, she moved into my retirement community.
So when the senior living sales person called back this complicated prospective resident couple, he learned that the husband was in the hospital. He loved on the wife as I had suggested. I expect a move in the next six months from this additional phone encounter.
Do you have stories of difficult tours turning into sales?
Please consider joining this exclusive Marketing2Seniors blog and 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 currently writing a new book for seniors on how to select senior housing options. Her first book, “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” is available at Amazon.com with a five star rating. Masson continues to set 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. Her mom’s struggle with dementia is inspiring Diane to pen a third book to support adult children.
© 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 | Dec 8, 2013
Don’t Be a Scrooge in Senior Living Sales
All you have is the present to increase your occupancy. Resident holiday parties, festivities, live entertainment and decorating the retirement community can distract senior living sales from the purpose of filling the building. It’s easy to get stinking thinking and decide that no one wants to move right now and every senior is busy preparing for Christmas. Wrong!!!
If you are reading this blog today, it is not too late to get humming again. Let me give you some current examples from two successful Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC) in Southern California:
- 11 CCRC move-ins scheduled during December at one CCRC and another has six move-ins set.
- A $5000 deposit was collected yesterday for a December CCRC move-in.
- One senior living sales person, who had 139 calls for the week said, “This is the best time of year to make calls and learn vital information about prospective seniors families.”
- When a senior came in for a holiday event, they shared that it was their holiday meal, because they had sat at home eating a “Lean Cuisine” on Thanksgiving.
- Another senior shared that this was her last year to host Christmas for the entire family. She was exhausted and said she was ready to sell her home and move in early 2014.
- Many calls said, “I am not ready, let me get through the holidays and let’s talk the first week in January.” (Whom will this senior be talking about with his or her adult children over the holidays? The family will most likely come in to tour around Christmas.)
You can learn so much if you make calls this time of year. Don’t be a scrooge and not believe. Be Tiny Tim and make a lonely seniors day by reaching out with a holiday phone call. Create an emotional connection with a senior now and watch how quickly they move into your senior living community in 2014.
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. 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 | Nov 10, 2013
There were such a variety of responses to “How Many Calls Does Your Senior Living Team Make Per Month,” I am choosing to expound with a more in-depth part 2. Senior living sale professionals responded with call requirements from 20 calls an hour to 40 completed calls per week. Someone else’s retirement community had mandated 53 connected calls per month.
Here is one response:
“Diane, I have enjoyed reading your blogs on seniors, which are informative with best practices. This one on “How Many Calls A Month” made us gasp with the large number of calls a sales team is expected to make nowadays. 500 to 1,000+ calls a month must be only cold calling behind a closed door and doing nothing else like sales events, tours, refurbishment oversight, building relationships with future residents, community and church relations, follow up on leads and inquiries, application process, and administrative team projects.” Nancy
My response: These calls were not cold calls, so here is a more detailed explanation.
My example in part one had a marketing director with 469 calls and her two team mates with 340 and 315 calls respectively. These sales calls included: call-ins, voice-to-voice call-outs and left messages. I believe if someone leaves a great message, seniors will call back. Our requirement is 75 calls a week or 300 per month. This is not one isolated goal. Another goal is 20 initial or repeat tours per month. This tour goal does not include post-closing appointments after a deposit has been taken.
Yes, these senior living sales people have other responsibilities including three events per month (all day), responding to Internet inquiries, weekly strategy meetings, book reviews, overseeing apartment renovations for their clients, and managing his or her move-ins (paperwork, relationship building, setting up health assessments, family tours and etc.).
If you don’t have sales and occupancy goals, then no one has a pinnacle to reach. This team produced five Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) sales in the last eight days. They have hit the quarterly move-in goals this year and are currently close to hitting the fourth quarter goal and going to Disneyland. This year, they have produced the most CCRC move-ins at their retirement community since 2005.
Please share your call, tour and move-in quotas to converse with other senior living sales professionals. Let’s hear about the variety of quotas out there. It will also be interesting to know if you are hitting your move-in goals based on your calling goals.
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.
