Persistence

Persistence

Persistence in Senior LivingYes, this blog post is about one word for senior living sales people today!  Do you have it or not?

  1. Persistence is 100 phone calls a week, when you don’t have many tours happening.
  2. Persistence is believing a senior will move in eventually, even when they say they are not ready yet.
  3. Persistence is calling back your sale, just to make sure they are okay – when they may be very stressed out about moving to your community.
  4. Persistence is continuing to smile and dial after hearing 15 no’s in a row.
  5. Persistence is calling someone back after they hung up on you a week ago (they were only having a bad day and now they are fine).
  6. Persistence is generating the energy between 3:00 to 5:00 PM to continue calling the database.
  7. Persistence is calling someone the next day after a tour or an event, while the prospect’s emotion is still high.
  8. Persistence is asking a senior what their time frame is for moving in, after they said they are not ready yet.
  9. Team persistence is calling through your retirement community’s database every four months.
  10. Persistence is leaving a message for someone once a month for year and they finally walk in your office, recognize your voice and say they are ready to move in now – yes this happened to me.

This blog post is dedicated to the FBI in Boston, who persistently tracked the bombing suspects.

Please 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 Seniors For Living and 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

5 Tips on How to Sell Senior Living During the Holidays

5 Tips on How to Sell Senior Living During the Holidays

  1. Call your senior living database now to increase occupancy for early 2013!   I elaborated on this in my last blog… Why this is the BEST TIME of the Year TO CALL Your Database!
  2. Suggest for a senior and their family to enjoy lunch at your retirement community!  Visiting family and the senior need to eat…why not have it be at your senior living community?  As they eat, maybe they can picture themselves living there.  Most boomer children will advocate for their senior parent to move into senior housing when they see how nice the quality of their life can be…
  3. Invite hot and warm prospective residents to join your residents for some live entertainment or when the local school kids come by to sing.
  4. Offer seniors, who don’t drive, either a ride to your community or go out and do a home visit.  This visit could be the tipping point to them moving into your community.
  5. When someone is visiting at your community, ask for the order.  First do the proper warm up, discovery, listen to their needs, learn their hot buttons, build value for your community and figure out how to solve their problem.   Then invite them to sit down again.  Look them in the eye and say, “I know you love your home of forty years!  And you have shared how difficult it is to manage stairs and your concern of falling down them when you do the laundry in the basement – right?  After everything you have seen today and the wonderful lunch we enjoyed, do you believe you would have a better quality of life living here at The Village (insert your community name here)?  If the answer is yes, just nod and let it digest with them.  He who speaks first loses.  They usually say, okay let’s do this and then start filling out the paperwork…

Diane Twohy Masson is the author of Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” available for sale at Amazon.com.  If your curiosity is piqued to inquire on Diane’s availability to speak at a senior housing conference (CCRC, independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing or memory care) – please call: 206-853-6655 or email diane@marketing2seniors.net.  Diane is currently consulting in Southern California for Freedom Management Company, the proud debt-free owners of Freedom Village in Lake Forest and The Village in Hemet, California.  For more information: Twitter: @market2seniors Web: www.marketing2seniors.net Blog: http://marketing2seniors.net/blog/