![Interviewing 5 Internet Lead Choices – To Increase the Occupancy!]()
by Diane Masson | Aug 13, 2012
All the big players in senior housing have a budget for Internet leads. With all the Internet lead companies vying for your dollar – how do you choose? We all want to get the best bang for our buck – and we want results – move-ins now!
Pew research has indicated that 50% of seniors are online users now and that 70% of web savvy seniors get online every single day. Baby boomer adult children are surfing the web researching options for their aging parents. Is your online presence strong?
This month I am going on a search to determine which senior housing Internet lead referral companies can bring the best the results for some companies I represent. My strategy is to interview 5 of the top national players who provide senior housing leads.
This is what I want to learn:
- What’s better – paying a full month’s rent for a move-in or individually paying for Internet leads?
- How many Internet leads does it take for a move in?
- What kinds of filters do they provide, so my leads are the best quality?
- If a lead is no good, do I still have to pay?
- Will too many garbage Internet leads discourage my salespeople?
- If the Internet lead person moves in and then moves out in two months, do I still have to pay a full months rent?
- For Independent Living and Assisted Living leads, how are the leads income qualified, so I don’t end up with low-income or senior apartment leads?
- Can they find entrance fee applicants for a Continuing Care Retirement Community, so I don’t end up with just rental leads?
The typical senior housing marketing mix results can now include: 20% or more of move-ins being sourced as Internet leads. At one time, I represented 14 properties that eventually had over 20% of their sales volume coming from Internet leads. There is no question that the quality of Internet leads varies. Many sales people dislike Internet leads because they think they are all garbage. Every lead needs to be treated as a viable lead. I have had to sell my sales people on how to properly utilize Internet leads, in order to increase move-ins. The challenge was having them believe in the quality of the lead, so the staff would treat them as hot leads. Quick response and follow up were the keys and the results were dramatic! The occupancy started to rise quickly with proper use of Internet leads…
Stay tuned for my results…if you were going to interview 5 Internet lead referral companies, what would be your top considerations?
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/
![4 Things That Can Make Your Senior Living Sales Team Olympians!]()
by Diane Masson | Aug 5, 2012
1) A great Olympic attitude – every single day! The attitude of a senior living sales person can literally increase or decrease your occupancy. Every gold medalist Olympian has an amazing story of adversity that they overcame with a great attitude. Some of the new Olympians even gave up on their sport for a year or more and then came back to win with a positive team spirit and an amazing coach! Does the senior living sales coach at your organization have a winning attitude that is contagious to the team? Can you feel the energy in the office and at your retirement community marketing events?
2) Believing like an Olympian in the community with 100% conviction! If the targeted occupancy goal is 95 percent at your assisted living and you are running at 90 percent, 85 percent, or less, how can you function under this pressure? How can you keep this stressor out of your interactions with the customer? Are you Unbelieving Ursula—wringing your hands and scratching your head? Or are you Believing Betty—charming prospects by painting a pretty picture of their potential lifestyle in your amazing community?
3) Having the work ethic of an Olympian! Move-ins don’t happen without follow up calls and tours period. Are you personal texting and chatting with residents or making 15 to 20 calls a day – EVERY DAY! This will result in a minimum of 5 tours a week! With enough potential residents walking in the door of your Continuing Care Retirement Community, it’s just a matter of them recognizing that your community is the best! Olympic senior living sales people ALWAYS ask for the deposit at every single appointment!
4) Emulating a selfless attitude like an Olympian! One hundred percent of the marketing team’s focus should be listening to customers and understanding their needs. This information is helpful in customizing your retirement community’s features and services to satisfy those needs. There’s no greater fulfillment in life than to help other people improve their lives. If you bring this attitude to every appointment, and there are enough people walking through your doors, occupancy will take care of itself. Many sales people believe their work is more than a job. They consider it a social service or a ministry. These folks are making a difference in the world, building one relationship at a time. Are you this type of senior housing marketer?
Your prospective customers will feel your Olympic attitude and passion. This alone will intrigue them and keep communication progressing with strength. They know intuitively if you are looking out for their best interests or merely want to fill the building for a commission. Your verbal and nonverbal communication in a customer meeting says it all. If you’re listening 100 percent, you don’t have time to talk about yourself. Every word that comes out of your mouth will be for the prospective resident’s benefit.
Please share how you or your senior living team is performing to a gold medal standard of excellence!
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.netBlog: http://marketing2seniors.net/blog/
by Diane Masson | Jul 30, 2012
Does your team need to recharge their enthusiasm? Has the marketing team gotten off track? Do you need to sharpen your sales techniques?
Try a weekly marketing book review. Whether your senior living team is one sales person and the executive director or your team consists of three to six marketing people, it’s time to get the creative juices flowing again! If a sales team is not learning and growing, it becomes complacent and stagnant.
First, select a book to review. There are lots of great choices out there. Look around on Amazon.com, ask your sales people for ideas or get suggestions at senior housing conferences. My marketing teams are currently reading “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” by Diane Twohy Masson. (Yes, this is my book.) We have completed four chapters in five weeks. Our next book review conference call is chapter five scheduled for Tuesday.
It has been wonderful to watch the teams grow together. Participants include entrance fee sales people for independent living in Continuing Care Retirement Communities, assisted living marketers and skilled nursing admissions. They come from five areas and as the weeks progress the team members feel freer to share what has worked or has not worked in their area and other team members benefit from their experience.
We have had some great discussions including how many calls (in the existing database) it takes to get X amount of tours or people coming to the community for events. Best practice numbers for one team member were 157 voice-to-voice calls in 3 weeks, which resulted in 23 families coming into view the community. These are great numbers and after the call, other team members started asking for help on how to do this themselves. It seemed to bring out a natural – healthy – competiveness amongst the team.
Everyone starts thinking team and has a better understanding of the goals, because they are discussed at the weekly book review meeting (if you have multiple teams – do a conference call). Executive directors, regional marketing directors and directors of sales and marketing in senior housing often assume that everyone on the team knows the goals. Maybe they do or maybe they don’t. Why not review the goals weekly during your team book review? The number one goal is to have 100% occupancy, but what do they need to do this day or week in order to hit that goal this month or this year? Break it down for them and be their coach and mentor during the book review…try it… it works like a charm!
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/
![Do You Educate the Customer on Senior Housing & Healthcare Choices?]()
by Diane Masson | Jul 23, 2012
It’s always beneficial to become the customer’s friend by being a resource for all senior living information. Learn your market choices and share as much information as possible, so the senior or their family can make a good decision.
It’s always good to ask the prospect, if they have just started exploring their options or find out if they are further along into research mode. Seniors and baby boomer adult children, who are just starting out, often need some basic information. How you present it, depends on what senior housing option you represent. When people are making a move, it’s always a good idea to figure out the costs of future health care, home maintenance and services (such as dining, 24-hour emergency call system and housekeeping).
1) One option is for seniors to stay in their own home. Some seniors choose to live with children or have their adult children live with them. This is a great option if someone’s son or daughter is a repair person, great cook and willing to drive them to doctor appointments, when they are not able to drive.
2) Staying at home with home healthcare. Home healthcare can provide a qualified person who can help with medication management and assist with the activities of daily living. Costs average $21 an hour on a national basis, which can quickly turn into $15,000 a month with full time care.
3) Moving into a condo provides for most of the maintenance, repairs, home upkeep and yard work. It can come with home owner’s association (HOA’s) dues of $300 – $1500 a month.
4) Independent living – retirement communities, who offer one level of care, can have strict health requirements, but many communities are allowing in-home care to people’s apartments so they can remain in residence longer. In-home care averages $19 an hour nationally, so just 8 hours of help a day can add up to over $4700 a month. The $4700 a month would be in addition to the monthly rental fee. It varies by state, if the in-home care has licensing and trained staff requirements.
5) Independent living – retirement communities, who offer two levels of care, may or may not have stringent health requirements. If they offer both independent living and assisted living, they tend to be less strict, because they can provide services for two levels of care. The disadvantage is that independent seniors are living with frailer neighbors. Research the cost of independent living and the cost of assisted living (find out what is included with the rent – is any care included – or is care all added on separately?). These prices vary depending on how many meals and services are provided.
6) If seniors wait too long to move when they are independent, they can move directly into an assisted living community, where they can enjoy 3 meals a day and 24-hour care support. Some assisted living communities charge one all-inclusive rate and others charge extra for bathing assistance, medication management, incontinence care, etc. Assisted Living basic rent costs between $2100 and $5700 a month on a national level with bigger rooms and additional care costing more. In Washington State, I personally knew people that paid $9000 a month for heavy assisted living services.
7) Skilled nursing care or rehab is something that people never select as a choice. Typically something happened to the senior that caused a hospital stay and their doctor recommends that they recover in a Medicare certified skilled nursing care or rehabilitation center. This is 24-hour skilled nursing care and can be a short-term stay for a few weeks or a month. Long-term care residents typically cannot get out of bed on their own and live in this environment on a permanent basis. Costs can run nationally between $128 and $678 a day for semi-private room. I have typically seen daily costs in the mid-$200’s for a semi-private room and up to mid-$400 for a private suite on the West Coast.
8) Continuing care retirement communities (CCRC’s) have health and financial thresholds that must be met, in order to move-in. A large number of CCRC organizations, through their foundations, may offer a guarantee of care for the rest of the senior’s life. This can be a powerful choice, to know that if something happened to a senior’s finances that they would have care for life. CCRC’s typically offer independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing care, all on the same campus. A one time entrance fee is usually requested that can run anywhere from $60,000 to over $2 million. A percentage of the entrance fee can be refundable back to someone’s estate. There are many varieties of returnable options. The monthly fees of CCRC’s are typically lower than month-to-month rentals for the same square footage.
There are a variety of qualities for all the above choices. Learn your area’s choices and help be an educational resource to the customer. They will appreciate you more and hopefully select your retirement community. Encourage seniors to choose wisely, it’s not just about price, but the quality of services and care that are provided. A good question to ask a prospect would be: What senior housing option gives them the most peace of mind?
Every town, city and state has different pricing. My national price quotes came from: http://www.metlife.com/mmi/research/2011-market-survey-long-term-care-costs.html#findings
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: @market2seniorsWeb: www.marketing2seniors.netBlog: http://marketing2seniors.net/blog/
by Diane Masson | Jun 11, 2012
Several marketers told me in the last few weeks that follow up phone calls after a tour can be pushy – what do you think?
When every senior living tour is completed– someone is sold in my opinion. It’s either the prospective resident sold the sales person on not being ready to move in yet or the sales person has sold the prospective resident that it is time for them to move into his or her retirement community.
When some sales people hear a prospect indicate that he or she is not ready yet, they believe that a phone call will bother the people the next day. They think making that phone call would be considered pushy. And you know what? They don’t make the call! Is your occupancy down? This could be why!
Granted, every situation is unique! In the majority of cases, if a senior living marketer really listens to the customers needs and builds a great first name relationship with a senior, then the senior will welcome a sincere phone call the next day. The phone call could be about inquiring if they have additional questions, answers a question they had from the previous day or better yet shares some NEW information that would be pertinent to their decision making process. Obviously a sincere and caring attitude is of the utmost importance and felt by the customer.
Everyday that a sales person waits to make a phone call after a tour or an event, the senior’s emotional connection to the decision making process decreases. So if your company’s policy to follow up 3 to 4 days later – this is why your senior living occupancy is down.
The best attitude to have when making the phone call is to believe the senior or the adult child does not have enough information to make a decision yet and your phone call will continue to educate and help them. Most seniors or adult children are great with a quick phone call to see if they have additional questions…. The sales process is about a willingness to go through some no’s to get some yes’s. If a salesperson is afraid of the no’s, then they won’t get as many yes’s! I hope this advice helps you fill your CCRC, assisted living, or retirement community faster!
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/
