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 | Jun 23, 2013
Are hot leads attitude or reality? I say attitude! Some senior living sales people expect a prospective resident to walk in and say, “I have my house on the market and I’m ready to move into your retirement community.” How often does this happen? It could happen 20% of the time. This means 80% of the time, a sales person needs to build a relationship, document it in the database and do the dreaded follow up phone calls. Oh yeah, it’s called work. If it was easy selling senior living, retirement counselors would be paid minimum wage.
With proper nurturing, over time, a cool lead can become warm and a warm lead can become hot!
Too many senior living sales people say they don’t have any hot leads. Yet, if you were a little mouse on their shoulder, while they met with a senior…. This is what you might hear the prospective senior resident say, “I’m not ready yet (NRY).”
In sales they say, don’t listen to the first no. Well I say, don’t listen to the first 10 NRY! The senior can still be a hot lead (ready to move in a few months)!
NRY simply translated means I am scared. It’s hard for a senior to give up their home of 30, 40 or 50 years and move. It’s a lot of work. The more time they spend at your retirement community the better. They will fall in love with your residents. Then the senior can decide they will gain more by moving into your retirement community, than what they are giving up.
The mindset of the sales person dictates how many hot leads they have. Believe – truly believe the seniors are ready to move in sooner than what the prospective resident actually says to you. Typically just cut the time frame a senior says in half.
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 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
by Diane Masson | Apr 28, 2013
After the initial tour are you or your senior living sales people classifying the lead correctly in your database and following up with the prospective resident appropriately?
What is your retirement community’s definition of a hot lead?
Many senior housing professionals only classify a lead as HOT if:
- The senior says they want to move someplace right away.
- They tell you their home is on the market.
- The adult child says their mom or dad is in the hospital and can’t move back home.
Here are some more lead situations that I would classify as hot (Even if they say – “I AM NOT READY YET!”):
- The senior is considering putting their home on the market.
- Someone wondering how long they should continue living in their home.
- Telling you they are about a year away, but also saying it has been difficult managing in a two story home.
- My spouse has just been diagnosed with…
Prospects don’t jump up and down and say I am an easy sale. Senior Living Sales is an art and it’s up to us to read between the lines. If someone comes to see you in person, they should be a warm or hot lead until they clearly indicate they are not. They walked into your senior living community for a reason…
Post-analyze their situation in the quiet of your office. This can help you strategize how you can help move someone forward the next time you talk to them. Some sales people (particularly green sales people) can benefit from strategizing with their boss to determine the next course of action with a prospective resident.
Can anyone share how they read between the lines, helped a senior solve their problem and it resulted in a move in?
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
![Is Your Senior Living Team – Only Going for the Easy Sale?]()
by Diane Masson | Oct 21, 2012
Every senior living sales person loves the easy sale. A senior walks into your community, his or her home has just sold quickly and now they HAVE TO MOVE in the next 30 days. Or a family member’s parent is in the hospital and the doctor has stated they can’t return to their home, the senior must move to assisted living now. Will these easy sales fill your retirement community? No!!
The words patience, dedication and persistence come to mind – to reach out to the reluctant customers who can fill your senior living community. When someone comes in to tour your community, first impressions are everything. The sales person needs to take the time and compassion to find out what prompted their visit and show how their senior living community can be the answer.
When a senior or family member says they are “Not Ready Yet,” don’t blow them off! It simply means they don’t have enough information to make a decision yet and they need to come back and see you again. The prospect is scared! It is a big decision to move out of a home they have lived in for 30 to 50 years. Most seniors don’t make the decision to move in a one or two hour meeting with a senior living sales person. Give them the compassion and care they so desperately need… Call them the next day and find a reason for them to visit again – maybe it’s a lunch, an exciting event or showing them one more apartment. Turn their reluctance into excitement.
If they don’t answer, keep calling. Senior living sales people are not making enough calls on average, it’s easier to go talk to a resident than hear rejections, no’s and hang ups on the phone. Call two days in row…make the 2nd message on their recorder different from the first and then say, “Please give me a call back or I will try you back.” If I were listening to my voicemail, I would think – “Oh, I better give them a call or they will keep calling.”
Then when they call you back, invite them to visit your senior living community again and the chance of selling them on a 2nd or 3rd tour are even higher! At Continuing Care Retirement Communities in California, it is taking 5 or 6 visits to turn a reluctant customer into a sale… How many visits on average are your prospects making to your retirement community, before they decide to move in? It would be fantastic to hear averages from all over the country…
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/
![I’m Not Ready Yet!!!!]()
by Diane Masson | Sep 3, 2012
When you hear a senior prospect or family member say these words – what runs through your mind first? How do you respond? Do you believe them? At every encounter with a prospective resident, someone always buys the popcorn – either the sales person or the senior!
Recently, I was going through some retirement community’s databases and lead after lead after lead had a “NRY” as the number one response in the notes. I had to ask, “What is “NRY”?” The retirement counselors in unison said, “Not ready yet.” I thought quietly to myself, “Why the heck would anyone put such a negative assertion in his or her database?” The next time they look at the lead, they are going to immediately think that it’s a crappy lead.
I believe that every lead is great! If someone hangs up on me, the prospective resident is just having a bad day. I have actually called these back again and they have been receptive, come in for a tour and eventually moved in.
When someone says they are not ready yet, do you blow the person off like I see some sales people do? Are you just looking for a quick sale on a silver platter or a 30-day move-in? Well then you are missing a ton of sales and this is why the occupancy is down at your retirement community. Real sales people know that persistence pays off. I have called people every month for one year and then they turned into a sale! Those can be the most gratifying sales!
Do you have a Negative Nellie working your precious (expensive) senior housing leads that could be potential move-ins? Believing Betty understands that each lead could be worth thousands of dollars and calls with enthusiasm and passion. The customer needs to hear us smiling through the phone and feel our energy and excitement when they arrive in person. We need to believe in our leads and keep calling them back…
When someone says they are not ready yet, they are one fall or one diagnosis away from suddenly wanting to move immediately. Don’t schedule the next call for one year away, because it’s not the golden goose quick sale. Understand the frailty of the senior customer and schedule to call them on a quarterly basis or your competition will get this move-in instead of you!
So when a senior tells me that they are not ready yet…this is great…they are interested for the future. The first thought that runs through my mind is: I need to educate them more about the lifestyle! The second thought I have is: What did I miss saying? Did I build enough value for health services? After I learned about them through discovery, did I tailor the tour to their needs? I need to fill the retirement community today, one year from now and 5 years from now! So if someone wants to wait a year or two, no problem… my positive contact with them can speed up their decision. Then when they suddenly want to move in, whom will they think of first? Well, the nice lady on the phone who was never pushy and always had their best interests at heart…of course!
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/
