by Diane Masson | Apr 12, 2015
Diane’s Mom Driving -Illustration from the new resource guide “Your Senior Housing Options.”
What about you? Does one of your loved ones have dementia and still drive? Dementia drivers are jeopardizing other citizens walking in crosswalks and driving.
My father-in-law was driving with a diagnosis of macular degeneration. He justified his actions by only driving in the daytime and limiting himself to a 5-mile radius to run errands and go the doctor. As his dementia progressed he got lost driving home within this radius. He chose to give up driving on his own.
A friend told me about my mother driving several years ago. They said, “I saw your mom driving today, she can’t even see over the steering wheel. She is looking through the steering wheel in order to see the road.” I was horrified. This was completely unsafe. I still vividly remember the last time I drove with my mom. She was straddling two lanes (on the same side of the road). She said, “Diane, I know this looks bad, but I know exactly what I am doing.” I was terrified. It was the beginning of her dementia.
A resident of a senior living community drove into another resident’s balcony. As he was parking the car, the senior hit the gas instead of the brake. After backing up, he made the same mistake again and rammed the balcony a second time. Afterwards, he was disoriented and could not remember how the accident happened or why he hit the gas twice. He did not give up his car keys after this incident. The resident whose balcony was destroyed requested to have the parking place right outside his apartment home, because he did not want a repeat performance.
All these senior driving circumstances have made me a better defensive driver. Many people are concerned about teenage drivers, but what about seniors with dementia? No senior wants to give up the keys to the car and lose their independence. Senior housing choices that provide transportation can be a good choice for a senior who should not be driving.
Do you feel that a son or daughter should make a mom or dad give up the car keys if they are putting others at risk? What will be the trigger event to make the decision of no more driving – hitting a curb, a fender bender, or a fatal car accident?
What should the doctor’s role be in this process? Have you had the “car talk conversation” with yourself, your spouse, or your parent? How did it go? What about senior living providers who have residents that are driving unsafely in their parking lots? What did you do?
Seniors, Boomer children, spouses, family members and caregivers are desperate to learn how to truly differentiate good senior housing from mediocre at best. Diane Masson’s new book will answer these heart-wrenching issues in an easy, simple, story telling format with humorous illustrations. She has represented multiple styles of senior housing for 16 years and has sought all levels of senior housing care for her mother and stubborn German in-laws.
“Your Senior Housing Options” is a new resource book available on Amazon.com with a 5-star rating. It offers a step-by-step guide to the options, including staying home. Don’t wait until you’re in a health care crisis like author Diane Masson’s in-laws. Learn how to plan ahead like Masson’s mom. Research your future choices NOW to avoid being “put” somewhere, or having decisions made for you by others.
For weekly tips and advice go to www.Tips2Seniors.com and learn more from author and senior housing expert Diane Twohy Masson.
by Diane Masson | Apr 20, 2014
Has your Retirement Community done anything EGG-STRA special for your residents lately? Well, please share! If you posted a picture on your Facebook page, then share the link so we can go see it and LIKE your Facebook page.
Here is link to something EGG-STRA special The Village residents in Hemet enjoyed for Easter brunch. Click on the link to see the photo.
Your turn to share…
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 | Mar 2, 2014
They Moved And Placed Everything Except The Cat!
Easiest move ever? Yes!!! It was a picture perfect move thanks to a senior friendly company called Helping Hands in California. They literally pulled out their smart phones and snapped “before pictures.” Then in the new home each mover referenced their smart phones to recreate a room, a bookcase or any area that had knick-knacks. Moving a Lifetime of Memories (Part 1) is about my decision to hire a senior moving company.
An army of men arrived at 9:00 AM and the move went so fast. The same person that packed up the kitchen unpacked and organized the kitchen in our new home. This one fact alone was awesome and took tremendous stress off of me. The same mover that packed up the bathroom reorganized it in the new bathroom. It was amazing.
Here is the completion level of each room on the day of the move:
- The kitchen is 100% done (just need to buy groceries and we are ready to cook).
- Living room is 100% done (including pictures on the wall).
- Dining room is 100% done (including pictures on the wall).
- The master bath is 100% done (everything is in it’s place).
- Office/music room is 95% done (books on the book shelves, pictures hung and still need to rightsize the closets a bit more).
- Coat and towel closet are 100% done.
- Master bedroom is 90% done (still need to reorganize the clothes hanging in the closet, buy two lamps and figure out what pictures to hang).
- Second bathroom is 0% done (only two boxes to unpack, because our two cats were crated in this room during the move).
- The garage is 50% done (all the garage stuff is in the garage, but we could not have the team of men put everything away because the garage was too dirty).
Our biggest move challenges?
- Downsizing in general, so I focused on rightsizing. It was easier to stomach rightsizing. It is an attitude.
- Arriving the day of the move to find a dirty garage with stuff left from the previous owner.
- Realizing our master bedroom has zero light.
The good news is that I loved Helping Hands, because instead of months to settle into my home, I am already settled. It should just take a couple of days to go buy lamps and then clean and organize the garage.
I highly recommend this senior moving company and this type of service for seniors moving into retirement communities. Yes, it does cost more than two man and a truck, but it can literally take the stress away from moving.
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 | Sep 29, 2013
Every single one of us has had a personal family crisis, health emergency or had a dear friend that it going through a major calamity. Too much drama in our lives can be overwhelming. Then we drive to work at our retirement community and try to leave it all at home…Are you successful? It’s hard….
Some of us have personalities that envision the glass as half full and others see it half empty. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. Is your self-talk telling you everything will be all right in the long run or are you only seeing the worst-case scenario? How is this affecting your work?
A senior living sales person can get frazzled with numerous sales, move-ins, calls, scheduled tours and reports the administrator or their boss expects them to do. Suddenly a walk-in tour arrives. Do you share your troubles with the prospective resident or keep them to yourself?
It is always shocking to me when a stressed senior living sales person shares their personal challenges with a prospective resident. What do they hope to accomplish? The senior came into the retirement community to explore their senior housing options. Now, his or her focus is taken off making a move to your retirement community and it lands on the senior living sales person’s troubles.
A senior living sales person can actually sabotage his or her potential sales. This is turn affects occupancy. Is your senior living community’s occupancy down, because of stressed and over-sharing sales people? Have you experienced it? What tips can you share with the rest of us?
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 | Sep 8, 2013
Senior living sales people fall into two different categories:
Proactive sales people in senior housing call their database – the hot ones, the warm ones and yes even the older cold leads. Reaching out and touching a senior every three to four months can fill your building.
Did you know that a senior’s life can change dramatically every six months? It’s true. They may have just been diagnosed with a degenerate disease like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes or some type of cancer. Suddenly they realize that they are vulnerable and may need to live in a more supportive environment in the immediate future.
A senior who once told you it would be at least five years until they move, can suddenly turn into a one month move-in. For those of you that call your database regularly, your phone call will spur the prospect into moving to your community sooner. For those of you that don’t call your database, you are missing out. That prospect will move somewhere and the community who advertises to them first will probably get the business.
Anyone who has been in this business for any length of time has had a prospective resident die. It sucks and you feel horrible for them. Congratulations, you know they died, because you are a proactive sales person.
Yesterday, one of my retirement counselors shared that his hottest prospect, he toured last week, had died. He found out after he called and left a message. The woman’s son called him back to say his mom had passed away. The good news was by the end of that same day the retirement counselor had holds for two other apartments. They are putting deposits down next week. Your occupancy can increase with phone calls period. Do you know if your prospects are dying?
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.
