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 | Apr 27, 2014
Many senior living communities say, “We will take care of you for the rest of your life.” Really? What if a senior legitimately runs out of his or her resources? Can they still stay for life? Is it a marketing spiel or a real guarantee? What promise is really written in the resident’s contract? Do they offer at least three levels of care including skilled nursing?
Senior living communities can talk about a “fund” to help residents or a “Good Samaritan Fund.” My own mom was lucky enough to benefit from this type of fund. I never dreamed in a million years that my mom would live in a higher level of care like assisted living for so many years (seven to be exact). In the middle of those seven years, my mom ran out of her resources. She has social security, an annuity, a pension and a savings account. Her savings account depleted down to $2,000.
Thank goodness my mom’s Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) had a Good Sam Fund that was developed out of generous donations. The little known fact was that only 10 seniors could benefit from the fund at any given time. My mom was number 10. I never knew if there was a resident whose number was 11 or higher that never received financial help.
Now, I know about two CCRC’s in CA that offer a Guarantee of Care for life. It is straight up and clearly written in the contracts at Freedom Village in Lake Forest and The Village in Hemet.
An attorney compared CCRC contracts in Orange County and determined that all were not equal in the guarantee of care for life. Some are straight up and others offer, “A guarantee of care for life,” but add three extra words following this statement in the contract… those three extra words are, “At our option.”
“At our option,” sounds a lot like a Good Sam Fund that has a limited amount of resident users. What do you think?
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 23, 2014
What Diane Is Reading
Success in sales coming from a good attitude. Negative news sells newspapers and TV commercials. News commentators get paid to glamorize fear and a collapsing world. Overcome this fear by turning off the news and feeding your brain with positive thoughts and energy.
- What book(s) are you currently reading?
- How often do you read?
- Is there a certain time of day that works best for you?
- Do you read one chapter a day or multiple chapters?
It seems like there are readers and nonreaders in the world. Do you have a friend who is always starting or finishing a great book? Hint: I bet they are more positive than your friends who don’t read regularly.
These are my current go to books for working in senior living:
“How to Win Friends and Influence People,” by Dale Carnegie. I have read this classic about five times, just finished it with one sales team and currently on part two, chapter one with another team. This is one of the greatest books ever.
“Live Your Life Like It Matters,” by Scott V. Black. This book has sparked ideas for me to create team sales meetings and most recently an entire marketing retreat. I just finished this book and the last two chapters are due for a team review in the next two weeks.
“The Sales Bible,” by Jeffrey Gitomer. I have read this great book twice, just selected it for our book review at two Continuing Care Retirement Communities and chapter one is due next week.
“How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success Through Selling,” by Frank Bettger. Another classic that I have read several times, currently assigned this to a successful senior living sales person to pull them out of rut and chapter one is due next week.
“Ego vs EQ,” by Jen Shirkani. I am really excited about this new book to improve myself and grow, just finished chapter one last night.
“Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” By Diane Masson (me). I just used excerpts from “Chapter 10 – Internal Customers – No need to worry about them, right? Wrong!” for a concierge/receptionist training. It is the best book for training new sales team members and can help all communities increase their occupancy.
Current personal books:
“The Better Part, A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer,” by John Bartunek, LC, THD. This is my daily bible reading with outstanding reflections.
“Los Angeles, San Diego and Southern California,” by Lonely Planet. This is a resource I use to travel through Southern California, since I have lived here less than two years. We are going to L.A. tomorrow for a Lakers game and wanted to learn what else that my husband and I could explore.
“The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything – A Spirituality for Real Life,” by James Martin, SJ. A friend gave me this book for Christmas and I have been slowly absorbing the recommendations for simplifying my life for the past three months. This book has really helped me.
“Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,” by Jamie Ford. Another friend let me borrow this book and I want to start it this weekend.
Typically I read my daily bible reflection daily, several chapters a week from my other personal books and one chapter a week from each of my books for work.
Would you be willing to share your current reading list or favorite books?
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 | Feb 9, 2014
Over Sharing?
Believe it or not, I heard a senior living sales person say, “My cat has diarrhea,” to a hot prospect.” They blew the sale, because the senior was so worried about the sick cat. Really?!!?
Do you accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative at your senior living community? Maybe you better check. It’s easy for senior living marketing people to over compensate and share what you do you do not offer. They are just trying to be helpful to the customer. They are not trying to sabotage sales and send seniors to the competitor.
Every retirement community has its strong points and weak points. It does not matter if you are brand new or 25 years old. Always showcase your strengths. Is this something that you teach your senior living advisors? How do they learn it? Don’t make an assumption that they will learn it by osmosis.
Here is an expert from a chapter in my book called, “ Never Say to the Customer.”
There is such a thing as being too honest with the customer with statements such as:
- “You were on my list to call today.”
- “You were on my schedule to be followed up with today.”
- Telling the customer we will retain 10%. Instead saying, “The entrance fee is 90% refundable to your estate.”
- NEVER EVER refer to people as “a sale!”
- Please don’t call them a “prospect” in their presence or to their face. They are all your “guests,” in this book; I have referred to them as “prospective guests.” Please note: The term “prospect” or “prospective guests” is meant for marketing and is only to be used in-house. In the prospect’s presence the term to use is “guest.” I might say, “Mrs. Jones, I have an appointment later with another “guest” who is interested in this two-bedroom apartment home with the view of the park.”
I have literarily had three different types of sales people in the last week say, “I am following up with you.” It makes me cringe. How about you?
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 | 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 | Oct 6, 2013
My teams just concluded a senior living marketing retreat in Southern California. It was a time to step out of their fast-paced selling lives to be nurtured and valued. It was a celebration of breaking records. One Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) had the most move-ins since 2001 and another CCRC had the most move-ins since 2005. Wow!!!
The top four CCRC sales people were highlighted in an honor roll. Each of these people hit their personal move-in goals three quarters in row. The top sales person had 10 CCRC move-ins this last quarter alone. They each spoke about the secret to his or hers success. There were a variety of humble answers, which included: nurturing client relationships over years, persistence, good events continually drawing in new prospective senior residents, increasing the number of repeat tours, studying sales techniques to improve their craft, the housing market improving and the on-going sale training provided.
The retreat included: celebrating accomplishing quarterly goals, sales training, best practices discussions, our weekly book review of “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” personal time management to increase database calls and a wonderful breakfast and lunch. The sales people loved having an opportunity to hear best practices and sales experiences from their cohorts at another community.
What are you doing to honor your sale people and celebrate success? It is tough having to accept constant rejection on a day-to-day basis. This is what makes senior living sales people extraordinary. Give a shout out to your sales people through this blog and send them a copy. Tell them they are special today.
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.
