![Burnt Pizza Can Be Like Senior Housing – Does this describe your Community?]()
by Diane Masson | Sep 17, 2012
At the Seattle airport, Wolfgang Puck had some beautiful pizzas in the display window. I ordered one and mine was well done – almost burnt. Should I have taken it back? I ate it. It was good enough…then when I walked by the display window again…I had to look…the display had a burnt pizza. Why would anyone showcase burnt anything? If you make pizzas, how hard is it to make them perfect (I was in the pizza business for 3 years early in my career)?
How are you showcasing your retirement community? How is your phone being answered? Is it answered within one or two rings? When guests arrive at your community how are they greeted? Does the receptionist stand to greet them? Are guests offered water on hot days and coffee on cold days?
Are first impressions a priority for your organization? Or is everything good enough? Is your 85% to 90% occupancy good enough? What would it take to go to 95% or 100%? How are you differentiating yourself from your competitors? Is everyone in the neighborhood, just getting by and just good enough? Why not stand out from the senior housing pack and go above and beyond? How about exceeding expectations? What about giving a WOW experience?
What does it take to give a WOW experience? Sometimes it is only a 5% to 10% difference, but it takes a team approach! Some communities are making changes and watching the occupancy grow! What is making the difference?
1) Pull in the driveway of your community with the eyes of a customer on a regular basis.
2) Have someone mystery shop your community to find out how guests are greeted by telephone and in person.
3) Offer refreshments to guests.
4) Find out what the prospect’s needs are and why they came today.
5) Listen!!
6) Ask open ended questions to discovery their needs, wants and desires.
7) Listen!!
8) Invite them on a tour tailored to their needs.
9) Every staff they encounter needs to be smiling and welcoming to them.
10) Introduce prospective residents to key staff.
11) Check in with them to see if what you are showing them addresses their needs and if they can picture themselves or their family member living at your senior living community.
12) Ask for the deposit and determine next steps…don’t be pushy…it is in their best interest to have a plan for his or her future, so the children will not have to put them some place in a crisis situation.
Your senior living community has a choice to be the best you can be with first impressions or just be good enough – an almost burnt pizza…
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/
![Trying to Evaluate Senior Housing Internet Referral Choices?]()
by Diane Masson | Aug 27, 2012
Every one of us is so busy in senior living sales and marketing. Some of you are pure sales and others are juggling marketing with sales. With walk-ins, tours, and phone inquiries happening constantly, who has time to research Internet exposure and lead referral companies? Maybe I can help…I have been looking into this for a few weeks and have learned a lot.
You can do “Pay for Click,” which means you buy high placement for key words that show up in a Google search. Ever wonder how companies get in the colored box at the top of the screen with a Google search or have placement on the right hand side of your screen? Every time someone clicks on that link, you pay, no matter what. If someone is looking for a job, the phone number to your community to talk to a resident or simply click but have no interest, it can cost you 50 cents to $5.00 or more. When I looked into it, there were almost 400 versions of the keywords independent living, senior living and senior housing. The cost was going to be almost $1000 a month for a ten-mile radius. Are you kidding me? They had not even included key words such as assisted living, skilled nursing care or a Continuing Care Retirement Community yet!
Another easier choice for those of us in senior housing seems to be the Internet lead referral companies. They buy all the clicks and key words, so they take all the risk. Most of them have a live person talking to the inquiries, so by the time we get the lead at our community, we may have a viable person who is interested in our senior living community.
There are three main types of Internet lead referral companies:
- Pay after a move-in
- Pay-per-lead
- Monthly subscription
The quality varies through my experience depending on which company you select and your type of senior housing. There are pluses and minuses to all three choices. The plus to paying after a move-in is, obviously, paying for performance only. The minus is this can be the most expensive option with the cost generally being one month of rent. Pay-per-lead companies charge between $35-$45 a lead. The plus is that most of the companies have a person confirming which type of senior housing the prospect is interested in and making sure they understand it is private pay. The down side is most of them have around a 2% conversion rate into a sale. Monthly subscriptions can charge around $150 a month, so the cost is good, but they don’t have a live person filtering the leads, so you can receive a lot more garbage leads.
One benefit of all Internet referral companies is finding their sites in the paid search boxes on Google. People searching online have hit key words regarding senior housing and start exploring their options through Internet referral sources. You can add photos, videos, a description of your community, prices, floor plans and some Internet referral sources even link back to your website or your social media.
So what’s the purpose of adding Internet leads into your marketing mix? More people are finding senior housing online than ever before and when someone is doing a search online – you want to be found.
Check back in a couple of weeks and I will be sharing which Internet lead referral companies I believe are the most effective and the best value for the money spent.
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/
![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/
At the Seattle airport, Wolfgang Puck had some beautiful pizzas in the display window. I ordered one and mine was well done – almost burnt. Should I have taken it back? I ate it. It was good enough…then when I walked by the display window again…I had to look…the display had a burnt pizza. Why would anyone showcase burnt anything? If you make pizzas, how hard is it to make them perfect (I was in the pizza business for 3 years early in my career)?