by Diane Masson | Apr 19, 2012
One of the reasons your occupancy may be down is because you may have reactive marketing. What does this mean? Do any of the following scenarios happen at your community?
- You walk into Bored Brad’s marketing office and he’s sorting paper clips. He just wants to give a tour but no one is coming in or calling the community.
- When you stop by Blabby Barbara’s office, she is on the phone, but you quickly determine that she’s talking to a friend and not a potential resident.
- Residents complain to management that phone calls to the marketing department are not returned in a timely fashion to friends they have referred and who are prospective residents. You march right over to Moody Marbella on your marketing team to address the residents’ concerns. She responds by changing the subject and, worse, blaming you with her explanation, “Events won’t work. Low occupancy is not my fault.” Do you think she missed the point?
Does this really happen? Yes! Reactive marketing people truly exist and I have worked with some of them. It can be a challenge to determine if the new team you are managing is reactive, but once you know the symptoms it’s easy to identify:
Symptom 1) Reactive marketing does not have programs or policies in place to make a certain number of outbound phone calls per day. This means every day.
Symptom 2) After conducting a tour, reactive marketing people wait for prospects to call them back to say they are interested in moving in. This is really the function of an order taker and not the attitude of a professional salesperson.
Symptom 3) Reactive marketers urge spending money on advertising because they claim they don’t have any leads and therefore no new sales.
Symptom 4) Reactive marketers exhibit a lack of urgency to answer the phone within two rings.
Symptom 5) Reactive marketers have a lackadaisical attitude returning phone, web, and social media inquiries.
These reactive marketing teams are waiting for walk-ins and call-ins. They believe the customer should just say, “Yep, here’s my deposit. Let’s call the moving company right now.”
Spending money on new leads is a waste of the marketing budget for a reactive marketing team. Many prospects can be slow (which is normal) to make a decision. A reactive marketer does not initiate calls with the non-hot prospects, so a cool or lukewarm prospect will never be contacted again. This means that 20 percent to 30 percent of sales can just slip through the fingers of this type of marketer. This really does happen, and it can be affecting your financial performance. Is it?
This was an excerpt from “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full.“
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 coach your senior living marketing team (CCRC, independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing or memory care) or have her put on a sales retreat for your organization – please call: 206-853-6655 or email diane@marketing2seniors.net. For more information: Twitter: @market2seniors Web: www.marketing2seniors.net Blog: http://marketing2seniors.net/blog/
by Diane Masson | Dec 23, 2011
I say, “Bah, humbug.” Anytime can be a great time to sell senior housing, if you BELIEVE. It’s all about attitude!
When family members get together during the holidays, this is when they might notice that mom or dad has really slowed down. A son or daughter might look around and see the dust bunnies collecting in the corner, the pie doesn’t quite taste the same or a parent keeps repeating himself or herself.
The siblings might say, “What do we do now, mom and dad should not be on their own anymore?” A son may have flown in from across the country and only be in town for the week. They may call your assisted living or memory care community and hope that someone will direct them through this transition, so they can secure their parent before they leave in five days.
Will your marketer be the compassionate educator and create an immediate solution to this adult child’s dilemma? Or will negative Nellie say, “No one wants to move during the holidays!” I know a senior living marketer who prides himself on 48-hour move-ins. This can be one of the best times of the year to fill the building, if you BELIEVE.
Diane Twohy Masson is the author of “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” available for sale at Amazon.com. For volume discount pricing or to inquire on Diane’s availability to coach and/or train your senior living marketing team – please contact Diane Twohy Masson directly at 206-853-6655 or email diane@marketing2seniors.net. Diane Twohy Masson is a seasoned senior living marketing coach with most recent experience as Corporate Director of Sales for 14 retirement communities in Washington, Utah and California. For more information: Web: www.marketing2seniors.net Blog: http://marketing2seniors.net/blog/ Twitter: @market2seniors
by Diane Masson | Dec 13, 2011
Create your 2012 momentum with this new senior housing book!
The 12 keys presented in this new book can kick start your success. Here are some of the results Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full produced for retirement communities in 2011:
- Increased the average occupancy from 82% to 91% of four newly acquired assisted living communities in just four months.
- Generated 525 deposits and 423 move-ins in 9 months with 386 move-outs (14 communities with a mix of IL, AL and MC).
- Built momentum by balancing each team’s follow-up phone calls, tours, outreach and events.
Give your marketers a gift that can help them grow occupancy immediately.
Holiday Special available for the first 10 requests: Buy 2 books and receive the 3rd one free. Shipping and tax included.
Diane Twohy Masson is a seasoned senior living marketing coach with most recent experience as Corporate Director of Sales for 14 retirement communities in Washington, Utah and California. For the holiday special, volume discount pricing or to inquire on Diane’s availability to coach or train your senior living marketing team – please contact Diane Twohy Masson directly at 206-853-6655 or email diane@marketing2seniors.net.
Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full is also available for sale at Amazon.com for $39.95.
For more information:
Web: www.marketing2seniors.net
Blog: http://marketing2seniors.net/blog/
Email: diane@marketing2seniors.net
Twitter: @market2seniors
by Diane Masson | Nov 30, 2011
Have you ever visited all your assisted living competition in a couple of days? Maybe your first thought is that you are too busy? Or you just need to keep working hard and the occupancy will go up? Well I ran this competition marathon two weeks ago in Salt Lake City and it was a real eye opener.
Here are some of the areas that were of particular interest to me:
What did the exterior look like as I drove up?
What kind of shape was the landscaping in?
How was I greeted when I entered?
Was I welcomed with a smile and handshake?
Was I offered any refreshments?
Did they have a “wow” lobby/entrance?
Did the marketer just ask fact questions or did they interject feeling questions too?
Did they introduce me to anyone on the tour?
Was it a “wow” tour?
Would I want my own mom to live there?
Would I want to eat with my mom in their dining room?
Were the apartments rent ready?
Would my mom like the apartment and the view from it?
Could I sleep at night, knowing my mom lived there?
Now it was evaluation time… How did all of the above impressions compare with my communities? There was some room for improvement…but I walked away proud of my marketing teams. I encourage you to run the marathon now…
Diane Twohy Masson is the author of Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full.
