by Diane Masson | Jul 14, 2013
One of the most common mistakes in senior living sales is believing the potential senior resident when they say, “I’m not ready yet!”. Please, please, please – don’t believe them. When you hear those four common words, simply change them to “I am scared”. It is so hard for a senior to give up their home of 30, 40 or 50 years and make a move. Just the idea of packing up all of their worldly possessions can be overwhelming.
Be professional, reassuring and always ask them their timeline for making a move. If they say they will move in a year, it will really be 6 months. If they say 5 years, it’s really about 2 or 3 years. You simply take the number they say and cut it in half, then you nurture that relationship with a touch every 3 months. If you do this already – way to go! Congratulations, because you are in the minority of senior living sales people.
Most senior living sales people, hear “I’m not ready yet” and bury that lead in their database. In our world of instant gratification, sales people just want to grab the people who say, I am ready now. Well guess what? Those are only 20% of the sales, so if your occupancy is down – here is probably why! 80% of seniors need to be listened to, nurtured and coddled into moving in.
Increase your senior housing occupancy today with this simple mind shift!
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
by Diane Masson | Apr 14, 2013
Are you worn out and exhausted? Is it an effort to get up and get to work each day? What happened? You love your senior housing job – what’s wrong? It is called burn out, burning the candle at both ends.
Think about how work and home life has changed in the last 20 years. Smart phones live with us 24 hours a day. The line has blurred between work and home and senior living sales people are getting fried out emotionally. Are you cooking dinner with the smart phone on the counter in case someone calls or texts you? People are in restaurants having $20 to $30 dinners and texting…this is not a nice experience for your table companions.
Get off the electronic leash for a few hours or a half-day. My boss is taking a cruise and will have no cell coverage for 10 days. My first thought was oh my gosh, I will be cut off from contacting her. My next thought was – boy is she lucky! Could you go without electronic stimulation for a day or a week? Could I do it? It would be very difficult. But I would adjust after a day or two and so would you.
Take time to recharge. If you are introverted, you recharge better by yourself. An extrovert recharges through the energy of their friends. Know what helps you recharge and spend one day recharging your personal batteries. Your work and your family will both benefit.
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
by Diane Masson | Apr 7, 2013
When you initially sit down with a senior prospective resident – what is their first impression of you? Are you like a detective on TV, asking care needs – one after another? Or are you the compassionate sales person who cares and wants to help the senior solve their problem?
When I do mystery shopping, I find that 80% of senior living sales people are interrogators. This is an extremely high statistic; this means that only 20% of sales people come across as kind and compassionate.
How can you know if you are an interrogator and don’t mean to be one?
1) Don’t get to the nitty gritty details too fast…
2) Do offer a beverage – especially when it’s hot outside– I have been touring on 90-degree days and was not offered a beverage – this really happens…
3) Invite guests to sit down – don’t tell them to sit here or just point to a chair…
4) Don’t shut a prospective resident in your office – this happened to me 80% of the time and causes people to keep their wall up and not relax with you.
5) Don’t sit across a desk from someone, give up your control and meet around a round table, in the lobby on comfy chairs or in the model apartment.
6) Find out about what is most important to the senior or the adult children…why did they come to your retirement community today?
7) Do ask how they are doing (what they are feeling) and take the time to listen!
Do you want to increase sales, move-ins and up the occupancy? Then stop interrogating people…it is a horrible experience for the senior and their family members!
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
