Every senior living sales person loves the easy sale. A senior walks into your community, his or her home has just sold quickly and now they HAVE TO MOVE in the next 30 days. Or a family member’s parent is in the hospital and the doctor has stated they can’t return to their home, the senior must move to assisted living now. Will these easy sales fill your retirement community? No!!
The words patience, dedication and persistence come to mind – to reach out to the reluctant customers who can fill your senior living community. When someone comes in to tour your community, first impressions are everything. The sales person needs to take the time and compassion to find out what prompted their visit and show how their senior living community can be the answer.
When a senior or family member says they are “Not Ready Yet,” don’t blow them off! It simply means they don’t have enough information to make a decision yet and they need to come back and see you again. The prospect is scared! It is a big decision to move out of a home they have lived in for 30 to 50 years. Most seniors don’t make the decision to move in a one or two hour meeting with a senior living sales person. Give them the compassion and care they so desperately need… Call them the next day and find a reason for them to visit again – maybe it’s a lunch, an exciting event or showing them one more apartment. Turn their reluctance into excitement.
If they don’t answer, keep calling. Senior living sales people are not making enough calls on average, it’s easier to go talk to a resident than hear rejections, no’s and hang ups on the phone. Call two days in row…make the 2nd message on their recorder different from the first and then say, “Please give me a call back or I will try you back.” If I were listening to my voicemail, I would think – “Oh, I better give them a call or they will keep calling.”
Then when they call you back, invite them to visit your senior living community again and the chance of selling them on a 2nd or 3rd tour are even higher! At Continuing Care Retirement Communities in California, it is taking 5 or 6 visits to turn a reluctant customer into a sale… How many visits on average are your prospects making to your retirement community, before they decide to move in? It would be fantastic to hear averages from all over the country…
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 work for a retirement community in Nanaimo which is on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. I’m finding that for most people that are fairly serious on finding a home, they typically come back 2 to 3 times before making a deposit. Quite often, I find that I am touring the family without the parent, or loved one with them. Then, when the family comes back, they bring mom and/or dad with them as they have toured a few retirement homes in the geographical area that they like and have narrowed it down to 2 or so. Then, finally they allow mom and dad to make the final decision (for the most part). Usually it takes the prospective resident 2 visits to make a final decision.