by Diane Masson | Nov 3, 2013
Recently, I received an email from retirement counselor at a four-year-old Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) in California. He talked about being busy making 500 calls per month. I asked if that was 500 calls for just himself or was it 500 calls for the team of three senior living sales people? The answer was 500 calls for the entire team.
Just an FYI for administrators and senior living sale people – 500 calls for a senior living sales team of three is not great. Each retirement counselor should be personally generating 300 calls or more in order to increase the occupancy.
We track database calls with all my senior living sales teams. For the month of October, one of my CCRC marketing directors rocked with 469 calls. Even with all her responsibility, she set the pace. One of the retirement counselors generated 340 calls and another made 315 calls. These three team members produced 1,124 calls in one month! This included inbound and outbound calls. This CCRC team is one of the hardest working teams that I have ever encountered.
What is the result? Tours, tours and tours! What comes from tours? Move-ins! Move-ins increase your occupancy and generate revenue. How many calls are you and your teams creating per month? Do you track it? You should!
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.
by Diane Masson | Oct 27, 2013
Do your residents speak at your senior living community’s events? Are you afraid of what they might say? If you don’t let residents speak, then your senior attendees are missing out. How can seniors really know what it is like to live at a retirement community or assisted living? The most effective way is for them to hear it from a peer.
Yesterday, I had a fabulous resident speaker at the Oktoberfest event for Freedom Village in Lake Forest, Ca. Richard spoke from the heart for about four minutes. His opening line was, “Welcome to my home.” He explained why he, his wife Barbara and Lily (his Chihuahua) moved to a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC).
Richard shared some cute stories including when his wife initially tried the food at Freedom Village. She had declared, “The food is delicious and we are moving here.” He also said, “I was walking through my apartment the other day and just stopped to tell my wife, how happy that I am living here at Freedom Village.” He retired from law enforcement and explained why he felt very safe and secure at his retirement community. He mentioned volunteering at the local hospital and how you can live any kind of life you want. Sometimes he just enjoys reading a book in his apartment and at other times he has the opportunity to be social at dinner or at events.
I had no clue what Richard would say. Was it a risk? Yes! But it is important to make your best guess selecting a resident to speak at your senior living event. Richard and his wife are very active at the CCRC and embrace life with vigor and vitality. Richard’s testimonial was pivotal to some guests deciding to make Freedom Village their future home. In the past, I have had residents speak too long and had to gently nudge them to end. What are your experiences?
Do you want more information on how to put on a great event? Click on this link for a previous blog post I wrote about 8 Keys to Create Compelling Events that Drive Sales in Senior Living.
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.
by Diane Masson | Oct 20, 2013
An adult child or power of attorney plays a crucial role at a care conference. You can literally hold the pieces of the puzzle that an assisted living, skilled nursing care or memory care need in order to enhance the lifestyle of the resident.
No one alive knows my mom better than me. She cannot always advocate on her own behalf, because she has vascular dementia. If I asked her, “What would you rather have for dinner, prime rib or salmon?” My mom would say, “Diane you know what I like, you decide.” Even with her dementia, she knows that I will select her favorite choices from the past.
Recently, at my mom’s care conference in skilled nursing care a puzzle started to come together. My mom was having episodes of greater confusion. It might be three days in row and then she would be fine again. Was my mom’s dementia getting worse or was it something else? Would she need to start a new drug?
As we were brainstorming possibilities, I remembered how lack of sleep could intensive my mom’s dementia in the past. We figured out that the bed alarm of some of her recent roommates was affecting her sleep. When she experienced less sleep, then she would have episodes of greater delusion during the day.
It was an aha moment, so now they are going to focus on roommates who don’t need constant alarms going off. Hopefully my mom will improve. As a Boomer child, I have to be willing to accept that my mom’s dementia is getting worse, but maybe my advocacy can continue to help improve her quality of life for now.
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.
by Diane Masson | Oct 13, 2013
It can be so simple to alleviate someone’s fear by giving a simple explanation of what to expect in the coming minutes or hour. If you skip this simple step at your senior living community – learn what can happen.
Yesterday, I was at the dentist for a routine crown. I received a crown 20 years ago and had no bad memories or fears coming to the appointment. Once I signed that I would pay for the crown, there was zero explanation of what would happen next…
It was tough hearing, feeling and smelling procedures in my mouth with zero knowledge of the reason. Could he have not taken a moment for some quick explanations to elevate the fear of the unknown? The dentist did warn me about the pounding that was about to come. That was my only warning. He asked me to open up and bite down on something squishy, then he just walked away and left me. What was in my mouth and why? Well it turned out to be a crown mold that needed to set in my mouth for 8 minutes. When the dentist came back, I had pretty much made a decision to never go to this dentist again.
When a prospective senior resident arrives at your senior living community, they can have fears. A senior can fear being sold, giving up his or her home of 40 years, change in lifestyle, losing the size or view of the current home, downsizing, moving, mortality, being accepted by other residents, losing control and etc.
Simply take two minutes before touring a prospective senior resident and share what can happen on the visit. Then ask for his or her permission to proceed. Watch them visibly relax before your eyes.
Maybe you say something like, “Today, you will have an opportunity to learn what our retirement community (assisted living, skilled nursing care, memory care or Continuing Care Retirement Community) has to offer and to see if this community could possibly be an option for you in your future. Why don’t we take a few minutes to determine what is most important for you to learn today and then I can determine what areas of the community to show you first. This will save you a lot of time. My goal will be to answer all your questions as we tour the community and see a model home. When you leave today, I will give you a brochure with all the floor plans and pricing included. How does that sound to you?”
Relaxed seniors buy and stressed seniors go to the next senior living community who will relax them. What do you say or do to relax your perspective residents at the beginning of a walk-in tour or appointment?
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.
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.
