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More and more communities are moving from paper based and manual systems of tracking prospect information and choosing senior living CRM software.

Why the shift? One word: Information.

Senior living CRMs unlock information that helps sales people see trends and identify opportunities to project future occupancy (among many other things). Essentially, the right senior living CRM will help sales staff abandon the “rearview mirror” way of thinking and adopt a “windshield view” of looking forward.

Rearview Mirror Sales Management

Have you ever been on an “occupancy call” where the regional director gathers all of the communities within the region to participate and report results?

The call usually focuses on all the activities of the previous week: number of new leads, tours, deposits, move-ins/outs, call outs, mail/email outs, home visits, sales calls, professional referrals, and events.

The problem with this approach? There’s no correlation between activities and results. Also, you can’t do anything with the old data. For example, if you’re only focusing on the lack of tours from last week, how does that help this week’s sales goals?

The rearview mirror approach is reactive. Instead of thinking about how to create strategies to improve performance this week, its focus is on what happened last week. And just as objects appear bigger in rearview mirrors, this approach tends to make a bigger deal out of poor sales than is necessary.

Windshield View Sales Management

The most productive calls spend less time on past activities. After all, this information is already in the senior living CRM. Everyone can review it prior to the call. Instead, the discussion can focus on the current sales pipeline. This is a better use of everyone’s time. Why? Because the pipeline provides an overview of prospects/leads and the likelihood of turning those leads into sales.

Remember, the number of scheduled tours, assessments, home visits, sales calls to professionals, and events are a better predictor of success. Your call with the team can then focus on effectively planning and executing the scheduled activities rather than re-hashing lost sales from last week.

The windshield view is proactive: what can the team do to turn the pipeline prospects into residents?

As you can imagine, the windshield view is much more empowering, much more popular, and much more effective.

Note: We’re not suggesting you shouldn’t learn from past activities and performance. But you don’t need to dedicate precious time to recapping and reviewing what’s already in a quality senior living CRM.

Senior Living CRM Tips: Use a Projection Report to Identify Opportunities

Take your CRM to the next level by using a projection report to help identify opportunities.

A projection report is a weekly representation of all of the key data points that drive occupancy, all in one place. It takes into account all of the actual move-ins/move-outs, scheduled ins and outs, and the sales pipeline, all of which can affect occupancy for the month.

We’ve created a template that automatically calculates by both resident and unit count. Download the Projection Report template.

Need help getting the most out of your senior living CRM software?

We have deep experience in senior living sales and marketing, particularly CRMs. Let’s talk about your needs.

When it comes to senior living sales strategies, taking an inquiry call seems simple enough. The phone rings. The person on the other end is reaching out to get information about senior living. Our job is to qualify the prospect and, if appropriate, advance them to a next step.

Simple, right? Nope!

Calls can take many different paths and senior living sales pros have to be prepared, flexible, and intuitive to be successful. Below are do’s and don’ts to keep in mind during this very important step.

1. Senior living sales strategy: Do use a discovery form or questionnaire to capture information.

Over the years, I’ve tried many different discovery forms, including scripted ones and others organized in qualifying themes with sample questions and a box for notes. The problem is that the conversations are not linear and prospects tend to jump around while telling their story. But that’s OK. A messy form is better than NO form.

So figure out what works best for you and stick with it. Whatever you do, don’t wing it! If you need a form, download the one we’ve created (it’s free).

2. Senior living sales strategy: Don’t make it sound like an interrogation.

Listening to hundreds of mystery shops, I’m reminded of how cold it sounds to start a conversation with a litany of informational questions: name, phone, email, address, zip, loved one’s name and age, and the ubiquitous “How did you hear about us?”

Remember, it takes a lot of courage to pick up the phone and call a community. Often, prospects are in crisis mode and what they need is compassion, empathy, and someone who is willing to listen and help. (Keep in mind that it’s quite possible the person has already perused your senior living website as well. So this “first call” isn’t necessarily their first engagement with your community.)

At the beginning of the call, the sales person should only ask for the caller’s name, phone number (in case you get disconnected), and the name and relationship of who they are calling for (so you can personalize the conversation). Then, let the person tell you his or her story. Wait until the end of the conversation to finish gathering all the contact and referral source information.

3. Senior living sales strategy: Do ask these five types of questions (and hold off on pushing for a tour).

Good discovery leads to higher conversions-to-tours and move-ins. Don’t rush the process. Trying to book a tour without knowing anything about the situation is sales malpractice.

Here are the five types of questions you should always ask:

• Situational. Where is the prospect living, are they getting any help from family or agencies, what is working and what is not?
• Greatest Concerns. What are they worried about, how is that affecting everyone, how would moving into a community help?
• Motivations. Why now, what has changed, what does the person want and need, what routines are important to maintain, how will they choose the right community, who will be involved and what are their roles?
• Life Story. What are their favorite interests, hobbies, foods, and so forth? What did they do for work? Do they have children? Grandchildren?
• Financial. Do they have a budget and/or will they qualify for any funding solutions, such as Veterans Aid & Attendance, life insurance conversion, or long-term care insurance?

4. Senior living sales strategy: Do take the time to match a prospect’s wants/needs with specific solutions.

After listening to the story and understanding their situation, you should match their specific needs with community solutions. Avoid “feature dumping,” which simply provides a laundry list of everything the community offers and ignores whether any of it is relevant to the prospect.

Instead, opt for “needs matching,” which involves listening to the prospect’s desires and explaining how living at the community will fulfill those desires and needs. Download our “needs matching” sheet.

5. Senior living sales strategy: Don’t hang up without a next step.

Effective discovery results in a scheduled next step that is date and time specific. If you can’t put it on a calendar, then you can’t consider it a next step or advance.

Always have a main “advance” planned and a back-up “advance” in case the first one is rejected. Sample advances include a scheduled tour, attendance at an upcoming lunch or an event, an appointment with someone who can help with funding solutions, a scheduled home visit or assessment, or attendance at a support group.

If all else fails, ask for mailing and email addresses to send out newsletters/activity calendars or invitations to events.

Need help with this and other senior living sales strategies?

We love working with marketing and sales teams. Our approach helps make everyone’s jobs easier. Let’s chat about your needs!