Senior Living Marketing Perspectives: Talking with Senior Growth Advisors

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

How Scott’s passion for senior living led to the founding of Senior Living Growth Advisors and his podcast
The impact of COVID-19 on Senior Living Growth Advisors
How the pandemic affected design in the senior living communities, both existing and in development
Adapting to restrictions and other lifestyle changes brought about by social distancing measures
Emerging technologies operators are using to redefine the senior living experience

Episode Summary:

In today’s episode, Debbie speaks with Scott McCorvie, President of Senior Living Growth Advisors, and host of The Inner Circle of Senior Living podcast. With 15 years of experience in the senior care space under their belt, Senior Living Growth Advisors assists everyone from owners to developers to investors to operators in optimizing their platform and achieving their desired growth success. Scott’s podcast is dedicated to providing value to the senior living investment industry by hosting discussions and interviews with experts and thought leaders in the field.

Scott believes that the senior living industry has remained resilient in the face of the pandemic and the impact it has had to the economy for the past several months. Investment and development projects have been put on hold and due diligence for acquisitions are delayed. On the other hand, Scott has seen more action in the asset management department as organizations adapt and even innovate amid the various challenges.

To remain competitive, independent living facilities had to have over 50% of their space dedicated to common usage or amenities. This can include anything from movie theaters, libraries, exercise rooms and yoga studies, to even woodworking. But it is those communities whose facilities are expertly designed who have the greatest edge over others who have activity rooms in place but receive little engagement from residents.

Scott recommends, particularly for those communities still in development, to establish centrally located, multipurpose common areas that, on the same day, can be reorganized from a lecture hall into an exercise studio. Marketing a senior living community, after all, is showing off a potential “lifestyle upgrade”, and that impression is sold if prospects can see a thriving, activity-filled space.

In addition to adding infrastructure to bolster the health and safety of residents, especially during the pandemic, Scott says that Innovating the senior living experience also relies on improving engagements between caregivers and residents. This can be accomplished through such implementations as voice-activated technologies which make communication more efficient, or TV screens which display the day’s activities or messages from staff and fellow residents. There are many ways to improve the senior living experience, but Scott encourages operators to be particularly bullish on leveraging as much technology as possible to increase resident engagement.

Links:

Email: [email protected]