The Senior Living Sales Counselor – A Trapeze Artist

Success in senior living sales is a balance of art and science with many analogies. I have heard it described as a dance-very artistic. Others describe the journey as a funnel or pipeline-100% science. My analogy involves a trapeze. Let me explain!

Going to the circus as a child, I was mesmerized by the trapeze artists. I watched excitedly as they climbed the precarious ladder up to the tippy top of the tent and gathered on the absurdly small platform to take their places. I don’t know what their official roles were, but I thought of them as catchers and flyers.

The catchers were first up, hanging upside down, establishing a steady rhythm, and preparing themselves for the responsibility of catching one or more of the flyers-without a safety net. The flyers then started their swinging back and forth, getting into synch with the catcher and waiting for the right time and alignment to let go of the safety of the swing.

I held my breath until the flyer was caught and brought over to the platform on the other side. It always seemed to take forever and I could never figure out how the flyers knew just the right moment to let go and fly! There was a lot of technique involved in executing this feat, but there was also grace, flexibility, and trust.

In a senior living sales process, I see the families as the flyers and the community sales teams as the catchers. Families bravely climb the scary ladder, gather together on the platform, and try to make it to the other side of finding the right senior living community. Our community sales team “catchers” are always ready to catch the family and bring them safely across the divide. They cannot rush the flyer or entice them over; they just have to be there as a steady presence to build trust.

Usually, the family members gathered on the tiny platform nominate the adult daughter as the first flyer and over she comes as the family scout. Others follow with encouragement from those that went before until, finally, the future resident joins. And the whole time, the senior living sales team is there, waiting to catch.

Whether your sales philosophy falls more on the side of art or on the side of science, here are some resources that should be of interest.

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