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Senior Living Marketing Perspectives: Evaluating your Digital Presence with Andy Crestodina

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Topics Discussed and Key Points:

  • How the senior care space has transformed in 2020
  • Managing your online reputation
  • When and how to update your website
  • Differentiating yourself with intentional copy
  • Pushing sales messaging into the marketing funnel
  • Creating content in 2021
  • Maximizing the conversion experience by incorporating flow
  • When to automate your processes
  • What tools operators should consider for their 2021 marketing budget 

Episode Summary:

In today’s episode, Debbie speaks with Andy Crestodina, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Orbit Media, an award-winning 38-person digital agency in Chicago.

The challenges we have seen in 2020 accelerated the trend toward the empowered prospect. There is more content than ever before for potential clients or customers to go through, which allows them to make a decision on a product or service even before meeting a representative of the company. Before, to learn what a business offered, you had to talk to people. Today, for many businesses that is no longer the case. The responsibility of a marketer, therefore, is to help prospects make a great decision by considering their product as an option.

The foundation of your marketing efforts is evaluating your digital presence (and those of your competitors). From being present on most of the major social channels (depending on your demographic) to making sure you show up at the top of Google results, having both quality and quantity in your content marketing efforts should be one of the first major goals of your business.

When it comes to designing and updating your website, always think about the perspective of the visitor. The site does not have to sell; but it has to give sufficient information to the visitor. The job of the website is to answer questions. What are their questions? What are their concerns? Which of those questions and concerns are among their top priorities? What are our best answers for those questions, and what evidence can we add to support those answers? When you know these things, you are ready to build a high-converting website. The job of the website is to give visitors sufficient clarity and trust (i.e. answers and evidence) to get them just over the psychological threshold toward contacting you.

Asked about producing the right kind of content in 2021, particularly for the senior living space, Andy encourages operators to focus on the bottom of the funnel. Take care of your current prospects first: those who are already brand-aware. Many cold prospects may continue to have low intent going into the new year and might not be ready for anything—not even the initial call.

Bottom-of-funnel content that answers sales questions should be prioritized; but also use this strategy to grow your email list. Work hard on the call to action to subscribe to your newsletter, because growing your email list puts you in control of your marketing destiny, unlike your social media platforms. Keep your subscribers in flow by keeping them engaged with a tailored content experience that regularly gives them value while keeping you top-of-mind until they are ready to take the next step.

Links:

Orbit Media

Orbit Media Studios on YouTube

Andy Crestodina on LinkedIn

Senior Living Marketing Perspectives: Uncovering New Insights in the Senior Living Industry with Alex Fisher from Sherpa

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Topics Discussed and Key Points:

  • Insights uncovered about the senior living industry in March, April, and May
  • Making the best out of fewer leads
  • Adapting sales training and hiring practices to the new normal
  • Confronting fears by tapping into your motivations

 Episode Summary:

In today’s episode, Debbie speaks with Alex Fisher, Co-Founder of Sherpa CRM. As the impact of COVID-19 continues to influence all major business decisions, Debbie and Alex discuss data insights for March, April, and May, released recently by Sherpa.

This data provides a qualitative indication of the sales and outcomes of a sample size of about 82,000 units of independent living, assisted living, and memory care facilities. In making sense of the information, Alex stresses that “the sales process should not be predicated on the level of care, but on the person.”

While leads have been down across the board, Alex says that sales and marketing professionals have always tended to “underwork” prospective buyers anyway. With the pandemic causing everybody to pay better attention to the leads that they do continue to generate, there is now an opportunity to put more focus and care into each individual prospect. Says Alex, “Our philosophy is that the new lead is not necessarily going to be better than the old lead. As a matter of fact, there is gold in your existing leads. Some of them may have been resistant to your efforts for a while, but they still exist.”

With fewer leads to work with, Alex emphasizes the importance of really getting inside the heads and the hearts of both the potential residents and their families. Specifically, what is going on in their world as they prepare to make the life-altering decision of whether or not to move into a new community, especially in the face of these challenging times? Making the effort to be truly empathetic to your potential customers’ desires always leads to more sales. As Alex eloquently puts it, “Shallow engagement leads to lower conversions.”

Even before COVID-19, Alex says that much can be done to improve sales training and what to look for when hiring salespeople. For one, there tends to be an overreliance on product. In an industry full of “glorified tour givers”, she calls for refocusing the focus of sales training onto the prospect by letting go of the outcome. This requires emotional intelligence through self-awareness and embracing the fact that salespeople are “facilitators of change” who help break down emotional barriers so that prospects can have the confidence to make adjustments in their lives.

Links:

Sherpa CRM

Email: [email protected]

8 Things Every Senior Living Associate Needs to Know About Dementia Care

8 Things Every Senior Living Associate Needs to Know About Dementia Care

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Whether you’re a CEO, business office manager, or housekeeper, you need to know eight things about caring for residents with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD).

  1. Memory Loss is Not a Normal Part of Aging. That’s right, just because you get older does not necessarily mean you will have memory loss. Memory abilities do change with normal aging to some extent, but they are much more affected by the changes in the brain that happen with illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
  1. Alzheimer’s disease is a Physical Disease Process. Many people misinterpret some of the behaviors seen by individuals with ADRD as a form of mental illness or acting out. I have even heard Alzheimer’s residents described as being manipulative and intentionally disruptive. Our brains are responsible for controlling everything we do throughout the day including mobility, motor function, hunger, thirst, feelings, thinking, and emotion. Alzheimer’s disease leads to nerve cell and tissue loss throughout the brain. Over time, the brain shrinks dramatically. We wouldn’t ask someone with a broken arm to lift a large, heavy box – but often times we will ask those with ADRD: “What did you have for dinner?”
  1. Every Resident Goes Through the Disease Process Differently. We all have different perspectives, experiences, interests, and personalities. Even though the disease affects certain areas of the brain, each individual can experience different symptoms, reactions, and behaviors. As a wonderful mentor once told me, “If you’ve met one person with Alzheimer’s disease, you’ve met one person with Alzheimer’s disease.”
  1. Negatives only Produce Negatives. Because ADRD impacts areas of the brain that control judgement, reasoning, perception, and sequencing, individuals with ADRD can often act in an unsafe manner. For example, wanting to go outside in a winter storm without a coat or shoes. But saying “no,” “stop,” or “don’t” will only aggravate the situation. Reasoning may not always be a practical approach.
  1. Knowing the Resident is Key in Providing Quality Care. The more we know about the resident—their likes and dislikes, their history, their life story—the easier it is to provide them with moments of joy and success as well as better outcomes in managing challenging behaviors.
  1. Great Care Starts with Being Resident-Focused versus Task-Focused. The goal for each day should not be to check off a list of duties. Success should not be measured by showers, meal intake, or med reminders. A successful day for a resident is the opportunity to have choice, be successful, be loved and respected, and experience joy.
  2. Choice and Control are Key. Providing residents with opportunities for choice and control allows resident to feel good about themselves. This helps decrease the level of frustration. Oftentimes, caregivers will place a specific drink at a resident’s table setting knowing they like orange juice at breakfast. But allowing a resident to choose their morning drink, or depending on their level of functioning, to say “yes” to a glass of orange juice gives them choice and control in an environment where they have very little of those.
  3. You Can’t Take Great Care of Residents if You are Not Taking Great Care of Yourself. Working with individuals with ADRD takes a lot of patience, calm demeanor, humor, and did I mention patience? It can be a difficult role at times. It’s important to care for yourself and recognize when you are getting impatient and frustrated.
senior living marketing

Senior Living Sales Strategies: Selling Memory Care

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There is a reason that a family member decided to pick up the phone when they did and call you. Finding out the reason is key in selling memory care. Here are the six senior living sales strategies to remember when selling memory care:

1. Listen, Listen, Listen, and then Listen Some More.

  • Allow the family time to vent and explain their frustrations.
  • Make sure to give them an opportunity to ask questions.
  • Ask open-ended discovery questions. This will give you more information regarding their situation and concerns.
  • Learn about the potential resident and stress points. Why did they pick up the phone and call you?

2. Selling Memory Care – Educate and Inform.

  • The more they understand, the more control families have over the decision making process.
  • Don’t overwhelm families with too much information.
  • Use different resources. Some people learn more from books and pamphlets, others from videos or lectures.
  • Build a resource library with plenty of helpful guides, blog posts, and other premium content.
  • Offer support groups and educational programs.

3. Senior Living Sales Strategies: Help Solve Their Problems.

  • Reduce stress during the decision making process – providing the right amount of support.
  • Offer respite services.
  • Know your Community Resources:
    • Alzheimer’s Association
    • Elder Law Attorneys
    • Counseling Professionals
    • Geriatric Medicine Professionals

4. Listen…Yes Again! Mark Twain once said, “You have two ears and one mouth, so you should listen twice as much as you say.”

  • Listen to what is being said as well as what is left unsaid.
  • Don’t jump to fill pauses in the conversation.

5. Remember it’s an Emotional Process.

  • Families may not always be rational. Provide patience and don’t judge.
  • The decision to call you is often filled with guilt. Guilt can be the main hurdle to overcome.

6. It’s All About the People.

  • Physical Environment is important – but it’s all about who is going to be taking care of mom.
  • Engage with residents and associates on tour.

Things to keep in mind during the tour and move-in process:

  • Encourage families to make a decision before a crisis (fall, wandering) occurs.
  • Make the decision process less daunting by providing support for the Move-In process.
  • Recognize and understand what each family is going through and recognize that each family and each situation is unique.
  • You do this every day – for families, the tour and move-in process is often unknown and overwhelming.

Senior Living Sales Strategies Need to Be Aligned with Marketing!

That’s precisely where we can help! Get in touch and let’s discuss your sales and marketing needs.