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Senior Living Marketing Tactics That Will Engage Today’s Prospects

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In my constant quest to keep up with all things senior living marketing, I recently read an article published by Senior Housing News called “The Secrets To Growing Senior Living Sales & Occupancy.”

In a nutshell, here are the so-called secrets:

  • Do deep discovery.
  • Ask the right questions to get the right information.
  • Understand the difference between senior living marketing and sales.
  • View marketing as an investment, not a cost center.
  • Get the executive director involved in the sales process and train employees to understand the sales process.

Really? These are “secrets”? This same article could have been written 10 years ago!

Here’s the REAL secret: the way prospects engage with senior living communities has dramatically changed.

As such, our senior living marketing and sales tactics need to evolve, too.

We can’t keep recycling old “insights,” like the ones outlined above from that article, because our prospects expect more today than they did 10 years ago – or even three years ago.

So, what can your teams do to better engage with today’s prospects?

Keep reading…

1. Remember that your senior living website is your #1 sales tool.

It’s no surprise that the majority of shoppers go online first, especially when hunting for a particular product. But the Pew Research Center reports that most people begin their searches online when making big life decisions as well. And moving to a senior living community certainly qualifies as a big life decision.

Sure, when people turn to Google as they research senior living options, they might encounter your Google Business Profile and other review sites. But they will ultimately land on your website since it effectively serves as the hub of your community’s online presence.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: It’s time to change the website experience from focusing on community features and benefits (in other words, the “let me tell you about me” model). Instead, re-position your site so that it becomes a valuable resource that seniors, caregivers, and professionals will visit often as they research options. Need ideas for improving your site? Choose our affordable senior living website audit, which will deliver clear action items.

2. Live chat can turn websites into lead generators.

Organic leads are great, but unless you quickly engage them, they will bounce over to a competitor’s site or a paid referral site. (The latter means providers will be buying back move-ins who had initially visited their website!)

Live chat, on the other hand, can quickly engage website visitor by demonstrating empathy and helping visitors access the info they’re looking for. An effective live chat host can generate qualified leads that can be transferred directly from the chat host to a community representative or turned into a scheduled tour. Chat can also provide evening and weekend coverage at a very low cost.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: There are many chat options available, but we typically recommend SiteStaff, because the chat hosts are US-based with specialized training in healthcare settings, like senior living.

3. Videos can help convert prospects into sales.

Here’s a stat for you: 80% of website visitors will stop and watch a video. Talk about engagement! There are many ways to use video, too, from background b-roll to video testimonials from happy residents to virtual tours.

And here’s the even better news: not all video has to be professionally shot. Smartphone videos can work well, especially on social media channels, like Facebook.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Pick up your phones and start shooting! Yes, you need to keep privacy laws in mind, but start shooting video. Short and sweet (think 30 seconds to a minute) can work well. Online editing software can allow you to add in calls-to-action, but you don’t even need to go to that far when sharing on social: just post with a brief intro.

And don’t underestimate using video for more formal things, like tours or room planners. One product we particularly like: DesignFloorPlan.com.

4. Transparent pricing matters.

It’s fair to say that cost plays a big role when people shop around for senior living options.

However, most communities make it impossible to find pricing info on the website, leaving prospects to bounce over to a paid referral site who will not only provide your pricing information, but also your competitors’ info.

We understand that you want to sell your value first before providing prices, because you’re concerned prospects will experience sticker shock, particularly if they don’t have the full context. But the lack of pricing transparency is not helpful to prospects or professionals looking for information.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Consider making your pricing available through a short opt-in form with basic contact information. This scratches two itches: visitors get the info they want, and the sales team has the ability to follow up to establish value and offer resources to help fund senior living.

5. A better “template strategy” can reduce senior living marketing and sales costs.

One of the biggest marketing spends in senior living today is print. Think event flyers, invitations, incentives, direct mail, and postcards, just to name a few items. The problem is that the cost of graphic design, printing, and mailing continues to climb. Not to mention that the shelf life for these items is days or a few weeks TOPS.

The good news? A smarter “template strategy” can reduce these costs. Imagine having all the print items you regularly use at your fingertips as templates that are already outfitted with your logo and brand colors. All you have to do is customize them with the relevant details for that particular marketing campaign. Goodbye, design costs! Goodbye unnecessary printing!

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Check out our SMARTbrand and SMARTbrand+ options. We have a free version and an affordable subscription service that allows you to easily create the materials you need. Or if you like the idea of creating a full-blown template strategy, check out our SMARTstores.

6. Senior living events still work!

“The majority of people who know someone in senior housing have been influenced by this experience (73.0%), most often in a positive way (57.0%)” finds Imagination in their research study. Bottom line: senior living events still work!

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Make sure you include the following in your senior living marketing plan:

  • Friend & family referral programs
  • New resident welcome events for friends
  • Address change cards for new residents to send to friends and neighbors
  • Coupons for meals, salon services, weekend stays, and community events

Need help? Check out our senior living event management solutions.

Senior living marketing has changed. Work with an agency that’s evolved, too.

We’re not just any agency. We’re a senior living marketing agency. Our staff has industry experience, which sets us apart from other agencies (even the ones who also “specialize” in senior living marketing). Get in touch today and request your complimentary 30-minute brainstorming session.

“I’m Not Ready Yet” – Have You Heard This from Prospects?

“I’m Not Ready Yet” – Have You Heard This from Prospects?

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If you have spent anytime as a sales counselor in Senior Housing you most likely hear this on a daily basis. Does that mean they REALLY are not ready yet? The answer is no. What they really are saying is, “I don’t trust you yet” and I am afraid of making this life change. They are thinking, you haven’t given me any indication that you have actually “heard me”, understand my fears of making this change, and “recognized me” for all I have done in my life.

Building trust with a potential resident is probably the most important thing you can do before you start talking about benefits of your community. I know you are probably saying to yourself, I ask about their needs? Do you simply ask about the health and social needs? Of course that is perfect for the most “urgent” prospect that has already made the decision to move. What about the 90% of your other prospects that are onl considering moving in?

Have you ever asked questions like?

  • What are you most proud of in your life?
  • Tell me about your family, children, Grand Children?
  • What was occupation?
  • Have you traveled? If so what is your favorite place?
  • Where and how did you meet your spouse?

These type of questions say to your prospect? I care about you and not just about “selling you”. Let’s face it. Seniors are smart and they know when they are being sold. Stop Selling to Start Closing.

Guest Blog by Jayne Sallerson, COO of Sherpa.

Interested in an upcoming sales training specifically focusing on helping your prospects…GET READY: Click here for training and registration info →

Senior Living SMART Members receive a 50% discount on registration!

Event Details →

6 Simple Steps to Senior Living Sales Management Excellence

Senior Living Sales Management: 6 Steps to Excellence

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At Senior Living SMART, we talk to operators every day who ask the same questions about senior living sales and how to grow their occupancy. How do we get more conversions from senior living website? Which senior living CRM is right for our team? What data should we be looking at to improve results? What new technology should we invest in?

Here are some ideas from our guest author, Enquire Solutions.

1. Don’t lose sight of your true customers: Prospective residents

  • Many senior living marketers focus their sales efforts on the adult children, but ignoring the prospective residents can cost you sales. Don’t take our word for it. A recent ALFA Update highlighted two studies that investigated who makes care decisions. They found that while adult children are involved in their parents’ transitions 73% of the time, the seniors themselves have a say about 70% of the time.
  • Even when adult children make the decision, seniors are still the primary audience. Margaret Wylde of market research company ProMatura Group said: “You’re going to kill the deal if you don’t pay attention to the prospect. ‘If Mom isn’t happy, nobody is happy.’ Many times, executive directors are not taking care of the true customer.”

2. Get more out of your CRM software to increase your occupancy

  • According to senior housing marketing consultant Traci Bild, most senior living communities aren’t using customer relationship management (CRM) software as effectively as they could be, leaving potential sales on the table. In her experience, as many as three-quarters of senior living leads don’t move forward—they are just entered into the system and then forgotten.
  • CRM software’s lead management features can improve your sales process and help you deliver better customer service. When used properly, they can improve response time, automate workflows, deliver customized reports, and monitor your team’s sales performance.

3. Prioritize your leads to better target your sales activities

4. Centralize your sales efforts to increase conversions

  • Senior living communities traditionally have high turnover, in positions ranging from caregivers to salespeople. Centralizing your sales efforts can help you avoid the extra costs—and frustration—associated with constantly needing to hire and train sales staff. In addition, it can help you avoid the consequences of leads that are dropped in the turnover process.
  • Learn more about how centralizing your sales efforts using call center services can help you increase profitability while also controlling costs.

5. Make sure that everyone who answers the phone and is trained.

  • In 2012, senior housing expert Diane Masson conducted a small experiment. She called 12 retirement communities on a Saturday morning and asked them this question: “I am looking for a place for my mom – she lives in your town – how many places are there to choose from and how do you rate?”
  • The results were dismal: she gave one community an A+, two communities B’s, five C’s, one a D, and three F’s. Out of the 12, two went straight to voicemail (automatic F’s) and only four of the people she reached asked for her phone number. Many simply couldn’t answer the question.
  • Calling on a Saturday morning isn’t unusual—about 75% of the people who call senior living communities asking for information are adult children of prospective residents, who usually work during business hours. Don’t settle for anything less than an A+. When potential customers call, make sure the person who answers the phone can provide the information your customers need.

6. Don’t ignore the Internet

  • These days, the Internet can be a senior living community’s best friend or its worst enemy. In any case, it can’t be ignored. What happens online can affect your business in two major ways.
  • Leads – consumers today are well informed. A Google and CEB study found that buyers don’t contact suppliers until they are more than halfway through the purchasing process. They shop online before calling, and increasingly they make inquiries online as well. Traci Bild suggests that online leads are still widely ignored by the senior living industry, which means that simply treating online leads the same as phone leads can give your community a leg up.
  • Reputation -when prospective customers look you up online, what will they find? Online reputation management is a challenging, but essential, aspect of senior living management. For tips on how to do it right, explore this best practices kit provided by Caring.com and Reputation.com.

What is working for you in boosting your occupancy?

Feel free to leave your comments below!

And if you need a boost, let’s talk about how we can help.

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7 Keys to Successful External Business Development

Senior Living Sales Tips: 7 Networking Strategies That Work

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An important component of every successful sales plan involves generating referrals from professional sources. Of course, balancing internal and external sales responsibilities can be challenging for even the most talented senior living sales reps.

Here are some best practices and other senior living sales tips to get the greatest results from your efforts.

1. Have Designated Days Established for Senior Living Sales Networking

Tuesday – Thursday are usually the best days to meet with referral sources. To ensure that you create more referral opportunities with healthcare sources, find out what day they hold their care planning/discharge planning meetings and schedule a visit right after.

2. When Possible, Start Your Day with Sales Calls

Once you set foot in the community, it is very difficult to get out! Going directly from home to networking events, scheduled sales calls, and cold calls will reduce the opportunity for other sales activities to distract you from prospecting. 

3. Know the Difference Between a Sales Call and a Cold Call

A senior living sales call is a scheduled appointment with purpose. It is face to face and it serves to move your relationship with the referral source forward. To be effective, 50% of your sales calls should be scheduled in advance to ensure that you have a face-to-face appointment with a decision maker who influences referrals.

A cold call is an unscheduled face-to-face meeting with a decision maker who influences referrals. It involves having a conversation that moves the relationship forward.

Dropping off brochures, flyers, invitations, cookies, etc., does not qualify as a sales call or a cold call. You must have a face-to-face meeting/conversation with a decision maker or an influencer who can help you get to the decision maker.

4. Senior Living Sales – Understand Hunting and Farming

There are two ways to increase your business. You either have to get more business from your existing referral sources by going deeper in your accounts. Or you should find new pockets of untapped business. Finding new sources is hunting. Getting more business from established accounts is farming. Your week should be a combination of both hunting and farming.

The best way to hunt for more business is to ask every contact at every sales call who they know that you should be talking to. Statistically, every referral source you interact with has a network of 250 contacts. Ask them, “If you were me, who would you be talking to, or who would you want to meet?”

The best way to farm for more business is to ask your existing contacts who else you should introduce yourself to in their organization.

5. Don’t Spill All of Your Candy in the Lobby!!!!

Once you get the appointment, stick with your plan and time frame. It is very tempting to “dump” all of your information in the first visit and then have nothing to tell them in the next visit. On average, people only remember 7% of verbal communication.

6. Common Courtesy Goes a Long Way

  1. Call to confirm the appointment.
  2. Be on time.
  3. Come with a purpose that is meaningful to them.
  4. Stick with the agreed upon timeframe—they are busy!

7. It’s not about You!

The main goal for senior living sales calls is to learn about them—their role, their goals, their challenges, their business, who they would like to meet, how you can help them, what success looks like, how you can refer to them, and what resources would be valuable.  Take an interest in them and they will take an interest in you.

As you nurture the relationship, you’ll learn about their interests outside of work, which will provide an opportunity to do something memorable that sets you apart. If a referral source brings their dog to work, bring biscuits or treats for your next meeting. If they love to eat out, bring a clipping of a new restaurant about to open. People like to do business with people they connect with. Be creative!

How does your community’s sales team farm for new business? Please share!

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.

senior living marketing

Senior Living CRM Software: 6 Things To Consider When Choosing

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It is such an exciting time in the senior living industry with the influx of innovation. One area of growth is in senior living CRM software. Of course, with more choice, you can have more confusion. Below, you’ll find six things to keep in mind when choosing your system.

1. Avoid retrofitted CRMs of yesterday.

CRMs were primarily designed for either the multi-family housing or real estate industries. Then, they were adapted for senior housing use. Retrofits tend to have clunky user interfaces, multiple entries of duplicate information, and clumsy navigation. AVOID!

2. Choose a senior living CRM.

In other words, choose senior living software developed by senior living operators, sales trainers, and experienced thought leaders. How to tell? Visit the industry section on the CRM website. Or look for case studies that highlight use in senior living industries. It’s OK if the CRM company caters to several target markets. Just make sure senior living is among them.

3. Decide between a stand-alone or integrated CRM.

An integrated CRM is connected to a suite of software resources, including clinical and billing/accounting functions. (And sometimes pharmacy, staffing, HR & payroll.)  The upside: the flow of data between departments. The downside is that usually there is one area of strength (strong in accounting/ GL/ financial reporting and budgets) but is weak in the clinical or CRM component – or both.  But once you choose integration, you are stuck with the entire suite leaving some stakeholders frustrated.

A stand-alone CRM only manages the lead base and sales process. The upside is that there are some great choices that match a preferred sales method or philosophy. Also, because it is built specifically for sales, there are usually features included that are not standard in integrated solutions. The downside: once the sale closes, resident information has to be re-entered into clinical and billing/financial systems creating a duplication of effort and an extra investment of time.

4. Evaluate your current situation.

Finding the right senior living CRM software requires an honest analysis of where your community/company is today with both the existing resource, the sales culture, the user comfort level with technology, and training/implementation resources. Begin by getting feedback from stakeholders at every level. What do they think works about the current solution? The goal: to retain the positives of your current solution.

5. Begin with the end in mind.

Once you understand the above, the next step involves evaluating the gaps and what you want to accomplish with the change.  Community, regional, and corporate users will have different priorities. So, it’s important to create a work group representing different roles.

6. Participate in demos of senior living CRM software.

Equipped with a “wish list” and workgroup, you’ll be able to narrow down your choices. Schedule demos with the senior living CRMs that match your requirements. In addition to demos, request access to a test site or sandbox so your users can take the software for a test drive.

Some features sound great, but if they’re too complex for an average user, why bother?  Ask lots of questions. This is a high value purchase. A thoughtful and deliberate decision making process is a worthy investment.

When considering the cost, be sure to find out if pricing is based on the number of users, priced by community with unlimited users, a subscription, etc. Ask if there’s an additional cost to migrate data from your current system to the new software. You might be facing set-up fees and training & support fees as well.

Work with an agency that can help you select and implement your CRM.

That would be us! :) We can help you find the perfect CRM for your needs. We have some favorites that we work with (like Sherpa CRM). Plus, we can show you how to get the most out of it. Let’s chat!

sales tour

Senior Living Sales Training: What “Funny Farm” Can Teach Us About Tours

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The movie Funny Farm with Chevy Chase should be required viewing as part of senior living sales training. When Andy Farmer and his wife struggle to sell their country home after a not-so-idyllic experience of rural living, they decide to enlist the help of an eclectic cast of characters from the community. Everyone comes together to create the perfect experience for a hot lead with a “scheduled tour.”

Everything is planned down to the most minute detail: from ducks waddling along as prospects arrive to a deer prancing across the yard to the perfectly staged home setting and refreshments. It all unfolds perfectly with the help of the entire town!

Nothing is left to chance. The deer had been caged, and as the “prospects” arrived, Chevy Chase as Andy Farmer gave the command into his radio to waiting helpers to “cue the deer” at just the right moment.

Senior Living Sales Training: How to Create the Perfect Tour Experience

The couple that was “touring” was so taken by the experience. They offered more than the asking price and closed on the spot. And because everything was so perfect, they even wanted all of the furniture, dishes, and even the yellow dog.

A well-planned tour of a senior living community can have the same effect. People want to fall in love with a place that is the “perfect fit.”  When this happens, there is less price sensitivity because the family sees and appreciates the value. I’ve had many situations where the family wants to purchase the entire model apartment because it is so warm and inviting!

Here are some quick tips for how your senior living sales team can create a “Cue The Deer” experience:

1. Do thorough discovery to learn about the prospect’s life story.

The more you know, the more personal of an experience you can create.  Ask about interests, hobbies, careers, military service, favorite foods, books, movies, music, family, routines, “must haves” and “non-negotiables.”

For example, with my mother, the community must serve tea in a teapot. Heaven help the server who shows up with a tea bag in a cup and tries to pour water over it and call it “tea!”

2. Based on this information, plan the tour and use your team. 

The team can execute some easy personal touches, such as having a welcome sign at the reception desk with the prospect’s name, having their favorite refreshments served in the hospitality room, or scheduling a favorite activity during the visit. You get the idea.

3. Have a personalized gift at the end of the tour – something especially for them. 

Some common themes can be kept on hand (tea/ coffee lovers basket, dog/ cat lovers selections, photo books of local towns spiritual books/ journals, etc.). Others can be purchased prior to the visit if it is something specific (like the latest book by a favorite author).

4. Do things that your competitors are not doing!

For instance, put out a valet parking sign in advance of the tour. (If they can’t find a parking spot or have to park far away, you will have your first strike against you.) Meet the tour personally at the car – what a great first impression, right? Have umbrellas and wheelchairs handy. Have cold water on hot days. Serve refreshments in glassware & china, not Styrofoam and paper. Offer homemade goodies. And, finally, walk every visitor out to their car for the final personal touch.

We can help your sales and marketing teams create red carpet tours!

We can also turn your senior living website into a lead generation machine so that you have plenty of great leads to give tours to. Let’s chat about your needs!

sales questions

Senior Living Sales & The Decision Making Process

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Making a decision to choose a senior living community is complex, emotionally dynamic, and personal. Navigating the senior living sales process with families and prospects is delicate.  Very, very rarely is there only one decision maker, so doing thorough discovery using the right questions is important for all involved.

Here are a few senior living sales tips learned over the years:

Senior Living Sales Tip: Who? 

It’s important to understand the various roles and responsibilities everyone plays in the decision-making process.  Roles include the first point of contact, a primary caregiver who understands the day-to-day situation, the financially responsible family member, and the long distance family member who thinks everything is fine. Many possible combinations exist.

Each is a key influencer. And each will have different questions, priorities, and hot buttons. A great way to get this information is to say, “Every family we talk to has a different way of researching and choosing a senior living community.  There are family roles, and often-different priorities. Let’s talk about how you, as a family, are going to make this decision together. How would you define your role? Who else will be involved? Are any of them particularly supportive or resistant to the idea of senior living as an option?”

Bottom line: Identify the person or people you will need to win over. And know who is in your corner!

Senior Living Sales Tip: What?

What’s important to each decision maker? Has something changed in their lives that’s forcing them to look at senior living options? What’s the level of awareness/ involvement that the prospect has in making the decision? (Expect different answers for IL and Memory Care.) What other options are they considering? (Not only competitors, but home care etc.)

Senior Living Sales Tip: Why?

Why are they looking now? And why are they looking at your community specifically? Why would a community setting make sense for them?

Senior Living Sales Tip: Where?

Where is the best location for the family and the prospect? Decision makers will likely be looking in a variety of locations, including out of state.  Where does each decision maker/ influencer prefer for them to be located?  Where does the prospect prefer to live?

Senior Living Sales Tip: When?

When are they thinking about making a decision? (What is their timeframe?)  When are they thinking about making the move?  When can we get everyone together for a family meeting to understand and talk through questions, concerns, and options?

Senior Living Sales Tip: How?

How will you all make the decision? Asking how elicits a strategy. For example “I am going to call every community within 10 miles of where Mom lives to get some basic information.  Then, we will narrow down our choice to 4 – 6 communities to visit. From there, we’ll decide on our two top choices and we will bring Mom/Dad to visit to make the final choice.”

Ask how they’ll know when they find the right community? How will their Mother/Father know which community is the best for them? Knowing in advance that “when I find a community where my mom will fit in and feel comfortable” is very different from “when I find a community where my mom can swim, that has a bridge group, and a rich cultural program.”

Better to know earlier in the sales process!

Senior Living Sales Tip: Who Else?

Sometimes, when you think you’ve met all the decision makers, another hidden decision maker pops up!  This can be a family attorney, financial planner, discharge planner, or spiritual advisor.  It’s always a good idea to confirm all of the known participants and then ask “who else” will be involved.

Need some help tweaking your senior living sales process?

We work closely with senior living sales and marketing teams. Let’s chat about your community’s needs.

sales tools

Putting the Right Tools in Your Sales Toolbox

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It is always tricky creating the right Sales Toolbox – one that creates urgency without eroding revenue.  Used correctly, incentives can be used to shorten the sales cycle and achieve move-in targets but they can also be overused leaving money on the table.  Choosing the tools that are right for the job of occupancy & revenue growth requires good analysis and the flexibility to make changes as occupancy fluctuates.  Here are a few things to consider:

Customize the Toolbox for the Size of the Job

Different tools are needed to boost occupancy by 20% than by 5 % so create different toolboxes for communities at various levels of vacancy.  This can be accomplished by simply using the same incentives but with different values (dollar amounts or percentages) or by sweetening the incentives when the occupancy drops to a certain level.  For example, communities above 90% occupancy may be able to offer a variety of incentives up to a certain dollar amount (reimburse moving costs, apartment upgrades, etc.) or use discount percentage (discount community fee by x%, etc.) but if occupancy drops below 90% the dollar amounts and percentages increase.

Short Term vs. Long Term incentives

Some incentives are short term as the incentive is applied once, usually upfront, and other incentives are applied on an ongoing basis.  This is where the revenue vs. occupancy growth must be considered and balanced.  Waiving or discounting a month’s rent or community fee is a short term incentive that erodes revenue for only the month the incentive is applied; discounting rent or offering rent locks erodes revenue over a longer period of time.   Operators and sales leaders have to work together to determine what the goals are in order to create the right toolbox.

Inspect, Analyze and Adjust

There are certain trends to look at in creating the right toolbox.  The first is the average length of stay by lifestyle (IL, AL, ALZ), which helps to project the impact of long-term incentives.  There is a difference in offering a two-year rate lock when the average length of stay is 18 months then when it is 48 months.   Also, the average rate per unit by type of your current residents is helpful to consider ensuring that new residents are not paying less on average than your residents who have lived in the community for years.  Once the sales toolbox is created and approved, an approval process must be established for transparency and to track the success of each incentive offered.  If families show no interest in one of the offers, change it up!

Best Practices

Here is what I have learned in building sales toolboxes over the years:

  • Have a sales toolbox for the Sales Team and another one for the Executive Directors.  I like to give the sales team the short-term incentives and empower them to use the toolbox to shorten the sales cycle and reserve any incentive that impacts ongoing revenue in the hands of the Executive Director.
  • Get feedback from the community and regional teams while creating the toolbox and be willing to adjust the incentives based on individual market differences.  Everyone likes to be part of the process and collaboration increases buy-in.
  • Make sure there are good systems to track the impact of the incentives.  Knowing the historical move-in numbers, market rates and actual collected rates will help evaluate the impact of the program.  The purpose of a sales toolbox is to increase the move-in volume by empowering community teams to overcome objections and shorten the sales cycle.  In six months the trend should show a correlation of incentive dollars relating to increased move-in volume.
  • Evaluate which incentives are working as it may reveal an underlying issue that can be addressed.  For example, if most families are choosing a 5% rent reduction, you may have a pricing issue or if they are choosing an apartment upgrade (a studio deluxe for the same price as a standard studio), you may have a barrier based on the size of your apartments.

Are there any other tools you would add to your sales toolbox? Let’s Chat

pricing strategy

3 Pricing Strategies to Grow Rate, Grow Occupancy – or Both!

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There are many traditional pricing models offered by senior living operators in an effort to grow rate and increase occupancy.  There are no right or wrong answers as long as the strategy is in alignment with your goals.  Generally, pricing strategy is directly related to the stability of occupancy.  With a higher occupancy, operators can push rate. When occupancy declines, incentives may be offered to boost occupancy and that erodes RPU.  The balance is in knowing when to turn the rate and incentive levers and to be flexible and proactive enough to make regular adjustments.  Pricing is not something that operators can do once a year during budget season and then forget about.

Pricing That Offers a Greater Price Range for Prospects without Eroding Rate

Value/ Premium Pricing

This strategy allows a pricing spread throughout the community that offers greater pricing elasticity to meet a wider range of financial options for prospects without eroding rate/ RPU.  Apartments with a premium location (near an elevator, on the first floor, near dining room etc.), premium view or with premium amenities (upgrades, closet space square footage) are priced at higher rates.  Apartments with undesirable locations (end of long hallways, upper floors), undesirable views (parking lot, dumpster, mechanical units) or with a lack of amenities (dark, small, limited closet space) are priced at lower rates.  This strategy allows 3 price points for each apartment type – standard, premium, and value so the overall community still achieves the average rate while offering a greater range of pricing options.

Variable Pricing

Much like paying points on a mortgage, the greater the upfront move-in fee, the lower the monthly base rent.  For example, for every $2000 more paid up front, the resident base rent is reduced by $200.  This gives the community good cash flow up front, and the advantage for the resident is that the investment is paid back within 10 months. Then all future increases are based on the lower rate.

This strategy provides solutions for prospects who:

  • Have good liquidity from the sale of their home or from strong investments, but they do not have much income (they can put up a large move-in fee and buy down their monthly price that is within their income range).
  • Have a strong income, but do not have upfront cash (waiting to sell their home, money tied up in annuities, CDs or other investment).

Companion Living

In addition to “purpose built” companion apartments, this strategy creates companion living apartments out of studio, alcove, and traditionally private one  &  two bedroom apartments.  The companion price is set between 55 – 65% of the private rate for each resident.  It creates a very low price point, which is attractive to residents who would traditionally be financially disqualified.  It provides the community with 110 – 130% of the private rent revenue and two LOCs.

To be successful, the community needs to set up companion model apartments to show how a small space can work for two unrelated residents.  It may also require some form of divider for privacy.

There are probably many other great ideas out there! Are there other creative pricing strategies you have used successfully to balance the growth of both rate and occupancy? Let’s Chat