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“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 →

sales

Senior Living Sales KPIs: Windshield vs the Rearview Mirror

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Facilitating an effective sales meeting requires analysis of both leading and lagging key performance indicators (KPIs). Senior living sales managers at all levels, from the community to regional (and above), often spend more time examining lagging indicators and not enough time digging into leading indicators. Or, as we like to say, look through the windshield rather than the rearview mirror.

To improve the effectiveness of senior living sales meetings, managers should include these KPIs.

Lagging Indicators

Reviewing the completed activities and trends can be helpful in identifying barriers, which can be a learning exercise.  In senior living, managers should examine:

  • Completed activities vs. standards– quality & quantity (were activity goals achieved?)
  • Conversion ratios – trending up or down (is the sales process improving?)
  • Results – new leads, deposits, advances, and referrals (is sales activity turning into sales results?)
  • Market rate comparison to actual rate (impact of sales results to revenue)

Leading Indicators 

Examining the senior living sales plan for the week and month is useful in understanding the future opportunity.  In senior living, managers should examine:

  • Scheduled activities vs. standards – quality & quantity of planned sales activities including;
  • Scheduled Tours & Re-tours
  • Scheduled Assessments
  • Scheduled Sales Calls/ External Business Development – both hunting and farming (finding new accounts & cultivating existing accounts)
  • Scheduled Events
  • Scheduled Call Outs & Lead Follow up/ Nurturing

Spending sales meetings and occupancy calls primarily focused on the “rearview mirror” will result in re-hashing information that is already documented in various reports. Instead, take the “windshield” approach and focus on what’s ahead. In the senior living CRM, identify sales-qualified leads and have the reps focus on those, rather than obsessing on lost leads. In the meantime, marketing can continue to nurture the “not ready yet” leads.

Need help with this approach to senior living sales?

We’re experts at getting marketing and sales teams to align their efforts. Let’s chat!

8 Questions that Determine a Great Leader

8 Questions that Determine a Great Leader

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Are you a good leader? How do you know? Review this quick leadership checklist to see how you measure up against characteristics of great leaders.

8 Questions for a Great Leader

  1. Is your door open more than it is closed? Does your team feel comfortable coming to you with questions, ideas and concerns?
  2. Do you have favorites or are you fair with all your staff? This can be tough – it’s part of human nature to develop close bonds.
  3. Do you have a culture of safety? People make mistakes. Do you punish or provide an environment that creates learning opportunities?
  4. How are you in managing your team’s work/life balance issues? It never fails – on the day of your yearly strategic planning meeting your key team member is out with a sick child. Are you empathetic or frustrated?
  5. Are you even- tempered and consistent with your emotions? Are you predictable in your reactions in times of change and crisis? Keep calm and carry on!
  6. Have you set expectations with your team? Does your staff know clearly what is expected of them and are they given the support to reach their goals?
  7. Do you micromanage your staff? Or do you empower them to make changes and decisions with the end goal in mind?
  8. Are you having fun? Are you creating an environment where people enjoy coming to work regardless of the external stressors?

The best way to assess your leadership skills is to look at your team:

Are they having fun?

Are they feeling successful?

Is the team reaching goals?

What other questions could you ask someone to determine if their characteristics are ones of great leaders?

Premium Content

Increase Tour: Move-in Conversions, First by Improving First Impressions

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It costs an average of $900 to generate one tour, so it is worth taking time to pre-plan a WOW Experience!  The three most common root causes for a low Tour: Move-In Ratio are Poor First Impressions, Unplanned Tour Experiences, and Lack of Creative Follow Up.  Here are some ways to improve first impressions to boost the Tour: Move-In conversions.

First Impressions

Curb Appeal

Take an honest look at your landscaping, trash, clutter, outside seating, smoking area, and ask yourself, “does this represent the care and respect we show to our residents and does it reflect the cleanliness and attention to detail inside the community?”

Parking

Do you have dedicated parking for your tours?  Do you allow staff or family visitors to take up those spots so they are not available for tour parking?  Can you create a temporary tour parking area for tours or offer valet service to make it easy for tours to park and enter the community?

Concierge

Is the concierge aware of all scheduled tours and does he/she have their name so they can greet them by name?  Do they get up for every tour and come around the desk to welcome them, take coats, and offer refreshments?   Is there a sign in the front area welcoming the tour by name?

Promptness

Do not keep a tour waiting!  Someone (preferably the sales person) should be at the ready to meet and welcome the tour at their car or as they walk in the door.

Hospitality Room

Tour process is Sit-Walk-Sit, and every tour should start in a dedicated Hospitality Room that is private and invites a comfortable conversation and an environment to share privately.  Ideally, this is a dedicated room with a selection of refreshments and fresh baked goodies.  If that is not possible, stock the model apartment with all of the refreshments and collaterals.

Model Apartment

This is a must and it cannot be leftover, mismatched resident furniture!  The model should incorporate all the senses – look beautiful, smell wonderful, music playing, be clean, and well light – bright and cheerful!  Models sell!

Cleanliness

From outside and throughout the community, prospects notice the cleanliness of the community and make the connection that this reflects the quality of resident care.  Clutter, chairs in disarray after an activity, scuffed door kick plates, and dirty bathrooms are key and often overlooked.  To raise attention to first impressions, create a simple First Impressions Checklist and have one manager own the daily walk through for a week and bring it to Stand-Up to identify areas of focus.

If you need any of these tools, check out Senior Living SMART! Part 2 of the series is coming up Wednesday when you learn how to turn your tour experiences into Move-ins! Part 3 will be Friday on how to follow-up on the tours effectively to increase move-in ratio.

reputation management

Strategies for Better Senior Living Reputation Management

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Why is senior living reputation management so important? Well, let’s face it: people rely on online reviews more now than ever before. So, what people say about your community MATTERS (regardless whether you agree with their assessment or not).

Consider the following stats:

And that’s just the tip of a very large iceberg when it comes to stats about consumers and online reviews.

This shouldn’t surprise any of us senior living marketers. After all, we’re consumers, too. We seek out reviews (and judge businesses accordingly) just like everyone else.
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