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When I set out to find the right retirement community for my mother-in-law, I was a “live one.” Meaning I gave off strong buying signals and expected some effort to close the sale, or at least to develop a relationship that would lead to a sale. Surprisingly, that wasn’t the case.

I started the search in earnest in January 2009. I had put together a comparison chart, then narrowed it to three places to visit – relatively easy, given my 12 years’ experience in marketing senior living. As agreed with my husband and sister-in-law, my contribution would be to find the right place and they would take it from there. I was up for it, thinking it would be good to experience the customer’s side of the table. I decided I would be a typical consumer – informed, but no more so than anyone could be with a little online and in-person research. 

I set appointments with sales counselors at three different communities. The story they heard from me, in a nutshell, was this: Bernice is ready to make the move from Columbus, Nebraska, to Kansas City to be closer to her children and grandchildren. She is 82, healthy, active, sociable, loves volunteering and is active in her church. She downsized from house to apartment five years ago, and recently shifted to a month-to-month lease so she could be ready to move quickly – ideally within about 60 days. She doesn’t want a lot of space — a one-bedroom apartment will be fine. The plan is for me to choose the community from the few I am visiting. Bernice will be here in two weeks and we will visit my first choice, possibly a second. Combined with lots of positive comments from me during community tours and stops to chat with residents and staff, I can’t imagine having given stronger buying signals. 

Several suitable apartments were available at each location, and any of these communities would have worked fine. It would have been an easy sale. Yet no one tried to close the sale or attempted to set a second appointment. The sum total of contacts after my visits included one email weeks later (Bernice had moved by then) and the obvious fact that my name made that community’s mailing list five months later. There was no sense of urgency, no follow-up and they sure missed my ready-to-buy signals – all at a time when there must have been more pressure than usual to fill vacant apartments.

GlynnDevins has the pleasure of working with many skilled sales teams, and in the entire field of senior living there must be thousands. Perhaps my experience was a fluke. What it drove home to me was the importance of basic salesmanship, even simple customer service. It would have been so easy to set another appointment on the spot, call me later, or do anything at all to make the decision easier. If I had been a typical consumer, I think I would have needed the prompting and the support. There’s no question Bernice would have needed it if trying to make the decision for herself.

The good news is that she is happily settled in at her new place, and we’re enjoying time with her that doesn’t involve a 10-hour roundtrip drive.

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