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I know, it’s one of those buzz words that everyone’s a little bit tired of. Yet we keep hearing about the need to be transparent – to communicate honestly and openly – to gain trust.

And isn’t building trust the guiding principle in selling our product? In retaining residents? Keeping staff members motivated and committed?

I was recently consulting with a community that’s in the early stages of redevelopment. They want to deliver on the promised “insider updates” at an upcoming Priority Member retention event, and are facing a familiar challenge – the fact that the Priority phase is generally characterized as a time when there’s very little interesting or relevant progress to report.

My suggestion? Instead of trying to manufacture something “exclusive” to share with them, why not give them a deeper-dive explanation of the development process? Explain the business reasons that drive the benefits we’re offering them – that we need to build early momentum to achieve the pre-sales needed for financing. What’s the risk, really? It’s information they could find on their own if they really wanted to, and we can score big points by offering it up in an honest, forthright way.

Another community – this one operational – was considering opening up a popular resident event to hot leads. Their hesitation stemmed from the expected presence of some memory support residents at the event. Of course we want to create a welcoming, enjoyable experience for prospective residents, but don’t you think it’s also important for them to know – to see for themselves – that they’ll still be valued participants in the community, if they ever require a higher level of care?

While decisions like these must be carefully considered and won’t always be easy to make, think about steps you can take to be more transparent to your various audiences – and foster that trust that is so paramount to your community’s success.

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