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On a recent call with a client this week, we chatted about new sales. She was especially excited about two sales that seemed to have come out of the blue. Who wouldn’t be thrilled when a first-time appointment with a couple you’ve never met results in a sale, in a single afternoon? That’s practically an urban legend.    

The other sale was a single man, a re-inquiry who was coded “lost lead” in the database. Details emerged…

The couple had been aware of the community for a while, had received direct mail and event invitations for nearly three years. They liked retirement communities, especially CCRCs, because her parents had loved one in another state where they lived 20-some years. All along, this couple thought my client’s community could be a good fit for them. They’d checked it out online, but they were busy and not ready to visit in person until now. But the last couple of winters had taken their toll, and settling in before the next winter became a priority.  

The single man had visited several times with his wife, the first more than two years earlier. They were very interested and close to making a decision, then his wife became ill and passed away last fall. He decided moving to the community they had both been drawn to would make good on his promise to her to take care of himself.    

So neither of these sales had really come out of the blue. They’d been in process for quite a while, for both buyers.

Lessons can be learned from these stories, and here are a few my client and I discussed. Surely there are other ideas. Please share yours. 

Let’s stop accepting “I’m not ready” as an excuse. Instead, we can try to uncover the real reason behind any objection and help customers see things differently, which may well lead to a sale.

Let’s show we care about people. We do, of course, so let’s show even our coldest prospects (purchased list). My client’s sales team will now call as many as possible from the purchased list (those not on the Do Not Call registry), as well as the leads already in the database, a day or two after they receive an event invitation. The team will add their personal invitation, collect RSVPs, leave voice messages when they must. It’s a simple, non-invasive way to put a human touch on marketing communications, and increase new lead generation. We think it could have prompted the couple in this story to visit sooner. And make their decision sooner.

Let’s revisit “lost leads” and other database status codes on a regular basis.
If someone says don’t ever contact me again, you want to take that seriously.
For most, though, it’s worth staying in touch in some way. Situations change. People change their minds. But if they never hear from you again, chances are good they will turn to another community that shows an interest.     

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Avid readers of The New York Times may already know about this excellent blog, The New Old Age.

For everyone else, it’s worth checking out. It’s written to and about a generation (largely boomers) who are dealing with all sorts of issues facing their aging parents and, in the process, realizing what may loom on the horizon of their own “new old age.”

This blog is real, but sensitive, sometimes amusing and always insightful about what this target audience segment (adult child influencers/decision makers, as most of us marketing senior living think of them) has on their minds. These are not cryptic little posts, but good, often long, real stories, made highly engaging by Paula Span and other contributing writers/editors.

I’d love to hear what you think of this blog, or if there are other blogs out there you recommend following.

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Thankfully it takes a good deal longer to actually grow old. But for a quick look at and listen to how vision loss and hearing loss impacts an increasingly graying America, check out the link below. I guarantee in three minutes or less, you’ll come away with an increased appreciation for what your older family members and those you see each day working in the field of senior living may well be dealing with. This is why it’s worth paying special attention to color usage, contrast, glare, type size and font characteristics, plus clearly articulated speech – just to name a few things that affect the way we all communicate with seniors. Viewing these examples may be a particularly good exercise for your new and younger staff members.

Growing Old in Three Minutes

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Finish the quote above and chances are you’ll say, “to make a first impression.” Oscar Wilde may have said it first (though some credit the
first use to Mad Men of the ’60s). Regardless, everyone has surely heard this maxim.

You may be thinking, what a BGO (blinding glimpse of the obvious)! But before you log off, give me a chance to make a point here. It’s about call tracking and how it can help you improve your community’s first impression.

Call tracking has been around for a few years, but it didn’t always work so well, reporting was often clunky, and it cost quite a bit. Only recently have technology, robust real-time data, and affordability come together to make it such a great adjunct to marketing programs.

It works like this: a call tracking service provides a unique phone number to be used for each individual communication to be tracked. The number transfers seamlessly to your existing line and can be changed to another line just as seamlessly.  Your customers don’t know the difference. And the data is recorded (more about data shortly).

Give each direct mail piece and each print publication its own number, and you’ll clearly see how response varies. Take it a little further, with a unique number for each section or zoned edition of each newspaper you’re running in, and the variation in response could surprise you. You may find, as we did for one of my clients, a frequent “premium placement” that wasn’t such a premium after all. In spite of diligent source-of-inquiry questioning by the receptionist, this wasn’t apparent until we initiated call tracking.   

Your website can have its own number, or even several numbers associated with specific offers, callout messages or actions. You already know how many inquiries are coming through your site’s response form. With call tracking, you’ll also know the customers who prefer to call you after visiting your site and what messages from your site prompted the calls.   

As for how all this translates to improving your community’s first impression, your call tracking service needs to provide you with the data ─ not in a report that comes weeks later, but in the heat of the moment. You need an easy-access portal where you can view the real-time and historical call log and listen to recorded calls. Listen to just a few calls and you’ll clearly hear the impression each of your customers is getting. I think you’ll find recordings invaluable for training.      

There are so many other benefits to call tracking beyond those I’ve included in my blog space du jour. But I’m such an enthusiastic advocate, I’ll probably blog about this again soon.

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(Your market may be different.)

Through our work with senior living communities across the country, we get to experience a broad spectrum of market situations and consumer reactions. So, when clients ask us to talk about trends (which they do frequently), we can’t help but lead with a disclaimer, such as “Keep in mind, your market may be different.” Still, we do monitor what we believe to be trends, and think some of the following apply to more communities in more markets than not. We invite you to tell us about your own experience, if it aligns with or departs from these trends:

• Residents are becoming older and frailer, more need-driven – both new independent living and assisted living residents. Average age on entrance continues to increase.

• On top of economic concerns keeping seniors in their homes, an increasing array of home-based services are available to extend their ability to age in place.

• Seniors continue to be concerned about the economy’s slow recovery and their real or perceived loss of assets and home value. Along with the age-old reasons to cancel moving plans (we’re not ready being the most common), today’s excuses include: can’t sell my home, won’t try to sell until the market improves, can’t afford to move, will stay home until I need assisted living.

• Traditionally the decision-maker for assisted living, adult children are also more involved with independent living decisions these days. And more often the first to inquire.

• New lead generation has remained robust in many markets. (We believe this is a positive indicator that people are still interested in exploring senior living options.) Closing sales is tougher.

• The length of time to make an independent living buying decision is increasing. More touchpoints are needed, multiple appointments, and strong sales professionals who believe in the value of the CCRC lifestyle and possess remarkable counseling skills.

• Prospective residents are doing more research than ever, comparison shopping and choosing based on price and value. Many expect discounts on entrance fees, monthly fees and moving expenses.

• Wait lists aren’t working like they used to. Many communities we know have discontinued them. Or stopped adding new members. Or pared back the number of wine-and-dine events for wait listers. In the process, they’ve closed some sales and freed up their time and budget for more effective uses.   

What do you think? What’s going on in your market?

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