Focus on These 3 KPIs to Move the Senior Living Sales Needle

Key Performance Indicators – KPIs. This practice of measuring performance in business has been around in one form or another for a long time. Depending on who you ask, KPIs have been around possibly as far back as the third century A.D. in China! They’ve only become mainstream for most of us in sales in the past decade or so. (Aren’t quite sure what a KPI is? Check out this great blog, “What is a KPI?” by Monday.com.)

If you’re like most sales professionals you’ve not only heard of KPIs but are probably being measured by at least a dozen of them. In some extreme examples, you might be dealing with dozens of KPIs. Don’t get us wrong, we firmly believe in the value of measuring performance through collecting and analyzing data. For the sake of salespeople in senior living communities though, focusing on a manageable 3 KPIs daily can contribute to desired occupancy growth.

3 Senior Living Sales KPIs That Move the Needle

Lead Source Analysis

Leads for prospective senior living residents come to us from a variety of sources: our website, any of the many digital marketing channels, word of mouth, professional referral sources, current residents, friends and families of residents and staff, events, and paid lead aggregators.

The KPI to track here has two parts: the conversion rate of leads to tours for each lead source, and the conversion rate of leads to move-ins for each lead source.

Why track referrals by lead source? Because a) it helps you know which sources are the most productive and should be prioritized; b) it helps to determine  acquisition cost per lead, per tour and per move-in and c) helps in allocating marketing budget spend.

Number of Tours

It’s no secret that prospects typically don’t decide to move to your community unless they tour it first. Reaching move-in goals first depends on prospect tours. How many tours do you need to reach your move-in goals? Glad you asked…

Tour to Move-In Conversion

As we said above, move-ins don’t happen without tours. To determine how many tours need to be conducted to produce a move-in, the tour to move-in conversion is the KPI you want to measure.

To set your target tour to move-in conversion, first look at the trailing 12 months of data for tours and move-ins. Divide move-ins by tours to determine your actual conversion rate. Were 20 move-ins the result of 100 tours? That’s a 20% tour to move-in conversion. An optimal tour to move-in conversion goal might be 35% depending on the level of care. If you’re not hitting your optimal conversion, look at factors such as tour planning, the customer tour experience, closing skills, and follow up.

Start by setting a number of tours needed per community per month. 20 tours converting at 20% is 4 move-ins, converting at 25%, 5 move-ins. Smaller communities may not have the traffic to support 20 tours. Work it backward by starting with the number of move-ins needed.

KPIs are great for measuring progress and making business decisions, but don’t allow yourself to be overwhelmed by watching too many at once. By minding the 3 KPIs  mentioned above, senior living salespeople can remain focused on selling, keeping it as simple as possible, and at the same time be aware of the bigger sales picture.

Ready to take your senior living sales success to a new level by elevating your sales leaders? Grow Your Occupancy provides the sales coaching, accountability coaching, and sales-skill coaching essential to fill that important role. Learn more about Grow Your Occupancy’s sales coaching and training here. Or book your free 30-minute consultation today.

3 Takeaways from 2022 to Reinvigorate Senior Living Sales in 2023

2022 is behind us, whew!

For many of us in senior living sales, 2022 marked a symbolic turning of a corner away from the pandemic upheaval of previous years. Our community doors opened again to prospective residents, masks were mostly put away, staff returned to the workplace, and the fears that senior living communities were a hotbed of infection were put to rest.

The start of 2023 is an opportunity to take a closer look at all we in senior living sales have been through since the quarantines first went into effect, and consider the lessons we’ve learned. It’s also an opportunity to improve our systems and processes and reinvigorate ourselves and our teams.

Takeaway #1: Consistency is key.

One of the go-to phrases we hear a lot when results are under benchmark is:

“The definition of insanity if doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

– Albert Einstein

(It’s just one of “13 Inspiring Einstein Quotes Never Actually Said by Einstein”, by the way.) It’s a valid concept, but when it’s used as the justification for making changes to sales systems, people, and processes we need to be careful. Why? Because of the temptation of solving the problem too soon, or before we know the primary cause.

To improve sales outcomes, consistency is key. Without consistency, it is impossible to accurately measure your current systems and processes, analyze the data, and devise ways to solve the shortcomings. Before taking a “let’s throw new ideas against the wall and see what sticks” approach to solving a problem, look to see if your sales systems and processes are being followed consistently.  In other words, WHAT is being done, how often and how well (or not.)  Doing the same thing over and over makes sense, IF the WHAT is defined and understood.

Takeaway #2: Sales continues to be a neglected silo.

We see this over and over: the sales department in senior living companies continues to be an under supported and underappreciated silo pushed to the fringes of the corporate structure. It seems like sales doesn’t get the respect it deserves because it is often misunderstood. Expectations don’t align with training, support, budget, compensation. As a result, when margins get tight and budgets are cut, sales suffers more than other departments.

Even though the sales department is the primary revenue source for senior living operators, its budget is among the first to get slashed. When sales departments are forced to cut back, they do away with training, support, and technology. Don’t squeeze out sales! Your NOI will thank you for it.

Takeaway #3: Selling senior living takes grit.

Success in senior living sales takes grit. The job requires a resilient mindset to survive. It’s a long game; the conventional wisdom that it takes 6-8 touches to make a sale is way off the mark in senior living. It’s more like 22-28 touches over 3 months to a year or more, depending on the level of care.

There is a lot of rejection. In sales there are more losses than wins. You’ve got to make dozens of call attempts to connect with the prospects in your database. Then they ghost you or tell you – after months of connecting with them – that they’re no longer interested, or they’re moving to a competitor.

Sales leaders: don’t forget grit. As you’re working with your sales teams, remember that it takes grit to succeed, so recognize it and acknowledge it when you see it. When you’re looking to hire new salespeople, look for grit as a key trait for success. Grit is going to yield results in senior living sales more often than just about anything else.

What are your takeaways from 2022 that you’re going to apply to 2023? Want to share how you’re planning to reinvigorate sales in your senior living company in 2023? We’d love to hear from you!

Ready to take your senior living sales success to a new level by elevating your sales leaders? Grow Your Occupancy provides the sales coaching, accountability coaching, and sales-skill coaching essential to fill that important role. Learn more about Grow Your Occupancy’s sales coaching and training here. Or book your free 30-minute consultation today.