Each month, Grow Your Occupancy’s sales specialists call and visit dozens of senior living communities to perform mystery shops and skills assessments. They see and experience what is working well and what is not. In other words, what are the big wins and misses in the senior living customer visit experience.
For this month’s blog, we asked our sales specialists to identify the top things teams MUST DO and MUST AVOID to optimize the customer experience. None are difficult and most will seem common sense.
Stay competitive by following the MUST DOs and avoiding the DON’Ts:
MUST DOs
- Your building must be clean and smell good. This was the overwhelming #1 MUST DO from our shoppers. Visible dirt and grime and bad odors are very off-putting. The message dirt and odors send is that, if the staff can’t keep the building clean, how can they take care of your loved one? We are still experiencing buildings that are NOT clean.
- Your building needs to be in good shape. Nicks and marks on walls and stains on the carpets are inevitable in active senior living communities, but these things come across as a building that is tired, worn out, and isn’t maintained well. This isn’t entirely on the maintenance staff either: straightening crooked wall art, keeping the front entrance area tidy, and so on are tasks that all staff can easily take on.
- Greet your prospects warmly. The front desk staff, concierge, and sales team members should offer a warm greeting, preferably including the prospect’s name, if their visit is known ahead of time.
- Use the prospect’s name during the tour. People respond strongly when addressed by their name. The benefits include them listening more closely to what you’re saying, and giving you their attention. They’ll likely also be more diligent about remembering your name.
- Introduce me to staff members and residents. Our shoppers often commented that they felt like they were touring a community in a vacuum, isolated from encounters with both staff and residents. Break down that barrier by introducing prospects to staff members and residents encountered on the tour. Also, make a point of meeting at least one of the department heads or the executive director on the tour.
- Set an expectation of eye contact and smiles from the staff. Prospects are trying to picture themselves – or their loved one – in your community, so they’re noticing how the staff members interact with them and the residents. Set the expectation that all staff members give eye contact and a smile to any prospects and visitors encountered throughout their workday.
- Wrap it up at the end. Shoppers noted that some salespeople left them hanging at the end of the tour. Always spend a few minutes after the tour wrapping up the visit, including recapping the tour, asking some open-ended questions, and setting a confirmed next step.
MUST DO Runners Up:
- Good smells, according to Psychology Today, create feelings of pleasure and can bring back memories, so it just makes sense that the aroma of cookies or pies baking, popcorn popping, or fresh coffee brewing in your community are going to have a beneficial effect on your prospects.
- Encountering residents doing something – it doesn’t have to be an activity, simply two people talking, or staff interacting with residents – shows prospects that your community is alive and vibrant.
- Meet the executive director. Show the prospect that they are important and valued by incorporating this visit into the tour.
- Show off your activities calendar and weekly menu in the elevators. It not only highlights the community’s vibrancy, it also gives the prospect something to take in during an otherwise dull elevator ride.
- Keep your elevator clean, inviting, and engaging. Post engagement and notices, updates, and if possible, pipe music.
MUST AVOIDs
- Keeping the prospect waiting. We understand that things happen that can throw off your schedule, but unless you’re going to be only a minute or two late, you need to have a plan to lessen the negative impression waiting can create. Work out a protocol with the front desk staff in which they offer a beverage, and then either bring the prospect to the conference room or even give a mini-tour of some of the amenities close to the lobby. Be creative.
- Referring to the prospect’s mother as “your mom.” It’s way too casual and informal for the relationship between salesperson and prospect. Instead, refer to the prospect’s mother by her name. The same goes for the prospect’s father.
- Giving the prospect an exhaustive tour. Taking them to every corner of your building to see every single amenity and area can come across as aimless. Tailor the tour to what you know about the prospect or their loved one.
- Passing up opportunities to make introductions. Unless their office door is closed, pop in on key staff members to make a connection between them and the prospect. Know of a resident or two who are great ambassadors of the community? Make a point of meeting them during the tour.
- Letting the prospect leave without wrapping up. Ending with “Call me if you have any questions,” or “Call me if you want to bring mom in to look around” are not effective for moving the prospect closer to a move-in. Instead, recap the tour, ask some open-ended questions, and set a definite next step (e.g. a day and time for a follow-up call, or setting up a home visit or next tour with the loved one).
- Failing to remind the prospect about the tour/appointment. No-shows happen, but calling the prospect the night before to remind them of the tour can prevent many of them.
- Skipping the post-tour follow-up call. Use this as an opportunity to thank the prospect for touring and recap the next action step.
What is your senior living community’s prospect experience like? Grow Your Occupancy offers phone and in-person mystery shops, skills assessments, and SWOT analysis, all performed by highly skilled and knowledgeable senior living sales experts, to help you grow and maintain your occupancy. Find out more about Grow Your Occupancy: book your free 30-minute consultation today.