Sales & marketing
sales and marketing efforts. Video tours of facilities are growing in popularity. Have you considered a simple video call with a prospect, perhaps facilitated by a helper or family member? Video allows you to get closer and personally engage better with a prospect. Being able to visibly see a person and read their reactions is useful and also allows sales consultants to build a closer connection. Better still, video lets you get a fuller picture of your prospect and gives you a better understanding of their current living situation. After all, your true competition is not the community down the road, it is the prospect’s own home. We cannot always expect prospects to come to us. It is actually a massive emotional bridge for them to cross, not to mention the practicalities of physically being able to get to your home or community. This barrier has only become more difficult with restrictions and concerns around Covid-19. Prospects will likely make a visit during
their decision-making process, but if at the outset they cannot or will not visit, it does not have to be the end of an enquiry. Use video to open up a conversation. Build connections and be a resource for those making the hard choice to move.
Seeing objections as opportunities Objections are often an expression of fear. It might be a fear of getting older or losing independence. Understanding why a prospect is resisting a decision is an important step to helping them understand their options and reflecting on what motivated them to reach out in the first place. It also establishes you as a credible sales professional who is out for their best interests.
By digging deeper and taking the time and planning to ask the right questions, you will likely uncover what is at the heart
Spending more quality time and engaging with fewer prospects is key to increasing and maintaining higher occupancy. As a result, your communities and care homes stay fuller with more satisfied residents
of their objections. Again, this is where the empathetic approach is crucial – by demonstrating you not only understand, but you also genuinely care about helping your prospective resident, will you gain their trust and ongoing engagement, getting you closer along the path to that conversion.
Using your data to inform your sales process
Spending more quality time and engaging with fewer prospects is key to increasing and maintaining higher occupancy. As a result, your communities and care homes stay fuller with more satisfied residents. To help you adopt, maintain and continually enhance this approach, you need to stay informed with sales data. A CRM system, if used correctly and consistently, holds valuable information that will help shape your future actions based on past successes. It is key to having personal information available to sales consultants for planning and creative follow-up, as well as trackable metrics that sales leaders can use for overall strategy. In this sector, we typically focus on numbers of calls/visits needed per occupancy, even how many times the family are consulted or involved. Yet we can also track and document the conversations people had and at what stage in the buying process are. Every single piece of information will inform how you interact with prospects on an individual level and grow occupancy as a whole.
Elevate your sales culture Finally, we suggest you think about what your conversion rates are and where you would like them to be. If you do not know the answer to either question, then perhaps it is time to look at sales more closely. Whether at a care home or retirement community, sales should be an extension of your overall culture.
The pandemic has taught us many things, not least that we cannot operate the same way as we did before. As you decide the best management approach for your home or communities, consider the having a designated sales function, if you do not have one already. It will make all the difference to your occupancy levels and most importantly to those who are making a monumental life decision.
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Alex Fisher
When a prospective resident has the choice to move, one not based on a medical emergency, it often takes multiple activities such as a home visit, tour or creative follow-up activity
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Alex Fisher is president and co-founder of sales technology and training platform Sherpa, which is based in St. Louis, Missouri in the US. An expert on the ‘why’ of selling to older adults, Alex developed the original design and functional specifications for Sherpa out of a desire to measure empathy, promote connection and increase performance. She has led speaking sessions at dozens of industry events including those hosted by LaingBuisson, the Associated Retirement Community Operators (ARCO), as well as the American Seniors Housing Association (ASHA).
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com January 2022
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