TIP: Try putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. What do they want? What do they fear? What do you have in common? This can help you discover new ways to reach out.


and offered training as well, refining a new sales model, one he says is grounded in “the psychology of change.” Today, Smith and his colleagues at


PREPARING FOR CHANGE


David Smith, co-founder and chairman, Sherpa


How can you know a sales team is success- ful? Number of leads? Number of tours? Number of calls? No, no, and no, says the co-founder of


Sherpa, a senior living sales platform that combines technology, tools, and training— and turns traditional sales methods around by centering on the prospect rather than the product. Transactional sales performance metrics,


which emphasize “speed to lead” strategies, can prevent the development of meaningful emotional connections between a commu- nity’s sales staff and prospective residents. That reduces the chances of people saying yes to senior living, especially for non- urgent, higher functioning prospects. Ultimately, senior living sales should be about how you can genuinely help “one person at a time, address and overcome emotional resistance,” Smith said. Another turnaround: Help prospective


residents feel like they’re part of the family from the first meeting, instead of waiting until move-in day.


Research and experience show that


whether a community “feels like home” strongly influences senior living prospect decision-making. Accordingly, building familiarity and trust should start early in the sales process. “We’re asking people to launch an excit-


ing and unknown new chapter in their lives, and that’s really hard and scary,” Smith said. “We should help them let go of the past and feel good about the future.”


TURNING TECHNIQUES AROUND A passionate advocate against ageism, Smith wants to put humanity, respect, and com- passion in the foreground of senior living decisions. He came by this approach when, after some experience with residential real estate sales and a decade practicing law, he and a partner developed a senior living com- munity, The Gatesworth, in St. Louis, Mo. Despite the community’s amenities, it wasn’t attracting many buyers. Success would mean turning traditional techniques upside down. “We have to inspire and help motivate people to buy before we can sell to them,” Smith said. He began to slow down and spend more time with his prospects—and the success rate grew. He tried the new techniques with other types of developers,


Sherpa, which he co-founded with company president Alex Fisher, use their “Prospect- Centered Selling” model to identify the sales journey each individual takes and to seek person-centered solutions to aid that journey. Earlier this year Smith published a book detailing his theories and guidance: It’s About Time! How to Grow Revenue with Prospect- Centered Selling.


EMPATHY NEEDED A successful sales approach is about taking the time to get to know a prospect, so one can inspire and guide them in a personal way attuned to their fears, goals, and pre- conceived notions, Smith said. “Higher sales conversion rates are driven


by investing the time to empathically con- nect, purposefully identifying the issues that are causing resistance to a logical solution, and developing a strategy to motivate change,” Smith said. “That’s how you get more people to begin looking logically at solutions, including a possible move to your community.” Building trust allows sales professionals


to give prospects control and autonomy, “which is the opposite of what you often do in traditional sales,” Smith said. “The data studies show that investing


more direct selling time, especially with strategic planning, home visits, and person- alized follow-up, can nearly double sales conversions,” Smith said. “The data also show that we can help people identify where they're stuck and mo- tivate them to advance with very small steps toward getting ready to consider buying.”


NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 ARGENTUM.ORG 11


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