More than half of continuing care retirement community chief financial officers attending the 25th Annual Ziegler Senior Living Finance + Strategy Conference said they plan to expand their communities in the next two years, and another 20% are planning some type of new campus, according to a survey of the more than 600 attendees.
Not-for-profit providers said they are looking to expand their brand in local and regional markets by adding an assisted living component or satellite campuses, according to specialty investment bank Ziegler in a newsletter wrap-up of the conference.
“Single-site continuing care retirement communities / life plan communities continue to grow in scale and sophistication and are leaders in their respective market,” said Lisa McCracken, director of senior living research and development, writing in the newsletter. “Ongoing strategic planning, community reinvestment, ensuring a strong brand and culture and solid financial planning were common threads across each organization.”
In a breakout session devoted to dynamic sales and marketing tactics, McCracken wrote, providers were told that they need to be open to dynamic pricing models while at the same time monitoring consumer expectations and internal financial goals.
Revenue diversification is important, according to panelists at another session.
“Proactive not-for-profit organizations are exploring ways to think differently about revenue streams and how they can create business models that align with additional areas of expertise,” McCracken wrote.
Providers also need to keep up with evolving technology, panelists said. They discussed the need to plan for technology investments and pointed out the exponential growth of technology wrought from the pandemic, according to McCracken.
“It is clear that having a technology roadmap for your organization will put you in a much better position moving forward,” she wrote.
