Selling senior living is about conveying its unique value proposition through compelling and authentic messaging that resonates with prospective residents and their families, according to a panel of sales and marketing experts speaking at last week’s Argentum 2024 Senior Living Executive Conference in Phoenix.
Being able to communicate value is “incredibly impactful,” according to Jennifer Dixon, CEO of JD Solutions Group. To define value, communities need to go to consumers, in addition to quantifying and explaining industry outcomes. It is important for operators to put steps in place for the customer experience journey so that they tell one continuous story supported by data and outcomes, she said.
Telling stories in innovative ways and emphasizing enriching experience and personalized care are what can set a community apart from its competitors, according to the panelists.
Mind your new front door
A prospective resident’s or family member’s experience with a senior living community begins with the community’s website, which Belmont Village Senior Living Chief Marketing Officer Carlene Motto called a community’s “new front door.”
A website is where communities establish themselves as a trusted band while providing content and education that engages with visitors through quizzes, blogs and events, as well as information about safety, support programs and hospitality, she said.
And don’t design a site and then not update it for years, Motto advised.
”Your website is like your plants. If you don’t water them, they’re not going to survive,” she said. “You have to constantly be looking at it, changing and nurturing it just like you do your plants.”
Technology can offer ways to elevate the consumer experience, providing the ability to connect with family members and prospective members quickly, the panelists said.
”When you look at how to communicate value, you have to go to people and meet them where they are,” Dixon said, adding that selecting the right technology and automation platform is required in today’s senior living sales environment, to give sales teams the best opportunity to be “in the selling zone.”
An investment in sales and marketing infrastructure and resources is an investment in an opportunity to improve operations and net operating income, she said, adding that investing in sales and marketing tools also helps operators “retain great people.”
The panelists said it also is important for sales and marketing teams to be open to and accepting of technology. Artificial intelligence and other data analytics technologies can help them figure out the sources of the best leads and help focus the team’s efforts, Motto said.
“At the end of the day, we are still a relationship-selling business and high touch,” she said. “There is not a lot of new supply coming, but we know the demographics are coming.”
Decision-maker values differ vary by generation
When it comes to demographics, sales and marketing teams already are seeing multiple generations involved in the senior living decision-making process, and they all have different values, the panelists said.
Dixon said that sales teams sometimes are interacting not only with prospective residents and their adult children, but also with grandchildren who have moved back home.
“It adds a significant layer of complexity to the sales process when you have so many different generations you’re working with and they have differing values,” she said.
The most successful sales professionals aren’t talking about features and amenities; they are talking about intangibles — safety, meal planning, convenience, Maranto said.
”Selling senior living is all about selling change,” Dixon said.
