By Rick Banas of Gardant Management Solutions
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to serve as a speaker for the SMASH 2015 Senior Living Marketing and Sales Summit held at the Hilton Indian Lakes Resort in the western suburbs of Chicago.
I was a panelist for a session on “Tours that Blow the Doors Off – Data and Best Practices for Creating Successful Tours.” Also on the panel were Cindy Longfellow of Juniper Communities and Megan Longley of ACTS Retirement Life Communities. Katie Roper of Caring.com served as moderator.
Katie kicked off the session by sharing some interesting highlights of a 2015 Caring.com survey of individuals searching for senior living communities.
From my perspective, here are a few “Tours that Blow Your Socks Off” tips.
The tour is not all about you showing off your community. The greatest tours, in and of themselves, seldom, if ever, lead to sales. The opposite, however, can be true. Many of our communities are 50% to 60% or more reserved prior to the community opening for occupancy. The individuals who reserve apartments with us have the opportunity to tour other Gardant communities in the area, but they do not see our new community until just before it opens.
They make the decision to reserve an apartment without the benefit of a tour, and 70% to 75% percent stick with the decision they made.
With senior living, assisted living and memory care, you are not selling real estate. Seeing one more apartment or one more community area will not likely increase the chances of making a sale.
When it comes to the prospect, the focus should be on helping the prospect make the best decision possible rather than on making a sale. If you don’t know much about the prospect, how can you help the prospect make the best decision possible?
The tour should feel natural rather than come across as orchestrated. It should be customized based on what you know about the prospect – their needs, values, why they are looking, where they are in the decision-making process, what their concerns are, what objections they have. It also should be based on what additional information would be helpful to have and which residents and other staff members would be helpful to involve in the process.
For tours that are scheduled, map out a tentative tour plan before the prospect arrives. But unless you know the prospect extremely well, do not jump right into tour mode. If at all possible, take the time first to sit down and talk. Confirm key information; see how things might have changed since you last talked; adjust your tour plan based on what you learn.
Before, during or after a tour, a prospect may express sticker shock about the cost of living in a senior living, assisted living or memory care community. So you know how to address the issue, my recommendation is that you attempt to learn if the concern is affordability or a perceived lack of value.
I am curious. If you are a prospect, what observations and suggestions do you have? The same holds true for those who work in senior living, assisted living and memory care.
All affordable assisted living communities managed by Gardant Management Solutions are certified and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. All assisted living communities are licensed and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
“Gardant Management Solutions is the leading provider of assisted living in Illinois and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
