Senior Care Marketing
There’s a big discrepancy between consumer expectations for pricing and senior housing operator practices.
In a recent Caring.com survey on senior housing tours, we found that 15% of the free-form comments mentioned prospective residents’ dissatisfaction with their access to pricing information.
“The cost is the most important aspect of this search and no one would give me approximate costs. I want that before I visit,” one complaint read.
“With my wife sitting right beside me, it is hard to answer price questions over the phone,” another commenter wrote, citing a bad experience during his pre-tour interaction with a community.
A third commenter put it more bluntly: “Doesn’t matter how nice a place it is or how well it meets your needs, if you can’t afford it, that’s it. Period. Stop wasting my time.”
Yet, in a recent webinar on pricing, we found that 14% of senior housing communities won’t share any price information with prospective residents until the family takes a tour. Little more than half of communities (58%) reported emailing pricing information before a tour, but only 21% post even approximate pricing on their websites.
In the age of the Internet, we’ve gotten used to having every bit of information at our fingertips. You can find out the price of a barrel of oil in 1979, the cost of a new Mercedes, or how much a haircut will run you in London – all without leaving your dining room table.
Just try finding prices for your local assisted living community.
Of course, the amount you’ll pay for senior care depends on a lot of variables, most of which you can’t see from a few clicks online. And most people haven’t really worked out the true cost of living in their own home and compared it to an all-inclusive senior living experience. But making it nearly impossible for prospects to get any idea of how much you’ll charge them gets your relationship off to an uncomfortable start.
So what to do? Here are a few ideas for how to start a conversation around pricing early in the sales cycle.
1. Give people a range. “Our least-expensive apartment is $2,300, but there’s a range depending on what amenities and other services you’re looking for. For instance, some of our units have full kitchens in them, and those cost a little more – I’d love to show you a few options, would you be available on Thursday afternoon?
2. Use care charges as a selling tool. “We charge around $3,000 per month for rent, but depending on your mom’s needs for assistance with things like medication or housekeeping, there’s often an additional charge for care. It’s hard for me to give you exact pricing without knowing a little more about her situation – would you be available to come in for a meeting where I could ask you some questions and help you figure out a specifically what it would cost? How about Thursday?”
3. Become their expert helper. “Our prices start at $4,000 per month, but that includes all meals, housekeeping, and full laundry service, and of course you no longer have household maintenance, utilities, and property taxes, so it often ends up being less than it actually costs to live in a large home, especially for a single person. One thing I could help you with is working out what your parents’ actual budget might be. Would you like to schedule some time Thursday to go over everything?
Here’s another idea: let your referral partner broach this topic on your behalf.
At Caring.com, our family advisors talk to families about the cost of senior housing (in fact, it’s the #1 question families ask us). They help explain rent and care charges, entrance fees and community fees, and discuss strategies to cover the cost. This means the elephant in the living room has already been mentioned, and your sales teams don’t have to cover that first.
It’s good business, too. Communities that share their pricing with our family advisors get three times as many referrals as those that don’t. Consumers are much more open to continuing a conversation when they have a sense of how much it will cost them. After all, research has shown that two-thirds of a typical purchasing decision is made before ever talking to a seller. (See info on a related study in this great post).
Finally, consider posting at least your starting-at prices on your web site. You’ll be the only community in your town that does so, which will give you a jump on your competitors. And don’t worry – people understand that the starting price of $35,000 for a Mercedes Benz is just that — a starting place. That starting point helps, though, to figure out whether they should be talking to the Mercedes guy or to the Volkswagen dealer across the street.
If you’d like to hear more, listen to the of our pricing webinar, including a discussion of variable prices from Prorize.
And if you’ve changed your pricing recently but haven’t notified Caring’s advisors, take 30 seconds to let us know.
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Senior Care Marketing
There’s a big discrepancy between consumer expectations for pricing and senior housing operator practices.
In a recent Caring.com survey on senior housing tours, we found that 15% of the free-form comments mentioned prospective residents’ dissatisfaction with their access to pricing information.
“The cost is the most important aspect of this search and no one would give me approximate costs. I want that before I visit,” one complaint read.
“With my wife sitting right beside me, it is hard to answer price questions over the phone,” another commenter wrote, citing a bad experience during his pre-tour interaction with a community.
A third commenter put it more bluntly: “Doesn’t matter how nice a place it is or how well it meets your needs, if you can’t afford it, that’s it. Period. Stop wasting my time.”
Yet, in a recent webinar on pricing, we found that 14% of senior housing communities won’t share any price information with prospective residents until the family takes a tour. Little more than half of communities (58%) reported emailing pricing information before a tour, but only 21% post even approximate pricing on their websites.
In the age of the Internet, we’ve gotten used to having every bit of information at our fingertips. You can find out the price of a barrel of oil in 1979, the cost of a new Mercedes, or how much a haircut will run you in London – all without leaving your dining room table.
Just try finding prices for your local assisted living community.
Of course, the amount you’ll pay for senior care depends on a lot of variables, most of which you can’t see from a few clicks online. And most people haven’t really worked out the true cost of living in their own home and compared it to an all-inclusive senior living experience. But making it nearly impossible for prospects to get any idea of how much you’ll charge them gets your relationship off to an uncomfortable start.
So what to do? Here are a few ideas for how to start a conversation around pricing early in the sales cycle.
1. Give people a range. “Our least-expensive apartment is $2,300, but there’s a range depending on what amenities and other services you’re looking for. For instance, some of our units have full kitchens in them, and those cost a little more – I’d love to show you a few options, would you be available on Thursday afternoon?
2. Use care charges as a selling tool. “We charge around $3,000 per month for rent, but depending on your mom’s needs for assistance with things like medication or housekeeping, there’s often an additional charge for care. It’s hard for me to give you exact pricing without knowing a little more about her situation – would you be available to come in for a meeting where I could ask you some questions and help you figure out a specifically what it would cost? How about Thursday?”
3. Become their expert helper. “Our prices start at $4,000 per month, but that includes all meals, housekeeping, and full laundry service, and of course you no longer have household maintenance, utilities, and property taxes, so it often ends up being less than it actually costs to live in a large home, especially for a single person. One thing I could help you with is working out what your parents’ actual budget might be. Would you like to schedule some time Thursday to go over everything?
Here’s another idea: let your referral partner broach this topic on your behalf.
At Caring.com, our family advisors talk to families about the cost of senior housing (in fact, it’s the #1 question families ask us). They help explain rent and care charges, entrance fees and community fees, and discuss strategies to cover the cost. This means the elephant in the living room has already been mentioned, and your sales teams don’t have to cover that first.
It’s good business, too. Communities that share their pricing with our family advisors get three times as many referrals as those that don’t. Consumers are much more open to continuing a conversation when they have a sense of how much it will cost them. After all, research has shown that two-thirds of a typical purchasing decision is made before ever talking to a seller. (See info on a related study in this great post).
Finally, consider posting at least your starting-at prices on your web site. You’ll be the only community in your town that does so, which will give you a jump on your competitors. And don’t worry – people understand that the starting price of $35,000 for a Mercedes Benz is just that — a starting place. That starting point helps, though, to figure out whether they should be talking to the Mercedes guy or to the Volkswagen dealer across the street.
If you’d like to hear more, listen to the of our pricing webinar, including a discussion of variable prices from Prorize.
And if you’ve changed your pricing recently but haven’t notified Caring’s advisors, take 30 seconds to let us know.
