National Director of Sales, Caring.com
Articles and Webinars
by Expert Contributor
by Expert Contributor
Articles and Webinars
As a former Senior Living VP of Sales & Marketing, I never looked forward to budget planning season…BOOO! It was, however, a great time to review my partnerships with paid referral sources and decide when to add to them, double down, or even pause them. The big question is, where does one start?
Begin with a thorough analysis to ensure a positive return on investment and alignment with your company’s goals. Here is how I recommend approaching this evaluation, and the solid reasons why a senior living company might benefit from paid move-in referral sources:
Cost vs. Revenue: Compare the cost of the referral source to the revenue generated from move-ins. Calculate the cost per move-in and the overall financial impact on the company.
Conversion Rates: Assess the quality of leads by examining the percentage of referrals that convert into actual move-ins. A higher conversion rate justifies continued or increased spending on that source.
Lifetime Value of Residents: Consider the long-term financial impact of referred residents, including their average length of stay and the revenue they generate over time.
Lead Quality: Not all leads are equal. Evaluate which referral sources consistently provide high-quality leads that are a good fit for your communities. This might include assessing the number of referrals that match specific care levels or preferences.
Retention Rates: Analyze how long residents referred by paid sources tend to stay. Higher retention rates can indicate that these leads are more aligned with your community's offerings and culture.
Lead Volume: If a paid referral source brings in a high volume of leads, especially during low-occupancy periods, it may be a crucial tool to maintain consistent occupancy levels.
Geographic Reach: Paid referral sources often have access to a wider market, bringing in leads from regions that may not be effectively reached by in-house marketing efforts.
Brand Visibility: Paid referral partnerships often give senior living companies broader market exposure, increasing the community’s visibility in competitive markets.
Time and Resource Efficiency: Partnering with referral sources reduces the time and resources needed to generate leads in-house. Referral agencies often have established networks and expertise in targeting the right audience.
Filling Vacancies Quickly: Paid referral sources can help fill vacancies more quickly, reducing downtime and stabilizing occupancy, which is crucial for cash flow and financial health.
Market Saturation: In highly competitive markets, relying on paid referral sources can give a senior living community an edge, helping to capture more leads and maintain a steady flow of residents.
Access to Broader Networks: Referral agencies often have a large database of families actively seeking senior living options, which a community may not be able to reach on its own.
Expertise in Senior Living: These sources specialize in the senior living industry, meaning they can often pre-qualify and match potential residents to the right type of care, saving time and increasing conversion rates.
Reduction in Marketing Burden: Paid referral sources help reduce the in-house marketing workload, allowing the community’s team to focus on other strategic initiatives like resident care and community engagement.
Performance Tracking: Most paid referral services provide performance analytics, allowing the community to track lead sources, conversion rates, and other KPIs, which helps optimize spending for the future.
Evaluating referral sources during budget season requires analyzing both quantitative metrics like ROI and qualitative aspects like lead quality. Paid referral sources are especially valuable for maintaining occupancy, expanding market reach, and providing qualified leads in competitive or underserved regions.
When I worked as a traveling sales specialist in retirement communities, one of my key strategies was always to have "Activity Tour Boxes" ready at the front desk. Typically, I’d have three or four boxes prepped and tailored for different levels of care and whether it would be small or large groups.
To create these, I collaborated closely with the activities director and involved residents to brainstorm fun and engaging activities. This ensured that, whether we had a scheduled tour or an unexpected walk-in, we were always ready to offer a lively, welcoming experience.
Putting our best foot forward in our community was crucial, especially when tours arrived with little notice. We faced situations where prospective residents or families would show up within 30 minutes and if there wasn’t a scheduled activity, we’d turn to our Activity Boxes. These contained quick, fun ideas like:
Trivia cards
Inflatable beach balls to use with music for exercise
“Pin the Microphone on Elvis”
Craft kits for bracelet-making
Having a process in place and getting the staff involved made these spontaneous moments exciting for everyone, including employees.
Just like we invest time and money preparing model apartments to showcase to future residents, it’s equally important to showcase the vibrant community life through engaging activities. Pre-planning for scheduled tours is a given, but extending that same thoughtfulness to walk-ins can make all the difference — especially as more walk-in tours return post-COVID. With some preparation and enthusiasm, we can turn quick, unexpected tours into memorable experiences that convert into future residents. After all, big smiles can lead to big conversions!
When it comes to community management, every second matters regarding speed to lead. Drawing from my years of experience leading community teams, here are some effective strategies to enhance your responsiveness:
Read While Ringing: Utilize the time while the phone is ringing to review the referral details. Sales directors should familiarize themselves with referral email templates to more quickly identify key information, such as the referrer’s name, level of care needed, timeline, and budget. This preparation allows for a more efficient and targeted conversation, helping to start the dialogue successfully. When you delay this initial touchpoint to review and respond to the referral source, you may lose the referral to other communities that reached out more quickly.
Effective Team Collaboration: Many communities implement "tour trees" to ensure coverage when team members are out or busy. This same principle can and should be used with lead management. It’s important to establish clear protocols for handling leads during PTO or weekends. Make sure you encourage your team to collaborate rather than compete — multiple contacts from different team members can strengthen the relationship with the lead. Remember, a team approach often yields better results than relying on a single sales director.
Cross-Community Support: When managing multiple communities, consider how they can support each other. For instance, if a high-occupancy community is near a lower-occupancy one, the sales team from the less busy community can handle incoming calls for the busier one, allowing the other team to focus on on-site visits and hospital referrals.
Timeliness in Communication: Speed to lead isn’t confined to sales calls. Aim to contact leads within 15 minutes for sales calls and within 2 hours for operational inquiries, ensuring that both sales and operations touch base with the families promptly.
Leverage Technology: Ensure that your referral emails are optimized for quick response. Set up text alerts and email notifications, and flag referrals in your email system to prioritize them. Collaborate with tech support to fully utilize all available tools to enhance speed to lead.
Marketing Automation: Work with your marketing team to automate the distribution of essential information such as meal menus, activity calendars, and floor plans. This ensures that these important details reach leads quickly, which can increase the likelihood of engagement.
Centralized Intake Support: In some regions, implementing a call center for intake can significantly boost conversion rates. A central intake person can efficiently manage both paid referrals and website inquiries, providing a cost-effective solution to enhance lead management.
Engage with Referral Sources: Regularly consult with your referral sources to understand what’s working and stay updated on new technologies or marketing processes.
By adopting these strategies, you can enhance your team’s responsiveness and effectiveness, ensuring that every lead is managed with the urgency and attention it deserves.
So, you got the green light to attend a senior living conference — now what?
After attending many state and local conferences as both an attendee and a vendor, I’ve put together key areas to help you plan your trip for maximum success. Whether it’s engaging with vendors, learning from industry experts, or networking with peers, these strategies will ensure you leave the conference with valuable connections and information benefiting both you and your team.
Research in Advance: Identify key third-party providers and schedule meetings before the event. Are the people and providers you want to meet with attending? Don't hesitate to reach out before the conference to schedule a time to chat with them while you're there.
Prepare Talking Points: Focus on what you need — partnership opportunities, product demos, or specific solutions. Conferences can have very packed schedules so planning your conversation points can help you maximize your time.
Follow-Up Strategy: Collect contact information and plan post-conference follow-ups to keep conversations going. Emails to connections you made at the conference can help keep conversations flowing.
Review the Agenda: Prioritize speakers that align with your growth goals and interests in the senior living industry. Most conferences post their agendas beforehand, so you can pre-plan which events to attend while you’re there.
Balance Learning and Networking: Attend several critical sessions each day to stay informed without overloading your schedule. You'll want to save time each day to walk around and chat with other attendees.
Use Social Media: Make sure you share your experience on social media. Many conferences have their own hashtag so you can engage in conversations online with other conference attendees and expand the reach of your participation.
Take Pictures: Have you and your team take pictures while you're at the conference to share online during and afterward. This can help you continue conversations and reinforce connections online with conference attendees you met in person.
Coordinate in Advance: Assign goals and tasks to your team to cover more ground at the conference.
Check-ins vs. Independent Networking: Plan brief daily check-ins with your team while encouraging independent exploration. Make sure you have a way to communicate with each other during the conference.
Targeted Networking: Attend relevant industry events and be open to impromptu networking during breaks. If there are attendees you want to chat with at the conference, email them ahead of time and schedule a meet up.
Elevator Pitch: Have a concise, effective introduction ready.
Follow-Up: After the event, send personalized follow-ups to the people you met.
Vendor Swag: Make time to visit vendor booths and collect merchandise. These items make excellent giveaways for your frontline staff or residents, helping them feel involved and appreciated after your return.
Ask for Input: Before attending, ask non-attending team members what they would like to learn more about within the senior living industry.
Get Relevant Information: Be sure to gather notes, resources, or contacts that will provide answers to their questions or help them grow.
These conferences are a valuable opportunity for learning, networking, and strengthening relationships with both industry peers and your team. By planning ahead, engaging with the right vendors, gathering useful information for your colleagues, and bringing back thoughtful giveaways for your staff, you’ll make the most of your time and ensure the conference has a lasting impact.
So, your senior living community is buzzing with residents, and you’re thinking, “Why would I pay for referral services now?” Believe it or not, there are some real perks to keeping those services in your budget, even when your community is packed to the brim!
Partnering with reputable referral services can make your community look like the hottest spot in town. It’s like having a celebrity endorsement — everyone wants to be where the cool kids are. Trust us, when people see that a solid referral service backs you, they’ll be lining up to move in.
Even with full occupancy, life happens! Referral services can keep the pipeline flowing, ensuring you fill those empty spots quickly or even build out a waitlist for your community. Think of it as your “just-in-case” plan — helping you and your team stay ahead of the unexpected.
Running a community is a juggling act; managing admissions can sometimes feel overwhelming. By letting a referral service handle the heavy lifting, your team can focus on what matters — ensuring residents are happy and enjoy their time in your community! When you and your team have more time for things like planning activities, that can lead to happier residents, and happier residents are the ultimate goal!
Referral services are plugged into the latest trends and insights about what seniors want. They can help you stay ahead of the trends and your competition. They can help provide industry insights — like knowing that most seniors prefer pickleball to shuffleboard! This knowledge helps keep your community fresh and appealing to care seekers.
Even if your community is bursting at the seams, investing in referral services can be a game-changer. They add real value from finding the right residents to boosting your community’s reputation. And who doesn’t want a little extra help? After all, a full house is great, but a thriving community? Now that’s priceless!
As we enter a season when turnover seems to increase in many key roles within our communities, one position that often flies under the radar is the Community Transportation Director – yes, the driver. While every role within a senior living community is important, the driver holds unique value for both community culture and external marketing, yet remains one of the most underutilized resources. They are true Occupancy Drivers.
Consider this: No other role spends as much consistent, direct time with residents. A resident who goes to medical appointments twice a week and takes a weekly shopping trip could easily spend over three hours with their driver each week. That’s three hours of relationship-building, learning about residents' needs, and generating excitement about the community. Ensuring regular communication with your driver, whether through weekly meetings or inviting them to staff meetings, is essential for fostering a thriving community culture and promoting growth.
Drivers should be well-informed about the community’s activities, new residents, and special events like birthday parties. Directors can also gain valuable insights by riding along with drivers, observing the community’s pulse firsthand: who’s happy, who might need more support, and who may be experiencing changes in care needs. Drivers are often the first to notice subtle shifts, such as a resident’s mood following a doctor’s appointment or a change in their health status.
What’s the culture of your transportation services? Is it engaging, safe, and personalized? Offering a concierge-like experience can elevate the community’s reputation. Fun activities like Carpool Karaoke or Car Bingo can bring joy to both residents and staff, and outings — even simple ones like a trip to Sonic for Memory Care residents — make a meaningful difference in residents' lives.
Beyond internal benefits, drivers are one of the community’s best external marketing assets. With community sales directors increasingly tied to on-site responsibilities (hopefully due to an influx of tours from referral partners like Caring), drivers frequently visit key medical and referral sources. Equipping drivers with business cards, ensuring they have strong connections with front office staff at medical facilities, and training them to gather necessary paperwork can help foster valuable relationships. The extra care shown by accompanying residents into appointments is often noticed and appreciated by referral sources, reinforcing the positive reputation of your community.
To maximize the potential of this role, it's critical not to treat hiring a driver as a simple box-checking exercise. Look for candidates with the same care and diligence you use when selecting sales or activities directors. After all, our community vans are mobile micro-communities, and they reflect the larger culture and brand experience we strive to create.
A senior living community sales director can play an important role in fall prevention by using their leadership position and communication skills to drive awareness and collaboration among staff, residents, and families. Here are ways they can contribute:
Highlighting Safety Features: During tours and meetings, emphasize the community’s safety measures, such as handrails, non-slip flooring, and well-lit areas, as key selling points.
Fall Prevention Programs: Introduce families and prospective residents to the community's fall prevention program(s). Spend time explaining the community's proactive approach, which can build trust and confidence.
Providing Informational Materials: Share brochures or newsletters on fall prevention strategies that showcase the community’s commitment to residents' safety.
Working with Care Staff: Partner with care teams to ensure they know a resident’s specific fall risks and encourage cross-department communication to address potential hazards promptly.
Involving the Activities Team: Work closely with the activities director to promote balance and strength-building exercises in residents' daily routines.
Partnering with Maintenance: Regularly review the condition of physical spaces, such as stairways, ramps, and flooring, and advocate for quick repairs or upgrades to remove potential fall hazards.
Work with Dining: ensuring that dining areas are safe, accessible, and supportive of residents' mobility needs. This can include collaborating to arrange furniture in a way that minimizes trip hazards, ensuring adequate lighting, and promoting proper hydration and nutrition to support muscle strength and balance. Additionally, dining staff can be trained to assist residents who may need help standing, walking, or using mobility aids,
Host Educational Workshops: Organize fall prevention seminars with healthcare professionals to educate staff, residents, and families on best practices for reducing fall risks.
Incorporating into Marketing Materials: Promote fall prevention workshops or programs in external marketing efforts to position the community as a proactive and safety-focused environment.
Family Communication: Send out regular communications to families about the importance of fall prevention and how they can contribute, such as encouraging proper footwear or promoting in-room safety for loved ones. Does your community have great fall stats to share via social media and your newsletter? Highlight those statistics — and the people in the community who help support those amazing fall stats.
Resident Feedback: Encourage residents to share their mobility concerns and falls. Their feedback can drive changes in both the physical environment and care practices.
Fitness Classes: Advocate for more fall-prevention-oriented fitness programs, such as tai chi or yoga, which improve balance and strength.
Activity Boxes: Incorporate balance-focused activities into your ‘activity tour boxes’ to promote fall prevention even during unscheduled tours.
By integrating these practices, a sales director can demonstrate leadership in safety while enhancing the community's overall appeal to families and residents. Reducing falls can significantly improve residents' well-being and help support a high-census community.
Personalizing the tour experience is crucial for having successful tours and generating move-ins. Start by understanding the potential resident’s preferences and needs. Ask questions beforehand to tailor the tour, focusing on areas of interest such as amenities and activities. A customized itinerary based on the visitor’s needs and interests can help them better visualize their life in your community.
Connecting with care seekers and their loved ones while showcasing your community’s unique features makes a successful tour. Greet potential residents warmly. Show genuine interest by actively listening to their needs and concerns, and build trust by sharing personal stories of other residents.
Introduce the potential resident to key staff or other residents, showcasing the community and its culture. Highlight unique amenities like wellness centers or specialized programs, illustrating how the community can meet their needs. Use brochures, videos, or virtual tours to provide an overview of what the community offers that the prospective resident can refer back to when making decisions.
Proactively addressing concerns and maintaining communication after the tour are key steps in the conversion process. A couple of ways your team can implement this include:
Proactive Questions: Anticipate common concerns and provide clear, honest information.
Transparent Information: Offer straightforward details about pricing, contracts, and services.
Problem-Solving: Present solutions to specific objections like flexible payment plans or trial stays.
Immediate Follow-Up: Send a thank you note or email within 24 hours.
Personalized Contact: Maintain engagement with personalized information and regular check-ins.
By implementing these strategies, senior living communities can create a more engaging and reassuring tour experience, increasing the likelihood of converting tours into move-ins.
Join us as a Caring Partner for access to our insider tools.
