Articles and Webinars
by Expert Contributor
by Expert Contributor
Articles and Webinars
Caring has recently focused on a significant technology replatforming initiative to increase the value provided to seniors and their families in their search for senior living and care, while also supporting partners across the senior wellness industry.
With a new logo and refreshed website design, Caring modernized its brand in early 2024 to better convey its empathetic, expert guidance for care seekers and work alongside our partners as true collaborators and a platform for growth.
Through these investments in both technology and brand, Caring is focused on optimizing the digital experience for care seekers while better presenting community and agency partners online. This includes more tools for seniors and their families as they research and connect to the most appropriate services and support for their specific situations, such as an enhanced reviews display with filters, sort and search.
Since its inception more than 15 years ago, Caring has emerged as a leader in the digital landscape, helping millions of seniors and their families find essential care and living solutions. Recognizing a need to simplify and support senior care, Caring has steadfastly dedicated itself to improving the lives of seniors through comprehensive, accessible online resources.
As a longstanding digital resource for senior living and care, with a trailblazing focus on using technology to empower seniors and their families: Caring is also a participant in the AgeTech Collaborative™ from AARP®, an unparalleled innovation ecosystem bringing together cutting-edge thinkers in the longevity tech space to champion meaningful advances so that everyone can choose how they live as they age. Caring is among those who’ve signed the AARP Employer Pledge, joining with a nationwide group of employers that stand with AARP in affirming the value of experienced workers and are committed to developing diverse organizations.
For more information about Caring’s leadership and commitment to aging technologies, please contact pr@caring.com.
For most senior living communities, utilizing a CRM to manage leads is crucial to ensure that the sales team can nurture those leads and convert them into actual residents. CRM stands for 'Customer Relationship Management' and is a term used to describe a system that manages and stores data and information about customers throughout their lifecycle. This includes the data from the initial lead to when they become a resident!
For our Caring partners with a CRM, did you know that you can further enhance your sales efforts by integrating your CRM with Caring? This integration does not affect the information you see about leads but will help you save time by not having to manually report on move-ins.
Uni-directional integration is one integration option. It means that information flows directly from Caring into your CRM without any manual input needed. Your system will automatically receive updates from Caring on lead information — tour scheduling and lead status changes – in real time. The big benefit of this integration is an increase in lead conversion rates. Caring Partners who have uni-directional integration can save time on manual inputs and focus on turning leads into residents.
Bi-directional integration adds another layer to the CRM Integration — this allows information to flow both ways between Caring and your CRM. With a bi-directional integration, Caring Family Advisors are automatically notified of milestones like tour completions and can follow up with families to help them decide. This further enhances communication and coordination between teams, increasing efficiency and effectiveness.
When senior living communities link their CRM with Caring, they often see a big jump in their conversion rates, sometimes as much as 30%. Why? Because integrating these systems streamlines things and cuts down on mistakes. Automated processes mean leads get proper attention and nothing falls through the cracks. Case studies have shown that without this integration, communities could miss out on anywhere from 5% to 50% of potential residents referred through Caring.
By harnessing the power of streamlined lead management, our partners are turning more inquiries into residents and driving growth.
If you are interested in learning how you can connect your CRM with Caring, you can contact Madison Burns, Partner Success Operations Manager at mburns@caring.com. If you are interested in learning about how to become a Caring partner and maximize the benefits of CRM integration, you can email sales@caring.com.
We are excited to share with you our new Partner Portal. We have spent time researching the best ways we can support seniors and our partners and are making shifts to serve our partners better. This new Portal is designed to give you access to more capabilities and the ability to make more changes. You will see some new changes but don’t worry, you will have access to your favorite Portal features, like reviews.
We have compiled videos walking you through how to use some of the new features, and where you can find some of the features you already use. We have also included answers to some questions you may have.
What features need to be moderated?
Currently, promotions, photos, descriptions, unique features, and frequently asked questions are moderated. These changes will take some time to appear on your profile after submitting the request via the Portal.
How to update users?
Please email partnersuccess@caring.com to add, update, or remove user access.
If you have any additional questions or need help accessing the new Portal, email partnersuccess@caring.com. If you have any review-related questions, please email reviews@caring.com.
**Update October 21, 2024
In the growing home care industry, the key to success lies in the ability to attract new senior care clients. As the demand for home care increases, it's important to craft lead generation and marketing strategies to stand out from the crowd.
Standing out in a competitive market is essential to attracting new home care leads. Here are some effective and easy ways to stand out from the competition:
Grow your home care agency’s online presence through an easy-to-use website and social media presence. Both of these make it easier for potential senior care clients to understand your services before they reach out to you.
Identify and highlight what makes your home care agency different and the right fit for potential senior care clients. Create selling points that help you stand out by highlighting your:
Specialized services
Highly-trained staff
Personalized care plans
Use those selling points on your website, social media channels, and any emails you send to nurture home care leads.
Showcase your stellar services through testimonials and reviews from happy senior care clients. Reviews — both positive and negative — build trust and credibility with potential clients. If you get feedback you weren’t expecting, a timely, caring response to that review goes a long way in building trust. Ask your current and past senior care clients to share reviews online, like on your Caring.com profile, to provide firsthand experiences.
Another key is to create a marketing strategy that can reach more seniors and attract new senior care clients.
Strengthen your online presence by implementing a few SEO strategies onto your website. Identifying a few top keywords for home care agencies in your area can help your website reach its key audience. Another way to boost your SEO? Partner with Caring.com! Our website ranks for tens of thousands of keyword searches, allowing your agency to perform better in searches.
Stay memorable by creating emails to nurture home care leads and maintain regular communication. Share a newsletter with updates and client stories, provide promotions, and check in to stay connected with these leads. That way, when they are ready to take the next step, your agency is at the top of their list.
Another easy and time-effective way to help expand your reach is through home care lead generation, which you can do by buying home care leads from Caring.com. We help you tap into interested, qualified seniors seeking home care in your area. It's a simple, controlled way to build your client list while crafting your other organic marketing efforts.
With online search becoming more popular among seniors and their loved ones, using quality photos is a must to help your agency stand out. Including at least 5 custom photos, including staff photos can help give seniors a preview of your staff and services. With Caring, partners enjoy an enhanced profile, which allows for multiple photos and a detailed description.
With these strategies, your home care agency can get more leads, boost online visibility, and gain trust with potential senior care clients.
If you want to learn more about partnering with Caring.com or buying home care leads, contact us at sales_homecare@caring.com or call (855) 590-8989.
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 to set a positive tone. Show genuine interest by actively listening to their needs and concerns, and share personal stories of other residents to build trust.
Introduce them to key staff or other residents to help showcase 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 they 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.
Most senior living small business owners wear multiple hats in running their business. They’re often time caregivers, accountants, cooks, transporters, and even marketers. Wearing all of these hats can lead to burnout in the long run. This is exactly the case for Riza, the owner of In R Great Hands in Placentia, CA.
Before she began working with Caring.com, Riza ran all of her own marketing strategy by herself through different social media platforms. Between taking care of the seniors, running her business, and taking care of her family, Riza was left with little time for herself. Oftentimes, her seniors would chastise her to enjoy life and work less. “Our seniors constantly remind me that life is too short and that I shouldn’t stress over the small things”, said Riza.
With Riza primarily relying on the “old school” word of mouth and her own efforts to attract new residents, she began to look for new ways to continue to grow her business. Soon, she stumbled across Caring.com and began reading reviews and success stories from other care home partners. From there, she sought out her own partnership with Caring.
Her primary goals going into a partnership with a company like Caring were to spread the word, garnish great reviews, and to create a great partner relationship. Caring.com provided guidance on how to best present her business in an impactful way to potential residents and their family members by creating a strong listing that highlights all of the benefits of her care home.
A partnership with Caring.com is a tool to help set a business up for success by connecting them to the largest senior care and senior living seeking audience, digital marketing tools, potential resident referrals, and move-ins. Caring.com hosts consumer reviews for senior living communities and care homes on business listings, as well as gives these businesses access to a Partner Portal where they can easily send out requests for reviews to their happy customers and run review solicitation campaigns. Beyond that, Caring.com provides their partners with “Best Practices” guidelines to help guide them along the way. Fast forward a few months after joining Caring’s partner network: Riza has this to say to other care facilities, “Do it as soon as you can! I regret not doing it sooner”. In the last year, she has had over one hundred visitors to her care home’s profile in Caring’s directory, which she says is a large increase from her previous strategies.
And since she began her partnership with Caring.com, she’s noticed great quality referrals and achieved new resident move-ins — converting 7.5% of the leads Caring sent her care home in 2021 and achieving an average review rating of five stars! Riza loves how easy it is to talk to the Account Managers at Caring.com and says that she has learned so much about how best to make a name for her business.
“I learned so much from Caring including how to earn reviews and how to build my listing to attract new clients. It’s so important to spend the time and effort on the business page to put important information. You have to think about what makes you interesting, that’s what your future clients would care about!” -Riza, In R Great Hands
Overall, working with Caring.com has helped to ensure that Riza is able to focus on the things that matter, which are spending time with her residents, her family and making a positive impact on the lives of the seniors around her. She’s very thankful to Caring.com and that shows! Every time she receives a referral, Riza makes a point to reach back out to the Family Advisors and personally thank them for all that they’ve done for her business.
“I have no regrets placing my mother In R Great Hands-Montevideo. The staff is compassionate, warm and polite.” -davykady, 7/9/21
With a partnership like the one at Caring.com, Riza and other small businesses owners are able to thrive and work to grow their business. We all know that the work is never over when it comes to running a business. By utilizing the digital marketing tools and guidance available through a Caring partnership, care home owners have the support they need to more easily grow their business.
“I was confident from the moment I visited this facility that it would be the right place for her. This community is truly a blessing.” -maze9101, 10/14/21
*** Results can vary by account and location. Please contact an account executive to learn more about the opportunities for your area: sales@caring.com or (855) 897-2433.
As a home care agency professional, you know that in-home assessments enable you to ensure that the care plan meets the client's specific needs. But, did you know that in-home assessments can create the type of relationship that contributes to more hours per client and better client retention? There’s a sales term for a series of techniques to build trust, establish rapport, and gauge the client's interest in services. It’s called the trial close.
Trial closes involve asking questions or making statements designed to elicit a response from the client. These questions or statements gauge interest and gather feedback. They are customer-centric ways to guide conversations and learn how to serve seniors and their families more effectively.
Assume the Partnership: This approach assumes that the client will choose your agency. You ask questions that assume the senior is ready to begin services. For example, you might say, "So, when would you like to get started?" If the client responds positively, you can discuss the next steps. If the client responds negatively, you can ask why. Either way, you’ve learned something important and moved the conversation forward.
Provide Alternatives: This involves presenting the client with two options and asking the client to choose one. For example, you might say, "We offer both hourly and live-in care options. Which one would work best for you?" Not only does this approach enable you to assess the client's needs and preferences but also affirms the senior controls the decision-making process. It’s a respectful way to determine how the client would like to proceed.
Summarize and Verify: With this approach, you summarize the key points of the conversation and ask the client to agree or disagree. For example, you might say, "Based on what you've told me, it sounds like you could use assistance with bathing and getting dressed. Is that correct?" This approach helps you ensure you have accurately assessed the client's needs. It also allows you to uncover any concerns or objections before moving forward with the care plan.
Confirm and Connect: Listen carefully to the client’s expressed needs and wants, then repeat back what the client said to you. This shows that you are engaged and interested in the senior and empowers the senior to choose you and your agency’s services. For example, you might say, "You mentioned that you're having difficulty with daily activities like bathing and dressing. Our caregivers are trained to help with those tasks. Would you like us to schedule a caregiver to come by and help you?" This approach helps you build trust and establish a commitment from the client.
These powerful communication tools allow you to address any concerns and ensure the care plan meets all client's specific needs, which helps you get the most billable hours. And, these techniques enable you to provide the highest quality of care, while also building strong relationships that lead to long-term success.
In home care, people sometimes express interest in your agency but fail to respond to your emails. While this can be frustrating, it is a common situation. According to research conducted by InsideSales.com, it takes an average of 8 attempts to reach a prospect, and only 2% of sales are made on the first contact. Luckily, there are strategies to re-engage these prospects.
Plan to follow up in the short-term. Some prospects only invite you into their home after you establish a relationship with them. These prospects need time to feel comfortable with you and your services. When planning your follow up, be consistent and caring. Remember every interaction with the prospect should be about the prospect’s needs and wants.
Know your audience. More than 70% of marketers say personalization increases customer engagement, with an average increase of 20% in sales when using personalized experiences. Identifying your audience is an easy way to personalize your emails. When establishing contact with a new prospect, it’s vital to understand if your audience is the care recipient or loved one. For example, people searching for a parent make up the largest portion of Caring.com users. These searchers have minimal time and often choose a home care agency more quickly than those searching for themselves. Customizing your emails to these searches can lead to increased engagement, which in the home care industry can equal more new clients who take more hours.
Build a relationship. Home care is a very personal service. So, establish a personal relationship. Plan a follow up email that asks how the care recipient is doing. This second email should be more empathic with a more personal tone. “Hi – I reached out a few days ago in response to your request for care for your father, John. I haven’t heard back from you and I’m a little concerned. Is everything okay? Please let me know if you’ve made arrangements or would like to schedule a call to talk about your father’s needs.”
Plan to follow up in the long-term. During the first few days after receiving the referral, reach out often. As time goes on, connect on a regular cadence of one month, three months, and six months, then annually. Share valuable information that's not directly tied to the sale but demonstrates your expertise and interest in the care recipient’s well-being, such as "how to prevent falls in the home" or "the top 10 foods for heart health.” This enables you to maintain a connection with prospects who might postpone plans to start care, or those who initially choose another agency.
Re-engaging with prospects who have shown interest in your home care agency but have failed to respond to your emails requires patience, consistency, personalization, and relationship building. Following these tips can lead to increased engagement, trust, and ultimately, more new clients for your home care agency.
You’re in the home care business to help people. So, it can be frustrating to send emails to prospective clients and get no response. Fortunately, there are some simple, proven techniques to increase your response rate.
Write a compelling subject line. People are more inclined to open emails that are specific, relevant, and personal. In fact, emails with a personal subject line are 22% more likely to be opened. To make your subject lines more personal, include the care recipient’s name. To make your email subject line more relevant and specific, add a phrase stating that your email is in response to a referral. Here’s a subject line to try: A Response to Your Caring.com Inquiry: Home Care for John Smith”. There are also free online tools that you can use to help you determine if it’s a good subject line for increasing the chance of the email being opened, such as this one.
Express empathy and understanding. As the saying goes, “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care." So, ensure the first sentences of your email reference the name of the care recipient or the contact. Then talk about the details provided by your referral source. This establishes that you know the situation and care about the outcome. For example: “Good morning Mr. Smith – You contacted Caring.com about home care for your father, John Smith. Sorry to learn he had a fall recently.”
Position your agency as a great match. Provide a brief intro to your agency. If you’re part of a franchise, say that. If you’re a local boutique agency, let the prospect know. If you’re an award-winning agency, have the associated badge or a “Read our Reviews” link in your email signature. Briefly explain who you are and how you can assist. You could say something like: “While John recovers, I can get a caregiver to help him with bathing and dressing. Because my agency has provided care in this area for more than 20 years, I have several excellent caregivers in your neighborhood. They would love to help John.”
Ask the prospect to choose between two options and respond to your email. All too often, agencies send emails to introduce their services and forget to end the email with a call to action – a request for the prospect to do something. In this case, ask the prospect to reply to the email and set up a home assessment. Whenever possible, give two options. This is called a closed choice, a respectful way to encourage decision-making. Also, make sure the contact knows that your assessment is free. For many people, home care is their first experience with senior care. These people don’t know that you’re willing to meet with them at no charge. And the word “free” often compels decision making. You might say: “I can stop by your house tomorrow to talk about John’s needs. Would you be home at 10:00 am, or would 2:00 pm be more convenient for a free assessment?”
Following these tips will encourage more responses to your emails -- especially if you reach out as soon as possible, keep the email short, and customize your email to each prospect. In part two, we’ll talk about how to follow up with prospects who need more prompts to respond.
When seniors and their loved ones begin to research home care options, there is often a precipitating event, like a fall, that highlights the need for care. This urgency can lead to lots of questions about available services, hours needed – and of course, price.
It’s easy to answer these questions on the phone during the initial call, but at times this approach can be a disservice to the senior or loved one. To much information at once may be overwhelming, and early discussion of pricing can lead to sticker shock. On the other hand, they might not realize exactly how much help they need and underestimate the hours needed per week. In both scenarios, you can lose the opportunity to earn a new client for what may have been a great fit. Instead, be intentional with what information you cover in the initial call and what you choose to discuss during an at-home assessment.
Initial Call
During the initial call, prospects often want to know the cost per hour, and you often want to know how many hours the client needs. Both of you are asking the same question, “How valuable is this potential relationship?” So, ask questions to show your value first! Be kind, be empathetic, be curious, and avoid the temptation to talk about price.
When a prospect inquires about your rates during the initial call, redirect the conversation. You can say something very simple and empathic, such as, "Before we go into that, I'd really like to understand how we can help you. What have you been experiencing lately?" Listen carefully and ask clarifying questions, then schedule an in-home assessment.
In-Home Assessment
Before you begin the assessment, recap the reason why you're there and verify the prospect’s basic information - but don’t talk about price right away. Instead, ask questions to uncover the prospect’s needs. Learn about ADLs and chronic conditions. Ask who cooks the meals, does the laundry, cleans the home. Find out about hobbies and interests that the potential client loves to do but cannot anymore.
As you discover ways your agency can assist, make a note with an estimate of the hours needed to meet each need. Once you uncover all the pain points, focus on the solutions you can provide and present your care plan.
Resist the temptation to talk about money and hours just yet! Ask for the prospect’s opinion of the care plan and refine it as needed. Seek to understand the prospect’s point of view and demonstrate the value of your agency. Once you and the prospect agree on the care needed, then talk about hours, cost, and payment.
Follow this process and you will experience two benefits to your agency:
You will complete more at-home assessments, which means you will convert more leads into new clients.
By starting with the need, you'll uncover more opportunities for your agency to help, and those clients will often take more hours.
Not only will this process help you grow your client base and weekly revenue, seeking to understand and create a care plan matched specifically to their needs will lead to happier, longer-lasting client relationships.
The number of online searches for senior living and senior care has increased significantly within the past decade, up to 15,500 online searches per hour as of late 2021.
Caring.com helps senior living communities get in front of online searchers through a portfolio of high-ranking senior living websites.Our expertise in digital partnerships has shown us the best practices that leading communities follow when it comes to converting online leads.
To support your community in better competing online, here are our top four tips for converting online leads into new senior living residents:
Historically, a first step for the decision-making process was to drive by the physical community. The landscaping, lobby decor, and a smiling receptionist were all factors in whether the community made a positive first impression.
With more and more seniors and their loved ones beginning their search online, they may rule out or add a community to the top of their list before ever stepping on the property — based simply on what they found online. Are you putting the right amount of care and attention into the online experience to ensure your prospective residents and their family members have a positive first impression?
By maximizing and maintaining a positive online presence for your community, you are opening the door – physically and digitally – for potential residents. Maximize your online presence by ensuring your community appears wherever care seekers are searching.
Caring’s portfolio of websites rank for generic searches, such as “retirement homes,” where consumers go early in their process to learn about different care options and compare providers. And, the best practices for optimizing your profile on a site like Caring.com can also be applied to optimizing your website.
These best practices include adding professional-looking community photos and providing a detailed list of your amenities and services. While several factors go into your pricing for residents, providing estimated ranges online can help a prospective resident determine if your community is within their budget. Your website or online listing acts as a digital salesman and should entice and help qualify potential residents.
Finally, consistency is key. Make sure the branding and information on your directory listing matches what is shown on your website, Google Business Profile, or anywhere else you are digitally advertising.
If you’re struggling to convert online leads, take a broader view of your sales process.
First, remember they are a lead, not a guaranteed move-in. They may be early into their research journey and are likely considering multiple communities. The best way to help potential residents come to a decision is through compassion. By listening to their situation and learning about them as a person, you are able to determine how best to follow through and serve their needs.
The biggest key is follow through. Unable to reach a new lead on the first call? Try again, and again. Approximately 80% of sales are finalized after more than five touch points!
Reviews are pivotal in today’s world, and it’s not just with younger generations. 71% of U.S. adults 55 and over read online reviews of businesses. On average they read 7 reviews before they can trust a business.
Not only are reviews important in attracting more inquiries, they’re also very influential in driving higher lead conversion. Among many partner reviews case studies Caring has conducted: the data showed that community listings with more than 15 reviews average close to 8 times more move-ins compared to communities with little to no reviews.
The pandemic has increased online usage and the popularity of consumer reviews. At Caring, for instance, we published 60% more reviews in 2021 compared to 2020.
In addition to hosting consumer reviews, Caring also supports communities in responding to reviews — whether negative, positive, or in-between.
When your future residents go online, don’t lose their interest to competitors in your area. Follow these best practices and others to ensure you’re found and best represented online.
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Looking for ways to boost your community's digital curb appeal? We can help. Contact sales@caring.com or call (888) 808-0453 to learn how to enhance your listing as a new partner today.
Did you know that internet directories, senior living communities, and senior care agencies see about 50% more inquiries in January? Loved ones – who discovered Mom or Dad needs help – spend time researching care options after the holidays.
If you are looking for tips on how to manage the extra lead flow and the increased number of inquiries, we have compiled some best practices to help you handle the rush.
In the fast-paced online environment, responding quickly is important to ensure you don’t “lose” a lead. Utilize alerts — like Caring.com’s alerts — to ensure your sales team knows when a person has expressed interest in more information. During peak periods, redistribute tasks, and encourage teamwork to manage the increased workload efficiently.
Personal touches in your communication significantly enhance the chances of conversion. Studies reveal that 3 in 5 people respond more positively to brands that personalize their interactions.
The key is to focus on building a personal connection rather than immediately pushing services. As an example, when working on a lead from Caring.com, mentioning specific notes that were sent over can help demonstrate a genuine interest in the senior’s situation.
As important as speed is, prioritize follow-ups based on urgency. Consider factors like care needs, geographic proximity, and which member of the family is calling. Respond quickly to leads with immediate care needs, and tailor your approach based on the urgency and location of each inquiry. Adult children's inquiries often convert more quickly than other inquiries, so prioritize them during peak times.
Looking for more tips? You can also check out one of our past webinars, “Get Ready for the Referral Rush: Best Practices for Converting Online Leads” for more tips and strategies.
If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of partnering with Caring.com or looking for more qualified leads, reach out to us at sales@caring.com or call (888) 808-0453.
In the digital age, first impressions often happen online. Your online profile often serves as the first point of contact many seniors have. For Caring.com partners looking to create or update their profile, it’s important to showcase your community or agency and connect with care seekers. Here are some tips to help you craft a compelling online profile that leaves a lasting impression.
When it comes to online profiles, high-quality professional photos speak volumes. Invest time and resources into capturing images that showcase your community or agency in its best light. Professional photos not only highlight the physical beauty of your space but also convey a sense of reliability and trustworthiness. Remember, potential residents or clients want to envision themselves in your community or using your services, and striking visuals provide the first step towards creating that connection.
For communities, this can include photos of the front entrance, grounds, lobby, community room, exercise room, dining room, and model apartments - things you would normally show during a tour. For agencies, this can include photos of the services you provide and your team engaging with seniors - things you would normally discuss.
Set yourself apart by showcasing your unique offerings. Highlight the activities and services that make your space special, and emphasize how these features contribute to a supportive and enriching environment. This is your chance to stand out in a crowded digital landscape, so be specific!
Connect with your audience on a personal level by tailoring your description to reflect the essence of your community or agency. Share what you offer beyond the surface-level amenities or basic services. Are there heartwarming stories or personal testimonials that speak to the essence of what you offer? Personalizing your description adds authenticity and helps potential residents or clients envision the meaningful experiences they could have.
Describe any community programs or initiatives that involve residents, such as support groups, wellness initiatives, or collaborative projects. Highlighting these programs shows that you prioritize the well-being and participation of your residents or clients.
For senior living communities, it’s important to provide not only pictures but also a detailed description for those unable to tour your space physically. Help potential residents imagine themselves within the walls of your community beyond a simple list of amenities.
Prioritizing creating a unique and detailed description can set you apart from the competition and help care seekers better understand what makes your community or agency special. If you aren’t a partner with Caring.com and want to maximize your online presence, you can reach out to us at sales@caring.com or call us at (888) 808-0453.
Many Veterans and their families are unaware of the benefits available to them, especially when it relates to paying for senior living and senior care later in life. Navigating the VA system can be challenging, with complex rules and requirements. Helping senior Veterans navigate finding care and receiving applicable VA benefits is an important way to help them be able to make a choice to move into a facility sooner or stay at home longer.
The Aid and Attendance benefit is designed to provide financial assistance to Veterans and their spouses who need assistance with daily living activities or require care in a protective environment. The program was created with the goal of supplementing the cost of care for Veterans as they age.
The VA may provide financial assistance to eligible Veterans and surviving spouses, with the following monthly amounts:
Single Veteran: Up to $2,229
Married Veteran: Up to $2,642
Surviving Spouse: Up to $1,432
Two Married Veterans: Up to $3,536
This financial support can significantly contribute to covering the expenses of senior care or senior living. As Social Security benefits increase, these amounts may also rise, offering even more financial assistance.
The eligibility criteria for VA benefits to cover senior living and care can be slightly complex in nature, and eligibility periods may be based on the specific conflict. Veterans or their spouses can qualify if they meet the following conditions:
The Veteran must be at least 65 years of age or 100% disabled. Even if they are under 65 but unable to work due to a disability, they may still be eligible.
They must have served at least 90 days of active duty during their military service, excluding training periods.
At least one of these active duty days must have occurred during a declared wartime period, such as World War II, Korea, Vietnam, or the Persian Gulf.
The Veteran must have received an honorable, medical, or general discharge.
Widows can also qualify for these benefits, regardless of their age, if they were married to the Veteran for at least one year, even if that year was at the end of the Veteran's life, and if they remain single.
VA benefits can be applied to various types of care, including:
Skilled nursing care (private pay only)
Independent living*
Assisted living
Memory care
In-home care
Adult day care
Paying a non-spousal family caregiver (spouses cannot be paid)
*Independent living communities must meet specific criteria, such as having 24-hour caregivers or providing evidence that the client receives at least two Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). These ADLs can be administered by a third party, including family members.
Many Veterans and their families are unaware of these benefits due to a lack of information and the complex application process. Many Veterans who left the military when they were young may not remember or know that some of these benefits exist. There are several ways senior living and senior care partners can help Veterans and their families in accessing these VA benefits.
Identify Eligible Individuals: Ask potential residents or their families if they are Veterans or widows and if they meet the criteria for VA benefits.
Encourage Contact with the VA: Advise eligible individuals to contact the VA to explore their options and initiate the process.
Understand the Application Process: Familiarize yourself with the VA application process to provide guidance to residents and their families.
Offer Support: Offer support to residents and their families throughout the application process to ensure a smooth and successful outcome.
Whether you have helped veterans and their families navigate the search for care or haven’t been sure where to start, any help in this complex process can make a difference.
If you have any questions or would like more information about how working with Caring.com can help you support your residents and put you in touch with organizations like Patriot Angels (who specializes in assisting veterans with VA benefits applications) reach out to us at sales@caring.com or call us at (888) 808-0453.
Have you heard an objection from a potential client and were not sure how to respond? Being able to overcome these objections during the conversation is an essential step toward turning a potential client into an actual one. There are a few key steps to responding effectively to an objection - understand the reason, address the concern, and follow up with a question to continue the conversation.
The first step is to understand the underlying reason behind the objection. Yes, they may feel home care is expensive, but the underlying reason is that they do not realize the cost-benefit of home care. Once you understand the reason, then you can respond. The first part of your response should be a statement highlighting your understanding of their concern and facts to reassure their concern. The second part should be a follow-up question that redirects the conversation to the potential client and restarts the conversation.
We have listed out several common objection categories - Cost, Need, Trust, and Timing and some common objections you may hear, as well as recommended responses.
Some of the most common objections you may hear are related to the cost of home care services. You may hear objections like:
Underlying Reason:
Lack of understanding of the cost-benefit of home care
How to Address:
"I understand that cost is a concern. However, compared to the cost of hospitalization or nursing home care, home care is actually more cost-effective in the long run."
Follow Up Question:
“If cost wasn’t a consideration, what help would you need?”
Underlying Reason:
Limited financial resources or lack of knowledge of payment options
How to Address:
"I understand that cost is a concern, but we have a range of affordable options, and we can work with you to create a plan that fits your budget."
Follow Up Question:
“We all have to live within a budget. What would make home care affordable for you?”
Another common type of objection you may hear involves whether or not they feel they need home care. You may hear objections like:
Underlying Reason:
Fear of losing independence or denial of the need for assistance
How to Address:
"I completely understand your desire to maintain your independence. However, home care can provide you with the support you need to stay safe and comfortable in your own home."
Follow Up Question
“Everyone needs a little help now and again. What kind of support could you use?"
Underlying Reason:
Fear of change
How to Address:
"Change can be scary, but we'll be with you every step of the way to ensure a smooth transition and provide the support you need. Home care allows you to remain in the comfort of your own home while receiving the support you need."
Follow Up Question
“We can assist with a schedule that works for you. What types of help would you need?”
Underlying Reason:
Lack of understanding of the range of services offered by home care
How to Address:
"Our caregivers can provide a range of services, from assistance with activities of daily living to medication management and transportation. We can tailor our services to meet your individual needs."
Follow Up Question
“Tell me a little about your day. What kind of things do you do?”
Underlying Reason:
Lack of understanding of senior care options
How to Address:
“Many people prefer the familiarity and comfort of their own home, and the ability to maintain their independence.”
Follow Up Question
"Are there specific concerns you have about home care? What accommodations or modifications could we make to ensure you feel comfortable and safe receiving care at home?"
Underlying Reason:
Reluctance to burden family members or lack of understanding of the demands of caregiving
How to Address:
"While family care is important, it can also be very demanding and stressful. Home care can provide additional support to help ease the burden on your family members.”
Follow Up Question
“What if we meet with you and your family to do a free in-home assessment?"
Underlying Reason:
Reluctance to ask for help or guilt over needing assistance
How to Address:
"We understand that asking for help can be difficult. Our caregivers are trained to provide compassionate care and support."
Follow Up Question
“We are here to help you maintain your independence and quality of life. What do you enjoy doing?”
An additional type of objection you may encounter is a trust objection. Some examples of trust objections you may hear are:
Underlying Reason:
Fear of invasion of privacy or lack of trust in caregivers
How to Address:
"We take great care in selecting and training our caregivers. Our caregivers are professional, compassionate, and respectful of your privacy."
Follow Up Question
“What specific concerns do you have about having a caregiver in your home?” "I don't want a stranger in my home."
Underlying Reason:
Negative experiences with other agencies or lack of knowledge of agency qualifications
How to Address:
"We are a licensed and accredited home care agency with a proven track record of providing quality care."
Follow Up Question
“What do you need to know to feel more comfortable with us?”
Underlying Reason:
Personal preference or past negative experiences
How to Address:
"We understand the importance of matching our caregivers with your personal preferences. We can provide a male or female caregiver based on your comfort level."
Follow Up Question
“What else would you prefer in a caregiver?”
Underlying Reason:
Fear of losing privacy
How to Address:
"We respect your privacy and will work with you to ensure that your personal space is respected at all times."
Follow Up Question
“What else is important to you in a caregiver?”
Underlying Reason:
Uncertainty about compatibility
How to Address:
"We understand the importance of cultural sensitivity and will work with you to match you with a caregiver who empathizes with cultural background and values."
Follow Up Question
“What is important to you in a caregiver?”
Underlying Reason:
Quality concerns
How to Address:
"We take great pride in providing high-quality care, and we have a proven track record of satisfied clients.”
Follow Up Question
“What else is important to you in a caregiver?”
The fourth type of objection you may hear from potential clients is around timing. Some examples of timing objections you may hear include:
Underlying Reason:
Fear of being locked into a contract or lack of knowledge of flexible contract options
How to Address:
"We offer flexible contract options, including short-term and as-needed care. We can work with you to find a plan that fits your needs."
Follow Up Question
“What kind of plan would work for you?"
Underlying Reason:
Procrastination, reluctance to commit, fear of change
How to Address:
“That's okay. We offer free consultations to help you determine whether our services would be a good fit for you. There’s no harm in learning more about what’s available.”
Follow Up Question
“When would you like to schedule a free in-home assessment?”
Underlying Reason:
Fear of unknown caller
How to Address:
“We work with Caring.com. You or a loved one visited their website recently to learn about home care in your area.”
Follow Up Question
“Why did you start researching care options?”
Now that you have an understanding of a framework for responding to objections, you can use them while having conversations with potential clients. We also have included an infographic you can save to your phone or computer and reference during these conversations as well. If you have more questions or would like help from our team with converting clients, reach out to us at sales_homecare@caring.com.
Whether big or small, the importance of building your reputation and keeping your beds filled is understood by all. For smaller communities and care homes, filling even a few empty beds can be very time-consuming. This was something Nicole Busque was facing with Rockbridge Senior Care Home.
Before Caring.com, Rockbridge Senior Care Home had not pursued much digital marketing beyond building a website. She’d also worked with local referral agents. Despite these efforts, Nicole found she was not getting as much return as she had hoped. She was looking to build awareness of her care home and develop a waitlist.
Additionally, her care home was competing with other larger communities and well-known senior care brands. Her goal was to build her care home’s brand to keep her beds full. That is when she turned to Caring.com.
“With Caring I built a waitlist in just months,” Nicole explained. “I received multiple referrals and tours. I was getting my name out there.”
With Caring.com, Nicole developed an online profile that highlighted the benefits of her care home, showed off the reviews from her customers as well as had access to support and resources to help improve her sales process.
Nicole has accomplished her goal of increasing community awareness of her care home. She noted that working with Caring.com not only helped build community awareness of her care home but helped her develop a waitlist for the future - enough for a second home. Caring.com helped her ensure that going forward, she would be able to focus on the care of her residents rather than on filling empty beds. The waitlist she developed gave her the peace of mind she needed and time back in her day. Her online presence, which highlights several 5-star reviews, will help continue to inform local seniors about her care home and what she can offer them.
“If I had a larger home or was opening a new home and needed to get my name out there, I would be using Caring. I will again the next time I have empty beds. I received a lot of referrals, and I accomplished my goal.”
Caring.com is a support system for small care homes and communities. These communities and homes are connected to a large audience of seniors in need of care, digital marketing tools, potential resident referrals, and move-ins. Beyond this, each community has its own enhanced profile on the website, including photos, detailed descriptions, and reviews. Every community is provided with resources on how to solicit reviews from their residents and their loved ones, and Caring’s partners receive instant New Review Alerts with convenient quick links to efficiently respond to published reviews. Alongside this, Caring.com provides a list of best practices, resources, and support to help them and their team.
*** Results can vary by account and location. Please contact an account executive to learn more about the opportunities for your area: sales@caring.com or (888) 808-0453.
With the rise of the modern-day drive-by, many customers are researching communities and determining their preferences long before they visit. Caring.com prioritizes customer preferences. We never forward a referral without obtaining verbal consent from the family. To receive more online referrals from us, consider the following strategies to stand out:
Collect More Reviews: In fact, this point deserves the top three spots. Most U.S. consumers read online reviews before making decisions, making them more important than ever to your community. In fact, among our referral partners, communities with 16 or more reviews average nearly 3x more leads, 4x more tours, and 5x more move-ins than communities with one or two reviews. Many residents and their loved ones will leave a review if you ask. In 2023, 57% of consumer reviewers said they would leave an online review if asked by the business staff. Caring’s Partner Portal has a tool that makes it easy to ask for reviews.
Highlight Unique Features: Our Family Advisors strive to motivate customers to visit your senior living community. Aid customers in their decision-making process by highlighting your community’s extraordinary features. Does your chef bake chocolate chip cookies on Tuesdays? Do you have a therapy dog? Is your community located near a hospital? Often, partners claim that their "caring staff" sets them apart. However, for a family choosing between three local communities to tour, this distinction is rather basic. Adding some of these unique details can help set you apart.
Care Services: Have you recently introduced memory care services or constructed a new independent living section? Make sure Caring.com is informed about all the service levels you offer so that we aren't excluding any residents that may be a good fit.
Photos: It's also essential to have good photos. Photos are the first thing a consumer sees when they find you on Caring.com and give customers a sense of what your community looks like before ever stopping by. Our internal data shows that communities with 8+ photos get 4X more leads than those with 1-2 photos. Make sure you are making a good first impression with good-quality photos that highlight your community and its living spaces.
Keep Your Listings Accurate: When a listing has inaccurate information, it hurts your lead volume. If you've moved, changed your name, or aren't taking new patients, please let us know.
Stay in Touch: Let us know if you have a special offer or event. We may be able to include it in our weekly newsletter that goes out to families all over the US or include it on your profile for all customers to see as they research potential communities.
To gain more insight into how Caring filters and validates families for our partners, our referral selection process for communities or agencies, and ways to enhance the matches we create for better conversion rates, contact our Partner Sales and Success teams.
More and more care seekers are discovering care options in their area through online research. To optimize these online leads, here are some of the best practices you can follow:
Schedule an immediate auto-response email confirming lead receipt with a brief "Thank you" and assurance of future contact
Recognize the diverse reasons for choosing online forms over direct calls. Be considerate of preferred communication modes and honor requests for email-only responses. Reasons for such a request can range from a busy work schedule to the need for written communication for the hard of hearing, and your respect for their needs will go a long way.
Respond promptly to each lead within the same day, addressing queries comprehensively. Delayed responses can significantly reduce connection rates, so try to get in touch while their search is on their mind.
Craft detailed follow-up emails referencing information from care request notes or phone conversations. Customize responses to common topics such as rates, availability, and care options to highlight your attention to detail and care for them as an individual.
Communicate the next steps in the decision-making process, guiding the customer towards actions like scheduling a tour or attending an event.
Identify families closer to decision-making. Factors like memory problems, medication management, caregiving hours, or recent incidents can indicate urgency.
Send follow-up emails after one and three weeks, revisiting initial topics and directly asking for further discussion, tours, or addressing additional questions.
Initiate an email nurture campaign every 2 to 4 weeks for leads that haven't progressed. Deliver valuable content, maintain warmth, and showcase your organization's personality.
Depending on your business size, manage campaigns via email clients or consider specialized tools for streamlined communication and lead monitoring.
Boost your business online by partnering with Caring. From an expanded online presence with a gold-star listing to online reputation management, Caring is here to help you maximize your sales potential and convert more leads.
Set up auto-response for all Internet leads.
Allocate time for prompt follow-ups and prioritize leads.
Create templates for common inquiries.
Evaluate the need for an email campaign tool.
Develop content for nurture campaigns.
Ensure a steady stream of Internet leads by registering for automated care requests from Caring.com.
When it comes to winning clients through digital marketing, it's important to understand how you can improve some of the touchpoints consumers are interacting with as they research their care options. To win more clients, standing out online and optimizing your investment are some key factors. If you want to receive more leads, consider the following strategies to be noticed:
Request Additional Leads: Are you consistently hitting your lead cap every month? If so, requesting new leads is as simple as contacting your account executive or emailing sales_homecare@caring.com to purchase more leads.
Increase your Bid Price: If you are in a competitive market, increasing your bid price will ensure you are competitive with other agencies and eligible to receive more referralss in your area. Remember to consider your return on investment at the broader level. Not every referral will become a new client, but if you convert even just 10% of the referrals you receive, you’ll see a positive return on your investment. Measure your overall conversion rate to determine how high you are willing to pay and contact us to update your bid price.
Reviews: Prioritize obtaining reviews as they significantly impact lead generation. Today, many consumers read online reviews before making purchasing decisions, so they’re very crucial for your agency. Among U.S. consumers, 98% use online reviews to research local businesses. Having reviews listed on your profile will help improve your visibility on our directory and increase your conversion rates on leads. Many clients and their loved ones will leave a review if you ask. In fact, 57% of consumer reviewers said they would leave an online review if asked by the business staff.
Highlight Unique Services and Special Features: Share what makes your agency extraordinary to help our Family Advisors promote your services. This can be highlighting any unique offerings or special aspects that set you apart from others on your profile. Whether your agency offers regular services like home-cooked meals, medication reminders, shopping excursions, or other special features, these unique aspects can help set you apart from other local agencies. Use your Caring.com profile to showcase what makes you truly different.
Photos: As seniors and their loved ones research agencies, photos can be an important part of your Caring profile. Don’t just use your logo or stock photos, but include professional photos showing your caregivers in the field demonstrating the services that you offer. This way, seniors can see your agency and services in action.
Leveraging these strategies can help seniors and their loved ones understand your agency and the services you offer as they look into their options. For more information on how you increase your bid price, update information on your profile or discuss increasing your lead cap, contact us by email here.
Are you looking to expand your senior living community’s reach and fill your empty beds? As the industry continues to become more competitive, it’s important to make sure you are generating and working quality senior living leads.
A great first place to start is to create a marketing strategy that can attract interest from new potential residents. There are several ways to market your senior living community, but these tips are a great place to start.
Improve your online visibility by implementing SEO strategies on your website. SEO allows you to target specific keywords and demographics relevant to your business and improve your search result rankings. Users often see websites that appear at the top of search results as credible and trustworthy. You can put SEO in place by:
Improving your site's structure
Creating relevant content for your audience
Including industry-specific terms and phrases in your content
This not only helps with rankings but also improves the satisfaction of your website visitors. This ensures that your website reaches the right audience. When you invest in SEO, you ensure your online presence remains helpful while keeping up with industry trends and changes.
An important aspect of expanding your online presence is making it easier for seniors and their families to find you online. Do you have a website or social media page? These are a great first step and does not take a lot of time to set up.
Showcase your services, amenities, and other features you would show on a tour. You can use a social media page, like Facebook, to share photos of residents and events you offer. This gives care seekers the ability to see what living in your community looks like before they visit.
One great way to expand your online presence is through an enhanced profile with Caring! All partners can create a profile that highlights what makes their community unique, including photos, descriptions, reviews, and amenities.
In the age of digital search, using quality photos is a must to help your agency stand out. By having at least five custom photos (including staff photos), you can help give seniors a preview of your staff and services. Highlight some of the amenities and rooms (like you would on a tour) to give seniors a better feel for what it would be like to live there.
There are several ways you can create leads. A first step is knowing the kind of leads you want based on the services you offer, and the style and environment. From here, you can use digital marketing, events, lead generation companies and word of mouth from local connections to gather leads over time. Working with a lead generation company, like Caring, can help you fill your empty beds faster with qualified leads sent right to you. We help you reach interested, qualified seniors looking for the kind of care and services your community offers. It's a simple, controlled way to fill your community while crafting your other organic marketing efforts.
Your staff's interaction with potential residents plays a crucial role in turning leads into actual residents. Here are some simple tips to improve communication:
Welcome Questions: Foster an open conversation by encouraging questions. Take the time to respond with empathy and patience.
Listen Actively: Take the time to hear what potential residents are saying about their concerns and preferences. Answer their questions and guide them through what it's like to live in your community.
Customize Information: Personalize the tour to highlight how your community can cater to the specific needs and preferences of potential residents. This way, they can see exactly how your community is the right fit for them.
A great way to stay top-of-mind with your leads is to stay in touch with them via email. Consistent, timed-out emails can nurture senior living leads and help your team maintain regular communication without having to call or text senior living leads individually. What should these emails contain? Share a newsletter with updates and client stories, provide promotions, and check in to stay connected with these leads. That way, when they are ready to take the next step, your community is at the top of their list.
A great way to build trust with a potential resident is to use testimonials from current residents. Showcasing the community and why the residents love living there is a great way to remind them why they should choose your community. Ask your current and past clients to share reviews online, like on your Caring.com profile, to provide firsthand experiences.
A great way to touch base or restart communication with your leads is to utilize seasonality in your communication. You can even use things your community is already planning! Invite them to events going on in the community, share fun anecdotes, and encourage them to reach out with any questions or concerns they may have.
Successful tours for senior living communities are more than showcasing amenities. Instead, they’re about creating personalized experiences that resonate with potential residents. If you tap into the power of automation, it can help improve tour experiences, increase show-up rates, and ultimately drive more move-ins!
In today's digitally driven landscape, automation has emerged as a game-changer in various industries, including senior living. By using tools and automation that can help schedule and personalize content (like emails or texts), communities can streamline processes, increase engagement, and nurture relationships effectively. Automation can play a pivotal role at every stage of the tour journey, from initial scheduling to post-tour follow-ups.
Before delving into the specifics of automation, it's important to have a few key components in place first. These include:
Scheduling Tool: Implement a scheduling tool equipped with built-in automation capabilities (such as Calendly or HubSpot's Meetings link).
Customized Content: Create tailored content, such as pre-tour information packets or welcome videos, to answer potential questions and provide valuable insights into the community.
Automation empowers communities to create customizable workflows that cater to potential resident's needs and preferences. By automating tasks such as reminders, personalized messages, and follow-up communications, communities can improve a care seeker’s experience and decrease tour no-shows. Key tasks that can be automated include:
Pre-Tour Reminders: Trigger automated reminders via email or text messages to ensure care seekers are well-prepared and motivated to attend scheduled tours.
Personalized Communications: Craft personalized messages addressing the potential resident's interests and concerns, fostering a sense of connection and rapport.
Post-Tour Follow-ups: Implement automated follow-up messaging, including a post-tour thank you, survey about their experience, and link to schedule appointments for asking questions, to maintain momentum and facilitate further interactions.
Beyond automation, personalized experiences are pivotal in captivating prospects and fostering meaningful connections. Communities can enhance the prospect’s experience through:
Tailored Interactions: Engage in meaningful conversations, whether in person or over the phone, to understand their unique preferences, interests, and requirements.
Customized Tours: Curate personalized tour experiences based on previously gathered insights, incorporating tailored activities and showcasing relevant amenities.
Resident Engagement: Introduce care seekers to current residents and community activities to provide authentic insights into the community's vibrant lifestyle.
While automation offers immense potential, communities may encounter challenges in implementation and adoption. Continuous monitoring, analysis, and optimization of processes that have been automated are essential to maximize results and drive continuous improvement in tour outcomes.
Ultimately, the true measure of automation's success lies in its impact on tour conversions and move-ins. By leveraging analytics and CRM integration with Caring, communities can track key metrics such as show-up rates, lead conversions, and resident acquisition costs.
Automation is an up-and-coming useful tool in the arsenal of senior living communities, offering unparalleled opportunities to optimize tour experiences and drive move-ins.
By embracing automation strategies, communities can streamline processes, personalize interactions, and ultimately create memorable experiences that resonate with prospects.
In today’s challenging economic times, senior living operators and care seekers alike feel the impact of rising costs. Many communities are caught between increasing operational expenses and decreasing occupancy rates, making filled rooms crucial. One of the most effective solutions to this challenge is leveraging online referrals to attract new residents. Understanding the best marketing channels and strategies to generate move-ins cost-effectively is an important first step.
Many care seekers are starting their search for care online, and data shows that a significant portion of these initial seekers are adult children searching on behalf of their parents. This demographic uses online searching (often using broad, generic terms) to inform their next steps. Compared to other groups of care seekers, this cohort of digitally savvy adults tends to demonstrate a higher move-in rate. Platforms like Caring.com play a big role in the search for care for this digital-savvy group.
With this in mind, it's important to examine the marketing channels you are using to meet these savvy care seekers. Weigh the cost-effectiveness of the marketing channels you use to promote your community. There are many different ways that you market your community – but do they help generate move-ins? Referral partnerships are a marketing channel that offers a low-risk, high-return model. You pay only for successful move-ins. With a pay-per-move-in model, you mitigate upfront marketing costs, ensuring a more reliable ROI and a high occupancy.
To maximize results from online referrals, there are a few best practices you can implement. These best practices assist the care seeker in their search for the right community:
Optimizing Your Listing: Treat your online profile as your digital storefront. Ensure it includes detailed descriptions, high-quality images, and accurate cost information.
Leveraging Reviews: Positive reviews significantly impact decision-making. Engage with platforms like Caring.com to boost your online reputation.
Actively Engaging Leads: Speed is crucial in responding to leads. Follow up consistently and utilize CRM tools to track interactions and improve conversion rates.
By optimizing your online presence, leveraging customer reviews, and actively engaging leads, you can effectively increase occupancy rates. This approach not only fills rooms, but ensures a strong return on investment with minimal risk.
Ultimately, adopting a proactive approach to online referrals can transform your community's occupancy rates and financial health. By focusing on detailed online listings, cultivating positive reviews, and maintaining swift engagement with potential leads, you can create a robust marketing strategy that stands up to economic pressures. Embracing referral partnerships will help you achieve a higher return on investment, ensuring that your community thrives even in challenging times.
For further details or information about becoming a Caring partner and receiving referrals, you can reach out to sales@caring.com.
In today’s fast-evolving senior living landscape, staying connected with families and maintaining a strong digital presence is critical for communities of all sizes. Optimized Senior Living, a small but growing chain, recognized this need early on. They turned to Caring for support to achieve their goals of attracting new residents and enhancing their online visibility.
"One of my main goals was to build a better relationship with Caring because everyone spoke highly of the quality referrals they provide," said Ashley Snyder, regional marketing director at Optimized Senior Living. "We wanted to strengthen our digital presence and get connected with care seekers who needed the quality care we offer."
Partnering with Caring enabled Snyder and her team to develop a robust online profile that showcased each of their communities' strengths — quality care, happy residents, and the benefits of their small, close-knit environment. Caring also provided access to key digital marketing tools and resources that helped streamline their sales process.
"The referrals you send are always high-quality, and when we have questions, we get a quick response," Snyder added. "That kind of support is crucial because we want to ensure we provide the best care, and Caring helps us do that."
Through their partnership with Caring, Optimized Senior Living has achieved their goal of reaching more seniors in need of care and expanding their presence in the local market. Thanks to the high-quality referrals and ongoing support from Caring, they are now preparing to open a new community.
"I’ve been the primary person working with Caring since I joined, and every time I have a question, the team is incredibly responsive," Snyder said. "Everything feels tailored to our needs, and we really appreciate that."
The holiday season is not just a time for festivities; it's a key time for senior living and senior care to strategically prepare for the January lead rush. Lately, some communities and agencies have seen the lead rush occur in the fall as well. There are a few ways that senior living communities and senior care agencies can make the most of the holidays and prepare for incoming care seekers.
Before January, communities and agencies can capitalize on the holiday spirit to strengthen connections with existing leads. Here are key strategies to employ:
Send Holiday Cards: Take advantage of the festive season by sending personalized holiday cards to the leads already in your system. This thoughtful gesture not only expresses goodwill but serves as a gentle reminder of your community or agency.
Invites to Tour and/or Holiday Gathering: Extend invitations to potential residents for a tour or a holiday gathering. This provides an excellent opportunity for leads to experience the warmth and atmosphere of your community firsthand. Agencies can extend holiday invites to potential clients, allowing them to get to know your staff in a less formal setting.
As the new year approaches, senior living and senior care teams must be prepared to handle the surge in leads. A few things that your team can start working on now include:
Continue to Work HOT Leads: Prioritize and actively engage with high-potential leads. Consistent communication during the holiday season keeps your community top of mind when individuals are making decisions about care options.
Improve Information Accuracy: Information on leads can be hard to maintain during the year. Allocate time and resources to ensure that your CRM or other lead information solution reflects the most current information. This is also a good time to integrate bi-directionally with Caring to save your staff time (and allow Caring to have the most up-to-date information on the leads we have sent you).
Get Sales Pipeline Up to Date: Conduct a thorough review of your sales pipeline. Update progress, identify bottlenecks, and streamline the process to ensure a well-functioning and efficient system.
Update Brochure and Other Print Material: Review and update all printed materials, including brochures, to align with the new year. Incorporate any changes in pricing, services, or offerings to present accurate and enticing information to seniors and their families.
Prep Teams and Backups for January Rush: Anticipate the increase in inquiries in January. Ensure that your teams are well-prepared, and establish backup plans to guarantee someone is available to assist in case of unexpected surges in activity.
By strategically utilizing the holiday season to connect with existing leads and implementing proactive measures, senior living communities and senior care agencies can navigate the busy period with confidence.
If you are interested in learning more about how you can prepare your team for the January lead rush or how you can access leads seeking care in your area, you can contact us at sales@caring.com or call us at (888) 808-0453.
***Originally Published November 2023, Updated October 2024
Reporting monthly move-ins is integral to your senior living referral partnership with Caring.com. To support you: Caring.com sends reminder emails with quick links so you can let us know about move-ins — whether you’ve had 100 or none yet from the qualified leads we’ve sent you.
Our partners agree to complete monthly move-in reporting within five (5) business days after the end of each calendar month. Caring.com makes it easy to report move-ins via our Partner Portal and the monthly email reminders.
**If you’re not already using Caring.com’s Partner Portal, please get in touch with our Partner Success staff for help accessing this tool and gaining access to features like responding to reviews, adjusting your listing’s descriptions, and others.
Once you’ve logged into the Portal:
Click “Referrals” located on the left-hand side
Locate the referral you’re looking to report a move-in on (You can search by name, email address, and status and you can search by location — if you have access to more than one location’s referrals)
Check the box next to the referral, then click “Report Move-In”
Enter any rent, care associated, if it’s a resident or respite or if there’s a second occupant
Then, click Report a Move-In, and you’re done!
Here is a video to take you through these steps and provide further detail on the steps outlined above and how to best report your move-in details.
Have additional questions? Need assistance? We value your partnership and are here to help! Contact Partner Success.
**Updated September 3, 2024
When families search for senior living in your area and are narrowing their options, they have a variety of questions about your community that may or may not be currently answered on your Caring.com listing.
Determining which questions to include on your listing can seem overwhelming if you aren’t sure what the families are searching for. However, including an FAQ on your Caring listing can make a big difference to care seekers who are on the fence about which community they should tour.
There is no standard set of FAQs a community should include on their listing. When considering questions to add, think about questions families may have asked on tours during the last year. Expanding on topics like ways to pay for care, what is located around your facility, safety measures and staff-to-resident ratios are good places to start.
Based on our data and interactions with care seekers, we do have a few best practices when it comes to FAQs on your listing.
Include between 2 to 4 questions – you don’t want to overwhelm with too much information upfront.
Add some personalization to your answers to help set yourself apart from other listing FAQs
Highlight what makes your community stand out among the competition. What is unique about your community?
Our new Partner Portal makes it easy to add or update FAQs for your community. To adjust the FAQs within the Portal:
Click on the community in which you want to answer any questions about in Portal.
Go into Listing Types and select the listing type you wish to answer, such as assisted living.
Scroll down until you reach the FAQ section, where you’ll see the questions and answers.
Once you’ve made the changes you want, scroll down to click save.
Within Portal, you can add, remove and update FAQs for your listing. An important thing to note: As consumers are coming to your listing on Caring,com, you'llwant to paint as much of a picture or provide as much information as possible. This will help answer some of their big questions and help them determine if your community is a good fit.
Any time you complete an update, the Caring team will also review and approve your changes. Please allow 48 to 72 hours for any new FAQ requests to be shown online. We have a video walking you through how to update FAQs in the new Partner Portal, which you can find here.
Over the last year, we’ve proudly invested in a refresh of the Caring brand.
When folks think of branding, they often think of logos, colors and imagery. While that is an important part of brand work, there are significant strategic elements that go on behind the scenes as well. We conducted user interviews, surveys and focus groups to help us get to where we are today — with even more to come in 2024.
Our new brand, which began its rollout on December 5, is an exciting step in our roadmap over the next few years. Our goal is to bring warmth, clarity and hope into what can be a difficult process for families not only through the look and feel of our site, but also through the experience we offer in finding senior care.
This takes place in addition to the significant replatforming effort that began in Summer 2022. Several page types are now live, including the pages that highlight your communities. We look forward to seeing all the ways these streamlined designs help add value to your business.
We hope you’ll join us in January for a webinar as we share more about the strategy of the Caring rebrand and updates on all that’s to come.
As of September 1st, our home care partners have access to a new helpdesk to improve the speed and quality of our partner support. Home care partners can now email hc_helpdesk@caring.com for any of their account and business profile needs.
What does this mean for our current home care partners? Requests emailed to the new helpdesk will be directed to the best representative to assist. No more searching for your assigned account executive. Because the helpdesk will be closely monitored, you can expect faster, reliable response times.
These are the types of requests our partners can reach out to hc_helpdesk@caring.com to complete:
Update your listing: Add images, change your description, revise your services
Edit your lead recipients: Ensure your current team is all eligible to receive leads
Request more leads: Adjust your lead cap to capture more volume as needed
As a note, any questions on reviews or about the Caring Stars award should still be directed to reviews@caring.com or (650) 762-8190.
For any questions related to our new customer service email or other account and business profile questions, reach out to hc_helpdesk@caring.com. If you are interested in learning more about partnering with Caring.com, call (855) 590-8989 or complete this form to schedule a demo.
“My dad was up to going with us for the tour and was open minded about the idea of assisted living. The facility and staff seemed very nice and answered our questions. [Community A] was nice because it was close to his doctor’s, family and friends. He like the setting and felt comfortable because he was familiar with the area.”
Here at Caring.com, we get notes like these from consumers on a regular basis. First impressions, feelings of doubt, and decisions pour into our call center every day as adult children and seniors search for the right senior community in the right area.
As you already know, it’s tough to get consumers on the phone. At Caring.com, we’ve optimized our call center to call consumers within just one minute of their submitted request for information online so that we can increase the chance of reaching them. So once we get them on the phone, we vet that they’re a viable prospect, make the connection with your community, and try really hard to get them to your front door by scheduling a tour then and there.
The good news: New 2014 data from Caring.com suggests all this hard work is worth it.
3.5x more likely = Online referrals with tours are 3.5x more likely to move-in to a community than online referrals without tours. That’s not one, not two, but three and a half times better chance for a prospect to move in once they’ve seen and met the staff and community in person.
25% faster = Online referrals who had a tour scheduled moved in 25% faster than those without a tour scheduled — about 2 weeks faster than referrals without tours.
In January 2015, Caring.com got over 55,000 online inquiries from consumers looking for senior housing. We screened out approximately 80% of these inquiries (e.g. customers who are not viable based on budget, age, care needs or individuals not seeking senior care services) before sending them to our partners, so that you can focus on customers who are a viable match for your community.
What’s unique about your community? What amenities do you have? Are you paying attention to your star ratings? Make your directory listing attract great prospects by sharing your unique attributes, amenities, and pricing, while having great customer reviews too..
Bottom line: The more updated information you include on your Caring.com listing, the better we can describe your community to prospects. If you haven’t already, tell us your community details. We’ll enhance your Caring.com listing with any new information.
Whether a prospect is ready to move-in right away, or just browsing their options, it’s very important to let your community shine for each family with an in-person tour. Here are a few real examples of customers who have corresponded with us before making a decision about senior housing.
I’m still looking at my options, where else should I look? “Remember, this search is all proactive as I am not ready to make the move yet. And of course there is also the possibility that I will stay where I am, since I haven’t seen anything better yet, just different. I am just doing due diligence. I am looking for up scale, great food & environment. Any other possibilities?”
We got a terrible first impression. “You know what, it was a lovely place. However, the sales rep. was obnoxious … I found [Caring.com] very helpful and it is too bad that we got such a self-serving and poor sales person. I do not intend to ever speak to this woman again. Someone needs to tell this lady that you always listen to and HEAR your customer. Your aim should be to always work toward meeting the needs of your customer first and foremost. That is how you make a sale.”
I’m ready to move-in. I’m tired of all the responsibility of running a home. “My son and I went today to tour and had lunch. I was so impressed with it compared to [Community B] … I saw the big one-bedroom, the normal size one bedroom, and the one-bedroom. I think that is all I need because I have a small two story and I live in the bottom and absolutely do not go upstairs at all … I think I would really like living there because I am tired of all the responsibility of running a home. That would be ideal.”
Learn more about the online referrals process and how to improve close ratios for Internet referrals.
Caring.com is driven by consumer choice. We never send a referral without getting permission from the family. So to get more leads from us, you need to make sure your community or agency really stands out.
Here are some ideas:
1.) Reviews: Actually, this should be numbers 1, 2, and 3. Senior living listings with any reviews (positive or negative) can get as many as 14X more leads than those with zero reviews. Reviews help with move-ins as well. For some of our referral partners: Community listings with 15 or more reviews have seen a five times higher conversion rate than similar communities with 1-2 reviews. And our home care directory is now sorted by review volume. Thus: Want more leads? Get more reviews.
2. Unique and Special: Our Family Advisors do their best to encourage consumers to visit your community. You can help them by sharing with us what really makes you special. Does your chef make chocolate chip cookies on Tuesday? Do you have a therapy dog? Are you across the street from the hospital? Too often partners tell us that “Our caring staff” is what makes them unique. But for a family deciding which of three local communities to tour, that is more like table stakes. Chocolate chip cookies would be a reason to visit.
3. Care Capabilities: Did you recently add memory care services? Or build a new independent living wing? An independent living community that allows residents to bring in their own caregivers might want to request that we send them people in need of “light care assisted living”. Make sure Caring.com has all the levels of service that you can provide.
4. Home Care Agencies - Request More Leads: For home care partners who pay per lead rather than per start of care, if you want more leads all you need to do is contact your account executive and sign up to purchase more.
To get more clarity on how Caring screens and qualifies families for our partners, how we choose which community or agency to refer them to, and how you can help us improve the matches we make to improve conversion rates, contact Partner Success.
If an adult child inquires for information about your senior community, make sure your sales teams jump!
At our recent Digital Marketing Academy webinar about Multi-Generational Marketing in Senior Living, we mentioned that after analyzing referrals made via our Senior Care Directory and senior housing helpline over the last four years, we found:
When the adult child fills out the online lead form and gets referred to a Caring.com partner community on behalf of a parent or in-law, the move-in rate is three (3) times higher than if the prospective resident/older adult made the online inquiry.
For independent living, the move-in rate is even higher: specifically it’s 3.5 times higher if the adult child makes the inquiry on their parent’s or in-law’s behalf.
For assisted living, the move-in rate is 2.5x higher if the adult child is inquiring.
These numbers clearly highlight the importance of marketing your services to the adult child, and prioritizing marketing channels that reach the most of these family caregivers – since according to the American Seniors Housing Association (ASHA), they are involved in 73% of all senior housing decisions.
If you missed our recent webinar, watch the recording for specific ways that our expert speakers from Anthem Memory Care and Juniper Communities are successfully marketing to both the prospective resident and the adult children, as well as get data from Varsity Branding. Watch the recording now, and do let us know if you have any questions.
For “data geeks” among you, check out our previous post on the power of tours in driving move-ins from online referrals, similarly based on data from Caring’s referrals.
If your senior living community is partnered with Caring.com to receive prospective resident referrals, you know it is imperative to have many positive consumer reviews about your services on your listing(s). And you may also know that the fastest, easiest way to get more reviews is to share the dedicated review submission link from your listing(s) with cognitively-healthy residents and their family members.
With a tool in Partner Portal, we've made it even easier for you to circulate that review submission link and generate new reviews. Specifically, our senior living referral partners can use Partner Portal to create email campaigns to request reviews.
Here’s how to get started: From the Partner Portal homepage, you’ll see a feature called, “Marketing Resources” (see far right circle).
The review collection builder is the first marketing tool accessible via Caring’s Partner Portal which will eventually offer a full suite of marketing support resources for our partners.
Once you click on Marketing Resources, you’ll be taken to an easy step-by-step wizard that enables you to upload a CSV list of email addresses or manually enter email addresses for those happy customers you want to contact to request a review for your listing.
The email template allows some personalization too, including the ability to add a custom email signature for the senior living community sending the message. The email message is already pre-populated with text written to support all types of senior care communities and optimized according to insights we’ve gleaned from our extensive experience generating reviews for senior care businesses. The message includes a link to the listing’s review submission form, which is the fastest, easiest way for consumers to post their reviews on Caring.com (and we process those submissions within 3 business days so they can appear on your listing quicker than postcards or phone reviews).
Once you've sent an email through Partner Portal to ask for reviews, it’s labeled a “campaign,” and we'll subsequently show you how many reviews each of your campaigns has generated. (See screenshot above and the link that says, “View past campaigns.”)
As always, our product team is open to your feedback about how we can further enhance the feature once to support your review generation needs. You can email that feedback and any questions you have about the feature to reviews@caring.com or call our reviews team at (650) 762-8190.
***This article was originally published on Sep 13, 2017.
“Incredible move-in special on select apartments on the ground floor with outdoor space! Ask for details when you tour!”
“$1000 off first month’s rent when you sign by June 30th!”
“With a 12-month signed lease, we’ll waive the application fee (a $50 value) and offer FREE underground parking for 1 year.”
Move-in specials like these can be powerful motivators for families considering senior living for an elder loved one. It could help them get over indecision about taking a tour, and could even be a deciding factor in signing a lease sooner rather than later — if they know about the deal.
Through your partnership with Caring.com, you can add these types of move-in specials to the top of your listing and leave related internal notes for our family advisors in making referrals too!
Communities of any size or service offering can take advantage of this free promotional feature for Caring partners. Here are a couple samples of what the promotion unit looks like on the listing:
To get a promotion featured on your listing, and help our family advisors in referring potential residents to your community, simply log into Caring.com’s Partner Portal. Navigate to your community profile that is running the special. From there, you’ll see in the lower right “edit financial incentives” section. Click on the pencil to enter the details of your special:
Then click the green “Save” button to submit the promotional to our Partner Success staff for a quick review before it’s published on your listing and the notes are uploaded into our family advisors’ referral tool for identifying best-fit communities for the family caregivers and older adults they’re helping by phone daily.
It’s that simple!
Have questions? Need assistance getting into Partner Portal? Our Partner Success staff is available to support you: partnersuccess@caring.com.
With 60% of the sales decision now done before a buyer ever contacts a vendor, increasing consumer blindness to ads, and longer decision cycles in senior care, “content marketing” should be a key element in your senior care marketing toolkit.
“You’ve got prospects who know very little about your services, it’s typically a long and emotional decision, and there are lots of different parties involved,” said a Caring sales expert. “You can bug people over and over with phone calls, or you can offer them information that really helps them get through the decision — and of course, presents what your senior care services have to offer in the best possible light.”
Content marketing doesn’t have to be hard and expensive.
Content Made Simple
Add a blog to your website (and update it regularly), ask your clients and residents to post online reviews, and send informative emails regularly to your lead bank – and you’re doing some content marketing!
Yet, as a marketing partner to the senior care industry, we at Caring.com know that many senior living communities, home care agencies, and senior care service providers struggle with regularly generating great content that successfully builds customer relationships. They don’t have the time or resources to continually generate fresh, engaging articles or blog posts, and sometimes don’t even know where to begin or how to measure their efforts.
We can help.
In February 2016, as part of a content marketing webcast, we launched the “Content Made Simple” program to help senior care companies better reach and engage Baby Boomers and older adults cost-effectively through interesting, helpful, and timely content. The program has a range of services:
CONTENT SPARKS: We shared three (3) new thematic ideas monthly for a year that local senior care providers’ can turn into blog posts, website articles, and e-newsletter blurbs. The monthly content sparks are posted on this blog, and include a brief overview on the theme, as well as tips and resources to support production of the related content.
SOCIAL MARKETING & SEARCH TIPS: It’s not enough to create great content. Your content also needs be found, read, and shared widely to be effective in building customer relationships. Our Digital Marketing Academy and Content Made Simple programming regularly include tips to help you optimize your content for search engines and increase social reach.
MEASUREMENT GUIDANCE: After you’ve written excellent content, and optimized it for search and social, you need to track its impact. Our Content Made Simple programming includes the best tactics for measuring content-sourced outcomes, including expert insights and case studies. For instance, in April 2016, we’ll covered best practices for email nurture campaigns, including how to measure their effectiveness.
The Content Made Simple program also includes the following additional services for our referral partners (directory advertising clients) only:
“EXPERT ROLODEX” OPPORTUNITIES — We’re regularly contacted by journalists seeking interviews with senior care experts, and our writers also need to speak with experts for stories we’re publishing on a range of senior living and senior care topics. Caring.com clients can submit their employees and experts for consideration when these content source opportunities arise. Learn more about Caring’s Expert Rolodex now.
CARING.COM ARTICLE REPRINTS — See an article on our site that is just perfect for your blog, website, or e-newsletter? Caring.com Clients can work with our Editorial staff to make that same article available on your site, with proper attributions and usage permissions to ensure the collaboration is optimized for search and honors our copyrights.
More and more families are finding Assisted Living, In-Home care, and other senior services through the Internet. To help you make the most of your Internet leads, we’ve compiled some best practices:
Set up an auto-response e-mail confirmation to go out the instant you get a lead. Your message can be short — just “Thank you” and “We’ll be in touch” — but it needs to be immediate so the caregiver knows her request has been received.
A lot of factors might affect a customer’s choice to submit an online lead form instead of picking up the phone to call you. For some, it’s just a matter of convenience — they’re not near a phone or are too busy to talk in depth.
For others, though, the online form offers a discreet way to reach out. Perhaps they’re researching while they’re at work. Or perhaps they don’t want their loved one to overhear the phone call.
To be safe, be sensitive when you reach out to the customer. Ask if it’s a convenient time to talk, and if it’s not, schedule a better time. And if the customer writes a note in her care request that specifically asks you to respond by e-mail only, respect that request.
Make sure to send a thoughtful response to each lead or care request as quickly as you can — within the same day if at all possible. We’re not kidding about this. We’ve talked to several major partners who’ve done formal studies of their online leads, and they all say that there’s a major drop-off if you even wait one extra day to call. (One partner reports a 7X lift in connect rate for calls returned on Day One versus Day Two.)
In addition to that phone call, we recommend that you write a detailed follow-up e-mail to each care request. Personalize this e-mail and refer back to the information you’ve learned about them so far from their care request notes or from your phone conversation.
Did the customer tell you she has an 89-year-old father? Let her know how many of your clients are that age. Did your customer’s mother break her hip? Write a sentence or two about your amazing physical therapy program. To save time, draft a set of standard answers to the most common questions. Topics frequently mentioned in care requests on Caring.com include:
Rates Availability Medicare/Medicaid Pets Couples Living Together | Dressing, Bathing, Toileting, Personal Care Walkers, Canes Options, Amenities Security Independence | Dementia/Alzheimer’s Stroke COPD Broken Hip |
This first e-mail should also tell the customer what the next steps are. Help set expectations and move him or her forward in the decision-making process. You might say, “Call me to schedule a tour” or “Please come to our community picnic this weekend” or “I’ll be calling you tomorrow to schedule a time to talk more about your mother’s needs and our availability.”
In these initial communications with families, try to determine which ones are closest to making a decision. These are the families you’ll want to keep at the top of your priority list. Some will tell you their timing; other factors for you to watch for are:
Loved one is dealing with memory problems (if you provide memory care)
Loved one is taking large number of prescribed medications and/or requires help managing medications
Family is caring for loved one 10+ hours per week
Loved one has experienced a recent accident or incident
Our partners at one major assisted living chain tell us they send a follow-up e-mail after one week. They send another one after three weeks. When you check in with your customers, revisit the topics you covered in your first e-mail and ask again, directly: Can you schedule a time to talk further? Would they like to take a tour? What other questions do they have?
If the lead hasn’t blossomed into a relationship from the first phone call and the first few e-mail messages, it’s time for your e-mail nurture campaign.
When to send: Send e-mails to prospective clients every 2 to 4 weeks.
How to send: If your business is small, you might manage your nurture campaign from your regular e-mail client — Outlook, Gmail, etc. As your list grows, you’ll want a tool to make sending e-mails easier. Tools such as Constant Contact, VerticalResponse, iContact, and others can help you manage your contacts, create e-mails, send and deliver e-mails, and monitor responses. Do some research to find out what option is best for you. (Many offer free trial periods.)
What to send: The best way to build a relationship is to deliver value. Make sure your message is useful and provides an immediate benefit to the family reading it. Good messages also convey the warmth and personality of your organization.
Here are a few of our favorite blog posts about effective writing for e-mail messages: HubSpot | copyblogger | MarketingProfs
If you’re still not sure what to write, here are some links that might spark ideas:
Check out Caring.com to see resources families love. You can’t reprint our content without permission, but you can link to us. (Let us know if you’d like more guidance about linking to us.)
Set up a Google alert for keywords like “Alzheimer’s” or “elder care” — you’ll be notified whenever something new gets published. If you see something you think will interest your families, write a few sentences about it and provide a link.
The “New Old Age” blog in the New York Times has great articles. Again, if you see something you like, you can write a couple of sentences about it and share the link.
Keep an eye on your local news — is there anything happening near you that you can talk about? Are there special events for seniors in your town? If there’s a snowstorm, can you give tips for navigating snow in a wheelchair? Always be on the lookout for opportunities to share your expertise.
Next to your own website, the best way to help families find you online is to set up your Enhanced Listing on Caring.com. To get your Enhanced Listing and begin receiving care requests, call your Caring Advisor at (866) 824-9209.
If you opt to buy leads from other vendors, make sure to do your homework. Know how they’re generating their leads: Search Engine Marketing? Online banners? Know what they’re doing with those leads — are they giving them to only a few providers, or to dozens? All this information can help you modulate your marketing efforts (and judge the quality of the leads you get).
Set up your auto-response confirmation for all Internet leads you receive
Schedule time each day (or several times a day) for follow-up phone calls and e-mails in response to incoming Internet leads
Schedule time each day for follow-up e-mails to families at the top of your priority list
Draft template responses for the most common topics in the inquiries you receive
Determine whether you need an e-mail campaign management tool, and select a vendor
Develop content for your nurture campaign
Make sure you’re getting enough Internet leads: Sign up to get automated care requests from Caring.com
For more than a year, Caring.com has been listening to your comments and questions about Internet leads.
Are these leads screened before you send them to a community or in-home care company?
If these leads are screened, what’s the best way to work them?
Why does it seem they are all so early in the buying cycle?
Why do you send us leads without a last name or a phone number?
We recognize that the confusion for many senior housing and care industry marketers is in identifying the differences between directories and lead-referral companies. Alas, it’s time to bring to light the myths and misconceptions about online referrals to help equip senior care operators with the tools to help improve close ratios for Internet referrals.
All Internet leads are the same, right?
The Internet is a big place, and it makes sense that all digital leads would be perceived as being the same. But wait! There’s a part of Internet leads that makes them uniquely different from one another: screened leads versus unscreened referrals.
The difference between an unscreened Internet lead and an Internet referral is that Internet leads are accumulated via directory sites and sent out without any screening. An Internet referral has been screened according to your community’s specifications. Internet referrals are therefore expensive to produce. For example, Caring.com bids on 500,000 keywords every month and invests more than $500,000 per month on lead acquisition. We also spend heavily on fresh content for our website. Internet referrals come from companies such as Caring.com, A Place for Mom, and SeniorHomes.com, all of which have trained advisors answering phones 24/7 as part of their unique screening processes.
Another powerful myth is that all your company really needs is a great website to generate referrals. Not true. Of course you still need a great website, but getting people to it requires a digital marketing strategy that includes SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing), plus some great Internet referral partners.
Are Internet referrals without a last name or phone number any good?
YES! In a recent study, Caring.com found that nearly 15 percent of all Caring.com Internet referrals that converted to move-ins were missing either a phone number or an e-mail address. In some cases, those leads are missing last names because many online consumers want to protect their privacy. Phone numbers are not given because the consumer may be searching the Web at work during breaks. You can still convert this kind of referral without a last name or email address or phone number to a move-in! True or false: You never share your pricing with an Internet referral up front.
Let’s talk about it. Is sharing your pricing with an Internet referral partner (or sending it via e-mail) going to hurt your chances of winning a prospect? Another big myth that affects your close ratios is that you should never share your pricing.
Think again. . . . Internet shoppers generally want respect for their time. They see an unwillingness to share a price or a rate as reason to distrust you. “You might lose an opportunity for a conversation with them,” says Katie Roper, VP of sales at Caring.com. “You don’t have to use absolutes when sharing pricing. You can say, ‘Our rates start at $X, but most people pay between $Y and $Z per month,’ or per hour if you are an in-home care company.”
Don’t underestimate your communication strategy when connecting with Internet referrals. Though Internet referrals are different from professional referrals from doctors, social workers, or gerontologists, they are still real people looking for care. Some quick tips:
Get in touch — quickly.
Call the Internet referral within the first five minutes and to mention the person and organization that referred you, even in your first voicemail message. For example, “Hello, Mrs. Smith, this is Kathy Jones calling from Avalon Senior Living. I’m calling regarding Judy Johnson, your Advisor from Caring.com.”
Meet in person.
Whether it’s a tour or a face-to-face consult (for home care operators), your strategic goal should always be a face-to-face meeting. According to Jeanine Aspen, president of DEI-Central, “The first provider to get a face-to-face meeting with the prospect has a five-times-greater chance of getting them to become a customer,” she says.
As a senior care operator, a major part of your business is finding new leads each month — most likely through multiple sources to meet your goals: e.g., your website, residents’ family members, professionals, third-party websites.
But how are consumers finding YOU? In our most recent survey, we found that only 15% are typing in the actual name of a senior living community and 73% start their search with a general term.
How you can help consumers find and vet your community?
1. Don’t ignore third party websites and directories. Finding senior care is increasingly shifting to online sources. That means consumers are searching for care using general search terms and being funneled into third party websites and directories in their quest to find care. Addressing your customers’ questions and managing your reputation online will help your business adapt to the growing need in your region.
2. Continually add new content and information on your community’s website. Once people find you through general search terms, they want to see how you present yourself on the Web. Keep content on your website fresh and up to date to keep visitors coming back.
3. Encourage prospects to talk and ask questions. 56% said over-the-phone recommendations from a Caring.com Family Advisor were important in their decision for choosing senior care. Be sure third party websites, like Caring.com, have recent information and reviews so that your reputation on the Web is good and ready for new clients.
Look closely at the data from our 2014 survey results on reviews and senior care and learn how you can help consumers find and vet your community when they’re searching for senior care.
What do our survey results reveal? * Survey open: April 22 – May 7, 2014. Processed by Pretell Market Research.
2,274 = Total number of survey respondents 60% Searched for senior care on the Web
Of the people who searched for Senior Care on the Web, this is how they conducted their Web search:
15% searched on the community name and went straight to the website
21% searched on a general term and started with a directory/comparison site
23% searched on a general term and worked down
29% searched on general term and started with a known name
12% don’t remember the specifics of their search
81% went to the website of a specific operator once they found them via general search.
39% wanted details on the community
28% wanted general information on senior care
7% wanted testimonials from residents
7% wanted contact information for a community
**Caring.com Tip: Make sure your website is easy to understand and kept up-to-date with correct information about your community.
Most important factors in choosing Senior Care providers
Location
Cost
Reputation
Services and amenities
Staff
Why does this matter to you, (the senior care operator)? Consumers are using multiple sources to find and vet senior care.
Who has the most dependable information about Senior Care?
78% The company’s customers
73% My trusted circle of family and friends
68% Professionals (GCMs, doctors, social works, etc.)
54% Neutral review websites
26% The company itself
61% of respondents have read Senior Care reviews online.
Breakdown of trustworthy sources for Senior Care reviews:
43% Senior Care review websites (Caring.com, RetirementHomes.com)
23% Individual community/home care agency website
19% Other
10% General review website (Yelp, Angie’s List)
6% Social websites (Facebook, Google+)
**Past research has shown that listings with reviews get 14 times more leads than those without.
71% used a directory or recommendation service (like Caring.com) because they mainly wanted:
General information
Communities appropriate for their situation
Ten years ago, before smart phones, tablets and social media changed the world, senior housing and home care companies found 80% of their leads and move-ins coming from B2B professional referral sources – physicians, hospital case managers and discharge planners, physical therapists, financial managers, realtors, 55+ communities and senior centers. The other 20% came from B2C marketing and communications – street signage, advertising in the newspaper, directories and the Yellow Pages, special events, newsletters – plus word-of-mouth from friends and families of residents, and walk-ins.
Digital Selection and the Rise of the Internet Lead
The growth of the Internet and digital technology has dramatically changed the industry’s marketing mix, especially how companies get new leads. In much the same way we began using Priceline, HotWire, and Kayak to search travel deals and how we learned to research features and pricing online for the new cars we want to buy, we are now vetting our loved ones’ senior care possibilities via the Internet. Some leads still come from professional referral sources; but many, if not most, are now coming from the Internet.
How Do Internet Leads Differ from Traditional Referral Sources?
1. The lead, generally a Boomer woman who, as an adult child decision-maker, has done extensive research online and narrowed down a field of possibilities that may or may not include you.
2. She may be at one of four stages in the consumer buying cycle:
Considering future options for an aging loved one.
Experiencing behavior changes in a loved one who needs more care.
Dealing with a serious health diagnosis.
Needing care within a few weeks, days or hours because of an event involving a loved one — perhaps a fall, a fractured hip, a stroke or memory loss that causes wandering away from home.
3. She has researched her options without speaking to a doctor or hospital case manager, let alone anyone at your company.
4. She is hard to reach via phone and prefers communicating by email or text.
5. Because she is researching more than one Independent Living, Assisted Living, or Memory Care community or Home Care company, and she is likely interacting with online directories and referral sources, your sales cycle may seem longer now. And then again, maybe it’s not.
Will Internet Leads Progress?
According to a 2013 study by Ipsos and Google about reaching Boomers and seniors online, 83% of Boomers and seniors go to the Internet to learn about a topic of interest and 57% are now shopping online. Boomers and seniors were late adopters of mobile technology however today 60% have used a tablet to seek information and 58% have sought information via a smartphone.
Boomers are also making purchases via mobile apps — 40% have bought something with a smartphone and 49% made a purchase via tablet.
News flash: Your consumer is using the Internet to learn about and eventually purchase the things she needs. Senior care is one of the things she may need. Digital is now a primary ingredient in a successful marketing mix.
Survival of the Quickest: Use Phone, Text, and Email to Lock in Leads
Digital referrals do behave differently than referrals from the hospital or rehab because they are generally not faced with an immediate need to move. Not every senior housing community can rely solely on hospital case managers and discharge planners to fill their census. Internet leads are viable but you simply can’t handle them the same way you handle walk-ins and professional referrals.
A quick response to the lead, aka “speed to lead” via phone, text or email is extremely critical. It may take three or four contacts to reach them, so sticking with communication outreach is also important. And finally, your sales team will take good advantage of their Internet leads, moving them through the system to move-ins, if and when they are fairly measured and compensated for their efforts.
Rumi Shahzad, part owner at New Hope Valley Assisted Living Saginaw, Michigan, truly believes in the philosophy that each person’s life is a unique journey. He and the team of dedicated professionals who own New Hope Valley believe that life does not have to stop once a person has moved to an assisted living community. They want their residents to continue to live fulfilled lives. In an attempt to learn more about providing top-quality care to residents, Rumi researched and went to national trade show events. A meeting with Caring.com at a trade show and a follow-up phone call by a member of the Caring.com team later started Rumi, New Hope Valley Assisted Living, and Caring.com on a lasting partnership.
Caring.com’s Online Reviews Are the “Key Difference” Among Other Referral Agencies
There are many things about the Caring.com website and membership with Caring.com that Rumi feels are invaluable. For one, online reviews make Caring.com stand out among other referral agencies, in Rumi’s opinion. “It is the key difference,” he says. One of the main reasons Rumi has been very happy working with Caring.com is because he believes testimonials from residents and family members about their experiences with his facility help potential clients see New Hope Valley’s true character and attributes. Anyone can write a positive write-up of their own business, but to have personal evaluations from clients makes the reviews authentic.
Great, Trustworthy Marketing at a Reasonable Cost
New Hope Valley Assisted Living hasn’t had to do a lot of marketing outside of their listing with Caring.com. Rumi believes that Caring.com provides great, trustworthy marketing at a reasonable cost. With Caring.com’s one-time yearly membership fee, more money can be spent on making a better quality of life for residents than on many different marketing avenues. Other facilities spend more money on marketing with the same result as one membership with Caring.com. Rumi and his team have been able to use their money in more direct ways, such as paying for enrichment programs and a highly popular community dinner event with the families and friends of residents.
Reviews Help Inform Prospective Clients About Their Options
Caring.com’s Senior Care Directory can also be a great tool to use in discussions with potential residents and their families. Rumi likes to reference Caring.com and encourage prospective clients to go online and check out reviews of his facility as well as others. He wants people to be well informed on every decision they make for themselves and their loved ones. New Hope Valley Assisted Living’s website even has a link directing online research about assisted living to Caring.com’s website.
Caring.com Brings New Business and Creates a Reliable Feedback Loop With Customers
“I highly recommend it, with no reservation,” says Rumi. He believes his facility’s partnership with Caring.com has brought in more business and also improved the quality of life at New Hope Valley Assisted Living. He encourages anyone who is trying to decide whether to partner with Caring.com to see it not only as a place for families to leave reviews for other prospective residents but also as a tool to improve facility management and workings. He advises signing up with Caring.com, “if for no other reason than to create independent feedback so you can improve your business.” He would love to talk to anyone about his positive experience with Caring.com.
About New Hope Assisted Living
New Hope offers a wholesome assisted living alternative in a brand-new, 27,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art community spread over ten acres. Its mission is to create an energetic yet safe and comfortable environment. We honor the security, independence, and dignity of our residents. We believe that each person has his or her own panorama of rich life experiences, and a nurturing environment will celebrate the continuation of this panorama.
How you and your staff can use phone lead nurturing to turn phone inquiries into paying customers.
Our research shows that about 20% of people searching the Internet for senior services don’t want providers to call them. Instead, these customers request information using online forms (and they don’t provide their phone numbers).
We also know that 20% of Internet searchers won’t ask for information online or by e-mail — they will only call.
Take that first contact as a hint. If she calls you, you call back. If she e-mails you, respond by e-mail.
Respecting the customer’s preferred communication helps to build trust. You’re providing her the information in a way that’s most convenient to her — which makes her research and decision-making process easier and faster.
We see complaints about poor phone service in consumers’ negative reviews on Caring.com. Here are a few excerpts from some one- and two-star reviews posted on our site right now:
” . . . customer service is seriously lacking. On hold for a while and then passed back and forth until I finally hung up and called another Home Care Agency.”
“The director could use a refresher course in training workers to act professional and have insight as to what is going on in his facility. Maybe he should make a call to the center incognito and ask for information about the services provided and see if he can get an answer. I couldn’t even get the address to the web site. “
” . . . good luck trying to reach your loved one by phone; you’ll get a recording or a fax machine to answer your call. I’ve called Karen 11 times and she’s never returned my phone calls.”
We hope this customer feedback is enough to convince you: Answering the phone well can be hugely important to the success of your business. Give your team clear guidance about how you’d like the phones answered.
You may not need to develop a formal script, but you can gather your marketing staff together to talk about what’s most important to the business. What do you want to learn about the caller? What do you want the caller to learn about your business? Ask your team members how they’re answering phones now, and what works — then encourage everyone else on the team to follow those practices.
By routinely brushing up on your team’s phone answering skills, you’ll be able to ensure that you’re making the best possible first impression on potential customers.
You’ve trained your marketing team — but what about after-hours calls, when you and your marketing team aren’t available? Even if they don’t usually work with new inquiries, everyone who answers your company’s phone should know these basics:
When transferring calls:
In case we get disconnected, can I have your name, phone number, and e-mail?
When taking messages:
What’s your name?
What type of service are you interested in?
What’s your timing — when are you looking to move in (or hire a service)?
What’s the best way to reach you? (Even if a customer prefers to be called, get his or her e-mail address if you can; more about that later.)
When’s a good time for us to call you back?
And here’s the one thing your team should avoid: Never ask the customer to call you back.
A major national chain (and Caring.com partner) conducted a study of its inbound phone inquiries. They found that if they called the customers back within 24 hours, they were 40 times more likely to connect with the customer than if they waited until the second day.
When customers are searching online, they expect to connect with you immediately. Especially if they’re picking up the phone — they want help now. If you don’t return that call quickly enough, your potential customer may forget about you.
Worse yet, if you wait too long, by the time you reach her she may have already talked to your competitors. Or, if you’re too slow, she may already be talking to a lead service that’ll charge you a huge referral bounty.
Our recommendation: Return all calls within 24 hours, minimum. Ideally, return calls within an hour or two.
This is a tough one. You want to convince the customer to work with you, but he’s not calling you back. What do you do?
Stop calling.
As you know, choosing senior care services is often a long process. Sometimes customers start their research months before they actually need services. If they’re not calling you back after two or three messages, chances are they’re not ready to talk further at this time. But that doesn’t mean they won’t choose your services down the road.
Remember how we suggested that you ask your customers for an e-mail address? This is why. That e-mail address gives you a chance to keep in touch with your customers in a gentle way — a “nurture campaign.”
Send messages every month or so — not too often. Make sure every e-mail provides value for your customer. Include tips and suggestions to help with caregiving. You can invite caregivers and loved ones to have a free lunch and tour, or to help celebrate a special event in your community. If you have a special offer or discount, include that information, too.
With Caring.com’s Partner Portal, you can quickly and easily ensure we have the most accurate rate information for your senior living community(ies). Current and accurate rate information is the key to enabling our Family Advisors to identify financially appropriate referrals for you.
Whether you’re a new Caring.com partner, or have been getting leads from us for years, we understand that your senior living community rates may change periodically. We want our family advisors to have the most up-to-date rate information when speaking to families researching their senior living options — to help us match the right prospects for your community.
How to Update Your Community’s Rates in the Partner Portal:
If you’re not already using the Partner Portal, please get in touch with our Partner Success staff for help accessing this valuable tool to track your leads and move-ins, and manage your referral account with us.
Once you’ve logged in, it takes only a few clicks to input revised rates for one or more of your senior living communities. Enter the “Community Profiles” section, select the community you’re confirming or updating rates for, then read or edit the existing rate info on file for that community, and click save. That’s it.
Our team will then review the rate information you submitted, let you know if we have questions, and publish the info to our family advisor database and/or your public listing on Caring.com (for example: minimum costs appear on the public listing, while average costs appear only for our family advisors). Please allow 24-48 hours for processing of rate changes.
Here’s a 3-minute video that takes you step by step through the Portal to update your rates on file with Caring.com: As discussed in the video, there are three rate areas we like to know about:
Minimum rent (single occupancy) — This is a required field because the majority of inquiries we receive for senior living are for private, single occupancy rooms or apartments.
Average cost (rent + care) — This helps give our family advisors a more well-rounded view of the range of rate and care costs at your community.
Minimum Memory Care Cost (shared occupancy) — If your community offers memory care, please let us know the minimum care cost for shared occupancy rooms (the most common request we get for this type of care).
Once the new rates are entered, be sure to click “save”. A date stamp will be placed on the update, to help you track the last time you or others on your team notified Caring.com of any rate changes at your community.
Remember: the more accurate and timely the information we have about your rates, the better we are able to financially qualify prospective resident referrals for your community.
Have questions, suggestions or feedback for us? We’d love to hear from you! Contact Partner Success now.
Since it’s now widely known that everybody who seeks information on the Internet starts at Google, any business whose clients are online — or every business — spends time worrying about how to be at the top of the search results. A big challenge, though, is that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is constantly evolving, as search engine companies (such as Google or Bing) look for better ways to decide which content is the most valuable (for consumers) and most profitable (for them). To keep up with these ongoing changes and meet the objective of being high on Page 1 of search results, marketers must constantly re-visit their assumptions and refine their approaches.
SEO expert AJ Kohn of Blind Five Year Old recently joined Caring’s Digital Marketing Academy for a deep dive into the latest thinking on SEO. He focused on three common SEO assumptions that have changed significantly over time.
Misconception #1: Content is king While this adage still holds true, it’s not enough just to write great articles – you need to promote and market them, too. As AJ said during the webcast, “Content alone isn’t going to work. If you publish content, they will not come to it magically.” People need to see and engage with your content, to “like” and “share” it on social media, and to post comments in order for the content to help you rank for SEO. In fact, AJ advised spending as much time promoting content as you do creating it.
Content promotion tips he provided include:
• Find Q&A forums, such as Caring.com’s Ask and Answer platform, to find consumer questions you can answer, provide information that helps them, and as relevant, link to your related content.
• Join the conversation in comments on other websites’ articles, particularly if there aren’t a lot of comments already on the page and it’s high in search engine rankings for a term that’s relevant to your business. Make sure that your comments are interesting and helpful, not sales focused.
• Write content that attracts “true fans”. It may only take 1,000 really engaged people to help a blog post ‘go viral’ or get noticed by Google, as discussed in a blog post AJ shared.
• Consider and try paid social (for instance, Facebook’s Promoted Post program) to jump-start likes and shares.
One final, important thought about content marketing: Don’t expect results to appear overnight. “Think years, not months,” AJ said.
How We Can Help Caring’s social media team is a great resource for senior care providers to share content with the tens of thousands of people who engage with us via social networks. Our team keeps a close eye on who’s sharing Caring’s content, and often reciprocates. We also regularly share information on social media from winners of the annual Caring Stars award. If you’re working with us directly, our client services team can connect you with the social folks.
Misconception #2: Links to other sites are to be avoided. A prevailing thought used to be that outlinks detracted from your domain authority – but this has changed. Nowadays, a smart linking strategy, both in and out, can help establish your “neighborhood,” providing valuable context for your content and boosting your site’s authority and rankings. That’s why it’s key to link out to quality sites (including Caring.com, which often appears in top search results for industry keywords).
Another important reason to link out – prominently – is that it keeps people from clicking through to your page, getting their question answered, and then returning to Google with a follow-up question. AJ described this bouncing back to Google as a “pogo stick” situation. Instead, he says, you should aim for a “Bow Tie” strategy. Think about the related information people might commonly search for after they read your content, and link to those resources. That way, instead of bouncing back to Google from your page, people continue on to other sites. Your site then becomes the “knot” in the bow tie.
And, since they haven’t just bounced back to Google to address these follow-up questions, Google views your site as a place people go and stay for a while – a great signal that you’ve got a valuable resource that deserves to rank high.
Some simple things you can do: • Link to reputable, high-quality content that helps answer readers’ additional questions. Let’s say you have a senior living community in Mesa, AZ. You obviously want to rank for searches for your name, and also for assisted living in Mesa, AZ. But once people find your community website, what are their next questions? They might want to know how to pay for senior housing, so you could link to resources like a local veteran’s benefits company, or Caring’s great article on how to pay for assisted living.
• Link to pages that demonstrate your expertise or connect consumers to other relevant organizations. They might want to make sure you’re an ethical company, and you could link to your local Chamber of Commerce, or third-party sites with consumer reviews. Or maybe they’ll want to know how close you are to great healthcare, so you’d link to your local hospital’s website.
• Reach out to sites you link to, and build reciprocal relationships. They’ll be pleased to know you linked to their great content, they may share some of yours, and they may link back to your site. Avoid trading or buying links though. “Inbound links are the result, not the goal. Build a resource that people in your community love. When you earn links, good things happen,” AJ said.
Misconception #3: You must work hard to rank for “root” terms. Of course, situations vary. In general, though, a single community will struggle to rank high for a so-called root term like “Assisted Living” or even “Assisted Living in Los Angeles,” because search algorithms favor sites that cover the area broadly (like SeniorHomes.com) rather than the site for a single community that happens to be located in Los Angeles. If you’re not ranking first for your community name, though, you’re really in trouble.
“If someone’s looking for your brand, your property, or name, you better capture that customer because they’re further down the purchase funnel,” AJ said.
His tips for simple things you can do: • Make sure your name and physical address is featured everywhere on your site, using consistent terms, which will help ensure that you rank high for local searches and brand-oriented searches.
• Claim your Google My Business page. “Google My Business isn’t easy, but it’s essential for any business that has a physical location, and at the end of the day, it’s worth it,” AJ said.
Above all, it was clear from the session that ranking high in organic search results requires a consistent, dedicated, multi-year initiative that could easily run you $5,000 per month or more. AJ noted that his own blog, BlindFiveYearOld.com, got almost no traffic for its first two and a half years! It was only in Year 3 that he started to rank in critical areas, and consequently to get inbound traffic from search engines.
DON’T WANT TO WAIT? If you need business NOW, there is another option. AJ called it the “barnacle strategy”. Like a barnacle attaching itself to a ship, you can hitch onto sites that do invest the time and money into SEO ranking. Caring.com is one of these sites, and many partners have used our pages to get found in search results. Call us at (866) 824-9209 and press 1 to speak with a Membership Advisor who can help you execute this SEO strategy.
Additional Info • Read more of what AJ said during this webcast via our Digital Marketing Academy stream @CaringInsights.
• Watch the webcast recording on YouTube.
• Visit and subscribe to AJ’s blog.
When you tour a family through your community, do you ever wonder what they’re really thinking? Caring.com surveyed 1,181 family caregivers and older adults who searched for a senior community in the last year, and we asked for their candid comments on their tour experience. What we gleaned:
People who tour are seriously searching: 1/3 of respondents toured four or more communities, and only 17% visited just one.
Despite seeing flattering pictures and descriptions posted online, 68% of people who toured a senior community reported being “surprised at how nice it was.”
People matter! Almost all tour takers (91%) commented on their favorable impression of the staff, and 10% specifically mentioned observing staff interaction as an important reason to visit in person.
Almost half the people who had taken at least one tour had either already moved in (40%) or were scheduled to do so (8%).
Caring.com sees this same result in broader visitor data. Families who schedule a tour through our senior housing help line move in at 3.5 times the rate of others we speak with, and also 25% faster than those who decline to tour right away.
While most visitors had a good experience during their tours, noticeable minorities said they had not been contacted prior to a scheduled tour to confirm it (12%), and almost one in five people (18%) reported no contact at all from the community after they went home from the tour. A further 26% had been contacted only once post-tour.
In addition, 20% of people said their tour was too much of a sales pitch.
Over half of survey respondents took the time to provide open-ended comments, and the single most common category of negative comments was dissatisfaction with the way the community handled pricing discussions (13%). Most people resented the fact that they could not get pricing information before taking a tour.
“That approach may have been fine for previous generations, but this next generation is mainly email and text messaging, and we need our information on line” was one verbatim comment.
The single most common positive comment was that the tour allowed them to get a “feel” for the community. Comments like, “I found the feeling of hominess was not evident until I visited,” or “Meeting the people, talking with them, eating with them was very nice and gave me a ‘home’ feeling” underscore the importance of real-world visits in addition to online research.
About 1/3 of people who were invited to tour declined to do so. The most common reason was that they were “too early in their search” (46%) or “not sure loved one is ready” (21%). But 9% of those who declined did so because they had no transportation to get there. If your community is willing to pick someone up, be sure to let people know. And three-quarters of the people who declined to tour initially would be open to scheduling a visit now. Are you still in touch with them to invite them in?
Caring can help you get people to your door! If you’d like our Family Advisors to schedule more tours for you, here are some easy things you can do:
Tell us something good.
Give us an exciting, compelling tidbit about your community that we can use to sell families on coming in for a visit.
Update your rates.
Make sure we have accurate pricing information — not just your starting rates but what your average resident can expect to pay.
Reviews, reviews, reviews!
Encourage your happy residents and their families to review your community on Caring.com.
Call right away.
When we do schedule a tour for you, call or email to introduce yourself and welcome them to your community. Then call again the day before, just to remind them (we will, too!). Then, once they take the tour, call them to see what they thought.
Questions? Please contact Partner Success.
If you’re in sales and marketing, you should know your company’s ROI — return on investment. Many of us know our rates and our sales goals, but we don’t understand the ROI, which in easy terms is defined as “How much you spend to do something versus how much you get from doing it.” It’s measured as percent.
What About Lost Revenue?
For senior living operators: How do you calculate the cost of an empty bed at your community? This important formula can help you bring the bigger picture of revenue goals into focus so you can see why they are more important than simply meeting your occupancy goals.
What’s the long-term value of a resident?
What makes sense to pay for a referral fee, if my option is to leave the bed empty?
When should I use discounts to fill my empty beds?
What if someone for whom I’ve paid a referral fee dies after just a few months?
For home care agencies: Unlike senior living operators, calculating ROI is not as much of a focus. In-home care agencies have higher variable and lower fixed costs. However, take into account the following elements when considering each client:
Geographic elements: Drive time, proximity of clients to caregivers, and gas mileage are all costs.
Care providers: Full use (4 work hours versus 8 work hours).
Management costs: Is the overhead worth it if a client wants only a few hours of care?
We held a webinar on “How to Calculate Your ROI on Internet Referrals” on October 20, 2014. It has proven to be one of our best webinars yet. It gives you mathematical tools to answer questions like. We recorded the webinar so you can take this opportunity to enlighten or refresh your perspective on ROI and lost revenue.
For the ROI webinar slides: Calculating Your ROI [Presentation Slides]
For a recording of the presentation: How To Calculate Your ROI On Internet Referrals [Recording]
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 full recording 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.
Each year, Caring.com compiles a list of the top-rated assisted living and memory care communities in our Senior Care Directory — the communities earning the highest praise in reviews from families, residents, and senior care experts. In January 2015, we were so pleased to begin honoring 805 assisted living and memory care communities in 43 states across the country as “Caring Stars of 2015”.
The annual Caring Stars list originally launched in January 2012 as the premier senior living reviews award program, helping family caregivers and older adults narrow their senior living options to the best of the best, and quickly find the right assisted living or Alzheimer’s care community for aging parents and other loved ones. To further highlight the most-acclaimed assisted living communities, this year Caring.com added a new category of winners, the Caring Super Stars, celebrating 33 communities that have won the award at least three of the years the program has been in place.
Congratulations to these Caring Super Stars of 2015:
Most marketers in senior care, both housing and care services, understand the critical role that adult children play in their elderly parents’ care decisions. Industry surveys show 70-75% of move-in decisions to both assisted living and independent living communities are influenced by adult children–mostly baby boomers in their 50s and 60s.
And most adult children now start their buying decision making process online. So how do you reach this valuable audience?
Alayna Allen of marketing agency Immersion Active shared five strategies to use when marketing to boomers:
Leverage the social graph.
Reach them; their elderly loved ones, the medical professionals they trust, their siblings and other family members. These people don’t make their decisions in a vacuum.
Share their feedback.
Boomers get asked for their opinions more than 90 times each year, and they provide their opinions more than 90% of the time! The majority of senior care reviews are written by boomers, and they are the fastest growing demographic on Facebook. Make your content easy to share, and monitor your reviews.
Send e-mail.
This is still the best way to reach a boomer audience. But make sure you can read your emails on a smart phone!
Be available to inbound communication.
Boomers prefer to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to making decisions. Focus on making it easy for them to find you, rather than bombarding them with unsolicited contacts.
Create video content.
Boomers now watch more Internet video than TV. Use it to engage them!
A thorough understanding of your competitors is vital for success in sales. In our recent webinar on competitive intelligence gathering for senior housing companies, our two co-presenters Lana Peck from NIC and Scott Townsley from Trilogy Consulting shared ideas of specific resources salespeople can use to ethically and legally gather competitive intelligence.
Lana and Scott had great ideas, and it’s worth your time to listen to the full webinar. But here’s a quick overview of the resources they mentioned to help you gather intel:
Google: (You knew this would be first!) Type in community name, but also try searching on the corporate name, the name of an ownership group, or the license number of the specific community. Another tip Lana shared was using the “Advanced Search” option and selecting “File Type” such as .xls or .ppt to find marketing presentations, internal analysis, and other documents that your competitor may have forgotten were publicly accessible. She also suggested doing a search for “CCRC disclosure statement” and/or doing a search with those words and the competitor community’s name.
Lana Peck of NIC
EMMA: The Electronic Municipal Market Access database contains a wealth of disclosure documents required if a company raises money from public sources. You’ll find information about new construction, remodels, acquisitions, or other events that trigger financing needs.
State or Local Websites: In a regulated industry like senior housing, every state has a way to access licensing data, construction permit information, and other required disclosures. Here’s a link to the website for California, for example, but your state has one, too.
Pubic Job Boards: Troll the popular job listing sites in your area (like Monster.com, MyCNAJobs, or Craigslist) to find out what your competitors are up to, including what services or features they’re preparing to roll out.
Glassdoor: This website for employee reviews gives you the inside scoop on what it’s like to work for any company including your competition – although many of these reviews are posted by people on their way out the door in a huff, so you need to take them with a big grain of salt.
Scott Townsley of Trilogy Consulting
Caring’s Partner Portal: If you get leads from Caring.com, you can log into your custom version of the Partner Portal to see which people we sent you actually moved into one of your competitor’s community. This gives you insight into trends like whether you’re losing memory care prospects to Community X, or high-net worth clients to Community Y. Need Portal access? Contact Partner Success.
NIC MAP: This fee-for-access database is the gold standard for competitive intelligence in senior housing, and will make your life easy. Check with your corporate office to see if you already have a subscription – we don’t have one here at Caring.com, but I wish we did!
Trilogy Consulting: I was so impressed with Scott’s insights, based on over 20 years of experience with senior housing strategy. If you don’t know where to begin with your competitive intelligence gathering, Scott can help.
We’ve also posted Lana’s slides and Scott’s slides for you to peruse:
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