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Case Studies
Don't Just Take Our Word For It
Case Studies
Don't Just Take Our Word For It
The Carr Fire in the Shasta and Trinity counties of Northern California has burned about 230,000 acres, destroyed over 1000 homes, and led to 3 firefighter fatalities. It’s a disaster that started nearly a month ago, and is now 88% contained.
Mary is a 90-year-old woman whose entire mobile home park in Redding was burned to the ground by this fire. Her friend Jim temporarily took her into his home 250 miles away, and reached out to Caring.com for help finding her a new home back in Redding.
“It was a small mobile home park and she was pretty active with all the neighbors. She’s a lifetime family friend, and the best 90-year-old I’ve ever seen,” Jim said. “Once she gets into a place, and gets acclimated, it’ll be smooth sailing again.”
Eileen, Caring Family AdvisorEileen, one of Caring’s Family Advisors, sprang into action immediately to help Jim and Mary.
After quickly gathering details about Mary’s daily life, needs, preferences, and budget, Eileen identified Holiday Retirement’s Hilltop Estates as a great match, and scheduled a tour for that weekend. Given the urgency of the situation, and not wanting to waste Jim & Mary’s time during the crisis, Eileen reached out to the community right after she got off the phone with Jim, and spoke to Heather, their sales director, about availability for Mary.
Heather shared that the community had an excellent emergency response plan that was supporting their usual residents as well as taking in evacuees from other senior living communities and local-area seniors (with insurance agents on site to help those who lost their homes and possessions). Heather said they’d be ready for Jim and Mary’s visit to Hilltop Estates, and had a nice apartment available for Mary to consider. Heather also provided her mobile phone number for Eileen to share with Jim should he need to reschedule the tour.
On Monday morning, Eileen reached back out to Jim to check on Mary and see how their tour went. With its highly-praised staff, dining, amenities, and activities, the community was well-matched to Mary, and the move-in paperwork and deposit had already been completed.
Mary moved in within six days of Jim’s initial call to Caring. “Everything will be fine now,” he said.
“It’s a wonderful feeling I received for having a very small hand in helping a senior in crisis,” Eileen noted. “It is truly those rewards which I am very grateful for, since they remind me why I do this job each and every day.”
Caring’s referral leadership agrees. A Caring senior manager, Susann Crawford said, “Eileen and this story epitomize the beautiful capability our Family Advisors have to meld our business directly to our purpose and mission. This is exactly why we do what we do!”
Holiday Retirement’s flyer about its emergency response services advises: “Don’t fight fires alone.” We agree — and whether it’s a fire from a disaster, medical and safety concerns, or the realization that senior living is a better care option, we at Caring.com (in collaboration with partners like Holiday Retirement) are here for families and seniors across America, so they get their needs met and don’t have to face the challenge alone.
LiveWell at Birchwood Lake Estates (LiveWell Assisted Living) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina received its first review on Caring.com in October 2012. It was 5 stars (the highest possible rating) from a daughter-in-law who was helping select the community for her spouse's mother. By the end of 2012, the community had received 5 more positive consumer reviews, and people were calling and visiting the community with mention of the reviews they'd read online.
"I realized that Caring.com was quickly going to become the Yelp of senior care," said Zack Fraley, Vice President of LiveWell Care, Inc., a family owned and operated business representing over 20 years of healthcare management. "I made the decision early on to focus on reviews, and on Caring's reviews site specifically, and it hasn't failed us."
When Zack first began working on LiveWell's search engine optimization (SEO) in 2012, he noticed the quality of Caring.com's content and found the site to be well indexed and search optimized — ranking high on page 1 results for many of the keyword searches he did. Zack wanted to concentrate his organization's marketing efforts, recognizing the SEO "barnacle strategy" of attaching to a reputable and relevant partner site, and found Caring.com to be a perfect match for growing awareness and affinity with his brand online.
"No one is a stranger to Google," Zack says, "and when they go to Google, they'll find our Caring.com listing and read what everybody else is saying about us. Even when prospective residents and their family members call our number directly, they’ll say, 'Hey, we saw your reviews on Caring.com. We see that other families have had a great experience with you all.' At LiveWell, we've taken note of that, and have increased our efforts on Caring.com because it's working for us."
LiveWell is the only operator of both in-home care and care home or “micro-communites” for older adults in North Carolina. LiveWell now operates 6 properties in North Carolina's "research triangle" of Raleigh–Durham–Chapel Hill, and has 23 reviews total on their Caring.com listings. The original location at Birchwood Lake Estates earned so many positive reviews that they became a Caring Stars award-winning community three years in a row — earning the title of "Caring Super Star" and the only one who earned that coveted distinction in North Carolina in 2015.
"These awards that we've received have distinguished us among the top assisted living communities in the country" Zack said. "The reviews on Caring.com have been a phenomenal marketing asset for us, helping us to widely get exposure that would have been difficult to get otherwise."
To sustain its outstanding online reputation, LiveWell incorporated its reviews focus in staff orientation and training, and circulates new reviews among the entire team — to help reinforce the positive impact these caregivers are having for those they serve. The initial success of the Birchwood Lake Estates location has helped set a high-bar standard for their other locations, creating a culture that reflects their commitment to service excellence.
"The reviews we've received show how much focus we have on the details of the services we provide, and in turn, lead to employee satisfaction as well," Zack said. "Our caregivers are able to see how great they're doing, and say to themselves, 'Yes, I'm actually going to be able to have an impact here based on how LiveWell operates'."
LiveWell is also using the consumer reviews in their community sales process.
"If the prospective resident or family member hasn't already mentioned that they've read our reviews online, it's one of the first things we direct them to," Zack says. "We've been doing this since the beginning when we only had the one Caring Stars listing, and now we do it for all of our locations."
LiveWell definitely shines in search results on Caring.com — few other assisted living communities in its area have exceeded or matched the quantity and quality of reviews Zack's team has earned from families and older adults on Caring.com (the closest assisted living community with 20+ positive reviews on Caring.com is about 25 miles away, and there are less than a dozen total in the entire state that currently have that review volume). For Chapel Hill and Durham, LiveWell listings rank at or near the top of assisted living and care home search results — the review volume attracting clicks and listing visits from senior care searchers.
"Our partnership with Caring.com is a very important aspect of our marketing for all of our communities," Zack says. "The positive reviews we've received for the flagship location reflect a level of service that families can expect at any of our locations, and Caring.com helps us share those feedback stories widely and strengthen our reputation of having happy customers and great employees."
Well done, LiveWell! You successfully seized this digital marketing opportunity — years before many of your competitors, and have since clearly demonstrated the multiple benefits of building your online reputation through reviews on Caring.com!
***Have a Digital Marketing Kudos story to share? We’d love to hear from you. Submit kudos now.
Frequently Asked Questions
Oct 14, 2024
How to Maximize the Holiday SeasonThe 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
Oct 11, 2024
Why Paying for Referral Services is Still a Smart Move (Even with Full Occupancy)So, your senior living community is buzzing with residents, and you’re thinking, “Why would I pay for referral services now?” Believe it or not, there are some real perks to keeping those services in your budget, even when your community is packed to the brim!
Partnering with reputable referral services can make your community look like the hottest spot in town. It’s like having a celebrity endorsement — everyone wants to be where the cool kids are. Trust us, when people see that a solid referral service backs you, they’ll be lining up to move in.
Even with full occupancy, life happens! Referral services can keep the pipeline flowing, ensuring you fill those empty spots quickly or even build out a waitlist for your community. Think of it as your “just-in-case” plan — helping you and your team stay ahead of the unexpected.
Running a community is a juggling act; managing admissions can sometimes feel overwhelming. By letting a referral service handle the heavy lifting, your team can focus on what matters — ensuring residents are happy and enjoy their time in your community! When you and your team have more time for things like planning activities, that can lead to happier residents, and happier residents are the ultimate goal!
Referral services are plugged into the latest trends and insights about what seniors want. They can help you stay ahead of the trends and your competition. They can help provide industry insights — like knowing that most seniors prefer pickleball to shuffleboard! This knowledge helps keep your community fresh and appealing to care seekers.
Even if your community is bursting at the seams, investing in referral services can be a game-changer. They add real value from finding the right residents to boosting your community’s reputation. And who doesn’t want a little extra help? After all, a full house is great, but a thriving community? Now that’s priceless!
Sep 23, 2024
Optimizing Speed to Lead: Best Practices for Community & Regional TeamsWhen it comes to community management, every second matters regarding speed to lead. Drawing from my years of experience leading community teams, here are some effective strategies to enhance your responsiveness:
Read While Ringing: Utilize the time while the phone is ringing to review the referral details. Sales directors should familiarize themselves with referral email templates to more quickly identify key information, such as the referrer’s name, level of care needed, timeline, and budget. This preparation allows for a more efficient and targeted conversation, helping to start the dialogue successfully. When you delay this initial touchpoint to review and respond to the referral source, you may lose the referral to other communities that reached out more quickly.
Effective Team Collaboration: Many communities implement "tour trees" to ensure coverage when team members are out or busy. This same principle can and should be used with lead management. It’s important to establish clear protocols for handling leads during PTO or weekends. Make sure you encourage your team to collaborate rather than compete — multiple contacts from different team members can strengthen the relationship with the lead. Remember, a team approach often yields better results than relying on a single sales director.
Cross-Community Support: When managing multiple communities, consider how they can support each other. For instance, if a high-occupancy community is near a lower-occupancy one, the sales team from the less busy community can handle incoming calls for the busier one, allowing the other team to focus on on-site visits and hospital referrals.
Timeliness in Communication: Speed to lead isn’t confined to sales calls. Aim to contact leads within 15 minutes for sales calls and within 2 hours for operational inquiries, ensuring that both sales and operations touch base with the families promptly.
Leverage Technology: Ensure that your referral emails are optimized for quick response. Set up text alerts and email notifications, and flag referrals in your email system to prioritize them. Collaborate with tech support to fully utilize all available tools to enhance speed to lead.
Marketing Automation: Work with your marketing team to automate the distribution of essential information such as meal menus, activity calendars, and floor plans. This ensures that these important details reach leads quickly, which can increase the likelihood of engagement.
Centralized Intake Support: In some regions, implementing a call center for intake can significantly boost conversion rates. A central intake person can efficiently manage both paid referrals and website inquiries, providing a cost-effective solution to enhance lead management.
Engage with Referral Sources: Regularly consult with your referral sources to understand what’s working and stay updated on new technologies or marketing processes.
By adopting these strategies, you can enhance your team’s responsiveness and effectiveness, ensuring that every lead is managed with the urgency and attention it deserves.
Sep 05, 2024
Expect the Unexpected: The Rise of Walk-in ToursWhen I worked as a traveling sales specialist in retirement communities, one of my key strategies was always to have "Activity Tour Boxes" ready at the front desk. Typically, I’d have three or four boxes prepped and tailored for different levels of care and whether it would be small or large groups.
To create these, I collaborated closely with the activities director and involved residents to brainstorm fun and engaging activities. This ensured that, whether we had a scheduled tour or an unexpected walk-in, we were always ready to offer a lively, welcoming experience.
Putting our best foot forward in our community was crucial, especially when tours arrived with little notice. We faced situations where prospective residents or families would show up within 30 minutes and if there wasn’t a scheduled activity, we’d turn to our Activity Boxes. These contained quick, fun ideas like:
Trivia cards
Inflatable beach balls to use with music for exercise
“Pin the Microphone on Elvis”
Craft kits for bracelet-making
Having a process in place and getting the staff involved made these spontaneous moments exciting for everyone, including employees.
Just like we invest time and money preparing model apartments to showcase to future residents, it’s equally important to showcase the vibrant community life through engaging activities. Pre-planning for scheduled tours is a given, but extending that same thoughtfulness to walk-ins can make all the difference — especially as more walk-in tours return post-COVID. With some preparation and enthusiasm, we can turn quick, unexpected tours into memorable experiences that convert into future residents. After all, big smiles can lead to big conversions!
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