First, let me warn you, I do not tend to sugarcoat things. I prefer to tell it like it is.   Some would say that I should not talk about results of individual clients as its self promotional.  But, my absolute passion is growing senior housing occupancy and revenue and I will scream it from the roof tops if I have to!   I am here to tell you that wherever you are today, in regards to occupancy and revenue, I bet you can do even better in 2010! I have seen Companies do things in the past two years that other organizations were unable to do in the best of times.  It is incredibly inspiring!

WHY AM I SO EXCITED?

So why am I so excited?  Well, let’s start with the past two years.  While most companies in our industry have watched occupancy decline as a result of massively decreased traffic, high attrition, an economic nightmare, and a crash in consumer confidence, a solid 95% of our clients have seen their occupancy grow.  One Company grew by 2%, one by 8%, one 15%, one by 44% and I have many many more numbers I could share but know you are limited on time and attention!  Look, you may read this and say, “Oh, here she goes, trying to get my business…” Don’t worry, that’s not the point of this article. We have more than enough business.  My goal today is to educate and empower you to take a step up to the next level AND SEE WHAT’S POSSIBLE. I want to challenge you to go where you have never gone before, to get that hunger back that drove you to our industry in the first place!

One of the first indicators of success is passion! If the leader of an organization does not have a passion for what they do and communicate that passion for excellence to the organization as a whole, success will never be attained at the level it could be.  So, here are a few rules to live by and tips that if taken seriously, can literally transform your business and help you experience the success our clients have seen.

1. Passion: The worst is or at least should be behind us.  More than likely, your team is exhausted, stressed out, and running on empty.  Communities that normally ran at 95% are finding themselves in the high eighties, instead of looking to fill, many are simply working to “Hold their own.”   I can confidently say that selling senior housing in our industry will never be the same.  In the past we could get by with Marketing Directors who had personality and a strong presence.  Today, a fully occupied community requires a Sales Director first and foremost  versus a Marketing Director and secondly, solid sales systems that will stand the test of time. It requires Executive Directors who are engaged in the sales process and who keep Sales Directors focused on Income Producing Activities.   This crisis could possibly be the best thing that has ever happened to our industry.  Better trained staff means a better experience for those who inquire or move to a seniors housing property.  My question to you is, “What’s your 2010 plan?”  Will you be proactive, raise the bar on sales expectations, demand more of your sales and executive directors in the form of performance?  Or, will you wait it out and trust that things will turn around?  I challenge you to tap into that very passion that drove you to do what you are doing today.  Corny or not, it’s a passion for their work that made Steve Jobs with Apple and Walt Disney with Disney World the Companies they are today.  Because of their leadership and passion, our world will never be the same and most of our lives have or will be at some point touched by their ideas.

2. Expectation: You have to expect more from people than they expect from themselves.  I consider myself an expert in human behavior.  For twenty years I have trained people in a sales environment and coached thousands on an individual basis.  It never fails- when I expect more of people than they expect of themselves; they rise to the occasion.  People like to know that their leaders believe in them.  Make it a point in 2010 to look at the benchmarks you set in 2009 and raise them!  Communicate with your organization as to why you set the benchmarks and let them know that you are confident they will meet them.  And don’t forget good old fashioned recognition!  Your praise makes much more of an impact than you could ever imagine.  Pick up the phone and call that Sales Director who moved twelve people in last month. Imagine the surprise to know you are calling just to say, “Great job!”  I have always looked up in an effort to find role models.  I love knowing that someone is expecting me to do great things, even those accomplishments beyond my own imagination.  People will oftentimes do for others things they won’t do for themselves. So whether they do it for themselves, the community, their ED or you, inspire them to get it done.

3. Systems:  Look, like it or not, you have to have sales systems in place if you expect to fill your communities to capacity.  By the way, that should be your expectation, not just hitting or going over budget.  What would your revenue look like if every property in  your portfolio were at 96% or higher right now?  Is that worth working for?  Heck yes!  Many people got into our business because of the care side, they love to help seniors.  I have found that the same people who got into our business because of care are mystified by the sales side of things and simply don’t understand why their buildings are not full. This is nothing to be ashamed of!  They are not full because we rely on Marketing (versus Sales) Directors to fill them.  It’s our job as leaders to hire great talent and then provide them with the tools needed to get the job done meaning, FILL THE BUILDING.  Barbara Schneck, with Cornerstone Senior Living once said that going through our training was like getting a Masters in selling.  She knew, beyond a doubt that every individual within her properties were equipped to sell. Whether you work with us or send your Sales Directors to a seminar, conference, or just get them a couple great books on selling, you must facilitate the process and set the expectation that your sales and executive directors have a sales system that is measurable and that produces results.  Without a solid system most will produce half of what they could otherwise! Time to raise the bar.

It seems there is always more to say than pages to write. When writing, my goal is to reach people in some capacity and help them to do something perhaps they’ve not done before.  I want to stretch your vision and really challenge you and your organization to grow.  A strong passion that is communicated to your organization, a high level of expectation of your staff, and solid sales systems are three key ingredients that will put you on the road to a fully occupied building!

Have occupancy challenges? Would you like to brainstorm with Traci? Email tbild@tracibild.com or call 813.390.3349 and Traci will get back to you within 24 hours!

Written by Traci Bild www.TraciBild.com

In working with hundreds of Marketing Directors every week, the most common objection we hear is that the housing market is keeping people from closing sales. I often ask my coaching team, “Is it really the market or is it their mindset?” I don’t want to minimize the challenge the market presents, as the challenges are very real. However, in working with hundreds of Marketers each week, I know for a fact that many find it easier to make excuses (as to why sales have not closed) than to actually work the sale through. The fact is, there are sales to be had and more importantly, enough to fill your building. Another fact: Each sale has to be worked thoroughly and followed through aggressively. There are no easy sales, none!

This month, I want to talk to you about the state of the housing market and how you can use it to your advantage to close tough sales and to better understand how to communicate with your prospects. Keep in mind that I am not a real estate expert. I will speak to you as an individual who has had a lot of experience with the market first hand and as a sales expert within our industry, dealing with real estate issues and closing on a daily basis. Keep in mind that we work with CCRC, IL, AL, SNF and more. First, I want to talk to you from a personal perspective as a recent buyer and seller of two homes, for a total of four transactions. Second, I will speak from a professional point of view and offer information that you can use to move sales forward today.

If anyone understands the state of the market right now, it’s me! In May, I sold my home in Tampa and purchased a new home in Palm Harbor. We moved into our new home and the sale on the old home fell through. At the same time I put my mother’s home on the market as our plan was to move our family first and then my mother, who lived a block away, to Palm Harbor. Frustrated over the lost sale, several months later we found another buyer. Four days before closing with the second buyer, the sale fell through- again. In the meantime, we found ourselves the owners of three houses (our new home, the old home and my mother’s home), something my husband and I were not happy about. As a last ditch effort to move our home, when our contract ended with our realtor, we dropped the price and listed the home on Buy Owner. At the same time, my mother’s house sold so we decided to move her into our Tampa home until we found a buyer and then, lo and behold, we would move her by us!

Two weeks after my mom unpacked all her boxes, we got another buyer for our home. As happy as we were, my mom was not happy about moving again but she could see the big picture. We put an offer in on a home we found for her that she loved, and another buyer outbid us. Believe it or not, they offered $2K over the asking price. Now how were we supposed to know to do that? We thought it was a buyer’s market! We proceeded to make an offer on another home and then, once that was done, the deal on the home she really wanted fell through and came back on the market again. Are you still with me? Back to our home in Tampa: The day of closing, real problems came up that involved a piece of paper - a variance that involved our pool, which sat on a city pipeline. We were told that the sale would be put on hold for four months, the length of time it would take to get a new variance that was supposed to have been done a decade earlier by the title Company we worked with, that was now out of business. Now we were really freaking out! Three sales and three bad deals! Literally, after 10 hours on the phone, lawyers, and incredibly helpful professionals involved in the transactions, we closed the deal at 4:45 pm on Friday (I have to give my husband all the credit!). Two houses sold, one purchased and one under contract as I write this article. As far as I’m concerned I don’t want anything to do with the market personally for another decade or more!

I describe the real estate market right now as the “Wild, Wild West” - anything goes! People can have a contract on your home and should they find something else they like better, they can get out of the deal for just about any reason. In Florida, where I live, 90% of all homes left on the market are short sales meaning that if you want to move quickly, you have just 10% of the market to pick from, and trust me, that’s been picked over. As the media touts it’s a buyer’s market, they fail to say that there are not a lot of “good” homes left to buy (unless you have 4-5 months to buy a short sale property). What else did I learn from this experience? Price is king! Everyone goes into the process thinking they will sell their house for a number they think is fair. What you think is fair and the reality of what you are going to get are two very different things. Just because your house was worth $500K in 2005 doesn’t mean you can ask that price in 2009. The market won’t bear those prices now. Upgrades and extras such as a pool, new roof, or fireplace can increase the price but don’t expect every home improvement project to increase your price. You will not get dollar for dollar what you put into it. When we listed our home, we were consistently told that it showed better than any home in our neighborhood. We had completely remodeled the home. The problem? It really didn’t matter. A $100K+ remodel project only netted us $20K or so over other homes with the same square footage and no upgrades. Appraisers simply are not impressed by all the things you take such great pride in.

After the first two sales fell through, as mentioned, we dropped the price for a third time - and substantially. I believe this is why it sold. Most realtors will tell you that once you’ve priced your home and you have a lot of exposure, you’ll know within the first three weeks if you’ve priced it right. If you have no traffic, you’ve priced it too high. Same goes for you if you have a lot of traffic but no offers. Then you have a choice to make: Adjust the price or wait it out. How many of your prospects can really afford to wait it out? How long will we have to wait for the market to recover? The fact is, NO ONE KNOWS!

All this being said, I would like to offer some solid advice to help you CLOSE SALES with those prospects needing to sell a home:

1) Mindset: You cannot use the housing market as an excuse for not closing sales. Yes, this slows the process down and you do have to follow through much more, but sales are still closing. You literally have to work hard, have more leads to pool from, and work them ALL like crazy!

2) Homes Have Been Picked Over: If your prospect’s home is NOT a short sale, they will more than likely move it faster, particularly if it’s been well kept. The best homes have been picked over, so when a new home comes on the market, buyers jump on it if it’s a nice home and a good buy. Most of your prospects listen to the media and may simply fear that they won’t be able to sell their home. Talk to them about their home, go visit it, and share some of the advice I am sharing with you today.

3) Pricing: Like it or not, sellers must look at the comparables in their local market. The more recent the sales, the better (ideal is six months). Most realtors offer a complementary evaluation with the hope that if you do decide to list with an agent, they’ll be your agent of choice. A great next action step when working with prospects is to get permission to have a realtor pull comparables to give them an idea of what similar homes are selling for and how fast they are selling.

4) Exposure: You must have the right price if you want a home to move, but if would-be buyers don’t know about it, you’re not going to sell. If someone you are working with plans to move in 2010, the time to put their house on the market is now in order to get a feel for how people will respond to your home and to get the exposure you need. Even though we did Buy Owner the third time around, we still paid the additional $750 to have our home listed on the MLS. Drive by signage and the Internet are two of the biggest traffic generators for most homes. MLS is a must!

5) Market Trends: Generally there is a strong surge of buying in the spring, before kids go back to school and in NOVEMBER with folks buying before the Holidays. In the winter the market is dominated by the MOST MOTIVATED buyers, typically investors doing an exchange or relocation. These buying trends have been true forever. Unless you sell in a vacation home area, such as Sedona, your market cycle follows this pattern. This year we have the “First time” home buyers credit and the very low and easier to obtain FHA mortgages. This is important to YOU because these are the very people that may buy your prospect’s home. You have every opportunity to have a strong fourth quarter if you can run back through your leads, educate them on the importance of listing their homes now, and staying actively involved. Do not sit back and wait!

6) List Now: Your seller must put their home on the market NOW to get access to the buyers looking to get the $8K tax credit that ends November 30, 2009. This program more than likely will be extended but there is no guarantee. Even if it is extended, it will eventually phase out, so use this as a tool to get people to take the next step of listing their home.

7) Pride: Many of your prospects will still get a good return on their homes from when they initially made their purchase. The frustration comes from knowing what they COULD HAVE sold their home for a few years earlier. You must drill down and find out what matters most to the prospect: Improved quality of life today or a stronger return on their home five years or more from now? Why did they come to you initially? Is that challenge going to get better or worse? Even CCRC / IL leads are coming to you due to a health scare of some sort, with most in their early 80s. Closing sales comes down to helping your prospects prioritize their goals. This means asking lots of open-ended questions and LISTENING.

I have written three pages and I typically strive to keep my articles to two. I can’t stress the importance of this subject matter. If you are the leader of your organization, you must equip your Marketing Directors with the information needed to empower them and assist with closing sales. On our coaching calls, my team spends lots of time role playing with Marketing Directors and helping them talk through closes. We encourage them to mail and email timely articles to their lead base that will help their prospects better understand the market, a great value added. I hope this information was helpful to you. If you would like more information and support, I encourage you to participate in our webinar series which begins in December. We will address the market on each of the four calls to help you better understand how to close sales in uncommon times!

Written by Traci Bild www.TraciBild.com / 800.640.0688

My heart skipped a beat…then I took the money and said “Thank you Noah. I’ll put it here in my pocket because this will really help.”   As I write this, I have the three cents safely in my pocket.   I then explained that I was already committed to this speaking engagement and that I had a responsibility to go, but that I would be back the next day.  I couldn’t help but be in awe of his innocence.  I don’t know about you, but at times I am reminded that I take myself far too seriously.  This was one of those times!  There is always a call to make, an appointment to get to, emails to check, Twitters to write, reports to prepare, and a never ending barrage of things fighting for my time.  I imagine it’s the same for you.  It’s moments like these (and they are often with a three and six year old), that I am reminded of the importance of keeping my priorities in order.

PRIORITIES

Today, I want to talk with you about yours.  If you follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or watch my Daily Sales Vitamin Podcast, you know by now that my Daily Sales Vitamin is not sent out every day, but more like every other day.  I don’t Tweet twice a day like I want to, but every couple of days when I have something relevant to say, and the time to do it.  My Facebook fan page has lots of relevant information, but I don’t get to it like I should.  Instead, I add content when I am inspired.  Do you know what’s most interesting about all of this? No one cares! No one notices, but if they do, they don’t seem to be disappointed.  People simply engage when the content comes in whatever format I’ve chosen to send it.  The reality is they are busy managing their own life, not micromanaging mine!

In this crazy world where there is always more to do than time to do it, it is critical that you have priorities and perspective.  I will never forget the Ah Ha moment I had about three months ago when I was implementing social media into our organization.   I spent about two weeks killing myself trying to figure out what to write, when to send it, and  how to get a 1,000 word message into 140 characters and then I realized, although this was what people said I needed to do to grow my business, the reality was it wasn’t.  Yes, it’s important and a great value added, but to grow a business, you specifically need to call and see the people you want to do business with!   I knew what I needed to do:  Call and see my clients and prospects. Yes, it’s that simple.   As a Sales Expert, it’s not the social media that’s going to earn me new business; it’s picking up the phone and calling clients, prospects, and meeting planners. What I call Income Producing Activities.  After a couple weeks of getting caught up in “more work” that led to little results, it was a breath of fresh air to just do what I love to do - build relationships!  I thrive when solving people’s problems.  To do that I need to call them, find out what their problems are, and offer custom solutions.  This was a good lesson for me because it helped me better relate to our many coaching students and the executives I work with every day.  We are always going to be pulled in a thousand different directions.  What’s important is that we know what our priorities are and keep them in check (which means learning to say no, or limiting the things you have no business doing in the first place).   In this day and age, it’s difficult to keep focused on what we need to do to be successful, because there are so many distractions.

THREE PIECES OF ADVICE

Here is a bit of advice:

#1) Prioritize: Decide what your priorities are and be diligent about keeping your focus on them.  Guard your time like a pit-bull!  As the CEO of my organization, my top priority is servicing existing clients, attracting new business, and building the brand of my Company.  If I don’t do these things, we stop growing.  The reason my Company is at double the revenue this year than we were last year, is that I get this, and have laser focus. I typically don’t let myself get distracted, but when I do, I quickly recognize it because I keep my goals and priorities in front of me at all times (remember- we get what we focus on).   It’s important to stay on task, keep focused, and delegate anything you can that does not reinforce and support your priorities.

#2) Perspective:  People are consumed by the state of the economy.   Yes, it’s been tough, but the fact is this downturn has forced our industry to advance itself light years from where it was just a year ago. If things had not gotten so bad, would “Training” be the buzzword it is today?   As I attended a couple of recent industry conferences, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that people were intently focused on advancing the sales skills of their Marketing Directors, equipping them with the tools needed to sell in today’s economy, and that veteran Marketers who had been selling the same way for decades, and who refused to learn and grow were going to be given ultimatums- change or move on.  More importantly, Executive Directors are being forced to step up and engage in the sales process with their Marketers.  I know it sounds tough but it’s been a long time coming.   We should have been doing these things a long time ago!  The fact is, those Companies who are improving themselves, growing, learning, investing in their people, their buildings, and not simply “Riding it out” will rise to the top.  These Companies are going to be the future leaders of our industry.  So let’s talk perspective.  Whenever I am in a challenging time that I am unsure how to deal with, I take a deep breath and say, “This too shall pass.”  Our economy always recovers, and indeed these very difficult times will pass.   Why put your growth on hold simply because your peers are not growing?  Remember, it’s all about perspective.   Our training is so popular right now because we have dumped more time, money, and energy into growing the business this past year than we have in the past five years combined.  This economy has forced me to become a better trainer, speaker, and entrepreneur.  What about you?

#3) A little bit goes a long way: One of my wonderful clients Rick Irwin always says, “It’s a game of inches.”  Maybe the three cents Noah gave me is irrelevant, but every penny saved over time does make a difference.  Likewise, every small thing you do to improve your ability to service existing residents and sell to new ones makes a difference.   The ten minutes you spend re-training a receptionist who is letting inquiries fall through the cracks, can literally end up generating $90K over a three year stay for you.  How?  A captured call is more likely to turn into an on-site visit and move in, compared to a mismanaged one.  What about the five minutes you start adding to your daily meeting to inform Department Heads of families touring your building today?  By providing names and a bit of information on the family, instead of visitors “Touring” your building they are suddenly experiencing it, because your staff is making them feel important and not just welcomed, but EXPECTED!

I could go on and on, but I know your time is limited.  I challenge you to work on simplifying your life today.  As you go about your week, observe where your time is going, what the end result is, what you are doing that can be delegated to someone else, and begin to invest your time in areas that can make a real impact on your organization.  Know your priorities and stick to them - this is how you will make the greatest impact on your organization.  In closing, look at the impact of one small footstep by an unknown man named Neal Armstrong:   “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

What is a Poken you ask?  Well, I’m staring at one right now and it’s small enough to hold in the palm of my hand.  Believe it or not, it resembles a small tiger (now you really think I’m crazy).  Pokens are meant to be fun and they come in all different facades (tiger, monkey, panda, etc.).  Pull the Poken apart and you will see a USB that fits into your computer.  With your Poken you instantly connect with new friends across online social networks when and where you meet them.  You choose which of your social network profiles you would like to share with people when you meet them in the real world: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, email, websites, full contact info and more.  I know it sounds crazy as our industry is barely collecting email from residents, prospects and families.  I am here to tell you that if you DO NOT get educated on social media and begin to utilize it within your organization you WILL be left behind.

While in New York (Bild Consulting was just featured in the Wall Street Journal as well as recognized for having a #7 Best Seller), I took my handy Flip Video Camera and walked around asking people if they had ever experienced Assisted or Independent Living, what they knew about this industry and where they would collect information when the time came it was needed.  Every single person I spoke with said they would utilize the Internet.  Yet when I talk with Companies within our industry, most say something like, “Oh, we are getting a new site right now, our site is bad don’t look at it, we are working on our site, etc.”  In reality, your site should have been done years ago and be updated regularly!  Every single person I spoke with utilized email, 90% had a Facebook account, knew what Twitter was and more.  Do you?  Just because we work within Health Care and many of our customers are seniors, does not mean that we should not use modern technology to reach out and communicate with them.  Those who do so will have an incredible advantage over their competitors.

The most important thing I want to point out is that we are in a relationship business.  People buy because they feel connected and trust that you will do what you say you are going to do.  Social media is all about becoming transparent, letting people see who you really are and letting go of the “Professional Image” a little bit.  Sounds scary right?  In reality, it’s more fun!  For example, you may be the President of eight seniors housing communities, yet what people would prefer to know is that you love to race cars, you fish, have four children and dream of writing a book.  Would you rather read about where someone got their master’s degree or what kind of car they raced?  What their company mission statement is or a story about the shark you just caught while fishing in Florida? I know it sounds hard to believe but social media intertwines both worlds–the professional and the personal.  The good news is it allows you to build personal trust with people, to develop a relationship of sorts even though it’s via social media. People feel like they know you.  While you are being personal, you can also be professional and talk about your work, mission, what makes you different, your next expansion project and more.  Think about it: don’t you prefer to work with people you like and feel connected to? I do!  If you are confused right now, trust me, I was too!

I am inviting you to follow me as I learn the power of social media and bring it full force into my business. That means you are going to see the mistakes, the successes, the embarrassing things I do and more!  Yes, I am encouraging you to learn through me and follow Bild Consulting every step of the way.  As I learn, I will give examples of how you can use social media to impact your business, create a stronger brand and improved relationships with your residents, their family, prospects, referral sources, employees and more.   I will introduce the following:  Podcast, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and who knows what else, ha!  Scared? Me too, but that will not stop me from doing what is necessary to take my business to the next level.  Have questions? E-mail David to get complete step-by-step instructions on how to follow me on this journey. We will keep you posted on what has been launched, how it is working, what problems we have encountered and more.  You will also be able to send in questions, provide feedback, or just sit back and learn!  Oh, and trust me, once we master this we will be bringing it to the industry as a service so learn now while you can for free!

Oh, if you want to be really cool and get a Poken before everyone else, visit DoYouPoken.com.

Written by Traci Bild.

It’s no secret that there’s more of a struggle to fill up vacancies these days. Our stormy economic climate means that senior communities that never had trouble filling up apartments before now have to compete on a whole new level.

If you’re not slashing rates, it’s hard to contend with other communities that are – especially when they’re also offering incentives like all inclusive health care & rent in one low rate. Potential buyers are also skittish due to the difficult real estate market – will they be able to sell their home?

Yes, it’s all too easy to get discouraged - and lose your “sales mojo.” The good news is you have it in your power to get results for your organization.

I’d like to share the success stories of three awesome Companies we’ve been coaching that are now seeing increased revenues and growth – thanks to great executive and marketing teams that took our proven sales strategies onboard and made them work. In this market, training is a must; whether it’s via a Company such as ours, or done in-house. What’s important is that you give time & energy to equipping your Marketing Directors to sell in this market!

Let’s start with Heritage Senior Living. About nine months ago, we began training and coaching their executive and marketing teams for five different properties. Thanks to their effective implementation of our “Science of Selling,” they’ve experienced 15% growth across the board. Their most challenging property, The Manor on Market Square, is located in an urban setting in Reading, PA and was at 87% occupancy when we began coaching. Today – it’s at 100%! They also boosted the occupancy in another of their properties by 31%!

How did they achieve these amazing results? By working on each individual aspect of the sales process, from converting inquiries to onsite tours, then converting onsite tours to sales. Add to that a systematic follow-up and Outreach program, as well as a management committed to holding their sales and marketing staff accountable to the new systems, and you’ve built a stairway to success.

The Heritage management team Kevin McCollum, VP of Heritage, says regarding our sales strategies, “The most important thing is to get total buy-in from the leadership. It’s got to become part of the culture of the company.” The point here is that you must provide rock solid training that works, hold people accountable to using it, & fully lead the process. I love the saying, “Where performance is measured it can be improved.” This is not the time to expect Marketers to just “Get results.” Most want to but simply are not sure how.

Let’s move on to a completely different company and a completely different challenge. St. Andrew’s Village in Colorado, operated by The Stratford Companies, is an upscale Continuing Care Retirement Community that requires a substantial entry fee to get into an apartment. This is a market that’s been hit hard in recent months – but by diligently putting our systems into place nine months ago, they’ve managed to increase occupancy by 7%.

What really motivated the marketing staff at St. Andrew’s was what we call the Activity Point System. We assign points to what we call Income-Producing Activities – anything that furthers sales possibilities. We require people we’re coaching to accumulate a certain number of these points every week – because, we know, the more you try to make sales, the more sales you make! Set WEEKLY activity goals for your communities, look at them weekly & see if they are hitting their targets. It’s important to focus on the activity that leads to success because right now, there are not as many sales & Marketers tend to get discouraged. By focusing on “Making 25 follow up calls” or “10 professional visits” versus “Get 5 move ins,” you are getting the Marketer focused on that which he or she can control; the effort versus the result. I know it’s tempting to simply focus on move in goals but I can promise you if you can get your Marketers focused on the effort that LEADS to the results, they will be more empowered & get there in half the time!

Finally, a really phenomenal success story. The Birches, in the Chicago area, is a full service assisted living senior community. Historically, their occupancy rate has always been full or nearly-full. Again, the economy has hit them hard – taking them down to 84% occupancy. Not ideal by any standard.

We began coaching and training them only two months ago. In that time, they’ve managed to get back to 93%. That’s remarkable – and the accolades go to Carol Weigel, the marketing director at The Birches, who committed herself totally to implementing our program. By doing same day follow-up calls, utilizing our connection sheets for calls and visits and initiating an Outreach program, she walked the walk all the way down the line – and doubled her deposits in the process. Carol’s talent combined with our systems made a huge impact. Even Tiger Woods, the best in the world, practices every single day, reviews his game & seeks coaching advice to improve. It’s amazing what focus & structured systems can do to one’s performance.

All three of these success stories demonstrate that investing in your marketing team and giving them the tools to sell in this economy can turn things around quickly. When lower occupancy puts a big dent in cash flow, the best way to get it back on track is to fill those units up again. Again, you have the power to make that happen. To gain free access to many of the sales tools the Companies featured in this article are using, hear an interview with Kevin McCollum & more, visit www.tracibild.ning.com. Here’s to 100% occupancy!

Written by:

Traci Bild

www.TraciBild.com

800.640.0688

TBild@TraciBild.com

With the New Economy, we need a new approach to sales in senior communities. Executives and Marketing Directors need to up their game as never before and new strategies and approaches have to deal with the new economic realities. Business as usual is just not going to cut it – the decline in occupancies and the rise in attrition are trends we must confront.

But how do we create lasting change in our staff? In ourselves?

To be honest, it takes more than one seminar. How many of us have been in the room with a dynamic, exciting speaker – and have felt completely energized and motivated by their message? And how many of us have walked out of that room – and gone right back to our old unproductive habits in a few weeks?

Adult behavior is difficult to change, unlike a child’s. I can change my 3 year-old son’s behavior in a week or a few days – with maybe only a few tantrums along the way - because he’s still developing and his mind is completely open to learning. Most of us grown-ups, in contrast, have set ways of doing things that are difficult to shake. We develop patterns and it’s difficult to break out of them.

That’s, why when I began coaching professionally, it was incredibly exciting for me. Before that, I had been a speaker, giving talks all across America, for ten years. It was satisfying, but I had no idea if what I was doing had a lasting impact. Then, at a client’s seminar, I realized that people only retain 10 or 20 percent of what they learn from a speaker – and that lasting change was rarely part of that picture. Coaching people on a weekly basis, however, provided that lasting change and was much more gratifying to see.

When the management of an organization rolls out a new motivational strategy to spark the staff, it often fails to catch any fire whatsoever. Again, people aren’t wired that way – they don’t implement new behaviors just because of a memo or a conference. They return to their normal work environment, where they’re bombarded with their usual day-to-day tasks and don’t allocate any energy to change – so the time, money and effort put into that program can be completely wasted.

That’s why I firmly believe coaching works and is definitely worth the investment. Why? Because (a) it holds people accountable and (b) it reinforces the training and turns it into habit. It generally takes 3 to 4 months to change adult behavior and that requires a consistent effort to turn the corner.

Our coaching program includes a weekly check-up over six months where we hold our clients accountable to the changes we’ve discussed. That accountability is crucial – without it, people drift back to their old ways of doing things because no one will question them. Change can be hard – and why do it if you don’t feel like you have to?

The answer is that change is incredibly necessary right now to combat fear and the perception that the economy is not going to improve. If you are implementing new strategies internally, you must have weekly sessions for at least 3 to 4 months to ensure those strategies are actually being carried out. After that, you can back off to once every two weeks if you see that the staff is actually taking the change on board.

My company now offer two levels of coaching – executive coaching, where I work one-on-one with owners, operators, CEOS and C-level executives; and marketing coaching, where my sales team works with the marketing director and their staff. In both cases, our objective is to obtain real verifiable results.

Our approach is to drive the sales strategy to increase occupancy and revenue and we’ve been incredibly successful with it. It’s an investment on our clients’ part that we make sure pays off for them – because if you don’t get the results we promise within the timeframe we discussed, we continue to work with you at no cost until you do.

I hope you’ll stop by to find out more about our coaching programs at www.tracibild.com. Change is hard but it’s far from impossible – and once it’s accomplished, the results can be truly mind-blowing.

How to Bring in a Steady Flow of Traffic by Creating a Profitable “Circle of Influence™”

The pressure is on – no question about it.  Marketing directors are under the gun like they haven’t been in years – from a leadership that needs to combat frightening declines in vacancies at senior communities.  Traffic is at an all-time low, new residents aren’t moving in and some existing residents are moving back in with their adult children, who are suddenly strapped for cash – and can neither afford to cash in stocks that are trading at incredibly low prices nor sell their homes, which now have historically low values.

So, frankly, I’m seeing a lot of panic.  This is an industry that has enjoyed amazing growth until the recession hit – so it’s also an industry that’s just not trained to go out and get business in a difficult climate. 

This is where doing a well-executed Outreach program can literally work miracles for your community.   As I said in last month’s article, the main problem when it comes to Outreach is marketing people just don’t want to put in the effort – 90% of the people we train resist doing it.  And the crazy thing is, once you get an Outreach program in place, it generates a constant stream of quality referrals – which is a must in these difficult economic times.

That’s why we’ve created systems to simplify the process and create long-term relationships with the kind of people who will drive traffic your way for a long time. 

To begin an Outreach program that works, you must first create a “Circle of Influence™” – and you do that by first drawing a circle around your community with a radius of 15 to 20 miles.  You may need to go wider than that if you live in a more rural area.

Within that circle, you need to identify 10 – not 5, 7 or 8 – but 10 - influential people who can refer a consistent quality and quantity of traffic (roughly 2 to 3 referrals a week) to your community.  This is the biggest challenge in setting up your Outreach – determining who has both the volume and the influence to make your “Top Ten” list.

Is it a Skilled Nursing Facility?  A local Geriatric Physician?  The Director at a Rehab Center?   You’re the only one who can identify these key figures.  But the faster you do, the sooner you’ll be getting a steady stream of referrals.   The one thing you do NOT want to do is make a building your referral – you want a person, not a slab of concrete!

One thing you might want to do, however, is find multiple referral sources inside one building.  Say a hospital in your “circle” has four floors – there might be one person on each of those floors with different patients who can give you different referrals.  In that case, you could get four out of your ten just out of one building – that’s almost half of your goal right there!

When you initially talk to them on the phone, work at making a strong personal connection.  A tool I use in my training is my Referral Connection Sheet, which you can access here (http://www.tracibild.com/pdf/Referral-Source-Connection-Sheet.pdf).

Once you have identified your Top Ten, you must make a point of visiting them at least once every single week!  This should be in person and preferably first thing in the morning.  These are usually very busy people – and if you can make contact before their day gets hurried and hectic, you have a better chance of making a genuine connection and having their full attention.

Don’t go in cold – be prepared.  Bring in a Weekly Update of what’s going on in your community – what units are available – what special promotions or events are going on – and maybe even include a fun puzzle in the update.  You can see an example of a weekly update sheet here (http://www.tracibild.com/pdf/Weekly-Update-Example.pdf).

Whatever else you do, make the visit personal and build up the relationship!  Don’t just drop by to leave generic brochures or marketing giveaways like pens with your name on them – bring them their favorite latte from Starbucks instead! 

If you think these people aren’t going to want to see you or deal with your referral requests, let me share a big secret – they, in fact, do.  Recently, at our Senior Housing Super Conference in Chicago, we brought in a panel of referral sources – and they all talked about how they welcomed that kind of help and liked having a good senior community contact they could work with.

Growing your “Top Ten” is like growing a garden.  If you tend it regularly and do the necessary work, it will grow and produce like gangbusters.  If you don’t stay on top of it, you’ll find yourself growing more weeds than flowers.  A referral has twice the chance of converting to a sale than a walk-in – and the sale itself is usually a faster, easier process.  “Outreach” is a big part of my “Work Smart, Not Hard” philosophy – and it can really pay off for you.

We’re also here to help train your staff and yourself in Outreach and other proven strategies to boost your revenues and raise your occupancies.  I invite you to take a look at what we have to offer at http://www.tracibild.com – we’ve made millions for many other communities and I know we can do the same for yours.  

Create a Circle of Influence™ That Refers Weekly & Drives Traffic, Move Ins & Revenue! 

These are historic economic times, nobody denies that.  The seniors housing industry, like most other industries today, face big challenges.  The one I would like to focus on is traffic.  In working with clients nationally, we have found traffic to be at an all time low.  Obviously, low traffic equals low sales – and, after years of boom growth, it’s hard for marketing professionals to suddenly deal with having to sharpen their strategies and work at generating new sales as well as driving the traffic that once came easily.

The most effective method to drive traffic and in turn sales, is also the one that’s most disliked and mishandled by marketing directors – Referral Outreach. 

When you build a network of professionals within a 20 mile radius of your community, that you can rely on for a consistent stream of solid referrals, much of the work is done for you.  We have found referred leads close at DOUBLE the conversion of non-referred leads!  

So why wouldn’t your organization make it a priority to master Outreach and learn how to do it effectively and efficiently?   Let’s face it - quality referrals are critical to your marketing efforts & your bottom line.

And please note the word “quality.”  Many sales people cater to referral sources that just don’t refer on a regular basis.  They don’t have the volume or the influence to provide you what’s needed to grow traffic or their relationship with the referral source isn’t strong enough to make it worth the referrer’s effort to aggressively refer.

We built our Circle of Influence™ Referral training program around the old 80/20 Sales Principal.  You’ll get 80% of your referrals from 20% of your sources.  So put your time and energy into building relationships with the 20% who will generate the most leads for you – at least one referral a week.

Start the process by creating what I call a “Circle of Influence.”  Identify 10 key people, at places like hospitals and Rehab centers, within a twenty mile radius of your community who can give you the quantity and quality of referrals you’re looking for.  Make your community the “Magnet” of that circle – the place they turn to when they release a patient who can’t go home.

Again, most marketing directors don’t like to do professional outreach & more importantly, they don’t know how to do it.  In Sales, there are two distinct types of Selling – Inside Sales (where you’re dealing with a warm lead or quality referral) and Outside Sales, which is basically Cold Calling.  Scientific studies show that no one person is good at both skill sets (Derek Gatehouse has more on that in his book, “The Perfect SalesForce”).  Yet our industry typically uses one person to do both jobs and hence the challenges with making this a strength . 

Finding a way to effectively implement Outreach means you and your staff will “Work Smart, Not Hard” – always a lot better than the other way around!  Again, professional Referrals do your work for you – they generate leads and in turn drive revenue.  In this tough economic climate, that’s just what you want for your communities.

The process of how you go about creating and maintaining these crucial relationships is one we’ll go into next month – but it’s about more than showing up with food & coffee or merchandise with your logo.  I’ll give you some proven ways to make Outreach work for you and your organization – so you can start to “Working Smart, Not Hard,” & driving on-site traffic to all time highs!

In the meantime, here are a couple of challenges for you.  Identify five key people in your community’s Circle of Influence™ that could do the most for you in terms of Referrals.  Do not pick the low hanging fruit.  Create a dream list of people you know can heavily refer and think about how you can build those relationships in a way that brings value to the referral source (don’t worry about how you will get in; I’ll help with that).

Also, take a look at the Referral Contact sheets on my website (Referral Source Connection Sheet, Referral Source Follow-Up to Event Connection Sheet and Re-Establishing a Referral Source Connection Sheet).  This is in the Members-Only section of the site – but right now, I’m offering 30 day free access to the valuable resources located here.

Check it out – and I’ll be back next month to tell you just how to make your Outreach grow and grow!!

 In my article last month, I talked about how the 2008 economic meltdown made it an absolute priority to keep your sales efforts on track and on target, to increase your occupancy rates and keep the revenue coming in.   Sales is a Science – and if you stick to winning formulas, you’ll get winning results every time…even in the tough times we currently face.  

Last month was all about how to drive traffic and get quality referrals (I’d love you to go back and check out that article if you haven’t taken a look at it here).  This time around, it’s all about getting those referrals to make the all-important on-site visit.  As an expert in the senior housing industry, I’m used to hearing sales people say, “Get them in the door and my people can close them!”  Well…okay, then.  But who’s actually getting them in the door?

In other words, don’t ignore this vital piece of the sales puzzle.   How sales people first interact with a referral can all but guarantee an on-site visit – or completely torpedo any further interest from them.

That’s why a consistent system must be in place for all the sales staff – and a lot of bad habits have to be modified.  I like to advise my clients to hire an independent company to Mystery Shop their communities and cold call as if they were real referrals.  The results are an incredibly valuable measurement of how effective your sales staff is at engaging potential buyers and getting them to commit to an on-site visit.

What you’ll find from the Mystery Shop process, in most cases, is that the sales staff ask the prospect one or two random questions about their situation, and then plunge into a laundry list of amenities that the community provides. 

Impersonal - mostly about the community - and NOT so much about the person calling.  Worse yet, the close of the conversation is usually an offer to send a brochure or information pack – not an invitation to visit the community in question.  No personal connection unfortunately means a lost opportunity.

The ironic thing is handling these kinds of calls properly actually makes it easier on salespeople, not harder.  It’s a matter of not focusing too much on making the sale during the initial conversation – instead, it’s about getting that all-important on-site visit scheduled.  No one’s going to buy a housing unit blind over the phone – so don’t try!

Instead, work on locking down on-site appointments by concentrating on getting your caller over the VALUE THRESHOLD.  They need to know that their main question – “What’s in it for me?” – is being answered, and that the value of what you have to offer to them is worth more than the inconvenience of them getting in the car and coming down to check out your community.

STEP ONE to starting that process is to immediately take control when a prospect calls.  The salesperson should begin their side of the conversation by saying “I would be more than happy to give you that information, Mrs. Smith.  Do you mind if I ask you a few quick questions so I know what kind of pricing to give you?” 

This LOOKS like it contradicts what I just said…but it really doesn’t!  By giving you permission to “interview” them, you can determine and acknowledge their needs and wants – which means you don’t have to focus on the pricing at all, but instead on what they’re after in a community.  And getting that permission is all-important – because if you begin to ask personal questions without it…well, you know how creepy that can make YOU feel. 

People buy when their needs are being met.  By identifying their needs and demonstrating specifically how your community meets those needs in a one-on-one manner, you establish a rapport that makes them comfortable with you, and feel like they are being listened to.

I suggest creating an Inquiry Connection Sheet of a series of really great open-ended questions that can create a real conversation, instead of a standard sales pitch, and sticking to the sequence on that sheet.  It’s hard for a salesperson – or anyone – to think on their feet and ask the right questions in the right order.  You tend to panic and try to book the onsite visit too soon, before you’ve really identified needs fully and addressed them.  Trial these Connection Sheets until you’re happy with one.

Don’t think it’s worth the effort?  Well, studies have shown that a correctly-constructed Connection Sheet boosts your Mystery Shop service score from a sad 32% (no Connection Sheet) to an incredible 87% (fully-used Connection Sheet).  Don’t have time to create your own? Go to our website at www.TraciBild.com andgive ours a try, it’s bulletproof.

Obviously, it’s not enough to just ask the questions – you also have to be able to relate to the answers on a human level and follow up on those answers when you need to.  It’s part of demonstrating the empathy that will create the connection you want.

For the close of your call, remember to repeat those needs and how your community can meet them – and then begin to schedule an on-site visit.  Don’t ask if they want to come in for the visit – talk about it as the next logical step.  If you give them a “Yes” or “No” option, guess what?  50% of the time you’re probably going to get a no! 

Mismanaged sales calls can cost your business dearly – and there’s really no reason for it.  If you and your sales staff are prepared and confident enough to climb over the Value Threshold, you can successfully convert those contacts into on-site visits.

Next month, we’re going to look at how you can make those on-site visits into exciting events that will make your prospects WANT to buy.  Again, it’s all a matter of proper planning and the right approach!    

Don’t Fail at Follow-Through!

Welcome to the fourth and final part of my series of articles on “The Science of Selling.”  In my article last month, I talked about how to personalize an onsite visit to a senior community so that the potential resident and family members have a sense that you care about their wants and needs – and that those wants and needs will be met by your community.   You can check out that article here. 

This time around, we’re going to finish connecting the dots of what we’ve talked about in the first three parts of this series.  All throughout this process, I’ve emphasized the need to “drill down” and connect with your sales prospects on a personal level.  

That process begins with your approach to initial referrals – where you should be asking “What can I do for you?” NOT “What can you do for me?”   It continues with how you handle sales calls, where I suggested you use my Inquiry Connection Sheets to identify the family’s wants and needs, then making sure those wants and needs are addressed during the on-site visit.

If, after all that, you’ve made the sale and added a name to your occupancy list, great!  The only problem is…most sales people stop there.   Big mistake!  You haven’t finished connecting the last dot – the dot that creates a complete and successful sale.

Follow-through.  

You want a happy customer after you make the sale – and you want the person to feel the community cares about them personally. The more powerful their initial experience is upon move in, the easier their transition will be & in turn the incredible referrals to your community.   A happy resident who feels looked after & IMPORTANT is a wonderful advertisement and can’t help but boost your reputation.  It’s not difficult to make this happen – because, if you’ve followed the advice I’ve given in the previous article, you’ve already done all the hard work!

Simply use all the personal information you’ve gathered through the sales process and summarize it on one page.  Copy that page and distribute it to the various departments at your community – making sure to flag the relevant info to the relevant departments – so that everyone works together to make the new resident’s move-in as personal and comfortable as possible

Example:  say the person is a Jewish woman.  You can have the staff hang a Mezuzah, a traditional Jewish religious symbol, on her door.  Or maybe the person doesn’t like ice in their drinks – you can let the kitchen staff know that.  Do they want their room cleaned a certain way?  Let housekeeping know.

These may seem like little things, but they’re actually very big things to your new resident.  It shows that you view them as a person, not as just a sale, and it makes them feel more at home and looked after.  This kind of customer service is an important part of the “WOW factor” that you want to bring to each sale – and it’s also a part that’s frequently overlooked.

To sum up, if you want your community to really shine with the kind of customized personal service that people talk about…

#1 – Follow the systems I laid out in the first three articles.  Connect personally with the family and potential resident and identify needs as well as their values.

#2 – Foster cooperation throughout all departments in your community by sharing that information and making sure everyone follows up on it.

Again, this kind of follow- through is always impressive – and is vital to completing an overall positive sales experience for the customer.  That’s how your reputation soars – and your revenues climb!

 PROPER PREP Makes the Difference to INCREASING YOUR OCCUPANCY & REVENUE!

Hi, and welcome to Part 3 of my 4 part overview of the “Science of Selling.”    Your priority in tough economic times is to sharpen your and your staff’s sales skills to make sure you miss NO opportunity.  If you haven’t checked out Part 1 and Part 2 yet, you’ll find lots of great hard information on how to drive traffic, get quality referrals and, finally, lock down the appointment for the all-important on-site visit.

That on-site visit and, when necessary, the follow-up is what leads to the close.   On average, however, the senior housing industry only converts 20% of Independent Living & 22% of Assisted Living on-site visits to residents.  By using my proven methods, you can boost that figure to a 50%+ conversion rate – and boost your revenues significantly in the process! 

To make that happen, first and foremost, you must know how to pre-plan and create a visit experience that will get people EXCITED to buy.  That means not delivering a standard canned tour – you’ve got to customize to your customers as this will be a very personal decision.   If you go into a tour not knowing your visitors’ needs or how your community can meet them, don’t expect a sale & don’t be disappointed when you don’t get it.

So review the needs you should have identified during your initial conversations with the family – these will determine the priorities of the on-site tour you’ll be conducting.  Be proactive in dealing with issues such as Healthcare, Socialization, Privacy, Medication Assistance and Safety in the order that the family is concerned about them. 

Example.  You’re dealing with an adult child who is mainly concerned about her mother’s safety, and, as a secondary priority, her social environment.  Make sure that during the tour, your Director of Nursing spends a few minutes with the family to reassure them, and also that your Activities Director also joins you to point out the specific activities in the community that the mother has interest in.  Don’t just provide laundry lists of everything the community has to offer – emphasize the specifics they’re looking for.   Personalization is everything – no one wants to feel they’re in a one-size-fits-all situation.

And, please, be responsive to questions during the tour.  An “I don’t know” isn’t good enough.  If you don’t know an exact answer, find it out when the family is on-site.  That level of care and concern is bound to be impressive.

At the end of the visit is when you employ a very powerful sales tool – The Scale.  Before asking if they’re interested in making a deposit, it’s critical that you ask the following question:

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, what’s your level of interest in our community?

Their answer will determine where you are with the prospect – and also gives you the opportunity to find out what it would take to close the sale. 

Example.  If the answer is, “Well, I would say a 7,” you respond, “Okay, then, what would make it a 10?” 

It’s a powerful, direct question – but, at the same time, it allows people to be honest in answering without feeling like they’re going to hurt your feelings.  And it’s been proven to be incredibly effective in testing.  It forces them to think about what they really feel about the community – and it lets you know exactly where you stand. 

If you get an open-ended answer such as, “I have to think about it,” it’s a matter of follow-up down the line.  If you get more specific negatives or concerns, however, you have an opportunity to solve the problems presented, build value in discussing them and create urgency in regards to moving today as opposed to putting off the decision.  

If you’re lucky enough to get a “10” on the scale from the family, that’s pretty much a sign you’ve got the sale.  Seal the deal by repeating their needs back to them, reiterating how the community meets those needs, and then ask for the deposit so you can hold the room for them.  There’s no reason for more discussion unless they want it.   So SHHHH!    This is where salespeople get nervous and literally talk themselves out of a sale. 

If you don’t get the deposit – or if you’ve gotten the “I’ll think about it” response - don’t let it go at that!  You must do the follow-up phone calls – and NOT stop after making 2 or 3.  Ready for a really scary sales statistic?  Here goes - 80% of all sales close after the fifth call – and 90% of all sales professionals give up after the fourth call!!!! 

The personal relationship remains the most important element of these sales calls – if you don’t want to be treated like a sales person, don’t sound like one.  Show empathy and interest in the family and their situation – continue to discuss their needs and how to meet them – and you’ll build a bridge to the sale you’re looking for! 

Next month, how do you keep those residents you’ve worked so hard to attain?   I’ll show you how a collaborative team environment ensures retention – with back-up teams and customer service programs that will forever change the way you do business!