Sierra Ramos
Friday Article Links: SEO Tips and More for Senior Living Professionals
How the CCRC or Multi-site CEO Plays a Role in Increasing Healthcare Revenue
7 SEO Metrics that Reflect Revenue Growth and Prove Value
Lifeshare’s List of 21 Splendid Technology-Based Activities
Supreme Court Decision Expected to Benefit Senior Living
Patients Who Refuse Home Health More Likely to be Readmitted
Conducting the Perfect Tour at Your Senior Living Community
When it comes to senior living, tours are an opportunity to showcase your community and close a deal, so you must be prepared and organized. In today’s market, the prospective resident is likely to already be informed about senior living before they walk through your doors for a tour, and instead of looking for answers to basic questions, they are looking for a wow factor. Below are some ways you can set the stage for a great tour!
- Always be Prepared
It is a good idea for you and your staff members to take a practice tour around your community to make sure that everything is in place. Setting the stage for a good tour starts before the potential residents and/or their family arrive. Some tips to consider are making sure that any trash is picked up, the lights are turned on, the beds are made, the rooms are tidy and the bathrooms are clean.
- Personally Welcome the Potential Residents by Name
A simple way to personalize your guests’ experience is to know their names, so it seems more meaningful. Try arranging place cards with the guests’ names to be displayed, such as on a reserved parking space. Warmly greet the prospects by name when they enter your community. Another good idea is before the tour starts, give your guests a personalized welcome folder with their name on it, so they feel like you truly care about them. In the folder, you can include your contact information, as well as additional information about your community.
- Personalize the Tour
Make sure to ask the people that will be touring your community what amenities/services are important to them so that you can focus on that during their tour. Ask them about their hobbies and interests, so you can highlight the features that are most important to them so it doesn’t feel like a generic tour. Adding this type of personalization will be sure to make your community memorable.
- Have Pleasant Follow-Ups
After they have toured, don’t just follow up with a generic phone call, try to be personable like writing a hand-written note. In the note, you can thank the potential residents for viewing your community and try to include personal aspects of conversation you may have had, or even a joke that was said.
Choosing the Appropriate Senior Living Community with Brenda Dever-Armstrong
When you or your loved one decide that living in a senior living community is better than aging in place at home, the next step is to find the appropriate place. There are many choices to make and things to take into consideration. Whether you are looking at independent living, assisted living, memory care, nursing homes or a continuing care retirement community, you must choose wisely, and find something that will fit your needs. Someone who knows all about serving people and helping them when it comes to choosing the perfect community is Brenda Dever-Armstrong.
Brenda Dever-Armstrong is the CEO and Owner of The Next Horizon Senior Military Locator/Resource/Advocate. She has been in the Senior industry for 22 years and opened her company 14 years ago. The Next Horizon helps seniors and military 55 years and over in locating housing, medical care, senior communities, legal, financial, realtors, movers or whatever the need may be now or in the near future. The Next Horizon is located in San Antonio, Texas, but Brenda covers all of Texas and works with clients living out of state.
When it comes to choosing the right community for you or your loved one, Brenda said it is important to know that when you are looking online and searching for a senior living community, don’t just look at one site, look at several. When you call or visit a community, take the time to do your research about that community. By using an Advocate, such as Brenda, she can narrow the selection progress by asking the “right” questions to the Director, Admission or Marketing Director of those communities. In other words, an Advocate can usually pin-point which community will meet your loved one(s) lifestyle and healthcare needs.
“When you are looking for a community, ask them the following questions: How many years have their Director and Staff been at the community; What type of training has their staff had working with Seniors and how often is the training updated; What is the ratio of staff to patients; When was their last State Inspection,” Brenda said in a recent interview.
