Collaboration with Advisors Increases Conversion Opportunity
Marketing within the senior living industry has grown increasingly complex. As 10,000 tech-savvy baby boomers turn 65 each day, there’s an influx of boomers looking for care for their parents and themselves. With an increasing number of leads moving into the digital space effective collaboration between communities and A Place for Mom’s Senior Living Advisors is more critical to our partners than ever before.
One thing hasn’t changed though —sound communication and collaboration principles remain the cornerstone of success. Our local Advisors devote more than one million hours each year to talking, emailing, and texting with families about their senior care needs, identifying their local options, qualifying leads, and making referrals to well-matched partner communities.
Communication is critical to increasing the effectiveness of our partnership. With improved communication and collaboration, A Place for Mom can pass on better information about your community to families, and which means that families are better educated and equipped to make good decisions about care for loved ones. It also opens the door for us to pass up to date information to you about the families experience, increasing the opportunity for your team to secure a move-in.
In fact, we’ve found a direct correlation between regular communication and lead conversion. A partnership with A Place for Mom drives the best results when partners and Advisors are actively communicating about a family’s progress. Regular communication ensures both parties have the best information to help the family move forward and make the right decision.
“A Place For Mom has always been a great partner with me in my role, but what I didn’t always take advantage of was a more personal and collaborative partnership with my regional counterpart at APFM” Margaret Cabelle, Divisional Director of Sales and Marketing at Brookdale
Margaret Cabelle says in recent months, “I have made the commitment to be more inclusive and communicative with my Regional Partner and this has been a powerful way to model how the communities can find success with stronger partnerships with the Advisors. My Regional Partner has helped align her Advisors on what my priorities are and we are seeing very immediate results. I am now a strong advocate for including our regional APFM team members as part of our larger and stronger sales team!
5 Ways to Improve Collaboration and Communication
- Take Full Advantage of Partner Central
It’s critical that your company keeps its profile up-to-date on Partner Central so that Advisors can share the most current information about your community with families. To do this, ensure that your profile is:
- Complete, accurate and detailed –fill out all fields (especially pricing, concessions, testimonials and events)
- Media rich – families love to see recent photos and videos. Be sure to include a description that outlines the benefits of your community and photos that show off the space.
- Current – ensure new services and community updates are shared on your profile.Partners whose Community Web Pages include photos have more engagement and three times more move-ins than properties with no images.
- Contact High-Value Leads Immediately to Schedule a Tour
A Place for Mom leads have been screened multiple times and vetted to fit with your community, which means these families are ready to talk to your team right away. On average, partners who contact a family within two hours of a referral have 11.5% more move-ins than partners who wait 24-hours.From tours to meetings to vacations, with your team’s busy schedule, it’s advisable to have multiple people receiving referral alerts to ensure that all leads are followed up in a timely manner.
- Follow-Up with Advisors Throughout a Family’s Journey
Following up with local Advisors is critical and we recommend that partners get in the habit of following-up with Advisors at multiple points throughout a family’s buying journey:
- Family tours – let your local Advisor know when a family tours your community so Advisors can share the feedback they receive from the family. Together, partners and Advisors can work together to answer all family questions and help them make a decision.
- Move-ins – let Advisors know when a resident moves in, so they can be sure to update other interested families on the availability within your community.
- Schedule Monthly Calls with Local Advisors
A regular monthly call is a great way to review leads and share any changes happening within your community. Working together with local Advisors on a regular basis to create a strategic plan for each family will increase move-ins.
- Keep A Place for Mom in the Loop on Staffing Changes
It’s important to let A Place for Mom know when a team member leaves or joins your company so that we can update our records and let your local Advisor know of the change.When you hire a new staff member we’ll be sure they are set up to receive referral alerts and communication from our Advisors about interested families. We’ll also be happy to onboard new team members, so we can all work efficiently and effectively together.
A Place for Mom is here to support your marketing and sales initiatives. Through strong collaboration and communication with our senior living Advisors your team will see an increase in family connections and resident move-ins. Share with us the steps you’re taking to increase communication with our Advisors and families.
