The LIFT l February 2020

FEBRUARY 2020 //

Inspiring Senior Lifestyle Marketing & Sales Teams to New Heights

IN THIS ISSUE: In compliance:

Video:

A conversation with Brittany Pape

How to talk to parents

Call conversion: Sales habits and their outcomes

Top 10: These communities reap the benefits of social media

Select effectiveness: Raising the bar on recruitment and hiring

LOFTY GOALS. SOLID STEPS. 1

In Compliance: A Conversation With Brittany Pape The Vice President of Compliance and Counsel for Senior Lifestyle communities, Brittany Pape speaks with The LIFT about the relationship of sales and marketing and her office.

LIFT:

Thank you for being here, Brittany.

Let’s begin with how you explain the function and importance of compliance.

Brittany: Thanks for inviting me. It’s simple: Compliance identifies risks that an organization faces and advises on how to avoid or address them. The goal is a proactive approach for managing compliance and legal issues to meet our business needs.

LIFT:

So your office keeps the organization legal as it pursues business goals?

Brittany: Yes, and compliance supports every department – including sales and marketing – in their duty to comply with relevant laws, regulations and internal procedures.

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LIFT:

Let’s consider the dark side for a moment. What are the risks of ignoring compliance issues? How serious is it?

Brittany: Being noncompliant means you or your action is being conducted in a manner which violates or may violate the law. Noncompliance exposes the company as well as you personally to civil and criminal liabilities. Remember that simply stating, “I did not know this was an issue,” or, “It was never an issue in the past,” is not an acceptable defense for noncompliance. The role I play in compliance support is to help you make good business decisions to reduce our risk of noncompliance.

LIFT:

Can you give us examples?

Brittany: Certainly. Legal or compliance guidance is sought for concerns such as interactions with other health care providers, conflicts of interest, giving or accepting gifts, creating marketing campaigns or incentives, paying for resident referrals, reporting and addressing compliance concerns or tough situations, or exploring new business endeavors or changes in processes.

LIFT:

Suppose a department has a concern about laws and regulations. What should they do?

Brittany: Anytime any department has a question about a situation related to compliance – maybe it’s something you just want to verify is appropriate, or you know there are issues surrounding it, or it has to do with laws, regulations or internal procedures – the best

move is to contact me. That’s what I’m here for. And let me add that departments can also report compliance concerns via our thirdparty managed hotline, which allows for anonymous reporting.

That number is 1-877-315-0914.

LIFT:

When’s the right time to ask for help?

Brittany: It’s best to be proactive with situations, but you may reach out at any time. I encourage people to use the resources found on Senior Lifestyle’s compliance intranet site – including quick references, policies and job aids.

LIFT:

Thank you. This has been helpful –

Brittany: May I add one more thing?

I’ve been asked to contribute compliance tips in future editions of The LIFT. So stay tuned, and I’ll be back to keep you informed.

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Sales Habits and Their Outcomes CINDY AMES, CORPORATE DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING TRAINING Recently, a professional outside our industry who is interested in understanding more about how salespeople work asked for my opinion on the bad habits salespeople get into and the why. As I reflected on this question, I thought of the results of our mystery shops, completed for all sales associates within four weeks of hire, and after they have completed their Sales & Marketing Training.

A bad habit I hear in the mystery shop recordings is too much talking done by the sales associate. A large number of sales associates don’t follow the 70/30 rule, which is the customer speaks 70% of the time and the sales associate speaks 30% of the time. This bad habit generates a few different outcomes.

The first outcome is the lack of information gathered from the customer. By not having the right information or enough information from a customer, the sales associate is not able to provide personalized solutions during the call or plan a customized community visit experience for the customer. Another outcome is the sales associate is making fewer connections with the customer and therefore not fully developing a relationship.

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Because of the lack of relationship, there is less opportunity to convert a customer from an inquiry call to a community visit.

Let’s now look at the why. Why do salespeople not follow the 70/30 rule? For some, it can be a benign reason. They are so excited about what their community has to offer, they rush to tell the customer all their good news. Others just want to get the customer in the door for a visit and think if they just push their own agenda forward, it will cause the customer to say yes to a visit. It can also be a matter of insecurity.

Some sales associates are not secure with their Inquiry Tool, with asking questions, drilling down to learn more or waiting for an answer.

Take a listen to your most recent mystery shop or an Invoca recording. What percentage of the conversation are you talking? If you’re not using the 70/30 rule, then ask yourself why? Figure it out so you can adjust your conversation to provide space for your customer to share their story, allowing you to know how to best match their needs and plan for their community visit.

Listening more removes a bad habit and allows you to convert more calls to community visits.

Reprinted from October 2018

Top 10: These Communities Reap the Benefits of Social Media Frequent Facebook posts pay a dividend: Communities that post more engage more.

RECENT WINNERS ARE: • Brookstone Estates of Harrisburg • Carriage Court of Grove City • Chestnut House • Church Hill Village

HOW TO

Talk to Parents Encounter adult children who need to talk to their parents about health, safety and housing? You can help prepare them for that conversation after you hear from Janine Witte, Vice President of Sales.

• Countrywood • Emerald Glen of Olney • Parkside • The Pointe at Kirby Gate • Regal Estates of League City • Saunders House Generally, communities post 8 times each month. But of these 10 communities, 8 went beyond average to post an additional 1 to 19 times. That’s why their engagement rates range from 32.4% to 42.7%.

Families and friends love it when Facebook shows them what’s happening in your community!

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RAISING THE BAR

on Recruitment and Hiring Truth: Effective Senior Lifestyle employees come from all kinds of industries with all kinds of skills. So when you’re recruiting, don’t limit yourself to candidates whose experience precisely matches the position you’re hiring for. Look for effectiveness, not replication, and raise the bar on your recruitment.

Here’s what to look for when you need another effective new employee.

The Driven.

Jordana Jobanputra, Divisional Director of Sales and Marketing “I’ve found the ‘right’ sales professional carries more than just senior living industry experience. They also demonstrate traits that include interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence and a dash of tenacity. With a ‘compassionate hunter’ mentality, they can listen with empathy and push hard to find solutions for the families we serve.

Many industries can offer us top-notch performers like these who understand how to make an impact and can consistently deliver results.”

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The Coachable.

Paul Barlow, Divisional Director of Sales and Marketing “We have a top trainer in the industry, so let’s trust the process and our abilities to coach someone with heart and drive.

I’ve succeeded with driven and empathic candidates from the hospitality industry; they get what hard work is. A huge benefit in finding someone coachable is that we won’t need to ‘untrain’ them on any bad habits they may have accumulated in their career.”

The Teachable.

Nicole Carbone, Divisional Director of Sales and Marketing “If they have the right attitude and aptitude for the position, we can teach them the systems and processes to be successful in this role.”

Heart.

The Transformers.

Cindy Ames, Corporate Director of Sales and Marketing Training

Adam Squires, Divisional Director of Sales and Marketing

“As a seasoned sales trainer in senior living, I can tell you that I don’t look at what industry a salesperson comes from. I look at their core philosophy for sales. I look for salespeople who have a relationship with the customer at the heart of their sale. They know the value of an emotional connection, because that’s how to generate trust with a customer. The product (senior living services) can easily and quickly be taught. What isn’t easy to teach is heart, and when it comes to hiring for sales in senior living, look for people who have a heart for their customer and don’t worry about what industry they come from.”

“I was a food and beverage guy and got into senior living as a chef. 17 years later, as a Divisional Director of Sales and Marketing, I can’t believe what I’m doing. If I’d stayed in food and beverage, I wouldn’t have had the experience of helping all these people with more than just nourishment.”

The Goal Crushers.

Terri Torres, Area Sales Manager “Candidates with a consistent record of crushing sales goals in varied industries possess a unique combination of emotional intelligence and business acumen. Those strengths transfer to other industries. New challenges will encourage a new hire to lean heavy into our sales process and tools.”

Talent.

Janine Witte, Vice President of Sales and Marketing “We have a robust sales training program, the ability to utilize the Sales Counselor Certificate program through Argentum, and strong sales leaders to mentor and coach during their tenure. There’s no reason not to maximize our own resources and see what real talent looks like.”

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303 East Wacker Drive, Suite 2400 Chicago, IL 60601 www.SeniorLifestyle.com 8