For a webinar on the same topic, click here

You’ve just joined the Comfort Life network, and are eager to start seeing the results. Whatever path you took to get here, your goal now is to get the most from your investment.

Here are eight tips and some simple action steps, to substantially increase your return on investment:

1.  The “Dashboard” lets you easily track your online profile, and quickly see how you can further enhance the listing.
The Dashboard can be found in the “Control Panel”, through which you submitted your print listing for the magazine. The link, username, and password were emailed to you when you signed up. Take a few moments to familiarize yourself with the Dashboard and the Control Panel; from here you will be updating your profile throughout the year. If you have a baseline level of confidence with the panel, you are more likely to actually use it later.

2.  The more you tell, the more you sell. We find listings that are properly filled out have higher conversions.
So long as it’s well organized, prospects want as much information as possible about your community. Make sure you take advantage of the enhanced “profile” section of your online listing, which allows 1,360 characters in the Community Description instead of 580 (as in the magazine). Moreover, there is space for details on the suites, the community, prices, programs and activities, residence services, special diets (if any), doctors and nurses (if applicable), and so on.

3.  Further to point #2, the more details you have identified in your profile, the more frequently you’ll be displayed in Comfort Life search results.
As users select variables in the advanced search (for example, having a nurse on staff), you will show up in the results only if you have identified those variables as applying to your community.

4.  Comfort Life profiles with photos have an 8x higher conversion rate than those that don’t.
So make sure to upload photos to the unlimited photo gallery. Include photos of your suites, floor plans, amenities you want to highlight, and your residents enjoying themselves. (NOTE: contact Comfort Life if you’d like help uploading photos).

SEO TIP: For SEO optimization, make sure to reference your community name in the caption or title of your photos, and provide a detailed description of the image.

5.  Photos with people in them are often more engaging than photos of things.
Direct mail advertising pros know this: it’s very hard to ignore a picture of a person. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t upload that great shot of the model suite you have on file, but it should at least make you think twice if the suite is empty. Remember, though it sounds cliché, you’re not selling amenities and suites, you’re selling an experience. If we really accept this premise, it naturally follows that your photos should have an experiencing subject (person) in them. Objects – lap pools and comfy chairs — can’t experience themselves, but people can experience them.

6.  Prospects actually read the “Stories and Testimonials” section of Comfort Life listings.
So it makes little sense to leave yours blank. Once you have the attention of a prospect, you want to give them as much informative content as possible. Engaged prospects are more likely to click through to your website, send you an email, give you a call, or lock you in their minds for future consideration. This is stating the obvious, but sometimes it helps us to meditate on the obvious. (NOTE: Make sure to fill in the “Keywords” box when uploading stories/testimonials, so your entry will be found when users are searching Comfort Life for those keywords.)

SEO TIP: Include in every story/testimonial a link back to your website. These “backlinks” from high traffic sites like Comfort Life increases the “importance” of your website in the eyes (or silicon chips) of search engines, thus increasing your ranking in search results. (NOTE: contact Comfort Life if you’d like help creating a link.)

7.  Populating your community Events Calendar keeps your listing fresh, encourages attendance to your events, and brands your community in the main Events Calendar on Comfort Life.
You can update your events calendar year-round. If an event you post is interesting and relevant enough, we may even tweet about it or post a message to our Comfort Life social networks.

8.  Your Comfort Life online profile links directly to your social media networks
You have to make the link, though! This can be done, like everything else in this article, through the Control Panel. If you’ve given the prospect enough content to really engage them, they may choose to connect with your community through social media (following you, becoming a fan, or starting a conversation).

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Related articles:

WEBINAR: Generate quality leads with the Comfort Life network: Online, Mobile, Print and Digital Channels

Understand your prospects psyches to convert them into residents

WEBINAR: Marketing tips for retirement communities

Comfort Life’s partnership with OACAO brings seniors to you!

]]> http://www.dialogueplus.ca/eight-ways-to-optimize-your-comfort-life-profile-2611/feed/ 0 http://www.dialogueplus.ca/how-to-build-authentic-relationships-with-boomers-and-seniors-2587/ http://www.dialogueplus.ca/how-to-build-authentic-relationships-with-boomers-and-seniors-2587/#comments Thu, 26 Apr 2012 01:31:14 +0000 Kathy Barthel http://www.dialogueplus.ca/?p=2587 In these cost conscious times you may find yourself being a little vague about the cost of retirement suites when talking to seniors and their families; you may want to show them the many benefits of moving into your community first. But whenever I talk to seniors about retirement homes, their biggest complaint is not being told about pricing at all or not being given specifics.

Seniors want the straight goods about pricing —in person, in print and online. They don’t want to hear that “it varies”. If you are upfront about costs then they will appreciate your honesty and respect you for respecting them. That builds trust and trust results in sales. It may take time but eventually your candor will be rewarded.

I’ve also engaged quite a bit with boomers and that has resulted in what I like to call the “three-legged stool” of boomer interests.

The three “legs” of the stool are:

•  Money: It’s such a scarce commodity for this crowd so any new way to make it, save it or make it last, is irresistible.
•  Relationships: Good relationships including dating ones, are critically important to boomers. They want to feel vital and desirable even though they’re getting older.
•  Health: If you won’t have a lot of money to spend on illness as you age, then you’re going to be pretty obsessed with getting—and staying—healthy right now.

These are the priorities of most boomers and the things they are most interested in hearing about.  Therefore they should be the issues of most concern to your retirement residence.

• How can you help with the financing issue?
• How can you support that need for healthy relationships?
• How can you help maintain or improve senior and boomer health?

You may already provide these resources to your residents but if the boomer can’t afford to move there or isn’t interested, you must find a way to bring these resources to them.

Offer money solutions: If they can’t afford your community and you can’t lower your prices or work out a different payment structure, reach out to their community instead. Offer something of value such as classes on financial literacy or bring in successful entrepreneurs to talk about second career strategies. Partner with key people in the financial field and offer these courses at your local community centre, high school, library, or in a meeting room at City Hall.

Get in the dating game: So many boomers are single and the great majority of those are divorced. Long and unhappy marriages result in long, unhappy memoires and it can be very hard to build up the courage to try again. Get in the game with courses and programs to help booomers heal their wounds and embrace dating and meeting new people. Partner with local art galleries, clubs, travel companies or special interest groups and create events that people want to attend.

Offer affordable health and fitness resources: Your retirement community may offer fabulous fitness programs but if the boomer can’t afford them you must find another way to let them have that experience but at a lower price point. Partner with other professionals such as a fitness centre and offer valuable courses in wellness and healthy aging but present them in a way that is engaging. Boomers think they’re younger than they really are, so consider targeting a wider age range, say from 40+.

We must be the mirror in which boomers see themselves reflected. If these are their issues of greatest concern, they must be ours as well—and in a way that benefits boomers first.

It’s all about building an authentic relationship over time, with a focus on making the boomers’ challenges easier. That relationship must take into account the fact that boomers will not be talked down to or patronized; they will take charge of their own destiny, thank you very much.  Your role is to be open and to listen—and to make sure those stools are as sturdy as possible.

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This webinar will provide you with a step-by-step approach to learn how to optimize your Comfort Life community profile including how to access your control panel, provide year round updates and how to improve your web profile and information with us to generate more traffic and inquiries.

Review this webinar to learn:

• Ways to increase your community’s Google ranking by adding stories and testimonials
• How to increase likability and visibility of your social media efforts
• Why adding photos to your profile can increase your conversion rate
• Plus quick and easy ways to update your information year round

Neil Persaud, Director of Sales, will explain the dynamic channels included with your Comfort Life marketing bundle and how you can update your retirement community information that will be shared across our online, mobile, print and digital platforms.

Gaining perspective

After spending the past five years with a provincial industry association representing and advocating for seniors housing, the opportunity to observe operations has been fascinating.  Often association executives employed with industry associations have industry or related experience. This was experience I did not have prior to my association employment. I gained much knowledge and information through research, committee work and member communication, but had felt I was missing perspective.  After four short weeks in industry, I already better understand the challenges in balancing the choices of individual residents/seniors and choices for the community as a whole.

Achieving balance takes commitment

Balance is an ongoing challenge. Finding balance as an individual is important.  Remembering that as individuals, we are always a part of a larger community for which balance is even more important. No man is an island, right? Balance impacts all aspects of operation from budgeting, future planning, and risk management, to menu selection, energy consumption, and wellness program implementation.

Achieving balance takes commitment. A focus on quality of life places importance on multiple aspects of an individual as well as community. This holistic approach includes physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being; belonging, and ongoing growth. A model of care that pursues measuring and evaluating these aspects for residents is much more likely to provide a high quality of life for them. To achieve this, much collaboration and strong communication between providers and seniors and their families is imperative.

More than usual business

The job of caring for the elderly is much more than usual business. Providing 24/7 quality resident service while promoting as much independence and choice as possible is a very challenging. Though it’s only been a month, I can sense that the challenge is also very rewarding. Plus I got a hug from an Oma last week for faxing something. That was pretty sweet.

Originally published on March 14 at www.linahoffbauer.com

“What gets measured gets done” – Peter Drucker

“An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage” – Jack Welch

A key factor critical to the success of any retirement home is management’s ability to generate, retrieve and act upon reliable and timely information. This is especially true for new communities facing stiff ramp-up targets and more established communities facing 25% plus attrition rates. However, whenever I meet with owners and managers of Retirement Home Communities, they repeatedly reveal that measurement and reporting are often manual, frequently inaccurate and always the most painful part of their jobs!

While most retirement home managers are well aware of their occupancy rates, resident days, close rates and overall cost of operations, major shortcomings exist in the scope and way that operational data is accessed and used:

Data generated is usually restricted to financial data, with the exclusion of key metric information required to make operational decisions

• Reports are only available periodically, such as at month and year end
• Data is accumulated in several isolated systems that require extensive manual reconciliation and duplicate entry prior to allowing for any analysis; in most companies, this preparation time leaves little or no time for the analytical function
• Information is geared to “what happened” as opposed to “what should happen” and “how do we achieve results”

When evaluating the reporting capacity of retirement home software, there are numerous factors to consider at both the community and corporate levels that can significantly increase close rates, occupancy levels and marketing effectiveness.

Community Requirements

Quick Adoption - Rapid sales team adoption is essential to the success of any new system. To ensure sales staff support, team members must believe that the new reporting system will save them time. In essence, the best salespeople despise manual reporting, as they intuitively understand that arduous manual documentation deprives them of face-to-face or phone time with prospective residents. Given that manual processes and reporting diminish valuable selling time, the benefits of automated daily, weekly and monthly reporting cannot be overstated.

Improved Sales Process – Sales reporting allows users to track sales performance over time and evaluate the impact of procedures designed to improve sales effectiveness. By tracking specific metrics at every step of the sales cycle, management can pinpoint the exact stage where the sales process breaks down. For example, if many prospective seniors take tours but few return for revisits or leave a deposit, sales personnel should take a serious look at the tour process. By analysing tour feedback, managers may discover certain areas of their communities that require further attention, and/or gain insight into which areas of the tour are most attractive to seniors and require greater marketing emphasis. The availability of this information allows the sales and marketing team to focus on areas that directly affect sales.

Marketing Performance Analysis - In addition to reporting on overall event performance, such as responses by event, new residents signed, and comparative costs of acquisition, marketing event planning allows for seamless coordination of the multitude of tasks required to host promotional events during the year. Constant monitoring allows management to track progress and make adjustments accordingly.

Dashboards and Activity Reports – Regardless of the metrics requested by management, dashboards provide constant visibility to relevant data. When compared with traditional reporting distributed at the end of the week or month, dashboards continually display the sales pipeline, hot prospects and action items in real-time, enabling the sales team to focus its efforts on key opportunities. Activity reports further enhance the sales process by identifying neglected prospects, providing follow-up reminders and automating numerous manual tasks.

Easy to use report writers – Simple, user friendly reporting software empowers your sales and marketing personnel to access information when they need it and in the format that they require. Designed for the average business user, these tools allow for the quick creation of reports and dashboards, enabling users to personally access and monitor the business metrics that are important to them.

When evaluating reporting software for your sales team, select a system that reduces manual entry, is simple to use and provides constant visibility to real-time marketing and sales information.

Corporate Requirements

Cross Community Reporting – It is essential to determine whether the new system is capable of combining and comparing data from multiple communities on one report. Although cross community reporting would seem to be a logical requirement, many communities still depend on antiquated reporting systems incapable of generating cross community metrics. To succeed in today’s fast-moving, highly competitive marketplace, one integrated system is the only solution. For example, a cross community comparison of conversion rates between initial calls to tours, to revisits, to deposits, to move-ins can highlight areas of lead breakage. Similarly, cross community lead-time analysis can determine which homes employ a more efficient sales process, with the result that the underperforming sales teams implement the necessary changes to boost efficiency.

Sales Process Compliance - The most successful retirement home managers understand that sales effectiveness is a result of consistently following an appropriate process in conjunction with a predetermined activity level (i.e. prospect calls or community tours). Accordingly, the new reporting system should track staff activities and document whether team members are following the appropriate sales and marketing processes. A strong reporting system provides detailed feedback on the quality and completeness of the data entered. To demonstrate, it reveals whether all interview questions are completed, if prospect hot buttons and needs are documented, etc. Key elements of a corporate reporting package should include activity reporting, budget comparisons and the highlighting of special areas of interest (i.e. neglected prospects).

Marketing Investment Analysis – In today’s economy, stringent use of a marketing budget is mandatory in all retirement communities. Beyond providing statistics on leads generated per marketing dollar, marketing ROI reports should evaluate closing ratios and assess the effects of the multiple touch-points involved in closing a sale.

Ad hoc reporting – Retirement home managers often complain that they cannot create their own reports without involving the IT department or a third-party vendor to develop a new report or modify an existing one. A strong reporting system should empower users to build their own reports quickly and easily.

Automatic Report Generation and Distribution – Well-designed reporting software should provide the option of viewing information in real-time or exporting information to spreadsheets for further analysis. Automated daily reports can be emailed to managers, owners and salespeople first thing every morning, with exception reports forwarded as necessary.  In today’s world of connected devices, it is also reasonable to evaluate a system’s ability to access data remotely from home and elsewhere, and from devices such as smartphones and tablets.

When evaluating reporting software for your sales and marketing department, select a system with enhanced metrics and reporting tools that display the real-time performance of your communities and promote the rapid implementation of any sales and marketing process improvements required to increase occupancy levels.

Visit our website for sample reports that every Retirement Home Corporate Office must have!

Pew Research asks about the Internet and ‘fun’. New this month: The Internet as Diversion and Destination, offering the results of a survey about the use of the Internet, with answers by age to a question: “Did you go ever go online for no particular reason, just for fun, or to pass the time?” They also asked about whether they did so “yesterday,” the day before they were surveyed – which is cute, but “yesterday” as a source of meaningful information is, well, soyesterday. The headliner was about the 53% percent of young adults (18-29) who admitted that yesterday they did, while only 27% of boomers and 12% of seniors allocated a piece of their yesterday for this, uh, purpose. This is a frustrating question that Pew does not analyze, nor does it probe further, so speculation clearly is expected.

What does this yesterday-and-the-Internet tell you? Well, first of all, these young people have more time, maybe an additional diversion — they could be using the Internet to find work or a better job — since 25% of teens are unemployed and 44% of the 18-29 age range are “delaying making a life change or a purchase because of economic fears.” And what percentage of the older adult population has high-speed access — the enabler of idling away so much of yesterday? Because of course, to have broadband (which should become cheaper for some seniors in 2012) is to enable going online ‘for no particular reason.’ As of 2010, Pew says that 63% of those aged 50-64 have broadband (the new survey reveals that 50% of this population are online for fun and diversion) and 31% of the 65+ have broadband (23% online for fun and diversion).

Online for fun and diversion, what’s up with that? Pew notes that the folks with broadband are likely viewing video (like Netflix streaming for high bandwidth buyers), and fans of social networking.  While they’re online – what might they be doing with no particular ‘purpose’? Let’s assume they aren’t just staring at theworld clock ticking away. Let’s assume that people eventually make their way to the Google search box, take a look at the news, the stock market, and maybe find a few good restaurants. They may discover other diversions: online games (29% of online gamers are 50+), online learning, which is pulling people away from traditional  classrooms, or buying online – 15% more this year than last year (that’s $30 billion of fun!).  Maybe they’re fond of particular blogs – 53.5% of Internet users read blogs – and there were 152 million of them to be read during 2010.

Fun and diversion online – warning, there’s no such thing. Each of the fun and diverting time wasters (as implied by the Pew question and answer) on the Internet is a market now or in the future for someone else.  All first time users (and 69% of seniors are, according to Pew, yet to even become first-time Internet users) are either buyers-to-be and viewers of ads, participants in social engagement (also viewing ads), and they will soon be ready to upgrade their slow and clumsy technologies, maybe even to sleeker tablets and smarter phones!).  But none are staring aimlessly at blank screens, having no particular purpose, waiting for the online paint to peel.

A new report from AARP called, “50 and Over: What’s Next?” takes a closer look at what marketers can learn about this increasingly important demographic in terms of their financial, lifestyle, health and work interests.

There is good news according to the report:

• boomers are interested in marketers that understand them and speak to them with sincerity.
• a surprising 60% are optimistic about their future
• they are open to new products that can help them

Read the report to see how boomers will influence such key aspects of our society as health care, housing, jobs, insurance and pensions and technology.

Wishing you a very healthy, happy and peaceful 2012 from all of us at Comfort Life and Dialogue Plus!

• Feedback on poor performance
• Confronting unacceptable behaviour
• Challenging a colleague or customer
• Holding others accountable for their results
• Sharing an unpopular decision
• Acknowledging a mistake before it comes to light

To effectively manage conflict, or anything you find hard to talk about, a leader needs to transition the difficult conversation to a learning conversation, that is, away from wanting to “win”, to a more collaborative approach. It’s about understanding what has happened from the other person’s point of view, explaining your point of view, sharing and understanding emotions, and then working together to manage the situation going forward.

Three Conversations

In their work Difficult Conversations, Stone, Patton and Heen state that any heated exchange is really three conversations.

1. The “What Happened” Conversation

Most difficult conversations involve disagreement about what has happened or what should happen. Who said what and who did what? Who’s right and who’s to blame?

Here’s the thing: you are not right. I know, you can’t believe it.

The point is that difficult conversations are not about getting the facts right.  They are about conflicting perceptions, interpretations and values.  They are not about what a contract states, they are about what a contract means.  Once we move away from figuring out what is true, we shift our purpose from proving we are right to understanding perceptions, interpretations and values of both sides.

The second part of the “What Happened?” conversation is about intention.  Did you raise your voice to hurt my feelings or to emphasize your point?  Did you throw my cigarettes away because you are trying to control me or to help me live up to my commitment to quit?  What I think about your intentions will affect how I think about you, and ultimately how our exchange will go.

2. The Feelings Conversation

Difficult conversations do not just involve feelings, they are at their core about feelings. Consider some of your own difficult exchanges. What emotions are set off?  Hurt or anger?  Disappointment, shame, or confusion?  Do you feel treated unfairly or without respect?  For some of us, even saying “I love you” or “I’m proud of you” can feel risky.

In the short term, engaging in difficult conversation without talking about feelings may save you time and reduce your anxiety.  But if feelings are the issue, what have you accomplished if you don’t address them?

Understanding, talking about and managing feelings are among the greatest challenges of being human.  It may not seem like it, but talking about feelings is a skill that can be learned.

3. The Identity Conversation

Of the three conversations, this one may be the most subtle and challenging. Awareness of this conversation, however, offers significant leverage in managing our anxiety and improving our skills in the other two conversations.

The Identity Conversation looks inward: what I am saying to myself about me.  How does what happened affect my image of myself? What impact might it have on my reputation if I am wrong?

Let’s take a typical example of meeting with your boss on your performance appraisal and merit increase. How does your identity factor in here?

What if your merit increase gets turned down?  In fact, what if your boss gives you several performance-based reasons for turning you down?  What will that do to your self-mage as a competent and respected employee?  Ostensibly the conversation is about development, and yet underneath performance review is what your boss really thinks of you.  Being aware that your self-image is in play will help you to avoid panic, turning a source of anxiety into a source of awareness.

Handling difficult conversations requires gaining comfort with these three conversations so as to reduce defensiveness and keep the discussion on a constructive track regardless of how the other person responds.

Once you understand the challenges inherent in the Three Conversations and common mistakes we make in each, you are likely to find that your purpose for having particular conversations begins to shift.  You will appreciate the complexity of the perceptions and intentions involved, the central role of emotions, and what’s at stake for each person’s self-esteem and identity.  The sole intent of delivering your message doesn’t make sense anymore. In fact, you may find that you no longer have a message to deliver at all, but rather some information to share and some questions to ask.

Karen Brill coaches leaders at Responsive Management Inc.  Please don’t hesitate to contact her at karen.brill@rogers