Connections Newsletter

ISSUE

04

Quarterly Sales & Marketing Newsletter

January 2014

Connections this issue A Message from Jayne P.1 Connection Corner P.2 Success Stories P.3 Concierge Corner | Family Advocates | EIO P.4 Sales Tips P.5 Stellar Seller P.6

Follow-up: It is one of the most critical things you should do.

Did you know?

• • • • • • • •

48% of salespeople never follow up with a prospect.

25% of salespeople make a second contact and stop.

12% of salespeople make more than three contacts.

2% of sales are made on the first contact.

3% of sales are made on the second contact.

5% of sales are made on the third contact.

10% of sales are made on the fourth contact.

80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact.

Source: www.followupsuccess.com

These are shocking statistics. Many times I see leads that are followed up two or three times and simply closed as “unresponsive.” You are doing yourself a disservice by closing a lead too early. There are very few reasons a lead should be officially closed. Even if the prospect says they are staying home or not interested anymore, these leads should stay open. Why? All open leads receive the Emeritus.com newsletter which helps keep your community “top of mind” if their circumstances change.

Emeritus offers many tools to help make your follow-up unique with each and every connection. This is what is going to differentiate you from your competitors! Consistent follow-up helps you create a relationship with a potential

customer rather than just making a “follow-up phone call.”

Here are just a few examples of creative follow-up: • Send an applicable video (Maude, Testimonial, Financial Solutions etc.) as a follow-up. You can find all of our videos at www.emeritus.com/emeritus-senior-livingvideos or on E&Me. The E&ME site also includes email templates when sending a video to a prospect.

• Send out Caregiver Tips when applicable.

• Do a home visit and bring them something that relates to the senior’s life. For example, maybe they met their spouse at a trip to Italy. Bring a book about Italy and talk about how they met their spouse. Build the relationship.

• Memory Care Follow-up. Bring a Join Their Journey basket to the home visit and show the caregiver how it works.

• Call and invite the prospect to something special you are doing at the community or provide them with a free hair salon appointment. The possibilities are endless!

Thanks All,

Jayne Sallerson

Executive VP of Sales & Marketing * Source: www.followupsuccess.com

“Typical Follow-Up Call” Does this build a relationship?

“How are you?

Just calling to see how mom is?!”

“Mom is fine.

Just staying home for now.”

Connections Corner Utilizing Connects to Enhance Sales Opportunities Written by John Cincotta, SVP of Sales & Marketing

Jayne’s article above informed us of the shocking statistic that 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact. This statistic leads me to go back to the basics and assure that we are all using our Connects system to help us manage our critical follow-up.

I’d like to review the importance of the “Leads & Contacts” tab and give you some questions to pose to yourself and your team. First, a quick review of “Leads & Contacts” tab: • • • • • • • •

Locate the “Leads & Contacts” tab in the upper right hand corner of the Connects home page and click on it.

Proceed to “Built in Searches” on the left side of the page and select a drop down: All leads with no scheduled tasks Added today Within 14 days < 3 touches Within 2 years < 3 touches Within 30 days < 10 touches Within 6 months < 3 touches

The items displayed are those outside of our sales parameters (excluding “added today”). To see details, click on the record.

Use this tab to enhance your sales opportunities by ensuring you and your team are developing strong relationships with all of your leads in your database. Review this twice per week and during your weekly sales and marketing meeting. As you review, ask yourself the following questions: • Do we have leads with no scheduled tasks at all and what is the most meaningful task? Is our Executive Director calling out to every family that has toured within 24 hours?

• Are there leads received within the last 14 days that have less than 3 touches? Why and what is the most impactful touch?

• What does the “30 days with less than 10 touches” bucket look like? Have the tasks completed assisted the customer in finding a solution for their loved one?

• Have we reached out to our “colder” leads received within the last six months more than three times? How can we make this outreach memorable?

• Are we cultivating our lead base and reaching out to the leads received in the last two years with more than three touches?

• How can we build a long term relationship with this family so they can trust us enough with their loved one’s care and well-being?

Please reach out to your Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for more ideas on utilizing Connects to enhance your sales opportunities. Thank you in advance for treating every inquiry with urgency, compassion, empathy and kindness.

With much appreciation, John

Success Stories Emeritus at Hoffman Estates Hoffman Estates, IL

Chris Lynn really embodies all we are looking for in the way of dedication and tenacity in a CRD. Chris has brought families to Hoffman Estates from other states, out of dilapidated homes, and consistently utilizes the Home Visit Program to promote our Family Values and Safely Somewhere philosophies.

Chris smiles all the time. Her compassion is her driving force. She doesn’t give up. When I look in Connects and see 40 touches on one family, I know she is absolutely convinced we are the “perfect place for that family’s loved one. When we are having those “Can I just throw in the towel?” days, she finds something to laugh at. She is positive and strives to keep our team spirit alive. Her energy is never ending. She plans events that are classy and purposeful.

She makes it fun to come to work every day and provides leadership in the sales arena. Her camaraderie with our team keeps me believing that we will hit 100% occupancy. Chris laughs and cries with families. There is always a Kleenex box in our discovery room. I have watched her ability to console and still drive the sale. She has a unique ability to come across as the caring, compassionate person she is, get a family to believe we are the place for their loved one, and close the sale without a blink of an eye. I believe she does it because she believes in what we do here, believes in our family values, and believes in our own community mission to have all of our residents live here safely.

Submitted by Carol Podian, ED

Emeritus at Sweetwater Lithia Springs, GA

I want to share with you a little about Stephanie Long, the CRD here at Emeritus at Sweetwater.

Stephanie has been with us only for a couple of months, but is already making a huge impact on our community! She is full of energy and love for our seniors.

She has a passion for offering seniors a solution to their senior living needs.

Recently Stephanie helped a lady who was removed from her home by APS. This lady was transferred to inpatient hospice and needed to live at an Assisted Living community. She left her home without clothes or furniture and Stephanie is in the process of gathering both, so the lady will have a successful move to Sweetwater.

Submitted by Carla Dingler, ED

Emeritus at Remington House Kingsport, TN

Suzy Cloud is simply AMAZING! Suzy joined our team in February 2013 and has consistently kept us at a high occupancy. When she started in February, our occupancy was 89.1%, due largely to not having a CRD. Suzy quickly started the process of getting Remington House known in the community as the “premier” AL community in town. Since April, she has consistently kept the census above 97% with a couple of months 100+% occupied. Suzy is the PR queen in our area and she is able to use media in order to get the word out about Remington House. Suzy says she will never apologize for being the best AL community in town. She truly lives the family values in everything she does! Suzy was recently awarded “Ambassador of The Year” by the Johnson City Chamber of Commerce. She has been nominated and awarded Employee of the Month twice, because she goes above and beyond in everything she does, especially in promoting our premier community.

Submitted by Sherry King, Sr ED

Emeritus at Stanwood Stanwood, WA

My CRD, Kari Soth has been the CRD here since 2009. Kari does a great job!

Recently she held a Virtual Dementia Tour for prospects and staff. This was a free event. The Virtual Dementia Tour had three components: • The person gets headphones that provide garbled noise, their fingers taped together with gloves over them, inserts for their shoes to simulate the feeling of neuropathy, and goggles that interfere with vision.

• They are taken into a room with and given a list of tasks to complete. Most people could not complete more than two or three tasks.

• Then there was a debriefing session relating how this simulates what our residents/families with dementia are experiencing and why Memory Care is so important! What a great creative idea! This is just an example of the great ways Kari brings people into the community and displays us as the experts we are!

Submitted by Michelle Longwill, ED

Family Advocate Team

Written by Fay Taylor, Call Center and Home Office Trainer

Excellence in Operations (EIO) Ended June 2013 Community Name

Occ.

EBITDARM

Emeritus at Legacy Crossing

100.2%

58.3%

Emeritus at Mentor

100.9%

57.9%

Emeritus at Friendswood

100.2%

49.0%

Emeritus at Heartland Park

100.2%

48.1%

Emeritus at Sugarland Ridge

100.0%

45.9%

Emeritus at Northridge Place

100.1%

45.9%

Emeritus at Carriage Inn

100.0%

44.6%

Emeritus at Alexandria

100.7%

44.0%

Emeritus at Summer Ridge

100.0%

43.9%

Emeritus at Manor House

100.5%

42.2%

Emeritus at Tullahoma

100.2%

40.6%

Emeritus at Litchfield Hills

100.4%

39.7%

Emeritus at Mountian Laurel

100.1%

39.7%

Emeritus at Rose Valley Cottages

100.0%

39.4%

Emeritus at Arborwood

100.6%

35.6%

Emeritus at Glendale

100.1%

35.4%

Chestnut Lane

100.0%

35.1%

Emeritus at Liberal Springs

101.0%

34.6%

Emeritus at Buckingham Estates

100.2%

34.0%

River Road

100.1%

32.6%

Emeritus at Heron Pointe Cottage

100.3%

31.5%

Emeritus at Carson Oaks

100.0%

28.7%

Emeritus at Echelon Lake

100.0%

27.7%

Emeritus at Olive Grove

100.0%

27.5%

Mountain Division

Excellence in Operations (EIO) are communities that are 100+% occupancy that are ranked by EBITDARM margin.

Let me begin by sharing with you how much the Family Advocates are enjoying their partnership with the communities and CRDs. They so appreciate it when you share the successful outcomes of the experiences they schedule for you. Together, you and the Advocates are really making a difference!

A quick update – the Family Advocates are no longer handling leads that come from our miscellaneous referral sources such as MySeniorCare.com. The Advocates now handle only leads that come through Emeritus.com, the online yellow pages, Seniorhouse.net, and our search engine marketing (online advertising). These minor referral source leads should now be automatically populating in the community’s Connects database and email notifications are being sent directly to the CRD. Advocate Tip: When a customer now asks a Family Advocate to mail a brochure, the Team has been instructed to get the CRD on the phone and see if the information can be handdelivered. (I have always thought mailing a brochure was like lighting a match to a $10 bill.) By creating a home visit opportunity, we can achieve a real win-win! The customer experiences amazing service, the CRD gets to do a home visit and advance the relationship, and the Advocate Team has successfully and quickly handed off the new lead to a community. So don’t be surprised when an Advocate calls and asks you how far it is to someone’s home!

Concierge Corner: TIME TO PLAY… Am I Smiling yet?

Written by Mark Francis, National Director of Hospitality & Customer Experience

Hello Concierge and Resident Ambassador Professionals!

Wow, you have a lot of responsibility in 2014!

• • • • • •

Being our first point of contact for in-person visits to the community by families, potential residents, vendors and professionals.

Offering a constant and committed effort to making sure that we are representing the best of Emeritus every day through An organized workstation A beautiful, well-kept lobby area A professional appearance Being able to multitask with phones, office requests, resident requests, mail delivery, walk-in tours, walk-in vendors, movers during new resident move-ins and much, much more!

We only have one chance to “wow” a customer and that usually starts with you. We’ve talked before about smiling through the phone. People can actually “hear” your smile just by the level of enthusiasm in your voice. You can add to a customer’s experience by using phrases like, “It’s my pleasure!” or, “I hope you have a wonderful day” when ending a call.

You set the bar! The Concierge is the greatest example of our family being committed to yours!

Final 5 Apartments

Written by Mike Richardson, Sales Training Manager

No matter how many available apartments you have, only focus on fi ve at a time.

Sell as if these are the only five apartments left! Share this strategy with all team members. Create a laser focus on just these five. Make them fabulous! When one is taken, replace it with another.

These apartments will be move-in ready and have that extra something, such as: • Great Location • Beautiful View • Popular Floor Plan – vary by unit type if you can!

You can create urgency by limiting what you show as available. This can cause your customer to decide to make a decision now! Put “On Deposit” signs on several available vacant apartment doors to create a sense of urgency.

Put a simple sign in a frame and set it on the counter in the apartment that tells the prospect what is special about this particular unit. For instance: • Only studio with a woods view • Close to the dining room • Last alcove available Be creative! Go on to E&ME and learn more about “The Final Five.”

“Priority Reservation Agreement” Has a Nice Ring To It Written by Amber Carlson, Sales Training Specialist

What do you do when someone asks you a question? You feel compelled to provide an answer, right? You share your thoughts, your ideas or your level of commitment to them. Throughout your sales career, you have been taught that open-ended questions generate the best responses. While this is true with discovery, it is not always true when closing.

Think about a first date. You spent your time getting to know details about the other person. As you spent more time together, you heard stories about their life. Once you decided that this person was “the one,” you were faced with a very specific question and the exchange of a symbol of commitment. Much like an engagement ring, the Priority Reservation Agreement (PRA) is a promise of a future together. No one says “I do” without first being asked a very precise question.

When do you ask for the PRA? Some CRDs complete the PRA prior to the tour, so they are ready to present the option to the family or future resident. Other CRDs present the features and benefits of the PRA during the first sit of the tour process before even walking through the community. No matter your method, you will want to ask for the PRA on every tour experience. Whether you are presenting the option of the deposit for the family to consider in the future or asking directly for the family to leave the deposit today, collecting a PRA is all about asking the right question!

Stellar Sellers Every quarter we will feature two Stellar Seller’s in the Connections Newsletter - one Regional Director of Sales & Marketing (RDSM) and one Community Relations Director (CRD). The Stellar Seller’s are chosen based on their accomplishments to increase occupancy.

Stellar Seller – CRD

Stellar Seller – CRD

Linda Giesler, ED & CRD – Emeritus at Gilbert, West Divison Region 7

Suzy Cloud, CRD – Emeritus at Remington House Midwest, Region 5

Linda started with Emeritus at Gilbert as a Business Office Director. She is now both the ED and the CRD. In the last year, Linda has maintained high occupancy at her community while leading her team to success.

Linda’s drive for care and service and driving the business has aided in her success. Every moment of every day, Linda exudes our Emeritus Family Values.

“Linda is passionate about her role as Executive Director. She exemplifies the Emeritus Leadership values. She truly rolls up her sleeves and will do anything to assure a quality of life for her residents and a quality place to work for her staff. Linda prides herself in assuring that her community maintains 100% occupancy and continue to have outstanding performance in her EBITDARM growth and margin.”

– Kelly Wright, Sr. Regional Director of Operations, West Region 7 Thank you Linda for your dedication to Safely Somewhere.

Suzy brings a wealth of diverse business experience ranging from human resources, business development and public relations. She is featured regularly on local television and radio shows promoting Emeritus Senior Living and was on radio/TV for the 10,000 Meals and Memorable Moments campaigns.

Suzy was named Ambassador of the Year for 2013 by the local chamber office.

Suzy joined Emeritus at Remington House on February 1, 2013.

Her community was at 88% occupied at the end of February with six vacant units. In just four short weeks, Suzy returned Remington House to the High Occupancy building it had been, ending March 2013 at 100% and maintaining a high occupancy throughout the remainder of the year. Suzy has grown ADU by five during her tenure, and never ended a month at less than 98.5% occupied.

As a team player, Suzy has worked with several sister communities in data-mining leads, and conducting tours for other communities. Currently, she is keeping her building at 100% and assisting Emeritus at Kingsport with sales. She truly lives the Emeritus Family Values by finding creative solutions, and making a difference every day.

Suzy will also be leading a call with other CRDs to discuss her public relations skills this quarter.

Thank you Suzy for all you do for Emeritus!