Happy Monday and Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Whether you’re at home watching the highlights from last night’s crazy playoff game between the Vikings and Saints, or in the office like we are, take a few minutes to catch up on the most engaging marketing content from the past week.
This week, we’ll take a look at an article published on US News & World Report that reveals the results of a recent cost of care survey. We’ll also find out the number one way in which senior living communities can increase engagement among residents in an article by Senior Housing News.
Most Clicked: The Cost of Senior Care and Housing
Recently, US News & World Report published an article by Michael O. Schroeder detailing some of the key findings from the most recent annual Genworth Cost of Care Survey.
One of the key takeaways from the survey is that long-term care costs vary nationwide and that prospects researching the costs of these services are finding it difficult to obtain useful cost information as they are researching the services they need. Most older adults are expected to need long-term care in their lives, so why are we making it so hard for them to find information that will help them adequately plan for the future?
Here at Creating Results, one thing that we continue to recommend to our clients is to not withhold pricing information from prospects and to avoid hiding this information behind required sign-up forms online. While we understand that lead generation is vital for continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs), asking for too much from the prospect in the beginning stages of the purchase journey can be off-putting and may cause them to disqualify your community from their search early on.
“If those people don’t find the info online or build affinity and trust, then they’re eliminating the communities purely by their websites,” said Creating Results President Kimberly Hulett, whose was interviewed for Schroeder’s article.
This insight is something that is supported by our national study, Social, Silver Surfers, in which we survey adults ages 40 and above about their online habits. The study showed that not listing prices on community websites is the number one pet peeve of adults looking for information about senior housing online.
That’s why we believe that it is best to not make visitors on your website jump through hoops to find the information they are looking for — including pricing. Providing that information from the outset is just one way of showing that you are prioritizing the consumer’s needs rather than your own. Over time, this should help your community build affinity with the prospect, and when they’re ready, they will reach out to your community for more information or to schedule a tour.
Click here to read the entire article.
Most Shared: Increasing Resident Engagement at Life Plan Communities
More transparency: that’s what residents of life plan communities are asking for according to an article on Senior Housing News by Mary Kate Nelson.
Findings from a recent study at over 260 life plan communities conducted by the Mather LifeWays Institute on Aging partnered with Ziegler, Life Care Service and other organizations were recently published in a report called Transparency and Decision Making in Life Plan Communities. The results show that 92% of respondents desire more transparency from the communities in which they live. Mather Lifeways CEO Mary Leary suggests that this likely due to them having paid an entrance fee to join the community.
The Creating Results team is in agreement with the residents desiring more transparency. We believe that trust is the foundation of any successful organization. Being transparent is a key part of fostering the relationship between management and residents, and will make residents more likely to support important decisions from management.
As evidenced by the chart below, the top areas where residents desire increased transparency are in regards to expansion and renovation news, monthly service fee pricing, and sales and occupancy results.
Source: Senior Housing News, 11/12/17
Does your community have a resident council where residents can voice their opinions and concerns to leadership on a regular basis? If not, this is something that you will definitely want to implement in your community. A monthly resident council is an easy way of keeping the lines of communication open between residents and management, and provides an open forum where both sides can voices their opinions and concerns.
While we are firm believers that transparency is best for all parties, it is not without it’s downfalls. As Nelson states in the article, there will be residents who will require more information than the community can provide at the given time, or will think they have a greater level of control of the community than that of a resident. For these people, according to Leary, it’s best to fully explain the reasoning behind your decisions (even if they are unfavorable) and realize that you can’t win everyone over all the time.
Click here to read the entire article.