Author: Derek Dunham

This week, we were excited to celebrate Varsity’s 150th Sales & Marketing Roundtable with a fascinating presentation by acclaimed Disney expert and author Andrew Lock: 5 Disney-Inspired Ways to Improve Your Business.

We started these virtual conversations in March 2020 when our clients asked how other communities were dealing with the unprecedented events of the coronavirus. To help marketing leaders across the country come together and share their knowledge, we coordinated a roundtable discussion via Google Meet. We never thought we’d still be doing these weekly gatherings as masks came off and mandates were lifted, but we’ve now hosted 150 roundtables, and we’re still going strong.

Our focus changed over the course of the pandemic, as our participants’ needs changed.  Here are 10 of our most popular topics over the past three years:

1. Resident isolation
2. Shifting to virtual selling
3. Dealing with loss (residents, team members, family)
4. Vaccine rollout
5. Compliance with vaccine requirements
6. Workforce challenges/retention
7. Event ideas
8. Dealing with crises beyond the pandemic such as fires, hurricanes, ice storms and active shooters
9. New technologies such as AI
10. Best practices in creative messaging, online search and social media engagement

More important than any one topic is the camaraderie and community that’s grown among sales and marketing leaders across the country as they’ve shared their challenges, tips and ideas. Since the beginning, we’ve had 26 states represented, from Washington to Florida and California to Massachusetts.

Here are a few comments from our participants on what they’ve found most beneficial about the roundtables:

“Collaboration with peers is ALWAYS beneficial! You can never stop learning new ideas and thoughts.”

“Sharing best practices, learning from presenters, getting to know other communities around the country, the Varsity team’s commitment to making them happen every week through COVID-19.”

“The info shared by the speakers has been relevant and thought-provoking.”

And here are some of the topics participants would like to see next:

“How to market legacy apartments next to shiny, new ones.”

“Some medical insight into the deadly fungal illness turning up in healthcare facilities.”

We hope you’ll join us as we explore these topics and others every Thursday at 12 p.m. ET, 11 a.m. CT and 9 a.m. PT

Email DDunham@varsitybranding.com for login information.

From an upswing in sales activities to new concepts in senior living and positive attention from the press, there were lots of successes for our participants this February. However, some attendees struggled with challenges like sales slumps and poor Google reviews — and their fellow participants jumped in with some welcome advice.

Prospects Falling in Love With Communities
The month of love was very busy for Roundtable attendees. There was a major upswing in activity after the holiday slowdown with lots of tours, applications and move-ins. Many communities are at or close to full occupancy. But higher occupancy levels create their own unique problems.

“We’ve had so much success that I don’t have move-in-ready inventory, which is a challenge in itself.” (Missouri)

One creative working solution that an Illinois participant found was marketing guest suites for a trial stay of one to two weeks, in order to “allow those people [who are interested] to try it out for a week or two, and get a feel for living here.” (Illinois)

Unique New Approaches to the Senior Living Concept
Many of the Roundtable attendees had exciting and fresh takes on what senior living can mean, with upcoming projects and expansions underway.

Zen Community
One participant is involved in a “Zen” contemplative care community opening in California later this summer.

“The community will be a contemplative care community with a much different approach to assisted living and memory support than we’ve done in the past. There will be Zen teachers who live in the community, a tea room, and a fully vegetarian offering based on the Greens restaurant in San Francisco. It’s been 10 years in the making.” (Delaware/California)

An On-Site Dog Grooming Spa
One participant added an on-site dog grooming spa. “In one of our apartment buildings, we took over a floor and added a dog grooming spa where we will have a groomer assist residents on campus.” (Arkansas)

Hybrid Home Expansion
Another participant is involved in a “hybrid home” expansion project. “A hybrid home is really the best of an apartment and the best of a cottage or villa. It will be three stories high with an open floor plan. We often hear prospects say they wish they had parking or a garage, and this model has an underground parking structure where every resident can have one car, kept underground and out of the elements.” (Pennsylvania)

Memory Care Village
One participant from New Jersey has plans for developing a memory care village based on the Hogeweyk concept from the Netherlands. “It is a self-enclosed village concept with its own supermarket, cafe, etc., and everything right there on campus. We’re hung up on the zoning process right now and we expect the local town to contest it. The position of the model, that the residents get to live a natural life, is the hook that draws people in. It’s not just dementia care, but dementia living.” (New Jersey)

Media Coverage of On-Campus Fun
A number of participants were able to invite the media to their community, where they got some coverage for fun activities put on to chase away residents’ winter blues.

“We had our indoor snowball fight yesterday! We ended up on the front page of today’s local paper, the local televised news, and even on CBS and ABC news. (Illinois)

ADVICE FROM THE ROUNDTABLE

Navigating Difficult Conversations With Residents
Dealing with an unhappy resident can put staff in treacherous waters, and even more so when the resident is inciting a tirade against the whole community. One participant shared an experience dealing with one such displeased resident, and the Roundtable weighed in with advice.

The Situation:
“We had very little blowback [about rate increases]. The only negative feedback was from just one individual, who seems to have started a campaign with their family and friends to give us 1-star reviews on Google. A lot of it is just not accurate at all. So that’s been a little challenging.” (Arkansas)

The Advice:
“We’ve found that it’s best if the response is quick, and acknowledges what they’ve said — and if you extend the courtesy to please contact as soon as possible and show that you want to learn more about this situation. At that point, you’re really trying to influence the future visitors and viewers as opposed to what they’re actually doing to the Google ratings.” (Pennsylvania)

“Sometimes in those situations, just posting the response and being timely is important. Also, try to drive the conversation offline because what you’re trying to flag for those reading the 1-star reviews is that you care, and that there might be another side to the story.” (Bill Mulligan, Varsity)

Sales Cycle Slumps
One Pennsylvania participant enlisted the Roundtable participants for help with an issue with one of their sales counselors who is in a “slump,” asking, “What do you all do when you have a slow sales cycle and you want to get it kick-started?”

“Maybe you could have a heart-to-heart with them. Ask them if they’re feeling intimidated by an area, or what their knowledge level is, just work with that person.” (Washington state)

“Speaking from personal experience, a number of years ago when I was on the sales side, I went through a slump period. I tried talking to other people and seeing what they were doing, and analyzed my own weak areas. I discovered something about myself, that I spent too much time launching into our community offerings when talking with the prospect rather than getting to know their story first. When I turned that around and focused on the person and said, ‘Tell me more about you,’ it made a really big difference.” (Arkansas)

Learn from your peers at our weekly Sales & Marketing Roundtables. Join us on Thursdays at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT and 9 a.m. PT. For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

In case you couldn’t make it to our December Sales & Marketing Roundtables, here are some of the trends we saw in senior living last month, and a look forward to 2023.

1. Holiday Conversations. New Year’s Conversions.

Many participants saw sales activity gaining momentum in December. At this time of year, children come home for the holidays and notice that Mom and Dad aren’t getting around as well as they used to, and might benefit from senior living options. Sales and marketing leaders saw leads pick up, which will hopefully become conversions in January now that the busy holiday season is over.

2. Connecting With Kinless Seniors

A frequent topic of conversation in December was “kinless” seniors, or seniors who do not have family support, whether it be because they never married, never had kids, are widowed, or for whatever reason don’t have a support network nearby. Kinless seniors can be uniquely limited in their caregiving support, and senior living communities can be well equipped to serve them.

“There are quite a few kinless folks who visit us. And I see them as very proactive, coming in and talking to us about their future plans, making sure they have their legal documents in order.” (Washington state)

3. Nearly Universal Rate Increases — and Tips for Communicating Them

Entry fees and monthly service fees are being raised for 2023 in most senior living communities.

“The industry standard is a 9% to 10% increase, on average this year. (Pennsylvania)

Sales and marketing leaders shared helpful tips on how to best communicate rate increases with residents. It was agreed that it’s best to be extremely transparent with why fees have to go up, and to go into detail about why.

“We were extremely clear about why we raised rates and broke down the pricing for our residents. We were clear on what we spent on renovation and really broke it down. We also showed figures of how the minimum wage is going up, how utilities have increased, how the food bills have gone up.” (Massachusetts)

When using this up-front approach, residents tend to have less pushback and are more accepting of the current situation.

4. Loneliness as a Public Health Problem

Americans are spending more and more hours alone than ever before. Our time spent alone has increased by over nine hours a week. This trend started well before the pandemic, although 2020 surely exacerbated it, and we know that time spent alone dramatically increases as we age. We discussed that it could be valuable for sales teams to convey that time spent alone can be dramatically reduced for people who live in senior communities.

5. Competition Changing to At-Home Options

Sales and marketing leaders agree that their competition isn’t necessarily the other community down the road — especially for independent living. More often, they’re competing against home health agencies and private duty care.

“I have always said that I feel like other communities aren’t our competitors. We’re all competing against the home and the prospect staying at home.” (Washington state)

“It’s when the home is no longer working for them that people start calling us.” (Massachusetts)

See what’s new in senior living for 2023 at our weekly Sales & Marketing Roundtables. Join us on Thursdays at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT and 9 a.m. PT.

For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

In case you couldn’t make it to our November Sales & Marketing Roundtables, here are some key takeaways from the month.

Rates Jump for 2023
Rate increases are expected to take a high leap in the upcoming year due to inflation and rising living expenses. Entrance and/or monthly fees are being raised across the board.

“Our rates are going up 7.5 to 8%, which is the biggest increase we’ve ever had that I can remember. Usually, it’s only 2 to 3%. I also heard the average rate increase in the country is 9%.” (Washington state)

“Yes, we’re raising our entrance fee as well, by roughly 10 to 15%.” (Arkansas)

GUEST SPEAKERS OF THE MONTH 

The Party is Over in Real Estate

Elias Papasavvas, CEO of Second Act Financial Services 

CElias spoke about the changing housing market and how it will likely impact the senior living industry. Seniors now have rising mortgage rates, lots of newer construction, and other factors that are putting the pressure on home sales and adding time to the selling process. This means it won’t be as easy anymore for seniors to sell their houses, and not as quickly as they did earlier in 2022 during the housing boom. Second Act is a senior-focused division of a Federal Savings Bank that offers a senior-focused Home Equity Line of Credit and bridge loan solutions. They work with senior living sales professionals to help with the home sale process for seniors looking to move into an LPC/CCRC.

“Studies show that if you embed the conversation with how to pay for senior living in the beginning of the journey, and communicate that you have the solutions if somebody can’t sell their home in time or doesn’t want to at their move-in time, it can increase sales by 6%,” says Elias.

Rethinking Resident Engagement

Shawn Richard, Vice President Strategic Accounts, Cubigo
Shawn spoke about rethinking resident engagement and the importance of resident experience overall. Senior living sales and marketing programs are shifting more toward selling a lifestyle, and how to tailor the resident experience to meet the needs of the baby boomers as they filter into the senior living space. Communities need to have programs and activities that are personalized to residents, as well as having the methods to track resident engagement and satisfaction. Cubigo is an app that residents can download on their device, where they can track events in their calendar, RSVP to activities, manage their transportation and dining, and more.

“A focus on resident experience is becoming more prevalent, and people are talking more and more about it overall,” says Shawn. “Programs are shifting to meet the needs of the new wave of seniors coming in. So we need a holistic and a personalized view on what they’re looking for, versus the broad brush we used to apply to it.”

“When looking at resident experience as a whole, it’s not just experience itself, but how you can tailor it to the individual,” Shawn says, “When you think about experience and selling lifestyle, there’s a company who does a phenomenal job of it, and that’s Margaritaville. They take their experience in resort living to apply to senior living, and these are properties pre-selling that are full before they even open.”

Selling Through the Holidays
After the slowdown of the summer and the mad rush of September/October, November is calming down but is still steady. Life Plan Community sales and marketing leaders are staying busy with planning for the upcoming new fiscal year, and preparing for the busy holiday season of events. Many are hosting open houses to invite people into their community during the holidays.

“We’re having a holiday dinner for residents, and that is always the event of the year. Anyone who is a depositor — whether they’re a resident, or not moving in for months — can come as a networking opportunity.” (Wisconsin)

“We’ve had snow the past few days, but we got in a turkey trot event before the snow came. We had residents from all levels of care doing laps on the grounds, dressed up as turkeys and other things.” (Illinois)

Many communities hosted successful Veterans Day events and invited military guest speakers, or even their own residents, to share about their military experience.

“We’re having a guest speaker from the local Air Force base coming out. We’ll recognize our veterans, of course, and we’ll do different military hymns. And the local ROTC will come out and do a presentation. We do offer a veterans’ benefit with a discount on their entrance fee.” (Arkansas)

Takeaways From SMASH
Several roundtable participants picked up new tools at the Senior Care Marketing & Sales Summit  (SMASH)

“Everything is all about local SEO, especially for standalone communities. Being local is so important, so [we’re] trying to have more of a focus that way.” (Wisconsin)

“Content is king. So much about the customer journey is having the right content, on the right platform, at the right time. Keywords aren’t the thing anymore, but key intent is, the intent of the person viewing your content.” (Washington state)

Join the conversation at our weekly Sales & Marketing Roundtables on Thursdays at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT and 9 a.m. PT.

For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

As we say goodbye to summer vacations and reset for fall, our roundtable participants give valuable answers that can help make fourth quarter your busiest yet.

1. Why shouldn’t you let the “summer sales slump” get you down?

“‘Summer’ kind of sums it up, right? We all know what it means. You have that ‘valley’ going on, and coming into Q4, there will be an uptick.” (Ohio/Massachusetts)

“Historically, the summer is slower and the fall tends to pick up, and then we have lots of signings in November and December, closing those sales.” (Ohio/Massachusetts)

 2. How do you change a warm lead into a hot lead?

“We’re really starting to participate in community events around our neighborhood, and invite leads to them. Like this week, we’re having a resident art show and inviting warm or ‘on the fence’ leads. That’s really important to get them into the community.” (Washington state)

“We use marketing automation. That will give leads a lead score in Enquire. We ask the team to sort the list by highest lead score, since they are obviously the ones ripe for the picking. You can start to move them up the pipeline.” (New Jersey)

“I would suggest for an event, if you have something special you do for residents, to invite your leads to it.” (Missouri)

3. How do you differentiate yourself in your market?

“We have one community that is going to meet with the Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired. They have set up apartments and residences, specifically for the visually impaired.” (New Jersey)

“We have a dog park, and that pulls in a lot of people!” (Missouri)

“We emphasize our faith-based, nonprofit background and what that means.” (New Jersey)

“”We have been in the same location and under the same ownership for 36 years. Many people who come see us say that’s why they want to move here. Also, many of our staff have that longevity. We have a housekeeper who has been here since we opened 36 years ago. That gives us the edge in our market.” (Arkansas)

“We have had a wonderful history of 77 years now, and it’s wonderful to draw on that history. But we’re also trying to break away, too, and renew ourselves. We’ve come up with a new mission and values statement, with a new campaign coming up in September.” (Washington state)

“We’re very multi-generational. We have three campuses across Kentucky, and we do the whole gamut from preschool, to independent living, to memory and personal care.” (Kentucky)

“I think you have to look at where your uniqueness is, and what is your niche in your community. We have 20 acres of beautiful grounds, right next to the second largest park in the nation, second only to Central Park, at 750 acres.” (Washington state)

“We are the only CCRC in Sussex County, New Jersey. And our full continuum, with hospice and memory care, is all under one roof, and that’s a competitive edge for us.” (New Jersey)

“Our edge is that we’re in a master plan community. We sit on a plateau, and we’re surrounded by 30 miles of biking and walking trails.” (Washington state)

“We changed our name about 20 years ago to include ‘the lake,’ so that people know we’re a waterfront community.” (Wisconsin)

4. How do you target the younger adult?

“We start our marketing at age 60 for our waiting list, but I’d love for it to be even younger. We include active imagery and mention lots of amenities in our marketing, to invite our waitlist to join in and feel at home here sooner.” (Wisconsin)

“We use our walking score in our marketing, because ours is very high for a senior living community. We use walkscore.” (Wisconsin)

5. How is your marketing/advertising spending and strategy evolving?

“There’s been a shift in the senior living space. People used to choose communities for their faith affiliation, but we have started to change to be more hobby-based. It’s less about faith nowadays and more about personal interests. For example, my parents have bred and shown dogs for 30 years. That’s their ‘thing.’ It would be a good question to pose: Who is the most pet-friendly senior living community in the world?” (Seth Anthony, LW Consulting)

“We’ve been looking at our lists, and we typically pull names of prospects between 60 and 75, with a home price of $400,000 and up. And we would typically come up with 10,000 to 12,000 names. But with how much home prices have gone up, we had to increase that range of home prices to $700,000, with the same age group, to get a comparable range of names.” (Washington State)

“Since the pandemic, the majority of our budget is in digital advertising.” (Washington State)

“We definitely have evolved in our conversations. We ramped up our in-person events.. People in our area want to get out and go back to normalcy. Our events trend well, with close to 100 attendees at each event.” (Pennsylvania)

Please join our weekly Sales & Marketing Roundtables on Thursdays at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT and 9 a.m. PT.

For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

At last week’s Sales & Marketing Roundtable, we had a very special guest. We celebrated Martha B.’s 105th birthday! Martha has been an independent living resident of Parkway Village in Little Rock, Arkansas, for over 17 years.

After we sang Happy Birthday to her, Martha shared her perspective on life at a senior living community, her fondest memories, and some wise words on how to live a vibrant life, no matter your age.

Here are some questions Martha answered from participants, who were participating virtually everywhere on zoom.

What’s your favorite thing about being 105?
“I like to watch my grandkids and great-grandkids. It’s fun to watch them and see what they do. I have seven total grandchildren, and three are married now. I like to play bridge. But my big problem is being able to see, so I can’t do that as much any longer. Getting around is harder, too, but I always make it to bingo.”

What is the secret of staying so young and vibrant?”
“Well, I’ve always been active. I was always active in organizations at church. I knew the local high school principal well. After my children were grown, I went to work over there as a secretary for 22 years. Then, my husband had a small business and I kept the books. So, I did two or three jobs over the years and kept real active. I play bridge a lot, and I’ve always loved knitting and embroidery. After I retired, I did a lot of that.”

What’s the biggest change you’ve seen over the course of your life?”
“I’ve seen the invention of radios, TV, cars — my first car was a Ford that my dad had to crank in the front to go forward! That was the first car I can remember.  I’ve also seen a lot of change in home appliances. I didn’t have a washing machine or a dryer growing up, and those kinds of things are wonderful to have around the house.”

Do you have any fond memories of the last 105 years you would like to share?
“I have just enjoyed my life. I’ve always gone to Sunday school and church, and I’ve always stayed involved there. I love knitting, I do a lot of that at church. I play lots of bridge, and they say that’s very good for your mind. And I try to play bingo! When I moved here, I was very active and knew everybody and enjoyed all of the activities. Nowadays, things have slowed down because I can’t see as well, but I would still be doing everything if I could.”

What is the biggest historical event that stands out to you in the 105 years you’ve lived?
“Oh, goodness. It’s hard to think of one … I watched our church burn. I lived close enough to see the smoke. When I went over with my family, I saw it burning. That was ‘history’ to me.”

What is life like there at Parkway Village?
“It’s great, they’ve really taken care of me here. It’s been a perfect place for me. I moved here after I developed macular degeneration and I could no longer drive, so my son said I needed to be somewhere with people. Since I moved here, everyone has been wonderful to me. We have excellent security. The maintenance team comes as soon as you call. I have a housekeeper who comes to my apartment once a week, but other than that, I take care of myself and live independently. And I hope I can keep doing so!”

Do you have any advice for us on helping people make the decision to move to a community?
“People always say, ‘I’m not ready.’ But what I try to tell them is, ‘You will never be ready.’ But you just have to pick up and move. My son is a psychiatrist, and he made sure I left home, because I wouldn’t have been able to get along when I couldn’t drive anymore. So, you need to move somewhere to be with others. I think a lot of people wait until it’s too late.”

Is there anything else you’d like to share?
“I wanted to mention that Boston University has contacted me. They do work for a lot of senior organizations. They asked me to volunteer for their Alzheimer’s research, so I’m working for them. They have a number of people in my age group in the process of testing.”

Happy birthday to Martha! We are so grateful that you were able to join us on the roundtable today. You are a testament to all we do!

Please join our weekly Sales & Marketing Roundtables on Thursdays at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT and 9 a.m. PT.

For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

During the past quarter of the Varsity virtual roundtables, some common themes, challenges and frustrations seemed to come up over and over with our participants across the country. Here are some of the solutions they gave during our weekly brainstorming sessions.

l. How do you address staffing issues?

Many participants say staffing is a huge issue. “We have only been able to staff half the number of people that we actually need,” said one marketer. “It’s been very, very difficult to hire more people.”

      Solutions:

• Adjust compensation/provide sign-on bonuses

“Our staffing issues seem to be getting better slowly,” said one participant. “We’ve adjusted compensation to meet demand.”

• Brainstorm new tactics

“We have a task force that meets biweekly, and we’ve brainstormed new ways to recruit and retain,” said a marketer. “We’ve implemented gestures such as pizza parties and other events to show our appreciation to our employees.”

• Recruit displaced food service workers

“One organization recruited by going after the displaced and unhappy food service workers and housekeepers from the service sector,” shared Seth Anthony of LW Consulting. “Their ad was basically: ‘Do you want steady hours and benefits that you’re not getting at the restaurant? Come work in senior living!’ They actually managed to really backfill a lot of their staff by using that message and hammering it home.”

• Provide transportation

“I knew a place that offered employee transportation, where the routes were mapped in tandem with their staffing needs,” said a participant. “They provided the transport in urban areas, which allowed them to hire people who they would not have reached otherwise.”

• Plan innovative career fairs

“I saw somebody who did a career fair with a food truck,” shared another marketer. “I thought that it was creative and fun to combine the two events.”

• Get on TikTok

“We have a few employees at our building who graduated from dining services to becoming CNAs,” shared a participant. “They noted that being on TikTok is ideal for reaching the younger demographic.”

2. Should you put pricing on your website?

“We have put all of our pricing on our website, everything in detail for all levels of care,” a marketer shared. “We’ve done that for many, many years, and none of our competition around here has any of their pricing on the web — other than they have a ‘starting at’ or a basic range. We constantly hear from people that come in to see us that say, ‘I’m so glad you have that on your website because I knew exactly what I was getting into when I came here.’”

“I always use the analogy of when you’re going to a restaurant and you Google them, you look at the menu and they have no prices, you’re probably not going to go there,” shared another marketer. “You’re probably going to just move on until someone’s a little more transparent.”

3. How do you handle events in a changing COVID-19 landscape?

“If you have the ability to hold events in person, you may be able to offer hybrid options if people are still sensitive to the COVID-19 issue, even if regulations say that in person is safe,” shared Derek Dunham.

Another idea? Record the event. “We did a four-part dementia virtual series, and we recorded them,” said a participant from Washington state. “And we just had an email from somebody who couldn’t attend in person. They commented on how nice it was to be able to view the seminar recordings at their own pace.”

4. How do you encourage people to move from their homes when they don’t feel ready?

“I’ve had my directors use the phrase, ‘Beat the clock.’ If someone is reticent, or their body language is closed off, the directors will go into the ‘beat the clock’ conversation,” said a participant from Pennsylvania. “We phrase it as such: that they have to roll the dice, and hope they do ok in the future. We give them the statistics and introduce the gamble of risk and uncertainty.”

“One of our campuses has a ridiculously long waitlist. We initiated this new program called ‘Get Ready to Say Yes,’” shared a marketer in Washington state. “We do meetings with the people on our waitlist, so that when the time comes when we call, they’re prepared to say yes. We’ve had realtors and downsizers come in. It’s a way to engage waitlisters and get them ready to go.”

5. What skill sets do you look for in a sales counselor?

“All of our sales counselors are over 60, in their sixties and seventies,” said a marketer in Washington state. “I think that having the life experience and empathy, and having gone through it with their own parents as hands-on market experience, is so valuable.”

“I agree, I think the biggest deal is with the relationship,” said another participant. “We are very lucky here to have great salespeople with diverse backgrounds. They can learn the product, but you can’t teach that relationship-building aspect.”

“A couple communities I know had luck hiring people who were previously college admission counselors,” shared Seth Anthony. “I think it’s because it’s similar, where they’re selling something big, multi-dollar, kind of intangible, and heavy on their brand that comes with a lifestyle.”

Look for our next monthly roundtable recap in your inbox. Until then, please be sure to join our weekly Sales & Marketing Roundtable on Thursdays at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT and 9 a.m. PT.

For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

One of the most mispronounced words of 2021 is disrupting senior living communities in 2022.

Near the beginning of December, our participants had heard about the Omicron variant, but it wasn’t impacting them much yet. One marketer said, “The last data I heard was yesterday in our area that there were only nine cases of COVID-19 in our hospital, which is the lowest it’s been since the beginning of the pandemic.”

Another participant commented, “Right now we’re preparing for ‘just in case’ mode, making sure our communities and departments have rapid tests and enough PPE.”

Even during the second week of December, the focus was on planning and throwing holiday parties, not on Omicron. One roundtable participant said, “We’re having all kinds of holiday activities, and it has been fun to come together as a community to do this.”

And when we asked if the Omicron variant was an issue? Responses included:  “I haven’t heard a thing” and “not yet.”

The Holiday Gift Nobody Wanted

Later in December, concern began to mount. “We’re getting anxious about the Omicron variant,” said one participant. “We’re asking families to be cautious and test before visiting. We’re reloading on PPE and N95 masks to use in the buildings for a few weeks. We’re trying to keep things safe through this surge.”

A roundtable member in Arkansas commented, “A lot more folks are taking it more seriously. People are masking up more in the community.” A participant in Illinois added:  “There is an uptick in the Omicron variant around here. We’re offering free testing for the community.” From Wisconsin, we heard: “We’re going to get through Christmas and keep moving forward until after the holiday. We held a clinic last week where 75 people got boosted, including both residents and employees. Everyone is nervous about what’s going to happen with the new variant.”

New Year, New Cases

By the end of the month, communities were shutting down New Year’s Eve parties. One couple received a celebration kit complete with filet mignon, a dessert sampler and party hats after the community’s bash was canceled due to an outbreak among the staff.

Now that Varsity has held its first post-holiday roundtable on January 6, the situation has blown up. With Omicron surging, many communities feel like it’s Groundhog Day — they closed, they opened, and now they’re closed again.

One marketer commented, “COVID-19 has definitely hit here for staff as well as our residents, and all of our areas of long-term care as well as independent living. All of our events where we’re bringing people on-site have been canceled at this time. Private appointments or tours are on a case-by-case basis.”

Reports were similar at another community: “We’ve been hit hard with lots of cases of COVID-19. The state has surged in a big way, like everyone. We’re owned by a hospital system and they offered a drive-through testing to the community. 42% tested positive.”

What Are Your Resolutions for 2022? 

With communities across the country dealing with Omicron, one participant said, “I hear a lot of defeat in people’s voices. We can be very grateful for a lot.”

Another marketer commented, “It’s been a challenging time but there is a lot to be thankful for. We have had a really good year and I think we can have that again. I think the pandemic has caused a lot of fear, but I think it’s more about being cautious. Another participant added, “Once people got vaccinated, things got into a bit more normal living. And now it’s taken a big swing back right now. It isn’t going to be like this forever.”

Some roundtable members felt that we’ll get used to it. “Hopefully it will be like the flu in the future and we just get a booster shot, just like the flu has a different variant.” And one last comment: “I think we will just start accepting this new reality for restrictions for safety.”

Let’s all resolve to think positive and support one another in 2022! We’re looking forward to coming together this week. You’re welcome to join our Sales & Marketing Roundtable on Thursdays at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT and 9 a.m. PT.

For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

This November, many participants in our Thursday roundtables commented that leads are still pouring in. One marketer said, “We’re getting inquiries like crazy.” Another agreed, “It’s been our strongest year in 10 years.”

But even the busiest communities are working hard to capitalize on every lead and plan for the future. While other people were getting ready to pass the potatoes, our participants were passing around both new and tried-and-true sales and marketing approaches that are working for them:

1. Keep resident encounters casual. “We are seeing success with holding more casual events where prospects can mingle with residents versus having a more formal resident panel (which can be viewed as too scripted), so prospects can ask more specific questions about things not being presented here.”

2. Stay in touch. “There are usually about eight to nine articles in the marketing newsletter highlighting all the things we’re doing within the community,” said one participant. “Our sales team says prospects comment on it all the time.”

3. Stop talking, start listening. “People need someone who listens, not somebody who talks,” said a marketer. “I worked with a sales guy who was a master of the art of silence. He’d ask a question, and he’d stop talking. If you can stop talking long enough, the other person will start talking and open up.”

4. Overcome objections. Now that COVID-19 is slowing down, people are back to the classic excuses for not making the move. Here are some comebacks our participants found effective:

Objection: “I’m not ready yet.”

Answer: “I completely understand; however, can I ask what your hesitation is?”

Objection: “Wow, there’s a lot of old people here.”

Answer: “That’s because we take such good care of people, they live to a ripe old age.”

5. Update your floor plans. “We’re filling larger apartments, but it’s the smaller apartments that are harder to sell,” said one marketer. “We’re having work done, taking a wall down to make a bigger living space. People want their kitchen table, they don’t need that second bedroom.”

6. Offer trial stays. “There is a program that a community offers where if they stay one month, they get the second one free. Marketing it that way has been successful for them,” said a participant. “There is also a community that does a Safe & Warm program, which has been very successful for them when offering people to come in and live at the community on a trial basis during the winter months.”

7. Automate insights. “We’re trying to wrap up and create a sense of urgency now, so people move in the beginning of the year,” said one marketer. “We integrated some automated marketing in our database, and that’s really delivered some tangible results from our sales team. It’s giving us insights into our inquires and visits to our websites.

We’d like to leave you with one final thought: Normalize life again. “We need to remind people that there is a life to be lived,” said one participant. Another said, “It’s not entirely business as normal, but the more we act like it is, the better.”

Look for our next monthly roundtable recap in your inbox. Until then, please be sure to join our weekly Sales & Marketing Roundtable on Thursdays at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT and 9 a.m. PT.

For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

Today we’re talking to Sadiya Abjani, Director of Learning & Equity at SAGE, the world’s largest and oldest organization focused on advocacy and services for LGBT elders. SAGECare, SAGE’s cultural competency training and credentialing program, provides training and consulting services to elder care providers.

According to Sadiya, a recent AARP study shows that over 60% of the LGBT community fears discrimination when accessing residential long-term care. This population would feel more comfortable if the company had been trained. However, many people have misconceptions about the training, as well as about the LGBT population at their communities. In this post, we’ll highlight nine truths to combat some of those misconceptions.

1. The training isn’t preachy or pedantic.
“People will come up to me after the training and say, ‘I thought you were here to push the gay agenda,’” says Sadiya. “There’s a misconception that the training will be preachy or pedantic, but it’s about the care.”

A quick overview of the training: There are separate, highly interactive trainings for management and line staff. (These trainings have been converted to virtual sessions during COVID-19, and received high marks by participants.) Each training focuses in on language, assumptions and historical context. It puts you in the shoes of an LGBT person. It’s all about creating inclusive communities — working with LGBT adults of color, veterans and elders, specifically, according to Sadiya.

2. You won’t be judged for your beliefs.
“Some folks in leadership may be hesitant to do the training,” says Sadiya. “The message we want to convey is that this isn’t about whether you accept LGBT people or not. The point of the training is that it is your mission to provide the best possible care to everyone who walks in your door. In order to help you do this, the training provides information, tools and skills that you need. We don’t want to judge individuals for their beliefs,” she continues. “We accept everybody as they are. We reach across that divide to focus on providing that best possible care.”

3. Your employees will be more accepting of the training than you may think.
Another misconception is that the staff won’t be on board. “This message that it (the training) is about the human being — that really resonates with everyone,” says Sadiya. “We’ve had success with organizations with an incredibly diverse staff.”

4. There’s no one type of organization that is most open to the training.
“There are organizations that we have worked with that have been more hesitant than others; the training stretches them. There’s an assumption that this hesitancy is found along religious lines, but that’s not true,” Sadiya says. “Some organizations see the merit of the training and champion it, regardless of religious affiliation or background.”

5. You have LGBT people at your community, even if you don’t know it.
“A huge misconception among organizations is: ‘We don’t have any LGBT people here,’” says Sadiya. Statistics prove that perception wrong. “The issue is that folks are not comfortable coming out as LGBT. Organizations can learn to ask questions without assumptions.”

6. Treating all care recipients the same is not a good thing.
“Often, people will assume that they are doing the right thing by making statements like, ‘We treat everyone the same.’ Although that sentiment is coming from a good place,” says Sadiya, “it isn’t our job to make sure that we’re treating everyone the same. It’s all about treating everyone with person-centered care. The goal is making sure that everyone gets to the same destination, which is the best possible care. In order to do that, we must understand an individual’s unique experiences and background.”

7. Language matters.
Language is covered extensively in the SAGECare trainings. Why is it so important? “For a community that’s already been discriminated against, and feels unsafe, using the wrong terms will cause them to shut down and the conversation ends there,” says Sadiya. A couple of examples of language that shouldn’t be used include:

• “LGBT lifestyle” (Using the term “lifestyle” implies it is something you have a choice about.) ”LGBT            identity” or “identity” are better words to replace “lifestyle.”
• “Sexual preference.” (This is another loaded term, implying that you prefer to be LGBT, but that you           could be something else if you want.) “Sexual orientation” is a better term.

“By using language that makes people feel safe, you’re setting yourself up to provide a better standard of care,” says Sadiya.

8. Organizations undergo many positive changes after training.
“After the training, there is a shift in the way that LGBT elders already at the community respond to care,” says Sadiya, calling it “a journey.” She’s noticed many positive changes, including people participating in PRIDE events, and organizations that celebrate diversity across the board. “When companies open the door with LGBT training, that inclusion then starts gravitating out. Their organization becomes a more inclusive place, both for staff and constituents,” Sadiya explains. “I’ve seen organizations that I’m deeply connected to grow and change over the years. It’s been magical watching this happen.”

9. Training benefits everyone at your organization.
Training can benefit all residents and team members at your organization, not just LGBT individuals, according to Sadiya. “These changes toward inclusivity affect the entire diverse population of your organization,” she says.

For more information about SAGECare, or if you’d like to schedule a training for your organization, email sabjani@sageusa.org.

Today we’re talking to Sadiya Abjani, Director of Learning & Equity at SAGE, the world’s largest and oldest organization focused on advocacy and services for LGBT elders. SAGECare, SAGE’s cultural competency training and credentialing program, provides training and consulting services to elder care providers. SAGECare also offers the added benefit of providing qualifying agencies with a national accreditation to highlight the percentage of trained staff.

Sadiya was kind enough to answer some questions about SAGECare and its training program.

Why should your organization hold LGBT trainings?

“There are many reasons why LGBT training courses are incredibly important for elder care providers,” says Sadiya. “The SAGECare mission is in line with that of elder care communities, to make sure LGBT people are taken care of, that elders are aging with grace.”

“There are many community members that have experienced a great deal of violence and discrimination, and some of that discrimination comes at the hands of medical professionals,” she continues. “Up until 1973, homosexuality was a diagnosable medical condition. An individual could lose everything after that diagnosis. That stigma and fear doesn’t go away. Decades of lack of access to treatment, and mistreatment, are causing people to fear accessing care. Folks are delaying care because they don’t think healthcare providers will treat them with dignity and respect. There is a deep feeling of ‘I won’t feel safe.’ SAGECare training will walk you through preparing for and working through all of that with your clients.”

Although the primary mission in these trainings isn’t monetary, there is a financial component, explains Sadiya. “Boomer consumers are values-based consumers. It’s a huge market and it’s constantly growing. In the under-40 segment, the percentages of LGBT population are even higher,” she says. “Over the next 20–25 years, that market will grow even more. It’s better to do that work early and set your company up for success in the long run.”

What are some of the benefits of getting the SAGECare credential?

“The biggest benefit is that SAGECare is the oldest and largest national credential,” Sadiya says. “Elders reach out to us for care, services and information. Getting the credential on an organization’s website becomes incredibly useful. Folks are also going to our website and are searching for credentialed providers in their area. SAGECare provides that repository of physicians who have been trained to take care of LGBT elders.”

Can you talk about your background and why you work at SAGE?

“I have been in the social justice field for my entire adult life,” says Sadiya. “Previously, I developed training curriculum around fair housing, disability justice, and immigrant rights, and worked on issues related to the shelter systems. While doing this work, I was connected with SAGE through a toolkit I built for a study they had just done about housing discrimination. I started doing trainings for SAGE, and I fell in love with the people that work here and the organization. I saw a job opening and I applied, and it changed my life. I’ve worked here for six years. I love the individuals I get to work with. I learn and I grow every single day. Our mission is to ensure that those individuals who struggled and fought and sacrificed so much for dignity, for justice — those individuals who have paved the way for me to live my identity — get the best care. And it’s not just for them. All of us age. I’m working for a better future, so that I can live my identity out loud. I want to age safely; I want to have good care. This mission resonates with me in many ways.”

What is the most important thing we need to know about LGBT training?

“The most important thing is that this community exists, they are aging, and they are not being cared for in the way that they need,” says Sadiya. “This training sets you up to do your job well for this population.”

In part II of this series, we’ll cover nine truths you need to know about LGBT training. Click here to read the post.

For more information or if you’d like to schedule a training for your organization, email sabjani@sageusa.org.

The treats for senior living communities this October included lots of interest from prospects. The tricky part? Staffing issues and COVID-19-related restrictions made it tough for some organizations to take advantage of the momentum.

The Treats: Lots of Tours, Applications and Deposits 

A participant in Washington state said, “Four of our areas (apartments, memory care, assisted living and duplexes) are all 100% full, and I’m not sure that’s ever been the case.” Another marketer in California agreed that business continues to be strong. “We’re going to have 10 move-ins in October. It’s really exciting to see.”  And there’s good news from Arkansas as well:  “Sales for our new neighborhood are good, with 43 of 53 units sold.”

Communities are also trying creative new tactics for bringing in business. One participant from Wisconsin said, “We’ve been really rocking and rolling. For the first time, we offered a promotion of 10% off the entrance fee to people who sign up now, and we’ve had lots of success with it.”

The Tricks: COVID-19 Restrictions and Staff Shortages

Scary Shutdowns 

Something that could scare off prospects: Communities shutting down to visitors because of local COVID-19 restrictions. One marketer shared, “We’re talking about taking everything online again.” A second participant said, “We’re unable to do events, so it’s frustrating.” And a third marketer added, “I’m seeing more restrictions. It’s sad having to see people tap the brakes.”

In some cities, however, it’s nearly business as usual. One participant from Virginia said, “Our team members are all fully vaccinated — it’s a requirement, and I think that’s helped because a lot of prospects asked that question. We’ve been busy giving tours and adding people to the waiting list.”

Creative Hybrid Events

One way of solving the dilemma when prospects are worried about attending in-person seminars: Hold a hybrid event. “As far as marketing events, we have a hybrid event — in person and on Zoom as well, so people can choose to do either,“ a participant shared.

Industry-Wide Staff Shortages

Staffing shortages continue to be a roadblock to sales. One marketer shared, “We’re getting calls and inquiries, but we don’t have enough staff to keep up with the volume …  we had to turn down seven people last week who wanted to move in!” A participant in Arkansas agreed. “Our nursing home is desperately looking for staff and we’re having a difficult time finding applicants.” Another marketer shared, “This is the #1 thing on everyone’s minds — how will we deal with this?” One final comment: “We have a waitlist that’s two pages long. We don’t have the staff at the higher levels of care to cover all the interest.”

Innovative Solutions for Recruiting Staff

When we asked participants if they’d found any effective methods for recruitment in these challenging times, they shared these creative ideas:

• Drive-through career fairs: “We had another drive-through career fair in August, which was successful. They have been fun and an interesting way to get people onto campus.”
• Diversity and inclusion: “We have a resident committee here working hard at looking at diversity and inclusion.”
• Salary hikes: “The board moved our minimum starting wage to $15 per hour, so some will get up to a 40% raise in November.”
• Using staffing firms: Several firms participated in the recent LeadingAge conference, including: Fusion Medical Staffing, Gale Healthcare Solutions, Hireology, OnShift, Intelycare, Prime Time Healthcare  and ShiftMed.  (Varsity is not endorsing any of these firms; rather, merely providing information.)

Holiday Tactics for Targeting Adult Children

Heading into the holidays, some communities are targeting adult children (but not necessarily with in-person events). One participant shared, “We changed our media messages to target adult children more.” Another marketer said, “We put together a one-sheet guide of tips on how to talk about things with your parents.” A third community published an article in a local magazine about ways to connect with adult children who are raising their kids and caring for their parents as well.

Notes From the 2021 LeadingAge Conference

Held October 24-27 in Atlanta, Georgia, the first LeadingAge conference since COVID-19 had lighter attendance than usual, but some fascinating presentations. The major focus? “Technology, technology, technology,” said Derek Dunham, who attended with his Varsity colleagues. For instance, Amazon launched its new senior living product with an enterprise solution. You can read about it in this Senior Housing News article. Varsity, sister firm WildFig Data and Ingleside also presented a session with a technology focus: “Predictive Analytics: Connecting Past Performance to Future Success.”

Look for our next monthly roundtable recap in your inbox. Until then, please be sure to join our weekly Sales & Marketing Roundtable on Thursdays at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT and 9 a.m. PT.

For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

Although coping with issues like employee retention and vaccine mandates, communities are reporting that leads and sales are somewhere between steady and swamped. Additionally, Lana Peck shared move-in and move-out numbers from the National Investment Center for Seniors (NIC) Executive Survey, and Zack Collevechio and Jodi Gibble shared valuable insights on data analytics and mystery shopping.

From Swamped …

Some community marketers  reported nonstop activity, sharing comments like: “The phone has been ringing off the hook and it’s very hard to keep up.” “We have a move-in almost every day next week, so we’re running as fast as we can.” “Business has been really strong and we’re really happy about that. Right now it’s like a fire hose and we don’t want to turn it off!”

… to Steady

Although not slammed, other communities were making consistent progress.

“Things are going steady and pretty good,” said one marketer. “I don’t want to jinx anything, but we are getting quite a few people interested in independent living. Personal care seems to have picked up somewhat.”

Staffing Issues

One issue standing in the way of move-ins for many communities is staffing challenges. Several marketers said they couldn’t accept new residents because they didn’t have the staff to care for them. We heard comments like: “The challenges that we’re facing are with dining services and actually getting and retaining staff. We’re so short-staffed and it’s not sustainable.” “We’re still having issues with staffing, so we have to turn people down because of our census issues.” “Regarding admissions, at the skilled level we have to turn people away because we don’t have the staff to care for them.”

Impact of COVID-19 Lingers

COVID-19 rates are back up in some communities. One marketer commented: “We had to scale back things in our dining room because our positivity rate is up, so we’re putting some restrictions in place. Another said, “Unfortunately, we had an outbreak in our SNF, so we are monitoring this closely.”

One community is seeing plenty of tours and leads, and its marketer shared, “I think that people have learned how to live with COVID-19 better than we’d thought because it doesn’t seem to scare people anymore to live in congregate living. I think people have started to just peacefully coexist with it and can’t put their lives on hold anymore.”

Vaccine Mandates

To combat COVID-19, some communities are requiring employees to get vaccinated. One marketer shared: “We’ve just released our vaccination mandate, which will begin on November 8. We haven’t heard any pushback, so not sure if that’s a calm before a storm or if it truly won’t be an issue.”  Another said: “We have a mandate of October 15,  and I think some people are waiting to see if we’re serious about that deadline.”

Lana Peck Shares NIC Executive Survey Insights

Lana Peck, Senior Principal from NIC, shared insights from the latest wave of NIC’s Executive Survey. Details on Wave 32 can be found on NIC’s blog by clicking here. Note that the NIC Fall Conference starts November 1 in Houston. More information can be found at this link.

Lana shared: “Towards the end on Wave 32 (the end of September and encompassing the month of August), organizations that said their move-ins were accelerating had gone down quite a bit. As the infection rates have spiked in regions around the country, we’ve seen it reflected in this move-in data as well. Accelerations decreased over the past 30 days. This may be related to the Delta variant, but it also may reflect that some of the pent-up demand is working through the system. Note this doesn’t mean the occupancy is declining, but that the rate of move-ins is slowing. As we look at the move-out data, the grey bar shows that there has been a slowing of move-outs, which is obviously a good thing to stabilize occupancy.”

Mystery Shopping Insights With Jodi Gibble

After mystery shops at 55 senior living communities, Jodi Gibble, sales consultant at Varsity, shared best practices:

• Answer the phone and collect information
• Conduct pre- and post-tour sessions
• Provide enough information on the website to entice the prospect to tour
• Ensure the website is up-to-date (calendar of events, etc.)
• Be generally interested in the prospect and/or their loved one
• Ensure that the community is tour-ready
• Follow up with all emails and tours (Jodi only received calls or emails from half of the communities she called/toured)

For more information, contact Jodi at jgibble@varsitybranding.com.

WildFig Data Discussion

Zack Collevechio from WildFig Data, an organization working in the data analytics space, shared key points for senior communities to keep in mind:

• Create a data plan — Planning and organizing your data before you want to analyze it is an unglamorous, but vital step.
• Examine — Look at relationships and trends within your data to estimate ROI when perfect tagging/tracking does not exist.
• Experiment — Test different levels of spending and observe the effect it has on results.
• Go deeper — It’s good to know how many calls or chats you receive in a day. It’s even better to know what people are calling or chatting about.
• Prioritize — Implement a system that directs your sales staff to the best prospects.

If you want to discuss any of this with Zack directly, you can send him an email at zcollevechio@wildfigdata.com.

Look for our next monthly roundtable recap in your inbox. Until then, please be sure to join our weekly Sales & Marketing Roundtable on Thursdays at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT and 9 a.m. PT.

For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

For the most part, sales are on the upswing again this month.  Our Sales & Marketing Roundtable participants across the country are staying busy with inquiries, events and move-ins, particularly in independent living. We’ve also discussed some great opportunities, like receiving funds through the American Rescue Plan and a new tool communities can use to drive occupancy through culture. Some not-so-high points: a lack of leads in personal care and assisted living, discomfort with asking people if they’ve been vaccinated, and unease about the Delta variant.

Here are some hits and misses in senior living for the month:

HIT: Occupancy continuing to trend upward for independent living.  One community marketer said, “Things are very positive. We’re getting more calls and move-ins.”  Another participant shared,  “We are back to pre-pandemic levels with 84% occupancy,” while a third echoed, “We’re busy across all of our communities with inquiries and tours.”

MISS: Sluggish assisted living/personal care sales. “We’re struggling a bit with personal care. We’re not getting as many referrals or leads,” said one participant.

HIT: Out-of-the-box tactics to fill assisted living/personal care. “Our personal care is still steady with referrals to our short-term rehab from hospitals. We’re also connecting with some of our home care providers that are inside of our building to encourage them to refer their clients to us,” said one participant. Another community is using respite care as an entry point. “We’re focusing on using our respite care and short-term rehab as a way to introduce (people) to the community,” the participant shared. “That’s how we’re getting them in.”

MISS: Communities not being transparent about COVID rates. One resident even started a newsletter to get out the true facts. Read her story here.  

HIT: Creative sales tactics and events. “We’ve started a move-in special, which we’ve never done before,” said one participant. Another shared, “We have our first in-person event next week. The event is called ‘Cappuccinos and Crème,’ and we’re limiting the event size to only 20 attendees plus staff.” A third marketer shared, “In August, we’re doing a ‘Blues and Blueberry’ event that will feature a blues guitarist.”

MISS: Dealing with people who won’t get vaccinated. “There’s been grumbling because some people in the community haven’t been vaccinated,” said one marketer. “We can’t mandate it, and it’s their choice.”

HIT: A new tool to  boost occupancy through culture. At one roundtable, Denise Boudreau-Scott, President of Drive, spoke about the link between culture and occupancy, stating, “There is a strong connection between the culture of your community and occupancy.” Denise shared a free personal values assessment tool to help you to begin to understand the culture of your community. You can then work with your leadership to improve it, since it is proven to impact occupancy. Click here for the assessment tool or reach out to Denise directly at denise@cultureoutcomes.com  to discuss your community’s culture.

MISS: Attention from OSHA. “Everyday and clinical operations are getting back to normal, which means OSHA and other surveys are coming back,” shared one participant. “A lot of communities are not used to this, and some are getting hit hard by missteps. The clinical folks are under the gun to get back to regular operations and making sure things are not overlooked.”

HIT: Qualified applicants. “Those that are coming in have already done their research on our website and are financially qualified,” shared one participant. “They’re ready to make a decision.”

MISS: The Delta variant. “We were opening up and loosening restrictions, but now everything is tightening up a bit,” one marketer said. “There is concern about the new variant.” 

HIT: Opportunities to receive funds through the American Rescue Plan. “It is a great way to get money to help support projects that may have been put off,” says participant Seth Anthony. “There are a ton of different ways this money could be utilized, it just needs to be framed correctly and requested from the right place. It’s not like applying for federal money. Local townships are allowed to spend the money however they like and there’s not a lot of paperwork involved.” If you’re interested in learning more, click here  or contact Seth Anthony directly at SAnthony@lw-consult.com.

All in all, this month has seen more hits than misses. Sales counselors are busy, internet inquiries are flooding in and communities are filling apartments. One participant even said, “We’re full, so we’re not actively pursuing assisted living. We’re putting people on a waitlist at the moment.”

Look for our next monthly roundtable recap in your inbox. Until then, please be sure to join our weekly Sales & Marketing Roundtable on Thursdays at noon ET and 11 a.m. CT.

For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

The senior living industry is regaining speed after COVID-19, with some good surprises — and some challenges. One participant had a conversation recently in which she compared the current industry environment to a train, saying, “It takes a little time to get it going, but we continue to chug along, and we’re getting there.”

Read on for 7 takeaways from a month of conversations with communities across the country.

1.  Leads are flooding in, especially in independent living.

Communities are seeing a lot of activity — even if they’re not holding events yet.

2. The American Rescue Plan gives communities the opportunity to get funds from local government.

A lot of dialogue this month centered around the  American Rescue Plan and how senior living communities can get a stake of those funds. The money can go to any community, but nonprofit organizations have a strong story to tell. So if you fall into this category and serve seniors, you are positioned well to receive funding, as long as you know who to ask, according to Seth Anthony, a roundtable participant and Marketing & Business Development Manager at LW Consulting.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to receive these funds,  click here or contact Seth directly.

3. Marketing higher levels of care is a challenge.

Leads and sales for care higher up the continuum are improving, but lagging behind independent living. One reason for that is competition with communities that have lifted restrictions.

Another roadblock is staffing issues. One participant shared about having trouble hiring enough employees to meet staffing requirements for a higher level of care.

4. COVID-19 safety concerns are down.

Prospects’ concerns about safety and precautions related to COVID have lessened considerably.

5. Questions about the post-COVID experience are up.

Many prospects are now concerned about whether restrictions on dining, programming and visiting have been removed. They are ready to get back to normal. One roundtable participant said, “COVID-19 seems to be out of the picture, but our team is getting questions such as, ‘Can I visit as a prospect?,’ ‘Can family visit me if I move in?’ and ‘Are your dining rooms open?’”

6. Communities are offering incentives for staff vaccinations.

More team members have gotten the vaccine, but the percentages are still lower than for residents. Communities are using tools such as education, one-on-one meetings and incentives to boost participation rates.

7. Some communities have seen leads and move-ins skew younger.

Some participants are noticing that the average age of leads and move-ins is lower than it’s been in the past few years. One marketer said, “We’ve had several (new residents) in their 60s and early 70s. We’re definitely seeing a trend here. There is some feeling that after being cooped up during COVID-19, people are drawn to this environment.”

All in all, it’s been a great month! Sales counselors are busy, phones are ringing, events are well-attended and communities are filling apartments that have been empty for a long time. One participant even said, “I’ve been here 17 years and I can’t remember a time where we’ve seen the interest we have recently.”

Look for our next monthly roundtable recap in your inbox. Until then, please be sure to join our weekly Sales & Marketing Roundtable on Thursdays at noon ET and 11 a.m. CT.

For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

Many people thought it would take senior living years and years to recover from the COVID-19 virus. But this May, Varsity’s Sales & Marketing Roundtable participants were feeling resounding optimism! Their positive experiences with leads and move-ins are echoed in communities across the country, as we found through a presentation by Lana Peck of the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) in our last roundtable of the month, where she shared statistics about the  state of senior living.

Here are 10 takeaways from this month’s roundtable:

1. Momentum is positive. Leads and move-ins are on the upswing. One participant in New Jersey said, “We have a small memory care wait list, which we haven’t seen since the pandemic started!” Another participant in Arkansas said, “Tours are way up. Leads are coming in strong.” From Pennsylvania, the news was, “IL is booming. Our small carriage home project is going well with 15 of 16 reserved.” And from Washington state: “We’re also super busy moving in people. There’s so much going on, our sales team can’t even keep up with it.”
2. Staffing issues are still challenging. One participant said, “We are definitely having challenges. We used to struggle with nursing positions, but now it’s across all departments. We’ve been offering between $2,000 and $5,000 [as a] signing bonus. Another community shared a tip: “We held our Drive-In Career Fair yesterday and had 27 candidates show up.”
3. The hot housing market helps. “The housing market is really hot and there are not enough houses, removing the challenge of selling your home,” said one participant from Illinois.
4. People are “Zoomed out.” But that’s OK, since in-person events, especially outdoors, are back! “The turnout for in-person events has been strong and there’s a lot of interest,” said one participant.
5. Mask updates are confusing. “Some of our campus is under one set of guidelines and some is under another set of guidelines,” said one attendee in Washington state. “It’s really confusing. We’re developing bullets to outline what our residents can and can’t do, depending on what buildings they are going in and out of.”
6. Communities have to get used to holding in-person events again. “We had our first in-person event yesterday after a year and three months,” said one marketer. “It went OK — you forget things like putting pens and pads on tables — it’s been a long time! It was very well received. We just had some minor hiccups and need to remind ourselves of how to do in-person events again.”
7. More team members are getting vaccinated. “Our staff is showing more interest in getting vaccinated and we’re at 66% right now. We think they are feeling more comfortable now that they’ve seen [that] others haven’t had negative reactions,” said one participant. Other communities are providing cash incentives and not requiring weekly tests if employees are vaccinated. One community even created videos of staff members explaining why it’s a good idea to get the vaccine. “It helped get us over 70%,” the participant said.
8. There’s a lot of buzz around mandating the vaccine. There’s a desire to mandate the vaccine, and some communities have started to do this, but our prediction is that we’ll be hearing much more about this, especially the legal implications.
9. It’s a struggle to re-engage residents. As discussed on a call with LeadingAge D.C., there’s a current struggle in getting Memory Care residents to re-engage because they’ve been in their rooms for 14 months.
10. Move-ins are trending higher. Findings presented by Lana Peck of NIC back up participant experiences: Across all three levels of care, move-ins are up, move-outs are down, and traffic and leads are strong. Details below.

NIC Executive Survey Insights with Lana Peck

• Lana Peck, Senior Principal from the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC), attended the roundtable and shared insights from the latest wave of NIC’s Executive Survey.
  • A few high points:
    • Nursing care occupancy fell more than IL and AL — 12.5 points vs. 8.7 points. Senior housing declined 8.7 points over the course of the pandemic; that includes IL and AL. Nursing care fell the most, by 12.5 points. So, COVID-19 hit nursing properties especially hard.
    • Vaccinations have fallen off — right now, they are at 90% for residents and about 65% for employees.
    • A smaller share of properties have 90% or more occupancy — only 24% in the first quarter of 2021 versus 54% in the first quarter of 2020.
  • On the bright side:
    • An acceleration in the pace of move-ins is clearly trending, and the pace of move-outs is either staying the same or decelerating.
    • In March, we may have reached an inflection point in occupancy.
    • In IL, 56% of communities said they have seen an increase in occupancy.
    • Lead volume is increasing. Encouragingly, we’re seeing a growing number of organizations reaching lead volumes at pre-pandemic levels.
    • Rent discounts, free rent and rent freezes have been increasingly used as incentives to boost occupancy. Most of the C-suite operators and owners who were questioned believe that occupancy will reach pre-pandemic levels in a year or two.

See more details of Wave 28 of the NIC survey here.

We hope that move-ins, reopenings and vaccination rates continue to rise in June. Look for the next monthly recap of our roundtable discussions in your inbox.

Until then, please be sure to join our weekly Sales & Marketing Roundtable on Thursdays at noon ET and 11 a.m. CT.

For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

The month started out on a hopeful tone, with some hesitancy mid-month, but in general, April seems to have ended quite positively for most participants of Varsity’s weekly roundtables! Restrictions have generally eased, although this varies from state to state. Many marketers are talking about a spike in leads, and a lot of success with more tours and people ready to make a move. People are indicating that they are “feeling good or great.”

Here are seven takeaways from our April roundtables:

1. Sales are up. Way up.

Contrary to prior months when “people just weren’t ready,” the dam is breaking. Some positive words from our participants:

“We had a good month in IL and sold eight homes. There’s been so much pent-up demand, and people are ready to get out and ready to move, although spring is typically the busiest time. The real estate market is great. All of those things combined have contributed to a great month.”

“We’re doing better than we have in months for tours and move-ins.”

“The last few deposits I’ve received have been pretty quick. People have been thinking about it for a while and are ready to make a decision.”

2. Digital is hotter than ever.

One marketer shared, “A majority of leads are coming from the internet and family referrals. Really the online space is what’s driving the most traffic.”

According to another participant, “We’ve been super busy with a lot more leads (especially email leads). We do a lot of digital ads, which direct people to our website to fill out a form. We also get a lot of requests through our autochat.” Another participant shared the love for online marketing, saying, “We have that constant flow to the website. It’s been a nice flow in light of us not making a huge effort.”

3. Outdoor events are popular, with virtual still in the mix.

One community hosted an outdoor Earth Day event. “It’s a grab-and-go event, and the purpose of it is to get people to step on our property, get a goodie bag and say hello,” the participant explained. Another community is focusing on virtual seminars: “We had 14 people join the first one (on incontinence, promoting our short-term rehab offering) and it went really well. Tonight’s webinar is a food demo (brownies with blood orange-infused olive oil).”

4. Staging is selling.

Many communities find staging to be a tried-and-true, but highly effective, tool that sells units faster.

“We have a flat rate with someone local who does our staging, and these apartments always go quickly when people see what she’s done,” said one participant. Another community calls the area where future residents can select their finishes their “Design Center.” New residents can pick paint colors, finishes, flooring, etc. Another participant also referenced the staging of AL apartments as a marketing tactic.

5. Marketing AL to IL residents is working.

Some communities are finding that their best customers for AL are already living on campus in IL.

“We actually did an open house with our IL residents to showcase AL,” one marketer said. “We had four AL residents show their apartments, so residents can see what it looks like living in an AL residence. Another community had a different tactic: “Moving forward, I would consider inviting the IL family members to our next open house to showcase AL.”

6. There are almost too many CRM choices.

Marketers have a bewildering number of choices in Customer Relationship Management systems (CRMs), with a wide array of high-tech bells and whistles. One participant said, “We use Enquire and have for a little over a year. It has a marketing automation platform called MAP that we’re in the process of implementing now. It looks like a very robust platform.” Another marketer commented, “We use MatrixCare Marketing for everything. It’s a good system.” Other communities referenced using Sherpa, SharpSpring, Mailchimp, RHS, HubSpot and Yardi.

7. Staffing issues are rampant.

Staffing in senior living has always been a challenge, but in the post-COVID environment, the competition for team members is even more competitive. One participant said, “As we’re staffing up our new building, literally no one has applied for housekeeping.” Another marketer commented, “We’ve hired a few people, but within a week or two they get paid more somewhere else. We’re having a hard time with the pay scale. They just don’t stay.”

One community has found a solution: “We’ve offered a signing bonus with a time limit, so we know that we will at least keep them until that bonus.” Another participant, who is having a particularly hard time filling CNA positions, said, “We started our own CNA school and do all of the training at our community, which has helped a lot.”

Here’s hoping May is filled with more good news, from reopenings to move-ins! Look for our next recap of our roundtable discussions in your inbox.

Until then, please be sure to join our weekly Sales & Marketing Roundtable on Thursdays at noon ET and 11 a.m. CT.

For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

The month of March marked the one-year anniversary of COVID shutting down workplaces and businesses, as well as the one-year anniversary of our Sales & Marketing Roundtable discussions.

During this month’s virtual discussions, the takeaways were different — depending on the part of the country — but we found some common themes.

One theme that frequently came up was the anxiety senior living marketers feel heading into the post-pandemic era. Communities are all moving from the uncertainty of not knowing what life is going to hold during the pandemic to not knowing how things are going to change as they get back to business in this new landscape. One quote from a participant summed up the feelings of many: “The uncertainty of the past year has played out in this field also. Some days it feels hopeful and some days it’s crazy.”

A roller coaster of emotions

Another marketer echoed the ups and downs of feelings (and leads), saying: “It’s surges and lulls. We get a lot of leads at once and then it slows down. I’m seeing peaks and valleys. People are coming out of their shells, and want to make decisions and move forward. They are being  cautious and thoughtful to make sure they have all the answers to their questions. There’s more hand-holding than before. The closing time is definitely longer and requires more personal time and visits. People want to feel good about their decision.”

The good news is that, now that many residents and team members have been vaccinated, communities are starting to open up parts of their campuses, particularly dining areas. “I’m excited about opening communal dining,” said one participant. “This will be full capacity, and we’ll be able to serve everyone at one seating.”

Another marketer echoed the positive feelings that come with reopening dining, commenting, “It’s so nice to walk by the dining room and see happy residents.”

Reopenings spark marketing opportunities

As dining, tours and activities open, so do marketing possibilities. One participant shared: “Our staff is going through the database to reach out to those who said they wanted to wait until IL dining and common areas were opened up.”

Planning has also been underway at many communities to determine how to market events and tours, now that visitors are starting to be allowed on-site. “Our marketing plan calls for the first in-person event in July, but who knows,” said one participant. “The big word right now is ‘agility.’ Things change every week.”

Even masks may, at some point, be a thing of the past. “The governor announced in Ohio that once our infection rate goes down for two weeks running, we can do away with masks,” commented one participant.

But things are still in a constant state of flux — although, to put things in perspective, the marketing landscape is much better than this time last year. “Last year, the plan went out the window completely,” said one participant. “This year, at least we’ll have a plan that will be fluid.”

Government guidelines cause frustration

Throughout the month, some confusion occurred around the CDC guidelines, and many resident family members continue to be frustrated at the no-visit rules, even when both parties have been vaccinated.

“People are confused and it’s making things harder before they will get easier,” said one community marketer. “If I were a family member or a resident, I’d be beside myself.”

Another negative was that assisted living is in a decline at some communities, although independent living seems to be doing well, according to several participants.

“IL has been going really well,” said one marketer. “We sold our last two high-end apartments, three garden apartments and many others. All four IL areas are pretty much full. SNF is at 50%. AL is also not doing well. Our digital team is saying that people aren’t searching for AL anymore and that the search is really down. We’re not sure how we’ll fill these areas.”

But, overall, communities are feeling optimistic, as prospects who were staying home begin to venture out.  “Last week, we had four sales, which we attribute to pent-up demand,” one participant said. “People can now come into the community for a full tour and to meet residents.”

Here’s to even more positive news in April! Stay tuned for our next monthly recap of our roundtable discussions.

As always, you are welcome to join our Sales & Marketing Roundtable on Thursdays at noon ET and 11 a.m. CT.

For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

At our 2nd monthly Continuing Care at Home Roundtable, we all shared our ideas about generating leads, cross-promoting community living and overcoming objections.

Check out the highlights below, and feel free to join us for our next roundtable discussion in April.

Please join our next Continuing Care at Home Roundtable on Wednesday, April 7, at noon ET.

For login information, email DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

At our 46th Sales & Marketing Roundtable, professionals around the country shared the latest news at their communities: Virtually all residents are getting the vaccine, families are impatient with CMS regulations, and prospects are slowly opening up to the idea of a move.

Please check out the recap below, and join us for our next roundtable this week.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, March 4, at noon ET. For login information, please email DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

During our 45th weekly Sales & Marketing Roundtable, we heard positive news: The vaccine is working, cases are down and marketers are feeling optimistic overall, although they’re adjusting sales goals because of the pandemic.

Check out the recap below, and please join us for our next virtual discussion this week.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, February 25, at noon ET

For login information, please email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

During our weekly Sales & Marketing Roundtable, communities shared how they are struggling to manage family and resident expectations amidst shifting state and national quarantine policies.

Check out the highlights below, and please join us for our next virtual lunchtime session this week.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, February 18, at noon ET.

For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

During our 43rd Sales & Marketing Roundtable, participants from California to New Jersey shared tips for getting employees to take the vaccine, lead generation tactics and hopes for reopening.

Get the roundtable recap below, and please join us for our next 30-minute virtual lunchtime meeting this week.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, February 11, at noon ET.

For login information, please contact DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

Last Wednesday, we held our first monthly virtual Continuing Care at Home Roundtable! A group of professionals from across the country pooled their knowledge and shared sales and marketing tactics that are succeeding during COVID-19.

Please join us for our next Continuing Care at Home Roundtable on Wednesday, March 3, 2021, at noon ET.

For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com. 

At our 42nd sales and marketing roundtable, we learned how residents are eagerly getting the vaccine (and communities are telling the world), but team members are dragging their feet.

Check out the recap below, and please join us for our next virtual discussions this week: our new Continuing Care At Home Roundtable, to be held the first Wednesday of the month, and our regular weekly Sales & Marketing Roundtable every Thursday.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, February 4, 2021, at noon ET.

We will also be starting a similar Continuing Care At Home Roundtable discussion, to be held the first Wednesday of the month. Our first meeting will be Wednesday, February 3, at noon ET.

To receive login information for one or both roundtables, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

At our 41st weekly sales and marketing roundtable, the mood was on the upswing as the vaccine gave inquiries and sales at communities around the country a boost.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, January 28, at noon ET.

For login information, email DDunham@varsitybranding.com.

At last week’s sales and marketing roundtable, the hot topics were the vaccine (or lack of it), move-ins, and tips for keeping virtual events fresh.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, January 21, 2021, at noon ET.

For login information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

At our first sales & marketing roundtable of the new year, communities discussed the exciting news of the COVID-19 vaccine and shared tips for virtual events and video floor plans.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, January 14, 2021, at noon ET.

For login information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

During our final roundtable of the year, communities shared what they learned in 2020 and how they’re anxiously awaiting the vaccine.

Check out the highlights below, and please join us for our first roundtable of 2021 after the holiday break.

Please join our first roundtable of the year on Thursday, January 7, 2021, at noon ET.

For log-in information, contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

At our 37th weekly sales and marketing roundtable, communities discussed the light at the end of the tunnel and shared how they’ll be implementing the vaccine.

Dig into the recap below, and please join us for our next roundtable this week.

Please join our last roundtable of 2020 on Thursday, December 17, at noon ET.

This will be our last discussion of the year, but we will start back up in early 2021!

For login information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

As they deal with cases and closures during the holidays, participants of our weekly sales and marketing roundtable are experiencing a mix of emotions: worry about current COVID spikes and hope for the coming vaccine.

Check out the recap below, and please feel free to join us for our next roundtable, later this week.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, December 10, at noon ET.

For login information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

At our 35th weekly sales and marketing roundtable, communities shared the spiking COVID rates in their respective states, and how they’re marketing differently in this environment.

Please check out the recap below. We also invite you to attend our next roundtable, the Thursday after Thanksgiving Day.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, December 3, at noon ET.

For login information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

At our 34th sales and marketing roundtable, we shared our successes and setbacks during the pandemic. We were also fortunate to have one participant share takeaways from this year’s SMASH conference.

Check out the recap and conference takeaways below. We also invite you to attend our next roundtable this week.

Takeaways from the SMASH Conference 

Over 200 sales and marketing professionals from senior living organizations of all sizes across the U.S. participated. One of our roundtable attendees shared these takeaways:

Biggest Sales and Marketing Trends

1. Since COVID-19, leads and occupancy have plunged across the board.
2. The deepest occupancy decreases have been in assisted living, with the toughest objection being “Why would I move my mom into assisted living when I know I won’t be able to see her for months?”
3. Marketing budgets are not being cut and, in many instances, they are being increased.
4. Marketing dollars are being reallocated from events and on-site activities to digital, SEO/SEM, virtual tours, videos and webinars.
5. Marketing automation (automated lead nurture) is by far the #2 marketing priority after digital paid search and search engine optimization (SEO/SEM).
6. Marketing messages have pivoted for assisted living and memory care to safety and security. IL messages are still about lifestyle, with a bit of safety and security in the message mix.
7. Website — making sure the messages are appropriate/correct for the times. For most senior living communities, COVID-19 info has recently been moved from front and center to a smaller tab on the homepage, still easily accessible.
8. Salespeople across the board are still focusing 100% of their time on sales, including nurturing the wait list/depositors, cold calling, working through the database, delivering treats/meals to depositors, virtual tours, apartment tours, answering website/call leads, etc. Activity team members, as well as social workers and front desk team members, are taking care of all window/outside visits, temperature taking, Facetime/Skyping with family members, virtual doctor visits, etc.
9. Sales messaging, especially for assisted living — do not lead with COVID-19. We are living with COVID-19 24/7; however, prospects are calling us because mom/dad needs more help. They want to know how we can help them first and foremost.
10. “Backstage Pass” — can’t tour the community, but can tour individual apartments.

Interesting Sales and Marketing Stats

• New reality — 90% of prospects do not want to talk with us. They just want more information (which they are finding digitally via Google, website, videos, Facebook, Instagram, etc.)
• Across the U.S. in CCRCs:
  • 43% increase in cost per conversion in digital search
  • 39% decrease in goal completion (filling out a form, calling, etc.)
  • 103% increase in phone calls (these are not all sales calls)
• 70% of adult daughters find care for their parents through digital (up from 50% not so long ago)
• Google will drive 90% of digital leads
• 77% of searches for senior care begin online … even for skilled nursing
• 80% of senior living search online is Google, Facebook and individual community websites
• 6 billion minutes of content per week are consumed via video
• 3 connected devices per person — and we switch between them all day long
• Average number of brand touchpoints = six per person … up from two 10 years ago.
• 92% of consumers begin their healthcare search online — with 6,000 searches related to long-term care EVERY HOUR
• 88% of residents overall would recommend LTC. (Perception: 24% of seniors don’t want to move to LTC. Reality: 88% who live in LTC really love it.)

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, November 19, at noon ET.

For login information, please contact DDunham@Varsitybranding.com.

At our 33rd weekly sales & marketing roundtable, we shared how we’re feeling this week. We also discussed a plastic wall that was set up by one community to allow residents and family to hug, shown below.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, November 12, at noon ET.

For login information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

At our weekly sales & marketing roundtable, we all shared creative tactics we’re using to attract prospects as COVID-19 rates spike in some areas. We’d especially like to thank Lana Peck, senior principal at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) for sharing the latest insights from executive surveys completed since the pandemic hit.

Check out the insights and survey results below. We also invite you to our next roundtable this week.

NIC Executive Survey Insights with Lana Peck

The full report is on the NIC website. Wave 14 findings can be found here.

We had 70 organizations respond to wave 14:

• Not the same 70 for every wave, but 60–70% are repeat takers, so there is some continuity.
• Geographical dispersion of respondents:
  • There’s a slight underrepresentation in the Northeast compared to national coverage of the NIC map.
  • For the most part, participants are coming from all over the country.
• We’re promoting this more strongly with operators, as we’re getting some national media exposure.
  • It is important for operators to know that, by participating in the survey, they have the opportunity to ensure that the narrative is accurate.

‘

• We went from ⅓ in wave 10 (early August) to just under ⅔ in the most recent wave — a lot more organizations are offering rent concessions.
• 90% of organizations are paying overtime to mitigate staffing issues.
• Staffing/temp agency usage has grown throughout the pandemic.
• About ⅔ of organizations that have IL in portfolio are offering rent concessions.
• Organizations with nursing care are less likely to offer rent concessions.
• Discussion from the group:
  • We are giving concessions on entrance fees and support on moving services.
  • We are offering $3,000 toward moving expenses and incentives to get people to move more quickly.

• Organizations reporting no change in pace have been growing. It’s the highest it’s been in wave 14.
• Deceleration of move-ins is lower in IL, AL and MC in wave 14.
• Most respondents are citing increased resident demand (increase in move-ins).
• Fewer organizations with nursing care beds in wave 14 reported acceleration in the pace of move-ins, with the fewest respondents citing hospital placement since wave 7 surveyed mid-May — presumably due to anecdotal reports of hospitals sending patients straight home to recuperate from surgeries or illnesses with in-home health care.
• A quarter of organizations have a backlog of residents waiting to move in.

• Organizations may be providing incentives. The month-over-month change in occupancy has been starting to rise.
• About ¼ of the organizations that have IL in their portfolio; ⅓ of those with AL; ½ of those with MC; and about ½ with nursing care are seeing an upward change in occupancy rates in the past 30 days.
• Fewer folks that have IL are seeing a decrease in occupancy.
• 48% in nursing care are seeing increases, and 37% are seeing decreases.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, November 5, at noon ET.

For login information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

At our 31st weekly sales and marketing roundtable, communities shared their challenges, solutions and one often-used event topic that’s still getting amazing traction.

Put these ideas to work for your community by checking out the recap below.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, October 29, at noon ET.

Lana Peck, senior principal at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC), will be joining us again to discuss the recent NIC 2020 Fall Conference and findings on the next wave of surveys. 

For login information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

At our 30^th weekly sales and marketing roundtable, communities shared out-of-the-box, socially distanced ideas they’re using to get people to campus.

Find out how to make these ideas work at your community by checking out the recap below.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, October 22, at noon ET.

For login information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

Recently, Robert Speker, the activities coordinator at Sydmar Lodge in Edgware, North London, UK, spoke to Varsity about his acclaimed project of working with residents to recreate iconic album covers. Although this idea has caught fire on social media with over 11 million views, captured the attention of think tanks, and been referenced in professional care articles, it’s far from the only thing that Robert does to inspire residents. He takes them to rock concerts, throws special celebrations, and is constantly thinking of new ways to add excitement to their lives. To see Robert’s latest photos and keep up to date with his creative projects, follow him on Twitter: @RobertSpeker.

Below, Robert provides some advice for communities that want to keep residents engaged during coronavirus and beyond.

How has COVID-19 impacted your community?

Care homes are in quite a unique situation; we’re in a little isolated bubble, where people who live here haven’t left the home in six months, aside from going outside in the garden, which is something that is really unfathomable. In spite of it all, older people are still living their lives, continuing to remain positive in such difficult circumstances.

What ideas have you implemented to engage your residents, other than taking photographs of them to recreate classic album covers?

There are other wild and crazy ideas that we use to excite the lives of the residents who live here, to make sure that their time spent here is enjoyable and also productive.

For instance, we do a lot of awareness days. There’s a day for every single type of food. I love residents tasting different types of food that they don’t normally have. We extend this to alcohol as well. We’ve done Whisky Day, Tequila Day, Beer Day, Wine Day and more. It’s not about making residents alcoholics. It’s trying to dispel this idea that these old people just sit there. They can still enjoy new experiences. They’ve had drinks all their lives; why should it stop just because they come into a care setting? I’m all for encouraging them to have a social drink because that’s normal and can be great fun.

I also give residents the chance to do things they have aspired to or that they have never had the chance to experience. Before COVID, I was able to take a 92-year-old resident to see her favorite singer perform live in concert or take a 91-year-old swimming for the first time in over 20 years. Now I just have to rethink to still provide experiences for the residents.

What advice would you give other communities that want to engage residents?

I think you have to get to know each individual resident as well as possible. That can only be done by talking to them, to family members, and to colleagues, and just trying to find out information about what they like, what they don’t like, what they used to do for a career, and their social activities.

How many of these seniors actually used to play bingo before moving into a care home? I can probably tell you—not many. I’m not trying to knock bingo. Bingo is still a fun game. It has good benefits. But there’s more than you can do (in communities) than play board games, cards games and bingo.

It’s really just a case of trying to think up these different ideas. My awareness days are each just one day when somebody can try or taste something different. It’s about sensory experience—whether it’s about taste or hearing or seeing something. All of these sensory experiences can make people remember things from the past, which is a great way to get the brain really working.

Can you talk about your award for Best Activities Coordinator?

That was last year. I was nominated by the manager and some family members as well. And it was just a lovely thing to know that what I was doing was appreciated and acknowledged—even though I don’t do this work to get acknowledgment. There are many things that I do which are never going to be seen; only the residents and I know about what I’ve done. I prefer to keep it that way. Usually nobody ever finds out, but it is very nice to get appreciation, so I was grateful to receive that award from The London Borough of Barnet.

How can people help others who live in care homes?

During lockdown, we’ve seen the importance of people helping each other out. We’ve had a lot of people asking what they can do to help, and I hope that will continue afterwards when we’re open for regular visiting and everything is safe.

A care community can be a welcoming place, where people can drop in just to say hello to the residents. You may not have ever met them, but why not give half an hour of your time to speak to somebody who has lived a long life with lots of experiences? We can all learn something from the elder generation.

One way Robert and his residents are helping others is by raising funds for three charities: DementiaFriends.org.uk, Alzheimers.org.uk and AgeUK.org.uk. 

You can join the cause by donating through their GoFundMe page or by ordering a charity calendar they’re creating. Watch Robert’s Twitter page at @RobertSpeker to see when the calendar comes out and how to order it. 

Last week at our virtual sales and marketing roundtable, participants shared that they are trying new sales strategies and working to debunk the myths of COVID-19.

Dig into the recap below. Please also join us for our next roundtable, coming up this week.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, October 15, at noon ET.

For login information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

Robert Speker, Activities Coordinator at Sydmar Lodge  in Edgware, North London, UK, and his residents have passed the time through lockdown by recreating famous album covers. Posing while wearing similar clothing, makeup and expressions, the residents (and the caregivers as well) have redone album covers by the Beatles, Lady Gaga, Adele, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, The Clash, U2, Elvis Presley, Madonna and others. And they’re still going.

Robert started this project to keep residents engaged and entertained during social distancing. Rather than passing the time playing bingo or watching TV, he felt they needed something more inspiring to do. It was a huge surprise to all of them when the project quickly went viral on social media and gained international recognition. Robert has done 80 to 100 TV and print interviews, and was gracious enough to talk to Varsity. See his ongoing artistic collaborations with residents at @RobertSpeker on Twitter.

Why did you begin this project?

It was something I’d long thought about, but I don’t usually have a lot of time. However, during lockdown, I had more time to put on different activities with the residents particularly when no family visits were allowed. That was the impetus for me actually starting the project. Once I had explained to each resident what I wanted to do, they got on board really quickly, with great enthusiasm.

What have been some of the highlights of the experience?

There have been many. David Bowie’s widow Iman retweeted it.  It’s just a phenomenal thing to know that the love of his life has seen this project and has liked it.

Midge Ure challenged me to do the Ultravox album cover of Vienna, which was just celebrating its 40th anniversary. So I felt the need to be able to do it. After I sent the photo out, he sent a really lovely message. As a special surprise for resident Sheila Solomon’s 92nd birthday, I’d arranged for her to meet Rag’n’Bone Man backstage before one of his concert. He was really lovely with her. He is a huge guy… he gave her a signed album. It was the one with the tattoo, so I knew that I had to get her doing this cover, complete with tattoo, temporary in Sheila’s case.

Sheila also recreated the Clash cover (a redo of an Elvis Presley album). She’s a real character. There’s not many 94-year-olds that still like going to rock concerts! She’s just waiting for lockdown to end so she can go and see Ed Sheeran. 

How did you choose the residents and carers for the photos?

It was partly on their look, say, if they had a similar hairstyle, but also based on music preference. They had heard all of the artists⎯they might not know exactly the song, but they all know and have listened to all of the different artists. So it was a case of showing them the album covers. It was interesting to discuss different covers and see how the image appears to someone in their 90s, and then it was a case of matching it in that way and taking some photos.

How did you choose the album covers?

I wanted the covers to be ones which were easily recognizable ⎯ the word “iconic” springs to mind. Even if the photo won’t have the name of either the singer or the group, you’ll know almost immediately who that artist is.

What impact has your project had on morale among residents and staff?

Well, they really have loved doing it. And obviously the global response has just been overwhelming. It’s been absolutely awesome, really phenomenal and so positive. They loved seeing the coverage on TV and in the press. For the residents and the staff to receive such warm wishes from around the world is really heartwarming ⎯ especially in this time when we are still in lockdown. Residents are only seeing their families maybe a couple times a week, if that, literally for 20 minutes, at two-meter distances, with masks on. The positivity was really needed. And while I was doing it just to create some smiles, it has also raised awareness of care homes—the people who are living and are working in them.

Did that play a role in changing the perception of older individuals?

It certainly did, because it made people realize that care homes aren’t this stagnant environment where residents just sit around in a circle, either sleeping or watching television. We try to encourage them to do as much as they possibly can. My mantra is: Use it or lose it. So often I say, if you can do it yourself, do it, because you don’t want to get to that stage where you actually aren’t able to do it; so once you can still do something, do it. And with these photos, they were all able to do it, they all enjoyed doing it. So it was that kind of feeling of knowing how care homes are perceived not only in the UK, but obviously in America and other countries, and we’re trying to knock that theory out of the window.

Are there any residents who said, “Hey, I want to be included”?

Yeah, we had a few, and their family members would get involved by saying, “I think Mummy would be good at this.” Or, “Why don’t we use Dad for this?” Then we’ve got residents saying, “What am I going to do? When am I going to be photographed?”

How did people find out about it?

Initially I sent it out on Facebook, to the families, and then posted on Twitter and Instagram. On Twitter, that’s where it went really completely crazy—just to learn who had seen it and how many people had seen it. I said to the residents, over 11 million people have seen these photos. It’s quite unbelievable. 

How were you able to do all the makeup, hair, body painting, photography and editing?

When I’ve got an idea such as this in mind, I like to do it myself, because I know what I need to achieve, rather than trying to explain it to someone else. Also, I didn’t want a lot of people knowing about it, just so that it could be focused on that individual. I could just take them off quietly. There’s no hoo-ha about it. I’d spend 30 minutes or an hour with them. Doing the makeup or the set or the hair.

Can you talk about why you made some of the details in the photos different?

Martin, the gentleman in the Springsteen photo, he’s got his own baseball cap, so I thought, I’m going to use that cap. And I’ve tried to do that throughout, so if there’s an item of clothing that the actual individual has already, then I want that to be in the photo. Sheila had a jumper similar to Rag’n’Bone Man’s, so that’s what I got her to wear. For Hilda and Blink-182 — the model is wearing a red bra, which wouldn’t have been appropriate for her. I showed a lovely red jumper of Hilda’s. Whether it’s an item of jewelry or a piece of clothing, I use things that belong to the residents, to make sure that it’s about them in the photo, not just their body, but also other aspects of their personality.

 Have other communities reached out to you about your project?

Yes. Another care home messaged me and said, “We hope you don’t mind, we saw what you did, and we’ve also tried to have a little go at that.” I think that’s a wonderful thing — especially during this time, when other care homes are in isolation — we need to be sharing ideas. And if this can work in other settings, then I’m all for it. It’s not a competition about who can do the best; it’s about making sure that seniors are engaged and have activities to do.

What has been your favorite thing about the project?

Suddenly, our residents are in the spotlight; they are the main talking point, having done something absolutely phenomenal. They have been able to talk so much about this to their peers, to family, to staff. It’s amazing that it’s still carrying on. Which is a beautiful thing. 

It’s not only just making somebody smile, it’s the fact that residents are talked about. And it’s not about the famous singers, it’s about our residents. It is really humbling personally for me. I never expected the impact and the response. I’m really overwhelmed, and the residents just absolutely love receiving the messages and can’t quite believe that people in America, Australia and all over the world have seen these photos and want to connect with us.

It has been a lovely ride that we’ve all been on. I’ve really shared it, the whole way, with the residents, which is just a lovely thing.

During COVID-19, Robert and the residents of Sydmar Lodge Care Home are helping others by raising funds for three charities: DementiaFriends.org.uk, Alzheimers.org.uk and AgeUK.org.uk. You can join the cause by donating through their GoFundMe page or by ordering a charity calendar they’re creating. Watch Robert’s Twitter page (@RobertSpeker) to see when the calendar comes out and how to order it. 

At Roundtable #28, community marketers shared their feelings about the pandemic and explained why some are seeing a sales spike this fall.

Dig into the takeaways below.  Please also join us for our next virtual roundtable this week. For log-in information,  contact DDunham@Varsitybranding.com.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, October 8, at noon ET.

Get log-in information here.

At our weekly sales and marketing roundtable, we all shared creative tactics we’re using to attract prospects as communities gradually open back up.

We’d especially like to thank Lana Peck, Senior Principal at the National Investment Center for  Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) for sharing insights gleaned from 11 waves of executive surveys, all completed since the pandemic hit.

You’ll find discussion highlights and survey results below. We also invite you to join us for our next roundtable, coming this week.

NIC Executive Survey Insights

We were joined by Lana Peck, Senior Principal at NIC.

Lana:

NIC is a nonprofit organization with a mission to enable access and choice for America’s seniors through data, transparency and making connections.

We’ve been doing our executive survey, since 3/24/20, with 11 waves of data so far. Our audience is C-suite executives and owners/operators of senior housing properties across the country.

We would encourage each of your executives to email insight@nic.org to take the executive survey.

Some highlights from the results so far:

• Wave 10 = 53% (mid- to late July)
  • About half of organizations with more than one property are easing restrictions
• Wave 11 = 63% (late August)
  • Even more are easing move-in restrictions

Note: blue = good; orange = bad

• Wave 8 (around Memorial Day)—we start to see an improvement and a downward trend in decreasing occupancy (directional changes in occupancy by care segment across the respondent’s portfolio of properties—single-property operators included)
• Mid- to late August sees pullback in move-ins for AL

• Note: blue = good; orange = bad
• Across the board, the pace of move-outs hasn’t changed tremendously (gray bars)
• Around Memorial Day, we see some improvement, with fewer organizations reporting acceleration in move-outs
• In mid- to late August, we see a pullback in acceleration again

• The recent decline in a slowdown in leads/conversions is due to easing moratoriums and pent-up demand (especially in IL) when doors opened, and people waiting in the wings could actually move in
• When the blue line goes down, that’s a good thing—it’s a reverse in the slowdown of leads and conversions
• The orange line has been trending lower—about half of organizations eased move-in restrictions
• Yellow line—only about half of organizations initially felt that resident or family member concerns contributed to deceleration of move-ins, but this has increased quite a bit, possibly due to a resurgence of COVID-19 or issues of residents not being able to see family members. This is a significant factor in more recent waves of the study.
• This slide is aggregate and shows all care segments
• Leads, conversions and sales are happening more frequently as of more recently. Before, there was an inability to have people on campus to make sales.

• This shows the toll of the pandemic on organizations—how many are feeling the need to provide incentives to bring residents in. For the most part, most are not reducing rents or fees at this time.
• The majority of respondents don’t have a backlog of residents waiting to move in.

Valuable Resources NIC Offers:

• NIC’s Fall Virtual Conference. The conference will start on October 3. Week 1 will focus on education. Week 2 will be about making connections and business contacts in peer-to-peer discussions. Anyone who signs up for the conference will be able to participate in Community Connector—essentially a LinkedIn for senior housing.

• COVID-19 Resource Center.  Data, analytics and connections to help provide transparency to the sector and keep  communities informed.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, October 1, at noon ET.

 For log-in information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

At our virtual sales and marketing roundtable, we brainstormed tactics to help prospects overcome their reluctance to move during a pandemic.

Check out the takeaways below. Please also join us for our next roundtable, coming up this week.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, September 24, at noon ET.

We’ll be joined by Lana Peck, Senior Principal at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC). She’ll be discussing insights from NIC’s ongoing executive survey. NIC has conducted 12 waves of surveys with C-suite execs, across senior living, with near real-time data on the pulse of the market and the fundamentals of senior housing. The study includes topics like changes in occupancy, how communities are supporting staff and reasons for acceleration and deceleration of move-ins (among other topics).

For log-in information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

At our weekly sales and marketing roundtable, aging services expert Scott Townsley, principal of Trilogy Consulting, LLC, joined us to discuss consumer research and other insights related to the pandemic.

Check out the takeaways below. Please also join us for our next roundtable, coming this week.

Highlights from presentation on consumer research by Scott Townsley, Principal, Trilogy Consulting, LLC:

Opportunities are already emerging amid COVID-19—this will change who we are as a field and will change the product. Here are some resources that can be helpful as you deal with this situation.

The End of Competitive Advantage and Seeing Around Corners, two excellent books by Rita Gunther McGrath

• “Inflection point” is a key concept she discusses, which she describes as jerking the steering wheel while driving
• Unfortunately, by the time you recognize an inflection point, it can be too late; for example, discovering that occupancy has dropped from 96% to 80%, and it’s not going back up
• My observation is that skilled nursing is at an inflection point—it was already changing, but the coronavirus has pushed it to this point—and that a portion of it will be forever changed
• Life Plan Communities aren’t at an inflection point yet, but we need to have our eyes wide open

Nonsense: The Power of Not Knowing, by Jamie Holmes

• “While uncertainties can be painful, they are also, by definition, eras of change. They’re destabilizing because they’re a threat to the status quo, which is also precisely why they represent an opportunity for innovative and cultural rebirth.”
• The risk is that we seek information or anecdotes that hint we’re returning to the “way things were” sooner rather than later—rather than seeking actual data
• We can’t look to the past (even January 2020) for clues about the future, because we’re probably going to be wrong; I refer to it as the “perilous backslide to the status quo,” in which we will innately make decisions thinking things will get back to “normal”
• Virtual tours are a great example of how we’ve adapted
• When I first saw a billboard for telemedicine, years ago, I thought, “Who’s going to want telemedicine?” But without it, many people (particularly in skilled nursing) wouldn’t have been able to see their physicians; we went from talking about it to it being a key part of life

Consumer Behavior Survey

We just completed a 1,000-person survey of four market areas in Pennsylvania (southeastern, south-central, west-central and northeast), one in Maryland and one in Delaware.

Too often, we’re talking in anecdotes, but we need to use data that tracks consumer behavior. This is especially risky when talking about the coronavirus.

• Background on the study
  • Participants are 60 to 80 years old; all income groups
  • Conducted last week in July/first week in August
  • Asked approximately 50 questions
  • All telephone conversations (landline and mobile)
  • Allowed us to reach the “essential non-customers”
  • With people at home, it was easier to reach them; they’re still answering their phones
  • Completed 1,000 surveys in five days
• What’s key is that this survey has statistical validity—it provides insight into the thinking of consumers rather than anecdotes

Early on, it was clear that we (as an industry) knew neither the questions to ask nor the answers. Today, there’s more clarity about the former (the questions that we, as an industry, should be asking) and an ability to obtain the answers. Hence this survey.

We asked the question, “How concerned are you about coronavirus in your area?” Seventy-eight percent are very or somewhat concerned about the coronavirus in their area. For those whose adult children are involved in making decisions about retirement living options, that number increases to 87 percent.

It’s also notable that, in this and prior surveys:

• The percentage of people who are concerned about future long-term care needs is typically low
• The percentage of people who are concerned about their ability to afford their retirement is also low
• The percentage of people who are concerned about dementia or Alzheimer’s, for themselves and those they love, is incrementally higher than the other two—but still a fraction of those concerned about the coronavirus

We then assessed the impact of COVID-19 on Senior Living Community (SLC) interest later in the study:

• By and large, every cross-tab is very or less interested due to the coronavirus
  • With respect to SLC interest, there are as many people who are less interested as there are who are more interested—due to the coronavirus
  • Interestingly, people who identify as evangelicals are 17% less interested in senior living communities than the average (due to the coronavirus)
  • There’s still a core of people who remain interested, which may be proving the naysayers wrong, but: (a) it’s too soon to know for sure, and (b) the coronavirus has significantly reduced interest in senior living “congregate”-type options
    • The field could be in jeopardy if the virus stays around
    • The virus has, conversely, also made some people more interested
  • Note: This study won’t be valid six months or a year from now—everything is changing so quickly
  • It’s critical to talk to people who are “the essential non-customers”—those who are living outside the senior living world (and who aren’t on your lists)—to understand who is motivated and why
    • Ask how they feel about congregate living on their overall health and well-being
    • In unprecedented times, we need to rely on information that’s current
  • I was wrong about the recession in 2008–2010—I thought the loss of value in portfolios would have a searing effect on people’s decisions about senior living, much in the way the depression impacted how people spent money
    • This didn’t happen, and the for-profit sector took advantage of that
    • The not-for-profit sector did not jump on it
  • It’s possible that, six months from now, if there’s an effective vaccine, the consumer could forget about this—but it’s also possible that it will stay with them for a long time, perhaps forever
  • It’s important to note that concerns about the coronavirus did not increase the interest in a stay-at-home program (though the percentage of people “very interested” in a stay-at-home program is twice what it is for a senior living community)
  • HJ Sims is soon coming out with a national study that will be fascinating to review; it, hopefully, will include all regions of the country, not just those heavily impacted by COVID-19
  • The secret to success is data analytics, and WildFig (Varsity’s sister firm) is ahead of the curve
  • “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that: It’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” – Rahm Emanuel

Please join us for our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, September 17, at noon ET.

For log-in information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

Today I’m talking to Joe Gorman, Division President East at Morrison Living. Morrison Living provides culinary, design, wellness and environmental services to 450 clients in 41 states, including some of the most prominent senior living communities in the United States.

How are you keeping things safe at the communities you partner with?

At Continuing Care Retirement Communities, we have an in-depth checklist to make sure that associates are safe; that the environment is clean, sanitized and effective; and that we’re thinking through all the elements so that, when communities are getting ready to restart and reopen, they’re in the best possible situation.

We’re doing some unique things—working with different types of communities that are having challenges. They’re looking for the expertise, help and compassion we can provide.

If they need to make design changes, they can turn to our subject-matter experts. We can also help them as they make labor changes so that they can be both efficient and sensitive to what residents need.

Communities may have had two dining services a day. Now, to keep people socially distanced, they have four or five services, as well as a dining room functioning at 25 to 50 percent capacity. They need resources and tools to manage these challenges. We have a robust restart program that addresses these areas, so no one feels alone.

We’re also getting calls from clients asking, from an environmental perspective, what should we be doing? What about disinfectants? We’re enhancing our environmental teams and restructuring to make sure that we can fulfill the needs of all these communities in various geographic areas.

How does your parent company, Compass Group, help you support your communities?

Compass Group, a best-in-class organization, provides food and support services to millions of people across the globe. They’ve published a guide to helps their 25 business sectors deal with the COVID-19 environment. Called “Stay Safe, Eat Well,” the guide is comprehensive, because it has to address the COVID-19 issue in every sector. It gives us resources, technology, design and wonderful tools that can cross over every sector. One of my favorites is ChefNet, a network of local and celebrity chefs who make virtual appearances at communities. They teach kitchens to lift residents’ spirits and show them how to make exciting new dishes.

How are you restarting and reopening communities?

We have a robust platform: ReSTART + ReNEW. In our industry, as the virus changes, reopening practices have to match the needs of different states and counties, at different times. Our plans have to be flexible in addressing the ever-changing environment. When COVID-19 started, we collaborated with our best subject-matter experts in all categories. We immediately looked at how to handle this situation. Now, we have an in-depth formula that we follow depending on the level of care required.

We’ve reopened multiple communities in the middle of this pandemic. One innovation is at The Templeton of Cary, a brand-new CCRC, where residents are moving in right now. We’re introducing a robot that is helping staff by clearing plates, so employees aren’t handling multiple plates, and they can spend more quality time interacting with residents. Learn more about Penny,  the self-driving robot.

What kinds of design changes are you making?

We have a robust team of culinary innovators and designers. They work with design companies and architects to enact multiple changes. As self-service, with beverages and salad, goes away, for social distancing reasons, we’re coming up with different innovations and platforms to solve those problems. Morrison Living’s team is critical right now. People have to make major decisions in a very short window of time.

You think about the pressure that communities are under right now—what they’ve gone through is unprecedented, unbelievable. We want to give them tools and resources so that they don’t have to feel that they are alone, and that they are getting the help they need.

During our latest COVID-19 roundtable, communities talked about the changing moods in their respective states and exchanged advice for successful virtual events.

Dig into the summary below. Please also join us for our next roundtable, coming this week!

Please join us for our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, September 10, at noon ET.

Aging-services expert Scott Townsley from Trilogy Consulting will join us to discuss consumer research and other insights related to the pandemic.

For log-in information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

I started my conversation with Joe Gorman, Division President East at Morrison Living, thinking we would talk about the innovative culinary, wellness, design and environmental initiatives his company is implementing to support its 450 senior living clients across the country during this crisis. I came away realizing that simple human compassion is at the heart of the help Morrison is providing to its communities.

Derek: What are some ways you’re boosting morale at your communities?

Joe: When COVID-19 first began to spike, it was a difficult time for us emotionally, because we partner with a lot of large skilled nursing communities in New York City. What was happening there was devastating. It was a lot of conversations and constantly following up and working with team members. There was so much happening in the industry that was really challenging. We just wanted to know, “How can we help?”

We returned to what we’ve always done here at Morrison Living: We use food to help heal emotionally. My mother used to always say: “Sweetness takes the bitterness away.” I couldn’t agree more. We jumped in and quickly used some of our great programs to boost morale among residents and staff. Here are a few examples:

• Special food themes. We created special ice cream dishes, mocktails and other treats for special days, and handed them out to people. We had an onslaught of great ideas we used, not just to help residents, but to boost employee morale as well.
• Jack and Olive: One innovation we were able to quickly deploy was the Jack and Olive “handcrafted convenience” destination concept. We provided this to the heroes who have been working nonstop through COVID-19. This is an on-the-go concept featuring healthy options, artisan sandwiches and fun salads that are easy for staff to engage with.
• Teaching Kitchen@Home. In this program, our celebrity chefs do live teaching classes in a kitchen, and we stream the classes to residents in their residences. We also have creative folks delivering the ingredients to some of our residents so that they can prepare the dishes as they follow along with the live stream.
• New menus for meal delivery: As community dining rooms shut down during COVID-19, culinarians and corporate chefs had to focus on creating meals you could deliver to residents’ apartments. We helped them think through that process so they could deal with other emotional challenges they were facing.

How can we stay motivated during COVID-19?

This situation is something you never, ever thought you would experience in a lifetime. It just takes an emotional toll. You’ve got to stay motivated and stay cognizant of what’s happening. You’ve got to tap into empathy and a lot of other emotions that you didn’t have to use at this capacity before. It’s a new dynamic; it’s a new way to lead; it’s a new way to learn. So, it’s been very humbling to see the dedication of people in this industry. It’s just overwhelming to experience that. There are no words that can really describe it.

I think one of the best things we did is have open dialogue with team members to give them opportunities to talk about what they were going through. Early on, we had national calls with all our people every week. We not only did that, because we wanted to connect with our teams, but we wanted to make sure that they were okay. One example is Chef Jet, one of our celebrity chefs. He helped by sending out a video shout-out to our New York people.

You’re acknowledging what people are going through, listening to their challenges. Personal phone calls and connections go a long way.

How can we show empathy when we’re wearing masks?

All our associates understand that you’re supposed to greet people with a smile; you can make a difference in someone’s day by being the best part of their day. But physically, since we’re wearing masks, things have changed. That’s why we put together “compassion training”: to get the point across that, when you smile, even if you have a mask on, people can see your smile in your eyes. Whether it’s an associate or a resident or a client you’re smiling back at—these little things make a huge difference.

Can you talk about the power of food to heal during COVID-19?

Food has always been a passion of mine. As a child, I cooked with my aunt and my grandmother. I always found that people connected through food. Early on, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I started in the sexy, exciting sector of hospitality: restaurants and hotels. But pretty early in my career, I found the senior market. I just fell in love with this environment and have been in it ever since.

The food philosophy that we instill in the people we work with, whatever the cuisine, is that tastes and smells evoke memories. When I taste or smell a dish, I remember when my grandmother made that special recipe, or I learned that certain technique. Our residents experience the same thing, so when they see or taste or smell our food, we’ve created an emotional connection. We have the opportunity to share love through food. That connection is even more important during these challenging times.

Read more about Morrison Living, and what it’s doing to support communities during COVID-19, in an upcoming blog.

Last week, at our sales and marketing roundtable, communities shared creative ways to drive move-ins and brainstormed solutions to their biggest reopening challenges.

Dig into the recap below. Please also join us for our next virtual roundtable, coming this week!

Please join our next roundtable discussions on Thursday, September 3, and Thursday, September 10, at noon ET.

On September 10, aging services expert Scott Townsley from Trilogy Consulting will be joining us to discuss consumer research and other insights related to the pandemic.

For log-in information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

At our weekly sales and marketing roundtable, Varsity team members Cory Lorenz, Media Director, and Cara Stefchak, Senior Social Media Strategist, joined us to share their thoughts on social media and digital media use during the pandemic.

Check out the highlights below. Please also join us for our next sales and marketing roundtable next week!

Thoughts on social media from Cara Stefchak: 

Hello, everyone! Last time I joined you, I talked about content creation and brainstorming around what makes good content and best practices. I wanted to keep it more informal this time. I wanted to address some things I saw in last week’s roundtable—activities that I thought would make great social content.

• Think about how a video tour or other event can be leveraged on social
  • I encourage you to work with whomever is filming and editing to get multiple deliverables out of a project. Engagement falls off at the two-minute mark for Facebook content, and one minute for an Instagram post. Always look at what your video is—how you can slice and dice it in different ways to provide you with legs on social media.
  • Design for sound off. We always encourage people to keep in mind that viewers may have their sound off. If someone is narrating the tour, include captions and include your logo early in the video to help communicate your message.
  • Two minutes is the longer end of things. Really, you have probably just a few seconds to get your audience’s attention. With a community tour, you probably have more leeway, but it’s still a good idea to catch their attention in the first few seconds to get them to hang on a little longer.
  • Question: How do you upload a longer video?
    • Answer: If you upload a video that is longer than one minute to Instagram, it will prompt you to go directly to Instagram TV. It will sense that it is too long for the feed, and that it should go to Instagram TV.
  • Question: Can you add captions to an iPhone video? 
    • Answer: You can’t do Instagram Live or Facebook Live with captions—you have to add them post-filming. Facebook has smart captioning, and it might be able to detect your voice, but I would still go back through and make sure everything is correct.

• Virtual events make great social content—whether it’s bingo, or happy hour, or having folks share a meal in their room.
  • Always try to remove as many barriers as possible for participation.
    • Prepare for the event in advance (provide the cards, markers, and step-by-step directions for logging on) to make it as user-friendly as possible.
    • Snap a photo of care packages/prizes outside doors, and share on social media channels. Doing so shows that, even though there’s social distancing, your teams are doing their best to keep residents engaged.

• • Question: Do you keep the activity in small groups of 5 or 6 or a bigger group of 30?  
    • Answer: Smaller might be helpful depending on how much participation you anticipate. You can communicate more easily that way and have more back and forth. When you get in those larger Zoom meetings, it’s hard to jump in and speak up. Smaller breakout groups are definitely a nice idea.
  • Tip: It doesn’t have to be: “We need to do something for social content.”

A lot of things you’re already doing. Ask yourself: What activities do we have that could be nice to capture and share out on social? It’s a smart way to show people that life is going on, and life is still great in the community. It’s always nice when you can share a virtual event. It gives an impression of vitality and vibrancy.

• What virtual events are you doing right now? 
  • We’ve posted some of our activities on Facebook—short programs with people exercising in the courtyard.
  • One community wanted to have a celebrity chef do a cooking demonstration, so they sent ingredients to those who RSVPed. We’re still working on setting it up

• What moments are coming up that you could build an event around?

September 16 is National Play-Doh Day. Maybe artists can create with Play-Doh. It’s an excuse for something fun. There’s never a shortage of those interesting holidays that you’ve never heard of.

Grandparents Day: What a time to highlight intergenerational connections.

Instead of having grandchildren visit, grandparents can make gifts for grandchildren, and they could be delivered.Grandparents can share advice for grandchildren, and it can be shared on social.

• Is anyone addressing COVID concerns directly in social content? If so, what response have you gotten?
  • I follow a lot of clients and I haven’t seen much lately.
  • We’ve been sharing our COVID status and policies via Constant Contact. People are sharing how grateful they are that we are taking care of the community. We’ve been COVID-free since June 1.
  • Have you purposely not put that content on social? No, we just haven’t thought about it, but I guess we also haven’t wanted to brag about being COVID-free because that could change tomorrow.
• Question: A lot of people I know had their Instagram accounts hacked. How can we stop that?
  • Answer: Update your passwords. (Since our personal Instagram is our gateway to community sites, it’s even more important to make that more secure.) Another person said, “I recently had my accounts hacked. There’s a link you can use to report to Facebook that this isn’t you.”

Cory Lorenz presented an Enquire data slide showing recent media trends:

Cory: Social media inquiries are up year to year, and email is up huge. Conversely, direct mail is taking a hit, and out-of-home and paid referrals are way down. We’re curious whether this looks accurate to you for your specific communities. Are you seeing the same trends?

• Internal referrals are down a little, but we’re working on a new testimonial campaign
• We’re getting more leads from the internet and email; direct mail has flattened out.
• We’ve cut way back on direct mail and advertising—it’s expensive in big-city markets. Most of my referrals are coming fromfriends, family and other people who are aware of the community.
• We are getting more internet advertising referrals, and paid professional referrals are down. Since you can’t have events anymore, that’s one reason direct mail is taking such a hit.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, August 27, at noon ET.

For log-in information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

In our most recent sales and marketing roundtable, community marketers shared their recent sales ups and downs as well as some valuable tips for virtual events.

Check out the recap of our discussion below. Please also join us for our next sales and marketing roundtable next week. Details are at the end of the post.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, August 20, at noon ET.

Cara Stefchak and Cory Lorenz will join us to discuss social media and digital media usage during the pandemic.

For log-in information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

As communities gathered virtually last week, most people seemed to be feeling frustrated, finding that prospects of late are need-driven. On a positive note, salespeople realized they aren’t alone, and it was comforting to know that others are in the same boat.

Check out the highlights of our discussion below. Please also join us for our next sales and marketing roundtable, coming up next week.

J

Join the next sales and marketing roundtable on August 13!

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, August 13, at noon ET.

For log-in information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

At Thursday’s sales and marketing roundtable, communities met virtually to discuss their reopening challenges. Mark Ingram, CEO of SenioROI, joined us to share his thoughts on direct marketing and list procurement in the time of COVID-19.

Check out the recap of our discussion below. Please also join us for our next sales and marketing roundtable, coming up next week.

Today’s guest: Mark Ingram, CEO, SenioROI

SeniorROI has worked in the retirement industry for 20 years and offers a variety of services related to data on senior living. We lived through the 2008 financial crisis, but this is different. This situation will last longer, and it’s already having a different effect on the industry. Some of the creative methods we’re using may stay around after the crisis, but we have to get through this. Here are some tips to connect with prospects:

• Stay productive now, and prepare for what’s next
  • Lessons learned from 2008
    • Stay in front of waiting lists
    • Follow up on leads
    • Mail (mass and personal)
    • Phone calls
    • Curated gift boxes targeted to your prospects (senior-related, COVID-19-related, people whose adult children live far away)—the gifts let people know you’re thinking about them and brighten their day
    • Send a meal from the community to the top 5% of the database
    • Use time wisely to capture the leads that are ready!

• What can you do right now?
  • Harness the power of your CRM. Clean up your internal database. Determine how many of your leads have moved to a competitor, how many are deceased and how many have moved out of the target market. (In case of a death, append the spouse’s name—it could trigger a buying behavior.)
  • Append demographics. You can do a reverse-append from email, and/or mobile, to get the postal data 50 or 60% of the time. If you have the postal data, you can append home equity, age, financial information, spouse’s name and age, or third person in home. Put the info in your CRM using custom fields—and make sure the sales team knows how to use it. Example: “We’ve got a one-bedroom unit; let’s find all the single females who can afford it.” Think about different scenarios, and get the sales team comfortable with appended data. Once you understand the prospect, it changes the conversation and helps the sales team dramatically.
  • Create a profile of your best prospects. Look at age, financial and geographic information that will help you buy the right list. Once you have the list, you can do direct mail, but it’s not the only thing you can do with a database. When you have the postal addresses, you can match individuals on Facebook. Some of the highest match rates will be through mobile devices and email, but you need a postal address to do that. Once you can match people on Facebook, you can serve them digital ads, through addressable geo-fencing, that go to their phone, laptop and desktop. Note: Addressable geofencing is essentially putting a digital fence around their address and serving ads to devices that are active in that zone. Looking at the database a little differently is extremely important to maximizing its value, or what you get out of it.
  • How many records do you need to create a profile? You need about 300 to 500 records. There are different segments in the profile. One is existing residents, which can go back 2 to 3 years, but the most relevant data is within the last year. Every status code should create a profile—a move-in, a tour, a lost lead.
  • Tips on purchasing a list: When you’re buying data, ask specific questions. Three to 10 percent of the data is outdated the day that you get it—that’s the acceptable percentage in the industry. People have moved out of the market, are deceased, etc. Ask your list provider: How often is the data updated? What compiler is it coming from? There are a ton of sources, some better than others; all have strengths and weaknesses. Some of the best data comes from using a multi-source compiler—that’s what we do. Ask specific questions.

• Direct mail during COVID-19—does it work?
  • It can definitely work and be part of your overall marketing plan:
    • Success story: After a $21,000 spend, a client got the following results: “After cleaning up our database, and appending key demographic and financial data, including email addresses, we identified metrics for a new purchased list for lead generation. This led to a successful webinar series, generating 164 new leads, 5 new sales and 5+ wait-list sales in just two weeks.” – Jeanne La Roe, Marketing Director, Givens Estates 

• Is there a concern with touching mail that comes to the house?
  • We’ve got some research from the Postal Service, and one of the direct marketing associations, that shows there is no evidence of COVID-19 being spread through the mail. Prospects look forward to going to the mailbox—it may be the only thing they’re doing to get out of the house every day
  • Here’s some information on this question:
    • From CBS News
    • From the USPS
    • From the CDC: “There is still a lot that is unknown about COVID-19 and how it spreads. Coronaviruses are thought to be spread most often by respiratory droplets. Although the virus can survive for a short period on some surfaces, it’s unlikely to be spread from domestic or international mail, products or packaging. However, it may be possible that people can get COVID-19 by touching a surface, or object that has the virus on it, and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.” Learn more about safe handling of deliveries and mail.

• What can you do if people get mail for a deceased loved one and threaten to sue? Each community should keep its own “do not mail” list on file. As these calls come in, address the issues, and provide callers with a link to be removed from lists. Make sure you have that “do not mail/call” list, and make sure your provider is taking people off the list. Deceased suppression should be run every time you send a direct mail. Doing that decreases the chance that you will get a call like that. Most people who aren’t in the retirement industry don’t understand why this is so important.

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, August 6, at noon ET.

For log-in information, contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

At our 18th sales and marketing roundtable, communities contributed ideas and talked about changes on their campuses. This week, Adam Grafton, vice president of culinary for Morrison Living, shared his tips for elevating environments while keeping communities safe.

Here are some tips from Adam’s discussion:

He and other Morrison Living employees live by this motto: “Through compassion and dedication, creating an equitable approach to memorable experiences.”

Elevating Experiences in the Next Normal

• Assure Safety
  • It’s obviously more important than ever
  • How are we communicating this to current and future residents?
• Deliver Care
  • Care of associates and residents
  • Focus on wellness
• Take Action
  • Look at opportunities to create innovation now and for the future

Culinary

Take Action:

• Wellness
  • Set snack time with fun vibes (music and dancing)—all while social distancing
• Flexibility
  • Residents have been introduced to different styles of service and food

and will want flexibility moving forward

Consider creating a marketplace for groceries for purchase or delivery

• Cognitive health
  • Superfoods—virtual demonstrations through community channel (e.g., health benefits of citrus)

Technology

Take Action:

• Wellness
• Equitable food solutions
  • iPads with menus
  • Self-order kiosks
  • Residents able to view nutritionals
  • Technology connects directly with POS at community
• Flexibility
• Cognitive health

Innovation

Take Action:

• Independence
• Variety and flexibility
  • Takeout becomes more important, as well as other styles of service
  • Heavy on tech side with automated machines
    • Takeout lockers
    • Automated salad makers
    • Automated barista coffee machine
    • Virtual teaching kitchens
    • Robots to help assist with service
  • Experience
  • Socialization

Training + Engagement:

Take Action:

• Retention
  • Let residents know that you’re thinking about them during this time with a takeout/delivery menu
  • Alcoholic/nonalcoholic drink kits to coincide with current events (e.g.,mint juleps for Kentucky Derby—which will be held on Saturday, September 5, this year)
  • Note that takeout items must be carefully selected as not everything will travel well
• Safety
• Pride of ownership

 Additional discussion:

• Social distancing
  • Distancing of tables
  • Encourage reservations and staggered seating times vs. everyone attending at 4:30 p.m.
  • Dining rooms won’t be filled since there will be so many different types of services (market cafe, takeout, sit-down dining, etc.)
  • Staying 6 feet apart will be the new norm
• Signage
  • Essential signs (floor/reminder to stay 6 feet apart)
  • General signage that assures residents, staff and visitors of the extra precautions your community is taking to keep them safe (washing hands/hand sinks)
• Dining updates
  • We’ve reopened our dining rooms, but only at 25% capacity. They are being used at all hours (7 a.m.–7 p.m. for bistro and 5–8 p.m. for fine dining)
  • Our bistro is open with limited service times

Join the next sales & marketing roundtable on July 30!

• Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, July 30, at noon ET.

Mark Ingram from SenioROI will join us to share his thoughts on direct marketing and list procurement in the time of COVID-19.

For log-in information, contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com

During Thursday’s roundtable, retirement communities around the country shared sales and marketing strategies that are working during COVID-19. From virtual events to smart home communications, tech is being tapped frequently to reach and attract residents.

Join the next sales and marketing roundtable on July 23!

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, July 23, at noon ET. We will have a speaker from Morrison Living sharing tips to create safer environments.

For log-in information, please contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

During Roundtable #16, community marketers shared the latest news from their campuses as they worked on new sales tactics.

Check out the highlights of our discussion below. Please join us for our next roundtable, coming up this week.

Join the next sales and marketing roundtable on July 16!

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, July 16, at noon ET.

For log-in information, contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

Last week, communities swapped ideas about marketing during challenging times. Varsity partner and WildFig President John Bassounas joined our roundtable to share his thoughts on the importance of using data to drive decisions.

Check out a recap of our discussion below. Please also join us for our next roundtable coming up this week.

Recap of John Bassounas’ discussion on data and analytics:

We believe that:

• The future belongs to organizations that embrace a data-driven approach.
• A comprehensive data strategy is at the core of a winning organization.
• Analytical applications transcend disciplines and drive efficiency across the entire organization.
• First-party data, plus open-source data, has significant potential to transform strategy and drive positive outcomes.

Why be data-driven?

• Consistency
• Longevity
• Awareness
• Responsiveness
• Reason-based decisions
• Dynamic feedback

What are common obstacles to using data?

• Lack of strategy
• Poor objective mapping
• Resource limitations
• Lack of integration—data is in silos
• Poor collaboration
• Technology crisis
• Situational awareness
• Skill deficits
• Organizational culture
• No adaptive response
• Scalability issues
• Institutional bias

Analytics continuum

• Keep things simple—ask what questions need answers, and what data can help provide insight?
• It’s valuable to look at data through a descriptive lens.
• The more forward-looking the question, the more value it has for the organization.

Who is responsible for analyzing the data you collect?

• We have a web partner that does Google Analytics, and a digital marketing person on staff who pulls data. I was also a market analyst, so I do a lot of the analyzing myself, through Enquire. We’re not currently using open-source data.
• Once you collect and analyze the data, it’s important to get it to the right person, and teach them how to act on it/make it actionable.
  • Situational awareness
  • For example, we take fall data and present to a fall committee, which can make the findings actionable and integrate changes seamlessly into day-to-day behavior.
    • Fall data may inform decisions about ramps, bars for walking, needed staff, etc.
    • Frequent fallers may have decreased engagement in wellness programming, and there may be an opportunity to re-engage them.
  • Allows for proactive vs. reactive decision making
• We are in a position to predict the likelihood of a person contracting COVID-19 when they onboard to a community.

If you’re interested in seeing data and analytics examples, or tools that we use, please let us know. We would be happy to share any of the tools and walk you through the process in more detail. This is an opportunity for differentiation, growth and efficiency, and we would love to share more information. Contact John Bassounas directly, at JBassounas@VarsityBranding.com, or contact Derek Dunham at DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

Join the next sales and marketing roundtable on July 9!

Please join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, July 9, at noon ET.

For log-in information, contact DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

As more areas open up, communities met virtually for roundtable #14 to discuss this week’s reopenings and answer one another’s questions.

Check out the recap of our discussion below. Please also join us for our next sales and marketing roundtable, coming up this week.

Questions from attendees:

What can our resident panel talk about in an upcoming Zoom call?

Ideas discussed:

• Ask residents to share what they’ve been up to on campus (and the fun they’re having)
• Talk about dining and activities
• Discuss safety protocols in place
• Talk about how the administration communicates with residents and keeps them engaged
  • Were you respected as a resident and individual?
  • How did the community try to keep life as normal as possible?
  • Do you have any regrets or wish you were still at home? (Use caution on this one; make sure you know what the resident will say)
• Contrast social engagement vs. social isolation

One participant asked about struggling with visually interacting with prospects since they can’t meet in person. How do residents interact with people? Is a Zoom meeting better than a Zoom webinar platform?

Ideas discussed:

• Webinars are good for larger conferences, and meetings seem to be better for more personal interactions with fewer than 10 to 15 people
• Zoom meetings allow for breakout rooms and more personal conversations
• Strive to book a private Zoom meeting in the days following a presentation to have a more personal conversation

We will explore this topic more in next week’s roundtable.

Join the next roundtable on July 2!

Come kick off the holiday weekend at our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, July 2, at noon ET.

You don’t have to be a client to join — all are welcome. For call-in information, email DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

As more cities opened up, communities met virtually for roundtable #13 to discuss this week’s triumphs and tribulations.

Check out the recap of our discussion below. Please also join us for our next sales & marketing roundtable, coming up this week.

Join the next roundtable on June 25!

You are welcome to join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, June 25, at 12 p.m. ET.

You don’t have to be a client to join — all are welcome. For call-in information, email DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

As some communities began to loosen restrictions, we all came together virtually for roundtable #12 to share our challenges and successes. Cara Stefchak, our senior social media strategist, shared tips on using social media during COVID-19.

Check out the highlights of our discussion below. Please also join us for our next sales & marketing roundtable, coming up this week.

Social Media discussion

• What content is appropriate right now?
  • There’s lots of confusion and uncertainty about what is okay to say right now on social.
  • The COVID-19 conversation is constantly evolving in real time (especially in the field of aging services).
  • You’re addressing multiple audiences: current residents and their families and prospective residents and their families.
  • How can you be a resource at this time?
    • Download the CDC flyer “Running Essential Errands” to give to your residents
    • Download the CDC flyer: “How to Protect Yourself and Others” to post on your social media

• What we heard last week
  • Mental health remains a challenge for residents.
  • Communities are gathering testimonials from residents (virtual resident panels).
  • Lifestyle is a focus in marketing. (There is an opportunity to  enjoy amenities while social distancing.)
  • Virtual presentations, tours and open houses are happening.
  • “Old-school” messages still apply for prospects: Safety and security are key.
  • Let’s talk about what these could look like in the social space.

• Mental health
  • Opportunity to hold events that bring the community “together” and showcase initiatives you’re doing to keep spirits up.
  • Capture some moments from events your community may be hosting to use as social content: virtual happy hours, performances, socially distant activities, etc.

• Think: What moments are coming up that we can use to surprise and delight our community?
  • First day of summer
    • Delivery of summer flowers
    • Virtual happy hour with a summery cocktail
  • Father’s Day
    • Meal delivery to dads
    • Special offer on any services for dads
    • Entertainment or activity to honor the day
  • Capture and share these efforts on social!

• Virtual events
  • Whether it’s programming for current residents or information for prospective members, both can be promoted on social.
  • Promote online events on your Facebook page, or even set up as an event on Facebook so people can invite others and get a reminder as the event approaches.
    • Before: Provide the event details, topic, any relevant RSVP information needed.
    • Before: As the event gets closer, and even the day of, send out a reminder.
    • Before: If there are special speakers, encourage them to share and promote the event on their own social channels (encourages sign-ups and introduces your community to new eyes!).
    • After: Any high-level takeaways you can share? #ICYMI
    • After: Encourage people to follow the page so they can be the first to know about future events happening that they can join!

• Open houses
  • Open houses done virtually allow so many prospects who may not be in your footprint right now to be able to take a tour.
  • You can either capture them on video (with your phone!) to post after the fact or use Facebook’s livestream feature for a more real-time approach.
    • Tours of rooms, common areas (resident or staff tour guides)
    • A walk around the community (showcase amenities and landscape)
    • Interview a resident (prep him or her beforehand)
    • Not sure what to show? Using Facebook’s polling feature, ask your prospects what spaces or people they want to see or learn more about.

• COVID-19
  • Do you have a blog program in place on your website? If so, develop content that speaks to this time and link to it on social.
    • Examples of blog topics that can be promoted on your social feeds:
      • With current residents in mind:
        • How to Stay Active at Home
        • Staying Connected While Keeping Socially Distant
        • The Importance of Self-care in Senior Living
        • Five Virtual Ways to Celebrate Dad During Father’s Day
      • With prospective/future residents in mind
        • Planning for Your Future in Uncertain Time
        • Five Amenities Available Right in Your Footprint
        • Tips for Downsizing and Moving During COVID-19
  • Use your social platforms to provide the latest updates and protocol as they relate to your communities.
  • Over half of U.S. adults are getting at least some information about COVID-19 from social media (eMarketer).
  • Filter your content through the lens of: How can we be a resource for people right now?
  • Don’t be afraid to pull the curtain back to show what changes look like in your community. Be transparent.
  • As services begin to open up and visitation measures get more defined, paint that picture on social of what it looks like for your community.
    • Communicate updates
    • Continue to push resources
    • Show what they look like in practice
    • Talk about your safety and security services
  • It helps current residents stay informed and shows prospects that you’re on top of things.

• What are communities hearing from their social communities right now?
  • When we shoot videos, we put them on YouTube and link to them on Facebook. We’ve had 127 page followers since COVID-19 started. We’ve never done so many videos. My goal is to show people at home how our residents are not socially isolated. People think our residents have to stay in their rooms (which is not true), so this is a way to show them out riding their bikes and enjoying life.
  • I love the personal virtual tour! It lends a personality to the tour. It’s all about building a relationship with the prospect.
  • Facebook is the best platform for senior living (if you were to pick just one). The other platforms skew a bit younger, which may not be the best fit. Facebook is an appropriate place to be playing.
  • LinkedIn is more for corporate messaging and recruiting (vs. outreach for prospects).
  • Facebook and Instagram are the biggest opportunities for general reach/audience.
    • Instagram allows for video content wonderfully; it’s a very visual platform.
  • Pinterest is a discovery platform. People are coming here looking for inspiration, DIY items, general wellness content (which may be appropriate for our space). We haven’t seen any senior living organizations on Pinterest, but it could be interesting.
  • Ideas discussed:
    • Featuring different team members on social media to explain their roles
    • Virtual tours so prospects can see your community
    • Sharing relevant news articles on your social channel — you don’t need to build from nothing; include other sources
    • Advice that residents would give to graduates
    • Social space is moving toward user-generated content vs. high-quality, produced content. Taking photos with your iPhone is perfectly acceptable.

• Questions for the group
  • Is anyone doing any off-campus events?
    • It doesn’t appear that any other communities on the call had done so yet.
    • If doing this, be sure to tag the event space (example: a botanical garden) in your social media post pre- and post-event to expand your audience reach.

Join the next roundtable on June 18!

You are welcome to join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, June 18, at 12 p.m. ET.

You don’t have to be a client to join — all are welcome. For call-in information, email DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

Last Thursday, communities came together to talk about the need to market their communities differently in the current environment.

You’ll find a recap of the discussion below. Please also feel free to join our next sales & marketing roundtable, coming up this week.

Join the next sales & marketing roundtable on June 11!

You are welcome to join our next roundtable discussion on Thursday, June 11, at 12 p.m. ET. Our Senior Social Media Strategist, Cara Stefchak, will share social media trends and best practices against the backdrop of Covid-19.

You don’t have to be a client to join — all are welcome. For call-in information, email DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

Communities in different parts of the country came together last Thursday to share their thoughts and challenges as shutdowns continue. Jackie Stone, VP of sales at Varsity, joined our general discussion to share insights on virtual event topics and processes during social distancing.

Check out the takeaways below. You are also welcome to join our next sales & marketing roundtable, coming up this week.

Jackie leads a discussion on virtual presentations:

• Presentation objectives
  • New lead generation
    • Use the purchased email list and lead base
    • Select universal topics of interest to anyone
    • Ensure that the presentation represents the lifestyle at the community and reinforces the established brand
  • Sales presentation
    • Target the lead base
    • Address common objections
      • “I’m not ready yet.”
      • “I want to stay independent.”
      • “I’ve lived here for 50 years; I don’t know where to start.”
      • “This apartment is so small.”
      • “I don’t want to live with all old people.”
      • “How would I even go about selling my home?”
      • “The economy/stock market is unstable.”
    • Personalize to the prospect
      • Customized to each individual prospect — what he or she values in life and in a community

• Potential presentation topics
  • New lead generation
    • Mindfulness — Putting Your Practice Into Place
    • Healthy Aging: Achieving Wellness in All Dimensions
    • Living a Big Life
    • Dispelling the Myths of Retirement Living
  • Sales presentations
    • Decluttering Your Life to Make Room for Experiences
    • Living a Big Life
    • Bridging the Gap Between “I’m Not Ready Yet” and “I Wish I Had Done This Sooner”
    • Protecting Your Nest Egg
    • Does a Life Plan Community Make Sense for Me?
    • Selling Your Home in a Virtual World
  • Personalizing to the prospect
    • Presentation of the community’s services, amenities, residences and benefits
    • Video walking tour of the community
    • Happy hour Zoom call

• Marketing automation
  • Targeting prospects
    • Email seminar invitation
    • Confirmation and login instructions
    • Resending of seminar invitation to those that did not open the original email
    • Reminder email two days prior to the event
  • Communicating with those who did attend
    • Post-webinar “Thank you for joining us”
    • Survey
    • What other topics might interest you?
    • Schedule a private appointment?
    • Next seminar invitation
  • Communicating with those who did not attend
    • “We missed you” email
  • Schedule a private appointment?
  • Next seminar invitation
• Typical attendance expectations
  • We’ve seen anywhere from 7–10, 25–30 and close to 50, so it can really vary.

Where are you doing to go from here with marketing?

• It depends on your community.
  • Examples:
    • One community is stretched for dollars because of the current bond market.
    • Other communities may have more money to spend, with cancelling in-person marketing events.
  • You may need to move dollars around in your budget. The focus will need to be on engaging prospects in blue sky projects. If you don’t use the money this year, you won’t have it next year! Spend it wisely, and don’t let it go.
  • An AL community in New York has online events/speakers every week. It’s very buttoned up and structured — link to check out: https://inspireseniorliving.com/events.
  • I think we’ll be Zooming for a long time.
  • Follow these virtual call tips.
    • Do a roll call.
    • Ask what participants miss during this time of quarantine. If they say Starbucks, deliver a coffee to their doorstep.

Join the next sales & marketing roundtable on June 4!

We thank everyone for participating, and we invite you to join the next session on Thursday, June 4, at 12 p.m. ET.

You don’t have to be a client to join — all are welcome. For call-in information, email DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

As social distancing continues, communities came together for roundtable #9 to share their ideas and challenges. Robinson Smith, creative director at Varsity, joined our discussion to share insights on brand-centric messaging during quarantine.

Check out the takeaways below. You are also welcome to join our next sales & marketing roundtable, coming up this week.

Insights from Rob’s discussion on creative messaging:

Rob shared this video, which essentially highlights how painfully similar much of the COVID-19 advertising is.

• Every commercial is exactly the same, with catchphrases like: “uncertain times,” “home” and “together.”
• Brands want to let you know they were there for you in the past, are with you now and will be with you moving forward. While these messages of hope and empathy are important as we move forward, it’s critical not to lose sight of the brands we’ve worked so hard to establish. We need to make sure we’re not abandoning them, especially as normal community marketing will not return for quite some time.
• While all communities want to communicate that they care about the safety of their team members and residents, they also should make sure that they are talking about their BRANDS and are leveraging the messages that they have put out into the marketplace and established over time.
• At Varsity, we talk about branding and brand personalities in terms of archetypes. The caregiver archetype is typically the archetype of industry, so it’s not a long-term solution for individual community branding as we go forward. Communities need to be intentional about expressing their own voices — explorers, magicians, lovers — and make sure that the things that set them apart from competitors are being stated in true, unique and compelling ways.

Join the next sales & marketing roundtable on May 28!

We thank everyone for participating, and we invite you to join the next session on Thursday, May 28, at 12 p.m. ET.

Jackie Stone, Varsity VP of sales, will be joining us for part of the session to share her insights on virtual event topics and processes.

You don’t have to be a client to join — all are welcome. For call-in information, email DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

In roundtable #8, communities brainstormed and asked for suggestions about marketing during COVID-19. Cory Lorenz, Varsity media director, joined our discussion to share insights on media consumption during this period of social distancing.

Check out the takeaways below. You are also welcome to attend our next sales & marketing roundtable, coming up this week.

Cory Lorenz shares insights on media consumption:

 Overall points:

• Everyone is isolated — not just seniors.
• Media consumption is up 60 percent since the quarantine.
• Netflix has over 2MM new members.
• Google keywords around senior living are up to record levels.
  • Advertisers like AARP are spending more than ever before on digital ($17.6MM since 3/13/20).
• Coming out of COVID-19, consumers are increasingly adopting free, ad-supported streaming services compared to paid streaming services.

Differentiating services:

• MVPD (multi-channel video programming distributor)
  • Video content delivered to consumers from a cable provider through a set-top box
  • Major players: Comcast, DISH, Time Warner Cable, Fios

• OTT (over the top):
  • Content provided via a high-speed internet connection rather than a cable or satellite provider
  • Major players: Netflix, Hulu, Sling, Prime Video, Apple TV

• CTV (connected TV):
  • Any TV that can be connected to the internet and can stream OTT content through its apps
  • Major players: Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, Chromecast

• VOD (video on demand)
  • Stream of an already-aired show that viewers can watch on their own schedule, with commercial breaks
  • Major players: ABC On Demand, Bravo Now, Food Network On Demand, CBS On Demand

Discussion:

How communities are putting broadcast to work:

“We bought cable through Comcast, and we targeted typical stations for seniors (news, weather, HGTV, etc.). We’ve seen some good interest, and it supports the lift we’ve seen in online metrics (along with mailers and other online media). The spot was previously produced, and we thought it would be nice to show lifestyle and happiness vs. the COVID message.”

Join the next sales & marketing roundtable on May 21!

We thank everyone for participating, and we invite you to join the next session on Thursday, May 21, at noon ET.

This week, Robinson Smith, creative director at Varsity, will join our general discussion for part of the session to share his perspective on branding in a time of changing messaging.

You don’t have to be a client to join — all are welcome. For call-in information, email DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

Last week, communities swapped ideas about marketing during COVID-19. For part of the forum, our VP of Sales, Jackie Stone, shared tips and insights on selling, which are shown near the end of this post.

Check out the takeaways from last week’s roundtable below. You are also welcome to attend our next sales and marketing roundtable, coming this week.

Jackie Stone shares some tips for nurturing leads:

• Continue to reach out.
  • Statistic: In 2018, people who moved into Life Plan Communities had an average of 6.4 face-to-face meetings, 2.4 tours and 16.5 callouts from communities. Altogether, there were around 35 touches for a Life Plan Community move-in. If we put marketing efforts on hold for COVID-19, we are going to make a mistake. We need to reach out in unique ways and put our community top of mind for when they make a decision.

• Have COVID-19 conversations. Ask questions like:
  • What’s the first thing you want to do when this is behind us?
    • Sales counselors have been asking, “How do you spend your day?” so they can follow up in a way that’s meaningful to the prospect. If they are documentary or comedy watchers, send them links for something in that genre that’s on Netflix.
  • What do you miss?
    • If a prospect says, “I miss a certain meal from a restaurant, the sales counselor can say, “I love Fiorella, too. Maybe we can meet for lunch there once this is over.” In the meantime, you can send them a meal from there: a dish they mentioned that they liked.
  • Is there anything I can do (or get) for you?
    • One community connected with someone who needed to have things picked up from a pharmacy and someone who had just come back from rehab and needed groceries. It’s all about the relationship at this time and getting to know people.
• Be prepared for questions you may hear from people:
  • How many cases of coronavirus and/or deaths have you had in the community?
    • This information is a matter of public record, so we can’t say, “We can’t give you this information.” It’s best to give the data if you have it and be honest and forthright, then follow up with what you are doing to keep your residents safe and engaged.
  • What are you doing to take care of residents?
    • Share with people: Infection control is what we do, day in and day out. We don’t have to create these procedures — they are already in place. Rest assured that we’re doing everything we can do to keep our residents safe.
• Be prepared for objections you may hear:
  • We want to cancel our reservation and get a refund of our deposit.
    • If a person wants to back out of an apartment, you might say, “I’m glad you are safe. Let’s just concentrate on that for now. I’m going to follow up with you in a couple of weeks, and we can continue the conversation at that time. Be prepared, address the elephant that’s in the room, calm people’s fears and say, “Let’s wait on that and talk about it again in a couple of weeks.”
  • We’ve decided to stay in our house.
    • If someone says, “We want to stay where we are,” you can say, “Oh? Why is that?” and then “Tell me why you decided on moving to our community in the first place.” If they say, “We wanted to plan our future and not rely on our kids,” ask them, “What has changed about that?” If they say it’s because of COVID-19, explain why you are still the best solution — that hasn’t changed.
  • I don’t want to live around all old people who are more vulnerable to this and other illnesses.
    • One participant said, “We remind people that we are all vulnerable; we can’t see all of our aches and pains and illnesses.” Being in a community is always better because there are so many things that we can provide for you here.

Join the next sales & marketing roundtable on May 14!

We thank everyone for participating, and we invite you to join the next session, Thursday, May 14, at noon ET.

This week, Cory Lorenz, media director at Varsity, will join our general discussion for part of the session to share his perspective on digital marketing.

You don’t have to be a client to join the session — all are welcome. For call-in information, email DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

Once again, communities came together virtually to exchange ideas about marketing in extraordinary times. This forum placed a special emphasis on public relations and crisis communications. Our PR director, Kim Lehman, shared tips and trends, which are shown near the end of this post. For more of Kim’s insights, read her blog posts on crisis planning myths and chaos-proof crisis planning.

Check out the takeaways from this week’s roundtable below. You are also welcome to attend our next sales & marketing roundtable, coming this week. Details are at the end of the post.

PR/Crisis Communications Trends and Tips

We are working closely with LeadingAge’s national office on PR opportunities with various national publications and news outlets.

Editorial trends we’re seeing:

• Positive news, creative ways of keeping residents engaged and healthy
• Employees recovering from COVID-19 and coming back to work
• Testing — Can you get testing? Are you testing everyone? Etc.

Every community should have:

• A designated, media-trained spokesperson
• Talking points
  • How you are responding to COVID-19
  • Prevention measures
  • Number of cases
  • How you are keeping residents engaged and loved ones informed
  • Protocols for team members

Media-training tips:

• Practice your bridging technique.
  • Example: Answer the question, (“Yes, we have cases of COVID right now.”), but bridge it to turn the conversation positive (“This is what we’re doing to keep residents safe and engaged…”).
• Every media interview is an opportunity, but you don’t have to do every interview if it’s not something you can respond to.
• Editorials/opinion pieces can be written and submitted to publications. Most papers have guidelines, and you can follow up with a call to the editor after submitting the piece.
• We really can’t overcommunicate during this time. Examples:
  • A community shared stats with prospects and how it is addressing COVID-19.
  • A CEO placed a large ad in response to a negative article on senior housing.

Join the next sales & marketing roundtable on May 7! 

We thank everyone for participating, and we invite you to join the next session, Thursday, May 7, at noon ET.

This week, Jackie Stone, VP of sales consulting at Varsity, will join our general marketing discussion for part of the session to share her perspective on sales and outreach.

You don’t have to be a client to join the session — all are welcome. For call-in information, email DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

As COVID-19 continues to impact senior living, we held another virtual roundtable to see what sales & marketing tactics are working now — and what will change at communities after restrictions are lifted. Check out the highlights below.

All are welcome to attend our sales & marketing roundtable next week. Details below.

Join the next sales & marketing roundtable on April 30!

We thank everyone for participating, and we invite you to join the next session, Thursday, April 30, at noon ET.

Kim Lehman, Varsity’s PR director, will join us for part of the session to share tips and trends on PR/crisis communications.

You don’t have to be a client to join the session — all are welcome. For call-in information, email DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

As COVID-19 continues to change life at communities, we held a virtual roundtable to share thoughts on keeping residents engaged while physically distanced. Check out the recap below.

Join the next roundtable on April 30!

We thank everyone for participating, and we invite you to join the next session, Thursday, April 30, at noon ET: A special PR/crisis communications session featuring Kim Lehman from the Varsity PR team.

You don’t have to be a client to join the session — all are welcome. For call-in information, email DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

Last Thursday, we held our fourth virtual sales & marketing roundtable. Communities have been finding it helpful to hear how others are coping with the coronavirus crisis.

We’re gathering for our next conversation next week, and all are invited to attend.

Join the next sales & marketing roundtable on April 23!

We thank everyone for participating, and we invite you to join the next session on Thursday, April 23, at noon ET.

You don’t have to be a client to join the conversation — all are welcome. For call-in information, email DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

Response to our COVID-19 conversations continues to be enthusiastic, so we held Sales & Marketing Roundtable #3 last week. For those who weren’t able to make it,  the high points are below.

We’re gathering for our next virtual discussion this week, and all are invited to attend.

Join the next roundtable on April 16!

We thank everyone for participating, and we invite you to join the next session on Thursday, April 16, at noon ET, for a sales & marketing discussion.

You don’t have to be a client to join the conversation — all are welcome. For call-in information, email DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

Last Monday, we organized a virtual forum where communities exchanged ideas about engaging residents during the coronavirus shutdown. Check out their creative solutions below.

We’re holding another Resident Life roundtable soon, and all are welcome to attend.

Join the next Resident Life roundtable on April 20!

We thank everyone for participating, and we invite you to join the next session, Monday, April 20, at noon ET: Resident Life discussion

You don’t have to be a client to join the session — all are welcome. For call-in information, email DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

Many of our clients were asking how other communities were handling the coronavirus crisis, so we gathered virtually at a roundtable to share our challenges and solutions. The response was enthusiastic, so we held roundtable #2 last week. For those who weren’t able to attend, we’re including some nuggets from that conversation below.

We’re gathering for another roundtable this week, and all are invited to attend.

Join the next roundtable on April 9!

We thank everyone for participating, and we invite you to join the next session, Thursday, April 9, at noon ET: Marketing and Sales discussion

You don’t have to be a client to join the conversation — all are welcome. For call-in information, email DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

Since the coronavirus hit, we have been in contact with clients all over the country who are facing the same challenges. Many of them have asked how other communities are handling this unprecedented event. To help communities come together and share their knowledge, we coordinated a roundtable discussion. Last week, 26 clients from 11 different states met over the phone to discuss their marketing challenges and solutions during the coronavirus crisis. We will hold two more sessions next week. All are invited to attend. (You don’t have to be a client to join.)

Here is a sampling of the insights that were shared:

Join the Next Roundtables on April 6 and 9!

We thank everyone for participating, and we invite you to join the next sessions. 

Monday, April 6: Resident life and resident engagement discussion
Thursday, April 9: Marketing and sales discussion

Both events to be held at noon EDT.

You don’t have to be a client to join the conversation — all are welcome. For call-in information, email  DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

Now that he’s three-quarters of the way through the LeadingAge PA Fellows in Leadership Program, CFO Brian Mailliard shared insights into his leadership journey.

Thank you for spending some time with us at the conclusion of your third session of Fellows in Leadership.
“The third session!” It’s kind of strange to even say that out loud, because the time is just flying by. This month, we visited Cumberland Woods Village. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center owns and operates this independent living community. One standout feature is the 250-seat theater. The community puts on shows, plays and other events in this beautiful venue.

What was the theme of Session 3?
Session 3 focused on two topics that just about all of us deal with on a daily basis. The first topic was Cultural Competency. Marsha Wesley Coleman, Director of Learning and Development at Friends Services Alliance, led that seminar. The second was Team Member Engagement, led by Gary Johnson, a consultant at Monarch Risk Management.

What insights did you take away from Session 3?
Well, the session featured many great takeaways. Here are a few that stood out:

1. Be aware of biases. The Cultural Competency workshop really got me thinking about biases and assumptions. Because these biases are engrained in all of us from a young age, we need to be cognizant of them when we are back in our organizations. Marsha Wesley Coleman showed us an eye-opening TED Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, entitled  “The Dangers of a Single Story.” This inspiring talk highlights the hazards of looking at a people or culture from a limited pointed of view. Anyone who hasn’t seen it should watch it.

2. Create an environment that engages team members. Studies show that 70% of  team members feel disengaged at work. That’s why Gary’s session focused on three things we can do to create more engaging workplace environments. First of all, take a collaborative approach to problem solving. Secondly, create equality between managers and employees. Lastly, personalize the work experience through individual recognition.

3. Don’t try to change employees. Something that really stuck with me? The principle Gary taught of not trying to change peoples’ behavior. Rather, he encouraged us to change their situation instead. That change will then influence their behavior.

4. Notice your own actions. The program is teaching me to always be aware of how my actions, assumptions and attitudes influence those around me.

5. Always keep working on engagement. You can never stop working on team member engagement. If you’re not working on it all the time, you’re falling behind.

Anything else you’d like to share about your leadership journey?
One last thing I’d like to add: the class has really come together as a group. Because people feel close, they do not hesitate to share even on tough subjects. And the coaches and trainers really foster that closeness. I’m feeling very inspired by the other fellows.  In fact, McKnights’ Senior Living recognized one of my fellow participants, Jennifer Cisneros, as a Woman of Distinction for 2019. Read an interview with Jennifer here.

Today I’m talking with Maura Z. Richards, Vice President of Business Development at Wohlsen Construction, a top-ranked construction company specializing in senior living. Prior to her current position, Maura spent more than 15 years working in senior living as a provider and consultant, giving her unique insights into finding solutions that are economically and operationally viable to increase occupancy.

Hello, Maura! Thank you for talking to me today! What do you view as the biggest challenge facing older adults in the middle market?

The affordability of senior living communities. We have not completely solved the middle market product challenges to serve the number of seniors that will need to move to — specifically  — an assisted living or memory care community. Seniors will stay home as long as possible — which more times than not means too late — due to the fact that they do not have enough money to afford a senior living community.

What are some common misconceptions about the middle market?

People get confused when you talk about the middle market. They think middle market housing is affordable, but it’s really not. It’s essentially less costly than a traditional senior community, but it’s still expensive. The middle market community is much smaller in size and has more of a model of two bedrooms sharing a kitchen and bath. This type of living arrangement is not one that a prospect seeks until there is a need.  Having been in senior living for many years, I can share that this is not what you want to hear when a prospect comes through the door. You want prospects to move to a community when they are independent  and not making a need-based decision so that they are content with the move and will take full advantage of the lifestyle a senior living community offers.

What are the biggest barriers to building for the middle market?

Building costs and land cost — with both being high, the financial model is hard to pencil out to be affordable for the middle market. Developers look for sites that are outside urban areas to keep land costs down. However, to make the community pencil out, there typically is less amenity space and an apartment layout in which two individual prospects share a kitchen and bathroom.

What is the biggest competition for middle market housing?

People’s own homes and technology. If people can stay in their home and install smart home technology for less than it costs to move to a senior living community, then they will always choose their own home. They will then wait until there is a need to move to a community. The struggle from a proforma perspective is that the higher the acuity level of the residents, the more staffing the community needs.  With that comes higher entrance fees and monthly fees.

Since studies have found that, by 2029, 54 percent of older adults will not be able to afford private pay senior living, how will the industry as a whole need to change? 

The industry will need to look to partner with other organizations to create a mixed-use development that taps several housing options to share in the cost of the amenity space to bring down the cost of senior living.

What types of organizations would be good partners for senior living?

Maybe there is an option for senior living to partner with intergenerational housing options to form a mixed-use development. For example, many universities need additional student housing yet are faced with high construction costs just like senior living. There could be an opportunity for developers to look at student housing and senior housing to share in amenity and community space to lower the costs for both. This would also allow both populations to take advantage of the educational opportunities.

Do you have any other creative ideas that could benefit the middle market?

Another idea I have thought about from a socialization standpoint is to build senior centers on or next to local public schools to leverage intergenerational opportunities and programs. High schools are being renovated all over the country and facing issues of getting funding passed. Why not look at combining the two? The more our younger population interacts with and understands senior needs, the more we will see solutions to take care of older adults in the future. To get youths to understand seniors, you have to put them together.

At the 2019 LeadingAge Tennessee Conference and EXPO, an entire audience of people sat together quietly, eyes closed, remembering how they felt on the first day of school.

After several minutes, the presenter had them open their eyes and share their feelings. Emotions ranged from fear and excitement to nervousness and anxiety.

Why did presenter Melissa Ward, PT, MS, RAC-CT, Vice President of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at Functional Pathways, have the audience do this exercise? She wanted to evoke the emotions students and parents feel on the first day of school, which is very similar to the way residents and their loved ones may feel on their first day in a retirement community.

Trying to find your way around an unfamiliar place can be a tremendous adjustment, and the move can be just as stressful for families leaving their loved ones. But there are ways to help the transition go more smoothly, like the techniques described in this recent article in McKnight’s Senior Living. And now, new residents and their families have another powerful resource to draw on: a unique program developed by the Functional Pathways team.

According to Ward, the Transition Concierge Program began as a “what-if” idea about two years ago. “A client community was  struggling with having residents successfully age in place,” Ward said. “New residents came in and weren’t engaged in community life. They weren’t taking advantage of everything available on the campus. This issue was leading to increased risk for falls and residents requiring higher levels of care.”

That’s when the Functional Pathways Team, led by Beth Reigart, Clinical Outcomes Specialist, decided to create the new Transition Concierge Program. This collaborative approach brings together a powerful arsenal of tools, including social services, nursing, therapy, activities, wellness, resident programming, resident support groups, resources for the family, on-campus physician services and more. By making the transition smoother, the program helps residents successfully age in place.

How the Transition Concierge Program Works

When the resident moves in, a Navigation Team conducts in-depth standardized assessments. Then, an Interdisciplinary Team creates a plan of individualized support. Every element is geared toward giving the individual input into his or her own life.

Here are a couple of examples: If a resident has breathing problems, he or she may need a plan that addresses limitations in endurance to make it possible to get to the bistro. If a resident has low vision, apartment modifications or a plan to get and read mail may be needed. Every resident adjusts to resident living at a different rate, according to Ward. The program was designed to provide services and support that fit each individual’s unique needs.

More Than Just a Real Estate Transaction

The Functional Pathways team believes that moving into an independent living community should be “more than just a real estate transaction.” It’s fostering a true continuum of care through this innovative service.

New residents may still face those first-day-of-school jitters. Fortunately, this innovative collaboration helps ease the transition so they can find passion and purpose in their new environment.

How is your community helping resident transitions go more smoothly? Let me know at DDunham@VarsityBranding.com. I’d love to feature your strategies in an upcoming blog post.

A solution to occupancy challenges can come from someplace you never expected, like foster care.

When you think about it, it’s a natural combination: Youth aging out of foster care need a job and a place to stay. Senior communities have empty housing, job vacancies and caring mentors. But no one has thought to bring the two together — until now.

Rosemary Ramsey, the director of The Victory Lap, got this unique idea while she was employed at Brookdale Senior Living and volunteering with Monroe Harding, a nonprofit that helps foster kids that are aging out of the system.

How The Victory Lap Began 

“I was sitting at my desk at Brookdale, thinking about occupancy challenges. At the same time, I was volunteering with kids aging out of foster care. I saw their issues of finding employment, housing and connection to caring adults,” Ramsey said. “It kind of hit me that my worlds could collide in a productive way.”

“The truth of the matter is, a lot of these kids never get adopted,” she went on. “Twenty-two thousand kids age out every year in America. At least 30 percent of them will experience homelessness — and every one that bottoms out costs tax payers over a million dollars.”

In addition to occupancy challenges at communities, there’s also a nationwide labor shortage. “There are tons of entry-level opportunities in senior housing,” said Ramsey.

She also feels that great relationships can develop between residents and youths aging out of foster care. “There are three things older people universally love,” she said. “Mail, ice cream and young people.”

Cannonballing Into Community Life

John, the first participant, age 18, liked the idea right away. “It was an opportunity for him to have his own space. In the group home, you have to share a kitchen and a bathroom,” Ramsey said. “He also liked the idea of being around seniors because he was close with his grandparents. And he loved the pool.” That’s why, to celebrate John’s move-in, the local TV station shot a video of him cannonballing into the community’s pool. Watch it here.

John will attend college this fall while working part time and living at East Ridge Residence, an independent living community. He’ll receive oversight and counseling from a local nonprofit: Partnership for Families, Children and Adults.

Now that her program is up and running, Ramsey is looking forward to future placements. “This is not just a touchy, feel-good opportunity. It has real, practical economic benefits,” she stressed. “Retirement communities can not only fulfill their need for employees, and contribute with some living spaces not in use, but they can actually receive a stipend from the state for helping provide housing.”

In senior living, she said, “intergenerational” is a popular buzzword, referring to initiatives like Girl Scouts coming in to read stories, but Ramsey thinks that it can be taken a lot further. “I think it’s a marketing advantage — a place where older people and younger people live together,” she said.

Expanding the Program

Eventually, Ramsey would like to expand the program to populations beyond the foster demographic, such as veterans and people who are developmentally disabled. “Our industry is sitting on 100,000 vacancies. Let’s try to make a dent in our occupancy challenges and think outside the box,” she said. “These people can add life to the community, and residents have life experience and wisdom to impart.”

Right now, Ramsey is excited that the first participant has moved in. “John is doing great! He describes life in the retirement community as ‘way better’ than the group home,” she said. “He  has more freedom to come and go as he chooses. His job in the dining room is going well, and he has his own section now, so he is proud of that! He’s enjoying playing Bingo and cards, and the residents are teaching him new games.”

Has your community found unique solutions to occupancy challenges? Let me know at DDunham@VarsityBranding.com.

Even after three days in the steamy summer heat, my excitement about everything I learned at the LeadingAge Tennessee 2019 Annual Meeting & EXPO is just beginning to heat up. The theme was: “What if we helped people find passion and purpose?” The individuals I connected with at the show are doing that in amazing ways. They’re bringing generations together, leveraging strategies from other industries and approaching their challenges with a fresh perspective.

Without further ado, I’m excited to report back to you my top five “what-ifs” at the show:

1. What if we could integrate former foster youth into senior living communities?

While I was walking the floor, I spoke with Rosemary Ramsey, founder of The Victory Lap, an organization committed to matching youth, 18 to 21, who have aged out of the foster program, with open apartments at senior living communities. The community would be paid $900 per month (funded by the foster program in Tennessee) and would be asked to provide a job for the individual (at least 10 hours per week). The program is intended to give former foster kids a boost — with stable housing, employment opportunities and support from caring older adults — while meeting workforce challenges, filling otherwise vacant units and fostering intergenerational friendships. Look for an interview with Rosemary in a future blog post!

2. What if we could bring the principles of doula care to hospice?

A session on creating a doula program for hospice created some serious conference buzz. The program follows the principles of birthing doulas to help guide the individual and family/loved ones through the dying process.

3. What if we could find and retain top talent?

One of my favorite sessions, led by Matt Thornhill, stressed the need for transparency and inclusion when hiring. It was all about finding and retaining top talent. One example Matt referenced was the innovative 30/40 program by LifeSpire of Virginia in which certified nursing assistants are paid for 40 hours but are only required to work 30.

4. What if new residents could feel at home more easily?

I heard several people talking about a unique continuum concierge program discussed by Melissa Ward, vice president of clinical & regulatory affairs at Functional Pathways. The program promotes successful transitions and helps people stay in their current levels of care. Its tools include new resident orientations, resident-driven support groups, physician services, collaboration across the care continuum and more. Stay tuned for a future blog post about this innovative program.

5. What if we looked beyond a prospect’s age and income?

Last but not least, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention our session with co-presenter Robbie Voloshin of United Methodist Communities (UMC). Robbie celebrated her birthday that day! The talk covered an in-depth research study on which we had partnered with UMC. In short, the study shows how going beyond superficial demographics to interests and values can help organizations connect more deeply with the right prospects. Discussion centered around the core aspects of the study — the values statements and how they were ranked.

Have you had any what-if moments of your own? If so, drop me an email at DDunham@VarsityBranding.com. I’d love to hear about them.

I’ve traveled all over the country to attend senior living conferences. Last week, I had one of my  favorite event experiences. It was just three minutes from my home in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

At most conferences, the locations change, but the same pain points keep coming up. Issues include staffing headaches, leadership transitions and ever-changing regulations. However, at the recent 2019 LeadingAge PA Annual Conference & EXPO, themed “Own Your Future,” speakers raised some new and different questions. These questions could dramatically impact the future of aging services. In case you weren’t able to attend, I wanted to share them with you.

1. Are smart speakers in communities breaking the law?

That’s one question you may not be able to ask Siri or Alexa. Even so, every community should be seriously considering it. As more and more providers (and more and more residents) plug in to voice assistant technology, the more potential legal and regulatory conflicts they face. For instance, allowing a resident to be audio-recorded without consent (which smart speakers do) violates both HIPAA and state wiretapping acts. Is smart technology always such a smart idea? In this fascinating presentation, Larry Zook and Cynthia Haines made the case for putting strong policies in place to deal with this new technology. 

2. Why do for-profit developments move so much faster than nonprofits?

For-profit senior communities can be built in 12–18 months, while nonprofits often take 3–5 years. What accounts for the faster speed to market? In a peek inside the for-profit world, Maura Richards of Wohlsen Construction and Jamie Spencer of SilverBloom Consulting broke down the reasons.  They included vetting based on market feasibility, no need for pre-sales, a focus on rentals and availability of equity. Can nonprofits find ways to speed up their own development process?

3. How can we extend housing solutions to the middle market?

As a field, we have options for people with significant resources. We also have housing  for people with extremely limited resources. But those in the middle? They’re often left without good choices. Research specialist Sara Marcq, banking professional Lynn Daly and architect Craig Kimmel discussed new models coming to market — including some for-profit rentals — to fill these unmet needs.

No, I didn’t take three flights to attend LeadingAge PA or visit an exotic locale. After the show, I got in my car, made two lefts and a right and arrived in my own driveway. This shows that a conference really isn’t about a place but about people. It’s people coming together to share their knowledge, in the hopes of improving life for older adults.

Two very different leaders have just reached the halfway point of their journey in the LeadingAge PA Fellows in Leadership program. For all those who aren’t able to attend, we wanted to share ten unexpected things they’ve learned about leadership along the way.

Brian Mailliard is the CFO at St. Paul’s. Sakkara El is the Director of Personal Care at Masonic Villages. As they hit the halfway mark of their journey, here are 10 invaluable insights Sakkara and Brian have gained about leadership so far:

1. Shake up your thinking. “I came into the program with my own ideas on leadership, much of which was inculcated during my youth,” said Sakkara. “Now I realize that there’s so much more to it. My overall thinking has expanded.”
2. Be aware of your impact on others. “The program is teaching me to be more aware of myself, and how my actions and reactions can have an impact on those I’m tasked with leading,” Brian said.
3. You don’t have to have all the answers. Brian has been amazed by the sheer volume of leadership information that is out there. “It’s not always about knowing all the answers,” he said, “but having resources to reach out to and learn from other individuals that are experiencing similar situations.”
4. Praise your team. All of the Fellows underwent a DISC profile, a test that assesses personality styles. “It was eye opening reading page after page about my leadership style,”  Sakkara said. She has made a conscious effort to implement some of the leadership suggestions that came from the profiles, such as praising the team she directly manages more often.
5. Be an advocate. The Fellows visited the Capitol Building in Harrisburg to gain a deeper understanding of the importance of advocacy, including interacting with government officials and their office staff.
6. Execution is key. Sakkara found one presentation on the work of leaders enlightening. “The lecturer explained the importance of crafting a vision, building alignment and championing execution,” she said.
7. Look outside yourself. Both Sakkara and Brian were inspired by a visit to  Messiah Lifeways in Mechanicsburg. “The community is very innovative and 100% resident focused,” Sakkara said.
8. Look inside yourself. “”It has been an introspective journey in terms of continuing to learn, grow and evolve in my leadership style,” Brian said.
9. Build relationships. Current fellows, past fellows and LeadingAge PA staff attended a mixer at the LeadingAge PA offices. “Meeting new people you can learn something from is always a plus,” Brian said.
10. Don’t wait to be a better leader. What would Brian tell people who are thinking about participating in Fellows in Leadership? “The sooner you can do it, the better.”

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Earlier this week, my entire world was disrupted. I flew to Pittsburgh for the Facing Disruption, Forging Direction conference, hosted by the Presbyterian Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (PAHSA). I participated in discussions about the major disruptors facing our field and came away viewing disruption as a positive force to be embraced. As I look back on the event, I can identify five major disruptions — and new directions that can transform them into opportunities. I wanted to share them with all of you who may not have been able to attend the conference. 

1. Disruption: tighter margins, leaner budgets
Many communities and systems are considering strategies to combat the changing needs of the mature market and increasing competition. This is evident in how communities are repositioning, contract types are changing and affiliations are continuing to develop.

Direction: Collaboration can boost financial strength. At the conference, Presbyterian Senior Living and Westminster Communities of Florida announced their intention to affiliate. Together, they will be the fifth-largest senior living organization in the country.

2. Disruption: a rapidly growing middle market
Forty-five percent of Boomers have no savings toward retirement, which means that most will not be able to afford the typical senior living community.*

 Direction: HumanGood is taking what it’s learned through its affordable housing communities to provide an innovative service to the middle market. We learned about how the brand developed Plaza Roberto Maestas in Seattle, incorporating street art that reflects the local neighborhood; a day care center for neighborhood children; local retail on the first level; and a plaza in the center of the complex that draws a variety of food trucks each day, attracting visitors from the greater community.

3. Disruption: a skyrocketing incidence of dementia
Caregivers already provide 18.5 billion hours of care per year at a cost of $234 billion, and the number of people with Alzheimer’s will more than double by 2050.**

Direction: Presbyterian SeniorCare in the Pittsburgh market has launched its Dementia360 program, which in the words of the organization “pioneers partnerships and collaborations.” The organization has developed a Dementia Care Center of Excellence, with educational programs, residential services, research and population health initiatives. This, along with its comprehensive care management expertise, provided the resources necessary to launch Dementia360, which is a series of tools to support both the caregiver and the person living with dementia.

4. Disruption: a dearth of qualified staff in senior living
The number of 16–24-year-olds in the workforce is expected to decline by 2.8 million between 2014 and 2024, which means that senior living communities could face major labor shortages.***

Direction: Presbyterian SeniorCare and Redstone, both of Pittsburgh,  shared two different models to bring youth in through education, volunteerism and internships. These types of programs introduce high school students to the benefits of a career in senior living, expanding the potential workforce at a grassroots level.

5. Disruption: unique partnerships providing exponential value

Direction: Twin Cities-based Presbyterian Homes & Services is pioneering relationships with payers and primary care/navigation to create a unique model to contain costs and — more importantly — provide the best-quality care to its residents.

I genuinely enjoyed my time at the conference and salute the leaders who came together to openly share their solutions for a common cause. And every day, every session was guided by this passage from Scripture:

“For surely I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11

I encourage everyone to address disruption head on by taking new directions that will move our field forward.

*Insured Retirement Institute
**Alzheimer’s Foundation
***Argentum Senior Living Workforce Trends 2018

The first session of LeadingAge PA’s 2019 Fellows in Leadership program was a huge success. I caught up with coach Diane Burfeindt, vice president of population health and housing at Presbyterian Senior Living, and participant Brian Mailliard, chief financial officer of St. Paul’s, to talk about the kickoff of the year-long program, hosted at SpiriTrust Lutheran’s The Village at Sprenkle Drive in York, Pennsylvania. “The other coaches and I were just amazed at how quickly the group came together — there was a really good energy,” said Diane. Brian agreed. The program was “even better than I anticipated it would be,” he said. Diane and Brian provided some top-level takeaways about what they’ve learned so far:

1. Leaders aren’t born; they’re taught. One surprising course insight debunked the myth of a natural leader. “We learned that anyone has the ability to be a leader, but not everybody is taught to be a leader,” Brian said.

2. The right decision may not always be the popular one. One of the challenges Brian has shared with the group is the realization that making necessary decisions for the health of the organization, may not be viewed as positive by everyone. “I want to be the likable person, and sometimes decisions need to be made that aren’t popular,” he said. Advice from the group: It’s okay if people disagree with you. And you’re not alone — most leaders deal with this issue.

3. It’s essential to see trends in action. The group toured the new assisted living neighborhood at The Village at Sprenkle Drive and heard about trends from Steven Jeffrey, chief strategy and innovation officer at Garden Spot Village, home of a five-apartment co-housing residence, just one of their innovations in senior living.

4. Titles don’t matter. The people in Diane’s small learning group work in a variety of areas, from finance to personal care to operations and strategic initiatives. “I think you can tell we didn’t talk about titles,” Diane said. “Regardless of experience or level or age, we learned a lot from each individual. It’s the diversity of thought and perspective in the learning circle that makes it so valuable.”

5. Other leaders face the same challenges you do. “It was reassuring to learn that the issues I’m dealing with on a daily basis aren’t limited to myself or my community,” said Brian. “Other people are going through the same things I am.”

6. Leading takes even more work than you’d imagine. Of course, leaders put a lot of effort into their jobs, but it’s essential to carve out time to focus on leadership development. “When I left the first session, what I was thinking to myself is how much study, time and thought people put into being a leader,” Brian said. “It’s something that you work at.”

Both Diane and Brian are looking forward to reuniting with their small group. “I’ve always found Fellows in Leadership to be a very personal journey,” said Diane. Brian seconded this sentiment. “I never slowed down before to think this way or contemplate leading in this way,” he said, “but I’m very glad to get the opportunity.”

Between sessions, the participants will be meeting virtually, getting advice on issues that arise at their communities and working on individual learning projects. “It’s always interesting to see how the group evolves through the year,” said Diane. Stay tuned for the highlights of the next session of 2019 Fellows in Leadership, taking place in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, May 15–18.

LeadingAge PA’s Fellows in Leadership program is a one-year, four-session program that focuses on effective leadership practices. Participants will gain the skills and confidence to enact true change to impact their real-life challenges.

At Varsity, we’ll be following coaches and participants as they make their way through the program. I kicked things off by talking to Diane Burfeindt, Vice President of Population Health and Housing at Presbyterian Senior Living, who is starting her third year as a Fellows in Leadership coach.

Derek: Thank you for talking to us. What motivated you to become a coach?
Diane: I was a 2012 graduate of the Larry Minnix Leadership Academy at LeadingAge and that was a life-changing experience — both personally and professionally. As LeadingAge PA started to evolve its program, I wanted to bring that experience to more people.

Derek: What kinds of experiences will the group share?
Diane: Sessions are each two or three days in different parts of the state. The participants will interact with experienced leaders from the aging services community and develop a network of colleagues. During each session, we tour a host community that’s part of LeadingAge PA. It’s really nice to get out and do that because a lot of people have not seen communities other than their own.

Derek: How is this program different from traditional leadership training?
Diane: It makes the experience personal to you. You’re not just sitting in a classroom and learning; you’re talking with others. A lot of us don’t get a chance to sit back and reflect on our challenges, to talk with people about how we might apply lessons to leadership issues we’re experiencing. It’s an incredibly valuable experience.

Derek: Who will facilitate the program:
Diane: MHS Consulting in conjunction with LeadingAge PA staff, are facilitating the program, and have included learning from leaders within our field that can offer very hands-on, personal insights.

Derek: What role do coaches like yourself play?
Diane: We will each have a small team of five or six, and we will stay with that team the whole year — helping connect what the Fellows are learning in the program with their actual work and leadership

Derek: Are participants from all areas and levels of leadership?
Diane: Absolutely: new leaders, seasoned leaders, middle-level leaders. Just in our last class, there were people from accounting, dietary, administration, activities, housing, nursing, home care — you name it.

Derek: How has the program strengthened your own leadership skills?
Diane: There’s so much I learned during the program and afterwards. I turned the corner on my leadership skills. Utilizing the alumni network since I graduated has been a total game-changer. The position I’m in now is a direct result of going through the program.

Derek: Why did it make such a difference?
Diane: Before the program, I thought that I needed to have everything figured out, that my job was to have a plan and implement it through leadership. I have since learned how many opportunities come my way when I know what I want to accomplish but leave the path open as to how I accomplish it. I allow more people in and follow up on opportunities that come to me. That is exponentially better than having it all figured out beforehand.

Derek: Does this program actually teach people to lead?
Diane: It doesn’t teach you how to lead step by step; it is more about learning what it means to be a leader. You might have had blinders on in the past as to what you thought was leadership and how you were leading. You realize that everyone is going through the struggle of finding the best way to lead — it’s a very personal time.

Derek: Does Fellows in Leadership confirm peoples’ desire to work in the senior living field?
Diane: Without a doubt! I’ve had so many people say that this program really reaffirmed their commitment to senior living — a lot of that is because they got the opportunity to meet with other people in the field and feel connected to them.

The first session of Fellows in Leadership will kick off on March 26. We’ll be following the program’s progress on the Varsity blog.

As the number of people living with dementia continues to rise, a wave of memory care construction is sweeping the country, and new bells and whistles are being introduced all the time — yet, what’s really most important in memory care design?

Recently, I asked a volunteer for her point of view. She has led resident activities in a community’s outdated memory care wing for years and is making the transition to running programming out of the community’s brand-new, $18.5 million stand-alone memory care building.

After the volunteer’s first day of leading a resident program in the new memory care center, I asked her how it compared to the former space. Here are her thoughts on what she would keep in the new design — and what she would change:

Keep:
• Privacy: Residents in the new center have their own spacious rooms and baths, with airy picture windows.
• Mood-enhancing lighting: State-of-the-art circadian lighting changes on a 24-hour-cycle to promote better sleep.
• Access to nature: Secure, outdoor courtyards have walking paths.
• Sensory stimulation: A relaxation room offers soft, comfortable seating and aroma therapy.
• Pet friendliness: Residents can have their own cats!

Change:
• Poorly designed programming spaces: To attend a program in the main multi-purpose room, residents have to be escorted
a long way, down hallways and through two secure doors. There’s no storage for craft supplies near where activities
take place.
• Style before safety: The beautiful marble reception counter has a sharp edge, and one of the volunteers promptly
banged her hip on it.
• Impersonal decor: Hall walls are adorned with art chosen by a decorator, but this volunteer would prefer a changing
showcase of artistic creations by residents.
• Unbranded exterior: Outside, the main sign simply reads: “Memory Car