Category: Roundtable

Christine Hall is a regular Roundtable attendee and Varsity was happy to welcome her recently as a Roundtable guest presenter.  

Christine is an award-winning marketing director with more than 20 years of experience in community development projects and senior living. She’s also part of the team that turned the 100th anniversary celebration of Franke Tobey Jones into a case study in how to celebrate a centennial in style. She shared that winning formula (and more) in a recent Roundtable. 

RESIDENTS LEND A HAND

It became clear that Christine would be handling the centennial project alone, without additional support or extra budget—quite a daunting task. Realizing the need for extra hands, she decided to reach out to the residents, inviting anyone interested to join in and help bring the centennial celebration to life.

Christine’s vision for the centennial celebration came together with an ambitious and exciting scope of work. She planned to collaborate with the resident committee, Franke Tobey Jones Senior University, and the philanthropy department to pull it all together. The resident team included seven dedicated members, led by Redmond Barnett, a historian and museum curator.  

A CELEBRATION BASED ON FOUR KEY EVENTS

Christine and the team landed on four main events to serve as the centennial’s anchor celebrations. They’d kick things off on May 22nd—Frank Tobey Jones’ birthday—with a special centennial spring tea, building on the annual tradition they already hold. 

Then, the big celebration would come on the first Friday in August, when residents and their families gather for a festive picnic. This year, it would double as the official centennial bash. Following that, they’d host a special event for the Centennial Circle donors, celebrating those who’ve been key supporters. 

And finally, in October, the centennial would wrap up with a Senior Writer Showcase, a highlight from the Senior University program. Together, these four events would mark a year of celebration, reflection, and community.

100 STORIES & FRANKE TOBEY JONES DAY

Christine asked the committee if they’d stay on through the end of the year to tackle the next big question: deciding on the “Franke Tobey Jones 100 Stories”—the key moments and memories to highlight in honor of the centennial. Thankfully, they all graciously agreed, extending their commitment to help shape the story of the community.

Later, Christine collaborated with a PR company to craft a media plan and drafted a letter to request that Tacoma declare May 22nd as Franke Tobey Jones Day. With help from the committee and a former congressman’s endorsement, they sent the request to the mayor. 

THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

The centennial celebration drew 350 guests, including residents, team members, families, and city representatives. With vintage cars, a caricature artist, and a swing band, it was a lively nod to the 1920s, all thanks to Life Enrichment Director Heidi White.

On August 19th, Christine hosted a small gathering to thank the centennial committee, presenting each member with a glass plaque in recognition of their dedication and hard work.

Varsity’s Roundtable is a weekly virtual gathering of senior living marketers and leaders from across the nation. For updates about future weekly Roundtable gatherings, submit your name and email address here. 

Kiera DesChamps is a transformational sales leader, educator and strategic consultant for WellRive, a full-service move management company specializing in relocations and downsizing for older adults, including those transitioning to senior living communities. She’s was also a recent presenter in Varsity’s weekly Roundtable gathering. 

Kiera discussed what prospects are thinking as they’re driving home from a tour of your community and how communities can do more to help prospects accelerate the decision-making process and manage their senior living transition. 

Here’s a look at some lessons from Kiera’s time as a Roundtable presenter. 

INFORMATION OVERLOAD ON THE DRIVE HOME

Senior living communities often invest significant resources in marketing and in showcasing their amenities to attract potential residents. After a successful tour where prospects are impressed by the facilities and staff, the real challenge begins when they return home and face the complexities of their current reality. These include the logistics of moving, financial considerations, and family dynamics.

Kiera highlighted that communities often provide detailed packets filled with vendor recommendations and resources, and this can lead to information overload. Prospective residents find themselves with multiple packets from various communities, each containing numerous options. This can result in confusion and even paralysis, making it difficult for them to make a decision or even delaying the move due to the stress of sorting through so much information.

WE ALREADY KNOW THE BARRIERS

The barriers to transitioning into senior living are well-known – they include financial, emotional, and physical challenges. While communities provide seminars and vendor partnerships, true support extends beyond initial interactions. Kiera emphasized that discovery often uncovers overlooked issues like inconsistent communication or prospects feeling unheard.

Building genuine relationships and ensuring attentive follow-up makes a significant difference. Guiding prospects through the entire process alleviates stress, which is a vital consideration given that this transition is among life’s most stressful events. Kiera emphasized that support means active guidance, not just providing resources. Genuine help simplifies the process, ensuring prospects aren’t left to navigate it alone.

WHAT DO YOUR PROSPECTS WANT? 

Kiera posed an essential question: What do prospects really want? She stressed that understanding this requires a significant investment of time and effort. While sales roles come with many responsibilities, including tours and various tasks, going beyond the basics and embedding supportive services and partnerships early in the process can make a real difference.

Providing resources only at the end of the decision cycle can delay prospects’ choices. If communities guide prospects from the start, helping them navigate options and feel supported, it could lead to decisions being made months or even years sooner. This proactive approach benefits both the prospects and the community, by fostering trust and potentially accelerating the move-in process.

Varsity’s Roundtable is a weekly virtual gathering of senior living marketers and leaders from across the nation. For updates about future weekly Roundtable gatherings, submit your name and email address here. 

Recently, we were honored to welcome Margit Novak as a presenter at Varsity’s weekly Roundtable gathering. Margit is an author and speaker who’s widely recognized as the founder of the senior move management industry.

Margit’s award-winning memoir – Squint: Re-visioning the Second Half of Life – is a profound and memorable personal reflection on the abundant possibilities of later life. In her presentation, she shared some of those reflections with the Roundtable group and showed us how to harness our storytelling superpower and use it to create more effective marketing communications. 

Here’s a look at a few of the lessons from Margit’s presentation: 

STORYTELLING: HARNESSING YOUR SUPERPOWER

Margit emphasized that stories are meant to inspire, not serve as factual reports. They aim to teach, persuade, and be memorable. She highlighted that stories can be powerful tools in client interactions and speaking engagements, such as “meet the author” events. These events attract people who may be hesitant about the idea of moving but are open to a more casual, storytelling environment.

Whether using others’ stories or developing your own, storytelling can be a superpower in connecting with clients. Margit noted that although storytelling is currently a hot topic, its popularity is due to its proven effectiveness.

HOW STORYTELLING CAN ENHANCE CLIENT INTERACTIONS

Margit offered storytelling tips for enhancing client interactions:

1. Focus on the Essence: When incorporating stories, avoid overloading them with details. Only include elements that contribute to the atmosphere or message. If details don’t add value, they may distract from the core message. Emphasize what’s most memorable rather than trying to recall every original detail.
2. Deliver with Intention: Great stories need great delivery, which doesn’t happen by accident. Effective storytellers review their stories and practice using vocal effects—such as pauses, volume changes, and repetition—to enhance impact. These techniques should be more pronounced in storytelling than in everyday conversation to captivate the audience.
3. Repurpose and Retell Stories: Stories are meant to be adapted and shared. If a story resonates, feel free to retell it, adjust details, or make it your own. This flexibility allows for stories to remain engaging and relevant in various contexts.

Varsity’s Roundtable is a weekly virtual gathering of senior living marketers and leaders from across the nation. For updates about future weekly Roundtable gatherings, submit your name and email address here. 

Varsity and our Roundtable attendees were treated to a special guest recently when we were joined by Dr. Sara Zeff Geber, the nation’s foremost authority on solo aging and the author of Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers.

Dr. Geber shared a closer look at solo agers, including an analysis of who they are, their population, key statistics about them and what solo agers want. Here’s a closer look at some highlights from her presentation: 

THE SOLO AGER POPULATION

The solo ager population is not as small as some might think. Dr. Geber referenced data from a 2021 U.S. Census Bureau study, which helped illustrate the size of this demographic. 

Focusing on the childless population, she explained that, among the generation preceding baby boomers, about 10% (around 2 million people) were childless. However, this percentage increased significantly with the baby boomer generation, especially among late boomers, where nearly 20% (one in five women) did not have children.

THE SUPPORT SOLO AGERS ARE MISSING

Dr. Geber’s research identified six key areas where adult children commonly support aging parents, such as residential decisions, real estate management, and financial and emotional support. 

Solo agers, without family support, face challenges managing these tasks independently. She cited a friend whose mother, despite moving to a Life Plan Community, still needed her children’s help with real estate and personal matters. Dr. Geber emphasized that Life Plan Communities can fill these support gaps for solo agers, assisting with real estate and financial decisions, making them an appealing option for those aging without family assistance.

WHAT SOLO AGING RESIDENTS WANT

Research into solo agers’ housing priorities revealed a strong focus on community and social connections, which they value even more than the average baby boomer. 

Dr. Geber advocates for senior living communities as an ideal solution for solo agers, advising against aging in place. She emphasized that communities catering to solo agers’ unique needs will be more attractive to this demographic. Additionally, she noted that many solo agers are well-qualified for senior living options, further supporting her belief in these communities as the best choice for aging independently yet with ample support.

Varsity’s Roundtable is a weekly virtual gathering of senior living marketers and leaders from across the nation. For updates about future weekly Roundtable gatherings, submit your name and email address here. 

Mary Munoz is senior managing director at Ziegler. She was also a guest on our weekly Roundtable where she shared some insights from her 30 years of experience in senior living.

At Ziegler, Mary works with a broad range of senior living communities and multi-facility systems in strategic growth planning and creative financing strategies. She also has extensive experience with start-up CCRC projects, campus expansions and redevelopments, and refinancings.

Here’s a closer look at some highlights from her presentation: 

CRISES HAVE MADE US BETTER

Crises have continually transformed the senior living industry. During her time at Ziegler, Mary saw the financial impacts of 9/11, the Great Recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic, all of which led to mergers, bankruptcies, and industry consolidation. She noted a similar trend in the 1980s hospital sector, where reimbursement changes triggered widespread mergers.

In senior living, larger organizations are increasingly the ones that adapt and thrive, as they can diversify and spread costs. Mary believes single-site communities are declining as pressures rise. She stressed that future crises are inevitable and urged organizations to prepare. She challenged the audience to consider how their sales and marketing efforts are positioning their organizations to adapt and remain resilient.

EVERYONE NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND THE BOTTOM LINE

Understanding the bottom line is crucial, yet it’s often overlooked in organizations. Mary pointed out that while some employees are revenue centers, every employee is ultimately a cost center. 

She referenced the Retirement Housing Professional Program at LeadingAge, where Ziegler taught the financial module, and she frequently led the West Coast sessions. In her training, she encouraged participants to engage with their CFOs using a set of key questions, including, “How do I impact the bottom line of this organization, and how can I improve that impact?”

TECHNOLOGY IN SENIOR LIVING

Mary emphasized that while technology will be transformative in senior living, it won’t be resident-facing tech that makes the biggest impact. She believes that older adults in retirement communities crave physical contact, social interaction, and a sense of community, much like teenagers do. She noted that technology alone cannot solve the loneliness issue that older adults face; in fact, it could potentially make it worse.

Instead, Mary sees back-office technology as the real game changer—tools that improve workforce management, healthcare efficiency, and operational processes. It’s not about replacing people with robots, she explained, but enhancing the human element and creating opportunities for more meaningful interactions.

Varsity’s Roundtable is a weekly virtual gathering of senior living marketers and leaders from across the nation. For updates about future weekly Roundtable gatherings, submit your name and email address here. 

Our guest at a recent gathering of our weekly Roundtable was Zack Collevechio, senior data scientist at WildFig and Pavone Group. 

Zack’s presentation focused on AI and included a discussion of what it is, why it’s valuable and how communities can leverage this technology to gain a competitive advantage in today’s market. He also used ChatGPT to give demonstrations of AI in action as a copywriting and customer service tool.

Here’s are some highlights from that presentation: 

AI-POWERED WRITING

Zack introduced AI’s role in writing and communication, noting its ability to produce natural language for diverse tasks. AI can assist with blogging by generating ideas, outlines, or full posts from simple prompts. It’s also useful for drafting emails, saving time for users who tend to overthink responses. 

AI ASSISTANTS

The discussion moved to building AI assistants with ChatGPT’s “custom GPTs” feature, enabling tailored models that align with your brand, community, and needs. 

Zack emphasized creating a personality and backstory for the assistant to enhance its performance. Clear, detailed instructions ensure it generates accurate, relevant content. Once customized, these assistants can be saved for ongoing use, eliminating the need to reset parameters each time and providing a consistent AI partner for your communication tasks. 

AI-POWERED CUSTOMER SUPPORT

Zack discussed AI-powered customer support, a popular tool that WildFig also uses. Chatbots provide 24/7 virtual assistance, managing many inquiries that would otherwise demand staff time. They help filter out low-quality inquiries, like price requests from unqualified leads, enabling staff to prioritize high-quality prospects. 

AI-POWERED SALES

Zack introduced AI-driven sales optimization, covering several valuable applications:

• LEAD SCORING: AI ranks prospects by their likelihood to convert, considering factors like website activity and past interactions. This allows sales teams to focus on the most engaged leads.
• CUSTOMER SEGMENTATION: AI groups prospects or residents based on behaviors, enabling tailored recommendations. For instance, a prospect frequently viewing a specific floor plan might receive an automated email featuring that interest.
• ENGAGEMENT TIMING: AI suggests the best timing and frequency for outreach, helping teams engage leads effectively by identifying those needing frequent contact versus those needing occasional check-ins.

Varsity’s Roundtable is a weekly virtual gathering of senior living marketers and leaders from across the nation. For updates about future weekly Roundtable gatherings, submit your name and email address here. 

Keith Carson from Integrated Sales Solutions was a recent guest on our weekly Roundtable meeting. His presentation — titled “Seeing Sales Differently: Transforming Practices for Meaningful Impact” — explored the profound impact of rhythms, practices and rituals in sales.

The conversation focused on three stages of the sales process – Engage, Qualify and Propose. Here’s a closer look at each stage: 

ENGAGE

Keith introduced the first stage of the sales process, highlighting its importance in setting the tone with prospects. He contrasted the typical approach, where a salesperson like “Salesy Steve” focuses on features and benefits, quickly diving into what his organization can offer. 

Instead, Keith advocated for a different strategy: start with the “why” behind the services. By addressing the deeper purpose and values that drive their work, sales professionals could foster a more genuine connection from the beginning, creating a relationship based on authenticity and shared values rather than a standard pitch.

QUALIFY

In this stage of the sales process, you can connect directly with prospects, asking questions to understand their needs and challenges. Keith contrasts this with “Salesy Steve,” who pressures prospects with relentless questions, often missing the empathy needed to address their unique struggles. 

Keith noted that sales professionals are often viewed with skepticism, with prospects wary of hidden agendas. Keith emphasized that trust is built not through grand gestures but through small, consistent actions—calling when promised, negotiating fairly, and being transparent about what the community can and cannot offer. These everyday moments establish genuine trust.

PROPOSE

At the proposal stage, you’re close to helping the buyer decide to join your community. Keith emphasized that while it’s tempting to focus on closing the deal, the priority should still be on the buyer’s needs. He urged sales professionals to approach this meeting with a service mindset, ensuring it’s genuinely about the prospect, not just the sale. 

By keeping the focus on addressing their specific needs and offering a tailored solution, you reinforce trust, creating a more authentic connection that supports the buyer in making the right decision for themselves.

Varsity’s Roundtable is a weekly virtual gathering of senior living marketers and leaders from across the nation. For updates about future weekly Roundtable gatherings, submit your name and email address here.

We recently welcomed Lindsey Beagley from Mirabella at Arizona State University as a guest on Varsity’s weekly Roundtable gathering. Lindsey describes her work as “innovating at the intersection of higher education and longevity.” As senior director of lifelong university engagement for Mirabella at ASU, Lindsey creates opportunities for residents to engage with the ASU campus. 

The following are some highlights from her Roundtable conversation. 

TWO INDUSTRIES, ONE POWERFUL NEW POSSIBILITY

Merging higher education with senior living might seem unusual, but this fusion can disrupt and redefine both fields. The concept of a university-based retirement community exemplifies how bringing together two distinct industries can lead to groundbreaking innovations and new possibilities.

DEMAND IS GROWING

The baby boomer generation, being the most educated retiree cohort ever, has a strong nostalgia for its college years. Additionally, boomers are healthier and have different expectations for retirement, compared to their parents and grandparents. Andrew Carle, who coined the term “university-based retirement community,” identified that seniors seek active, intellectually stimulating and intergenerational environments — qualities that are inherent to college campuses. 

A HIGHER EDUCATION RENAISSANCE

Lindsey believes that the 65-85 age range is not about winding down but, rather, a renaissance. Supporting this, the highest proportion of entrepreneurs are between 55 and 64 years old, showing a trend toward retooling and applying skills in new ways. Additionally, many people over 65 feel about 20 years younger than their actual age. To engage this demographic, products and services should meet their functional needs while reflecting their youthful self-perception.

THE BENEFITS OF INTERGENERATIONAL CONNECTIONS

The benefits of intergenerational connections are profound. For young adults, engaging with older generations enhances civic engagement, boosts entrepreneurial skills and builds self-confidence. For older adults, these connections reduce social isolation and improve quality of life, along with offering physical benefits, such as better balance, increased strength and reduced risk of falls. 

Varsity’s Roundtable is a weekly virtual gathering of senior living marketers and leaders from across the nation. For updates about future weekly Roundtable gatherings, submit your name and email address here.