I believe your job isn’t done just because you’ve made a sale. Doing the proper follow-through is the difference between making sure you have a satisfied customer - and someone who may end up feeling neglected after they’ve signed the contract. The former will always bring you more business – the latter, not so much.
For more on what I consider to be the essentials in follow-through in the seniors housing industry, please take a look at my new article, “Achieving Supreme Customer Satisfaction”
What you’ll see is that it’s all about the personal touch. Small stuff matters a lot – especially to a new resident in a senior community who may initially feel lost and alone. Making sure that person’s needs are met at move-in time will get their stay in their new home off on the right foot.
And speaking of feet, let me relate one example of how insensitivity to individual preferences can really lead to hurt feelings. I remember when a woman was placed in a care unit at a senior community – and each night, before bedtime, the nurse would remove the woman’s socks. The woman would get extremely upset and fight the nurse every single night. But the nurse insisted on taking them off. A nightly struggle that drained them both.
It turns out this woman had slept with her socks on all her life. That’s what she was used to. And suddenly she was in a strange environment, removed from everything familiar, and one simple thing that might have made her feel more comfortable – keeping her socks on at night – was denied her.
That’s an example of a power play that shouldn’t happen.
On the other hand, when you do make an effort to address residents’ preferences and needs, it pays off in the end. My clients are proof of that – here’s a testimonial from one of them:
“We began using the Traci Bild Sales System four years ago and it is now an integral part of our organizational culture. Our occupancies have increased and our sales teams believe that they have been provided with tools that support successful outcomes. Since implementing this system, we have improved our system-wide inquiry to appointment ratio by 20% & our appointment to move in ratio by 18%. We are believers in the system and attribute much of our revenue growth, our adult child satisfaction with the move-in decision, and our ability to meet the emotional needs of our residents to these powerful tools.“
- Loriann Putzier, Chief Operating Officer, IntegraCare Corporation
Attending to your customers’ emotional needs is both the smart thing to do and the right thing to do. It pays off in every possible way you can imagine – so make every effort to make it happen!
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