Shortening the sales cycle is key for senior living organizations to increase revenue. On average, the time between a referral and a move-in for independent living is around 120 days. That’s four months!
Compare this with the shortest cycle of about 70 days for skilled nursing. The higher the level of care provided, the quicker the move-in.
So, what can you do to speed up the sales process and increase occupancy - faster?
What factors can lengthen senior living move-in time?
There are a few variables regarding how quickly residents move into a senior living community.
First, as I mentioned above, the level of care makes a big difference. The need for higher levels of care typically arises from a specific instance — for example, an accident, illness or surgery. If your parent has been in the hospital and can’t return home, for example, you’re likely on a much faster timeframe to help them find a place to live.
Independent living, on the other hand, requires much longer decision-making time. Residents are typically making this decision on their own, not because of a particular inciting incident, and are considering a wide variety of factors:
- Cost
- Readiness
- Available options
- Proximity to family or friends
- Amenities and benefits of the community
- And more
With these factors in mind, there are ways you can help make the process smoother for prospects and give them peace of mind that they’re making the right decision. Conversely, you can also help prospects who aren’t the right fit self-identify and move on to other options — which can save your time as well as theirs.
Related: How to align marketing and sales teams for success >>
Speeding up the time to move-in with sales enablement
When prospects move in sooner, you’re bringing in revenue to your organization faster.
More and more people are educating themselves about your community before they ever pick up the phone and contact a salesperson. Instead of reaching out for initial information, prospects may have already spent time on your website, social media channels or other avenues to learn about your community.
Once they do reach out, studies have shown that, on average, it often takes between six to eight touchpoints or interactions with a prospect before a successful sale. These touchpoints can include phone calls, emails, social media messages, in-person meetings and other forms of communication.
A proactive sales plan can ensure that your communication with the prospect is reaching them at the right time. That’s why it’s important to understand how your prospects find and learn about you and provide the right information at those touchpoints.
How sales enablement works
Sales enablement is a strategic approach that empowers sales teams with the resources, tools and information they need to engage with prospects and ultimately get a move-in effectively.
It involves providing sales representatives with the right training, content, technology and support to enhance their productivity and effectiveness throughout the sales process.
Key components of sales enablement include:
- Training and development: Sales enablement starts with training sales representatives on your offerings, sales techniques, objection handling and other relevant skills to help them perform better in their roles.
- Content creation and management: Sales teams need high-quality content such as sales collateral, presentations, case studies, testimonials, prospect sheets and specs, and service demonstrations to educate and persuade prospects during the sales process.
- Technology and tools: Equipping sales professionals with the necessary tools and technologies, such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems, sales automation software and communication platforms, will streamline their workflows and improve efficiency. This is a non-negotiable for your team.
- Sales process optimization: Take a step back to analyze and optimize your existing sales process to identify areas for improvement. Then, you can implement strategies to increase sales productivity and effectiveness.
- Collaboration between sales and marketing: Facilitating collaboration between sales and marketing teams will ensure alignment on messaging, target audience and goals, and will enable a seamless handoff of the prospect from marketing to sales.
Overall, sales enablement aims to equip sales teams with the resources and support they need to drive revenue growth and achieve your organization’s goals.
Need help with your organization’s sales process?
Get the tips and tools you need to set up a great sales enablement strategy. Our free, on-demand video course with senior living marketing expert Melissa (me!) will walk you through the steps you can start taking right now to boost your sales efforts.
