CRM for Senior Living: Driving Engagement through Stronger Relationships

When developing software solutions for senior and assisted living facilities, the Glennis team knew that one key product was a customer relationship management (CRM) platform. Senior living centers rely heavily on a steady influx of new residents, not just to make a profit but to add fresh perspectives and personalities to the vibrant social dynamic at the heart of any community. Convincing prospects to become residents requires establishing a personal relationship between prospects and sales personnel, but this is challenging when every prospect brings with them a host of personal and technical information.  

Sales teams once had to make do by maintaining spreadsheets that sales professionals had to update by hand, allowing information, relationships, and sales to slip away. This is especially difficult for busy sales professionals with many interactions to track. Customer relationships can be difficult to establish and require constant upkeep and attention, or else valuable potential clients will take their business elsewhere. After all, a team that can’t reliably pay attention to customers does not inspire trust in their ability to pay attention to seniors. To keep up with their other work and wow customers with their attentiveness and responsiveness, senior living sales teams need a platform designed specifically for their industry, to keep leads from falling through the cracks while leaving time to connect with residents and their families. This need for personal relationships, automated data collection, and regular communication helped Glennis develop the ideal CRM for senior living. 

What is Customer Relationship Management Software?

CRM is a type of software platform that business owners and salespeople use to track communications and maintain positive relationships with leads and customers. A CRM platform takes a number of applications including databases, spreadsheets, calls, emails, text messaging, scheduling software, and more, and puts them all in one user-friendly, cross-referenced and integrated system. This creates a single centralized and streamlined source for all information and interactions, making relationships with consumers easy and intuitive. Staff members share access to the same CRM system, and can all make changes to update information and work together to close sales and provide amazing service. 

CRM software was created to record, organize, and manage data for business contacts. Different industries use specialized CRM software that suits their needs and best facilitates customer relationships. A simple spreadsheet is sufficient for businesses without too many contacts, or those that need to track only static data like names, addresses, and contact information. CRM is also critical for managing a large number of leads and transactions that may take some time to nurture and close, such as when clients are moving to a senior living facility. 

A CRM solution cannot track interactions that take place outside of its system, so teams should stick to using the CRM for all organization and communications. When a CRM platform is fully integrated into a company’s workflow and best practices it can use its collected data to provide a host of benefits, like:

• Dramatically increasing speed-to-lead and lead-to-sale 
• Show sales teams which leads are most engaged and likely to become customers, and which need more attention 
• Prompt timely interactions to maximize lead interest and retention 

In our era of Big Data, CRM software also tracks information of all sorts for use in data mining and analytics. This allows senior living sales teams to drill down on patterns and predict future trends to refine their best practices and further increase sales.  

Why Do You Need a CRM for Your Senior Living Community?

If all of these features sound perfect for senior living centers, that’s because they are. Senior living sales teams have a great deal of information to track and the right assisted living CRM handles all the legwork. A good CRM even helps choose the best time to keep up communications with a lead, taking some of the strategizing and scheduling off a sales team’s plate. But more than anything, senior housing CRM makes it easy to keep the sales process personal.  

Sales is all about connection and no senior living sales team can prosper without an individual relationship with prospective residents and their families. As early as the first encounter, sales personnel should establish a strong connection with leads and show interest, empathy, and a desire to help. The right senior living CRM software is designed to facilitate this personal approach, allowing sales teams to customize every interaction to suit the needs of each prospective resident.  

Without a CRM solution designed for senior living, sales teams simply lack the data and analytical muscle to provide this level of personalization. Because CRM software tracks dynamic data like engagement with emails, websites, texts, and more, sales personnel can gauge the prospect’s interest in and awareness of a senior living facility and its amenities.  

The inquiry process also allows a CRM platform to discover a lead’s background, such as, religious beliefs, career, and interests, and provides a whole host of biographical information with which to help forge a personal connection with the staff and other residents. Just knowing what prompted a search for assisted living can provide an excellent icebreaker, and CRM software is a great way to get this information. 

Senior housing communities without access to this information will simply fall behind those who use CRM. Knowing what each prospect wants, as well as when to contact them, creates a personal connection and maximizes engagement. Because CRM platforms store their data in one central location, any staff member is just as equipped as any other to maintain the relationship, offer property tours, or create a personal relationship of their own with prospects. Profiles are automatically updated, making it effortless to keep up with each customer’s evolving needs and interests.  

Features of a Senior Living CRM 

CRM software for senior living facilitates personal relationships between sales staff and prospects, while also drastically reducing the time and effort sales professionals spend on tracking each lead. Ideally, this creates a positive feedback loop where more time and better information leads to stronger relationships and increased occupancy.  

Here are the key features included in the Glennis CRM software platform.   

Shared Prospect Profiles:

Eliminating duplicate files for leads lets teams work together from a single customer profile. Sales teams share the same information for all prospects, including how leads have engaged with websites, emails, and communities overall. Seamless cooperation smooths and speeds the sales process, and helps provide the best customer experience once prospects become residents. 

Alerts and Dashboards:

Assisted living CRM automates daily follow-up tasks and reminders to maintain engagement with prospects and keep the sales process moving. Teams remain focused on promising leads at every stage of the sales process. Auto-updating performance dashboards  track progress so staff can adjust strategies in real time. 

Senior Living Suite System Integration:

Good property management software is just as important as a CRM platform. The right CRM platform integrates with property management software to automatically update data across both systems. Linked systems allow staff to monitor prospect and resident preferences, create smooth lead-to-resident transitions, and monitor health, treatment, family, and social activity across all software.

 

Lead Attribution:

Leverage every dollar spent on marketing by tracking the results of all outreach and engagement programs. CRM software connects to all referral networks to monitor website leads, consumer inquiries, and third-party referrals. Tracking each lead back to its source helps discover which methods are working and those that need to be adjusted, as well as perfecting marketing efforts across multiple properties. 

Competitive Advantages:

Senior living CRM platforms can track and organize offerings from competing senior living businesses, listing prices, programs, packages, and more. Sales teams can learn what they’re doing better than the competition, and find out where they can improve, while a system that updates automatically provides up-to-the-minute performance comparisons.  

When choosing a CRM, it is vital to avoid retrofitted or outdated CRMs designed for senior-living-adjacent industries like multifamily housing or real estate. Instead, a dedicated senior living CRM platform that supports the unique senior living sales process will eliminate gaps and workarounds and facilitate a positive experience for prospects and staff. 

Key Benefits of Senior Housing CRM Software 

With these features accounted for, it is vital to understand exactly how CRM software benefits assisted living businesses. At its core, a CRM platform streamlines the customer journey from the first sales interaction through move-in. By collecting key prospect information and keeping dynamic records of all preferences and interactions, senior living CRM software ensures no potential resident is left behind, maximizing both sales and individual attention.  

Here are just a few ways CRM for senior living from Glennis can help a senior living center’s sales team do its best work: 

Lead Capture and Response:  

Lead Nurturing 

Senior housing CRM collects data that sales teams can use to customize every prospect’s experience. The Glennis CRM platform lets teams communicate with prospects through their channel of choice, including services like Twilio and Outlook. A single unified interface for all channels makes it easy to keep tabs on the sales process for each prospect without hopping between apps. By tracking and logging interactions, the CRM software builds a profile of each potential resident to personalize interactions from lead to move-in and beyond.  

Email Marketing 

Email marketing campaigns are key to connecting with prospects. Linking email and CRM platforms makes communications smoother and faster while harvesting vital data on individual prospects and the consumer base at large. Sending open house invitations, special offers, or tour follow-up surveys to one contact or many becomes easy. The Glennis CRM platform automatically records activity and engagement data to save time and gain fresh insights.    

Care and Resource Planning 

Tips for Choosing a CRM for Senior Living

A Senior living CRM is the best way to bring communication, marketing, data analytics, and team coordination all into one convenient and easy-to-use system. This software offers easy lead generation, a faster lead-to-sale process, and a smooth transition from sale to residency. Premium assisted living CRM, like that offered by Glennis, takes the indispensable customer relationship to the next level, allowing all team members to work together to create a trusting and personal rapport with each potential resident. This relationship follows each individual through their senior housing journey and makes sure seniors have the best possible assisted living experience, surrounded by friends, family, and staff who understand their needs. 

To learn more about how Glennis Solutions can help your senior living community achieve an even higher level of performance get a free demo.