The face of a company makes all the difference in the world, especially when it comes to driving more move-ins. Just think about the first few minutes of meeting someone. Are you drawn in within seconds or do you quickly move on to something else? First impressions count and they count a lot.
The same concept applies to customer service, especially over the phone. There’s nothing more frustrating than waiting forever on hold just to talk to a live person, only to be transferred or not feel helped.
According to a Microsoft study on customer expectations, “96% of respondents say customer service is important in their choice of loyalty to a brand.” When your sales team is talking with a lead, they get one chance to be set apart from other communities a senior may be considering.
Sales leaders know empathy and first impressions are important – which may be part of the reason it’s so hard to think about outsourcing lead management. After all, can a contact center really be trusted? Can someone else handle your precious leads the way you can?
The answer is often a big fat no. Call centers that don’t know your brand, aren’t senior specific, and don’t have empathy as a pillar in their business models don’t drive sales. How can you be sure a third party is upholding a standard of excellence in their sales conversations? A compassionate voice on the other line can be the top factor in connecting with a successful lead and starting a solid resident relationship.
Paul Greenberg, author of “CRM at the Speed of Light” writes, “If a customer likes you and continues to like you, they will do business with you. If they don’t, they won’t.”
So, here’s the problem: as a sales director or leader of a senior living community, you don’t have the bandwidth to manage all the leads, but you don’t want to invest in just anyone.
Avoiding frustrating hold times and confusing directions are additional reasons to utilize a contact center’s expertise. McKnight’s states, “Senior turnoffs include poor voice recognition software that incorrectly routes seniors with accents or soft voices; multi-step processes that require seniors to input long codes, case numbers, or patient ID numbers; and menus with nine choices that are difficult to remember.”
An expert contact center can eliminate unnecessary hindrances and offer valuable guidance if a resident inquires about anything from community amenities to specific services for a loved one’s needs.
Serviam’s contact center is a group of highly-trained professionals appropriately called Advocates. Our Advocates are educated in empathy, technology, sales, and senior-specific characteristics. In other words, our U.S. based contact center professionals are trained in caring communication tailored to Independent Living terminology, Senior Living lifestyles, and extending a sense of security and peace of mind to future and current residents. Our Advocates also have a passion for what they do—something that translates to the person on the other side of the call.
Working as an extension of your sales team, Serviam interviews your leads, schedules family tours, and customizes a plan that fits your needs. Our process is designed to give you more time to share your community with future residents and a lot less time managing your top of funnel. Serviam’s lead management services will save you 10 hours each week managing leads.
That empathy and professionalism in handling calls will translate to more tours and move-ins for your community. ProProfsChat showed research from Gartner Research that revealed “64% of people find customer experience more important than price.”
Interested in learning more about our senior living call center? Send us a note today to discuss how your organization can partner with our skilled support team.