Great Sales leaders know that those who build the best relationships reign in occupancy. And one of the most impactful ways to build rapport is through the tour experience.
On the tour, your sales team becomes the trusted advisor and vision casts what golden years could look like at your community. Oftentimes, this tour experience is moment needed to get those precious move-ins.
As a visionary in your company, you’re probably spending time and energy putting plans in place to do relationships better in your communities. Here are 3 strategies for better lead management that will lead to more tour conversions.
1. It’s time to unhandcuff yourself from time-sucking software
Effective leaders expect sales teams to spend a large portion of their time conducting home visits or meeting with referrals. However, this doesn’t always happen because many senior living operators are using software systems that keep them handcuffed to their desks.
It can be too much work to be out of the office because a salesperson’s CRM mobile version isn’t friendly. Your software shouldn’t make you need to print something in order to do your job. You shouldn’t have to wait to have your laptop open to look at reports when you’re away from your desk. You deserve to be able to do your job on the go.
Why is leaving the office so difficult?
If you want more time to build real relationships with real people, you need software solutions that can keep you in sync and give you time back in your day. Do an audit of your current software, does it help your team become high performers or hinder them?
2. Delegate your follow-up call strategy
You can’t deny the importance of a follow-up strategy with your leads. It takes an average of 12 contact points to schedule a tour. The majority of salespeople give up after 3 attempts. That’s a lot of missed opportunities, and ultimately, missed revenue.
However, if your sales team is already maxed out on time and resources, one of the best things you can do is to delegate your follow-up call strategy. This can be done internally (although time-consuming and not always effective), or through hiring a dedicated contact center to help you with the legwork of lead management.
At the VIA Contact Center, we work a disciplined and proven contact plan for your leads. We represent your brand and communities and will call your leads up to 20 times in a 90-day period. We know the details matter. When we pass on a tour, you’ll have everything you need in front of you — like you had the conversation yourself.
When making the decision to outsource lead management, don’t delegate your precious leads to just anyone. You need someone you can trust to handle your first impression.
The VIA Contact Center hires US-based representatives with a background in senior living, healthcare, and people who are college educated to represent your brand.
The VIA Contact Center can take all the noise away so you can be out doing the most meaningful work; focusing on more tours and move-ins.
3. Create a system for after-hours and weekend coverage
Imagine this: your salesperson just had a 50+ hour week flipping apartments, conducting tours, managing leads, and growing occupancy. On top of their regular responsibilities, there’s a staffing shortage so they spent an extra 10 hours working the floor, folding laundry and helping with residents’ immediate needs.
Finally, it’s time to relax over the weekend. Then the phone rings, but your salesperson is at their daughter’s soccer game. The call goes to voicemail, but they don’t leave a message. Your salesperson doesn’t get back to the lead until Monday afternoon.
Sound familiar?
Our data shows that 35% of resident inquiries are made after hours and on the weekends. Of those, 60% of phone inquiries go to voicemail and 80% don’t leave a message.
What systems do you have in place for answering calls on the weekends? When a call goes to voicemail are you quick to follow up? These missed connections tend lead to missed tour opportunities.
Your sales team needs processes in place to answer calls at all hours. If your sales team only works 9-5, outsourcing for more coverage will ensure your calls aren’t being missed, and therefore, tours aren’t being lost.
With VIA advocates on your team, you’re covered 12+ hours a day, 7 days a week — even on holidays. Never worry about missing a prospect due to vacations, staffing gaps, or… life.
Your sales team is already amazing at converting tours. What they deserve is more time to do what they do best. When you leave the follow-ups to us, you and your team can spend more time building real relationships with real people.
