02 Mar Highlights from the “Everyone Sells” shop talk session

It’s no secret that sales and marketing teams at senior living communities are often siloed. Although the sales and marketing team represents less than 5 percent of the organization’s personnel, they are responsible for up to 100 percent of the revenue. But does that let the other 95 percent off the hook? Can the other departments rightly claim, “I am not in sales, so it’s not my job,” and pass the buck?

When prospects tour your community, they ask themselves one prime question: “Can I see myself living here?” If the answer is no, that’s the end of it. And everything and every person your prospects experience during their time in your community moves the needle in making a sale. Because plenty of first impressions prime their experiences, every department is responsible for their part.

“If the business you are in requires you to deal with people, you, my friend, are in sales.”
-Zig Ziegler

Humans innately practice “seeing and intuitive thinking.” This skill has helped us survive over the millennia, and we still use it today. How does that translate to your community? The prospect begins calculating the moment they drive onto your property. A vast number of intangible perceptions begin to collect in their mind.

Which begs the question: Does your branding end at the front door? Does your brand promise only live in your community’s advertising, website and brochure? Is the “gut feeling” of your brand embodied in your people and places?

Your community’s brand and mission must consistently be conveyed throughout a community. In 3rdThird’s upcoming AJAS presentation, we outline key elements of The Brand Compass and present structures and methods for instilling your brand where it counts most—in real life. Your community team can use it as a touchstone to see how close the “authentic brand” matches the community’s “aspirational brand” and gauge your decisions.

Because CEOs and COOs can’t do this alone, we demonstrate organizational ideas to make this real and give your sales team and marketing department a leg up on their competition. After all, alone, they can only spark inspiration, but they need help fanning the flames in the form of allies throughout the community.

Here are a few tips on how to accomplish this:

1. If you don’t know it already, define your brand promise so that you can communicate it powerfully to everyone in your organization.
2. Enroll your C-suite and executive team in championing the “everybody sells” approach.
3. Host enrollment conversations that inspire other department heads to support the “Everyone Sells” mindset and create policies and communications to encourage the right behaviors at the right time.In a sense, “Everyone Sells” is a philosophy that requires a good sales pitch to make this initiative a self-sustaining effort that generates lasting, transformative results. But here’s the significant part: It doesn’t necessarily require money or a significant investment of financial resources to make great gains. But it does require a willingness to change.

While our upcoming presentation is brimming with good ideas attendees will take back to their community immediately, we will reveal the most compelling one right now.

Drum roll…here it is: Share the community’s service agreement with frontline staff. Most have no idea how much residents pay to live in your community. By sharing the Service Agreement at all staff meetings and onboarding, you instantly impress upon your team the importance of their job and the value they bring to residents. After all, if the prospect is dining and the water glass is spotty, that’s the dishwasher’s role in selling!

“In every community, I have the pleasure of selling and coaching; I saw significant shifts in team members when I shared the service agreement. A light goes on, and there is an immediate difference in their demeanor,” said Don Warfield, 3rdThird’s Community Coach specializing in sales training and interim sales direction roles.

If you are attending AJAS, please watch our presentation. If you are not, let us know, and we’d be happy to meet to discuss the Everyone Sells approach.

Cheers to your community’s success with everyone selling!