CALA News & Views | Issue 56 | Innovative Aging

Sales Standard 2: Personal Connections. Deep Discovery gives us information in many areas of our prospects and their adult children’s lives. One of these areas is typically of the personal preferences of their lives. These may include hobbies, favorite foods, university affiliations, family traditions or other details that help us understand what matters most to each customer. Using Creative Follow-Up (CFU), we focus on these personal and often joyful areas of discovery to make each follow up feel thoughtful, relevant and memorable. Whenever possible, the glimpse we provide should highlight the most engaging and enjoyable aspects of life in our community and be customized to their “discovered” stories! Sales Standard 3: Team Selling. Team Selling means involving the entire department head team in the Creative Follow-Up process. Each discipline has a role in helping customers imagine what life could look like in the community. Because research shows that current residents and their family members are among the most trusted voices in senior living, we also engage them when appropriate. When similarities are identified through Deep Discovery , these resident and family connections can strengthen trust, personalize the experience and make the customer’s glimpse more authentic. Sales Standard 4: Daily Strategy Meeting . The Daily Strategy Meeting , also known as the 10-3-1 / Hot Board Meeting , is a focused daily discussion about the next 10 families expected to move in. The board includes four key areas: customers, including adult children; top needs; personal connections made; and Next Steps, also known as Creative Follow-Up . The most important discussion centers on Next Steps in column four, as department heads brainstorm creative ways to broaden and deepen each customer’s glimpse of life in the community. This glimpse must extend across every discipline, including culinary, wellness, activities and other areas of daily life. The process is led by the community’s chief sales officer, the executive director, who helps ensure that the team remains aligned, intentional and accountable. With inquiry-to-move-in conversion rates often remaining below 10%, it's worth asking whether traditional sales approaches are meeting the needs of today's consumers. Rather than relying solely on standard tours, providers have an opportunity to create more meaningful, memorable and personalized experiences that give families a clearer picture of what life in the community can be. Organizations that have adopted this approach have seen significant improvements in conversion rates, resulting in more efficient marketing investments and, most importantly, helping more older adults and their families find the right community sooner.  Michael Marlow has been in the senior living profession for 33 years and currently serves as the president of The Marlow Group, Inc. a sales training company specializing in delivering community-based training sessions for teams seeking occupancy and revenue increases.

When speaking with prospective residents and their adult children, a common theme often emerges. Many families find it challenging to distinguish one senior living community from another, particularly during the touring process. As one family member recently shared, "Many communities look similar, highlight similar features and follow a familiar tour experience. It can be difficult to determine which one is the best fit for our loved one's unique needs." This feedback presents an opportunity for providers to create more personalized experiences that help families better understand what makes each community unique. This quote is one of hundreds I have heard over my past 33 years in senior living… and I see little effort or desire to change this Velocity and Volume mindset. As researcher Dr. Margaret Wylde describes Velocity and Volume , “The more phone outs you make and the more tours you lead, the more your occupancy will grow.” Dr. Wylde’s research, published over a decade ago, rejects this approach and describes a much more efficient and effective approach, Time and Skills . Simply stated Time and Skills means investing more time with fewer people for better results. Utilizing Dr. Wylde’s research, I have created a full sales training system focused on this revolutionary philosophy based on the Time and Skills superior methodology. Recognizing that “trust” is the number one reason cited by consumers when choosing a senior living community for themselves or their loved ones, I have created eight behavior based, field-tested and time proven S ales Standards , that when consistently executed, build strong trust-based relationships which in turn guarantee occupancy and revenue success! To begin, we must end the tour mentality completely. A tour sends the message that “one size fits all” as you are forcing the customers to determine where they fit into your community, based on a generic overview. In place of “tours,” we must engage in creating meaningful, memorable and unique Experiences that provide our customers with a “glimpse” of what their lives would look like in our community. This “one size fits one” mentality is not only the most effective means to grow our business, but also what our customers deserve and have been denied for far too long. Sales Standard 1: Deep Discovery. Deep Discovery goes beyond the listening skills commonly taught in sales training programs. While holistic listening is essential, the real power of Deep Discovery comes from asking thoughtful, sequential questions. Broad or ambiguous answers may be initially shared during Deep Discovery , but because of our commitment to follow-up questions, we are eventually rewarded with specific, actionable insights. We must have the concept of funnel to go from ambiguous to specific. This combination of purposeful questioning and attentive listening helps us understand each customer’s story and create the “glimpse” they need to imagine what life could look like in our community. Let’s take a quick look at the first four Sales Standards.

CALA NEWS & VIEWS I ISSUE 56 | AUGUST 2026 30