Senior Care Academy
Senior Care Academy is a podcast dedicated to providing valuable information and expert advice on navigating the world of senior care for both senior care providers, and families with aging parents. Hosted by industry professionals, each episode covers a wide range of topics including healthcare options, legal considerations, financial planning, and emotional support for caregivers. If you are a healthcare provider, have aging parents, or are a senior adult, this podcast is for you! Tune in to gain valuable insights and resources to help you make informed decisions and provide the best care for your loved ones.
Senior Care Academy
Strategies for Boosting Senior Living Occupancy with Julie Podewitz
Unlock the secrets to increasing occupancy rates and driving success in the senior living industry with seasoned executive Julie Podewitz. From her Midwestern roots to becoming a luminary in senior living sales, Julie combines her background in teaching and counseling to offer a unique, empathetic approach to sales. Learn why understanding human behavior and emotions is crucial in this emotionally charged market, and discover the fine line between empathy and sympathy that helps guide families through tough decisions.
Navigate the evolving landscape of senior living with insights from the early 2000s to today. Julie illuminates the shift in customer expectations and the heightened demand for personalized experiences and amenities as Baby Boomers take center stage. Hear about effective strategies to boost occupancy, from forging genuine connections to harnessing the power of a robust digital presence. Julie also shares innovative event strategies that go beyond traditional outreach, fostering meaningful connections within the community through smaller, targeted events.
Dive deep into the metrics and strategies essential for maintaining high occupancy rates. Julie discusses the financial implications of attrition and the unique challenges faced in senior living sales. Gain valuable takeaways from her book, "Solving the Occupancy Puzzle," and understand the importance of team culture and employee engagement in driving success. Julie's passion for teaching and coaching shines as she shares her excitement about current projects, including an online learning platform and innovative lead engagement tools. Don't miss this episode filled with actionable insights and strategies to enhance your senior living community's performance.
Today we have Julie Podowitz. Julie is a highly accomplished sales and marketing executive specializing in the senior living industry. As the founder and CEO of Grow your Occupancy, she leads efforts to increase occupancy rates and revenue for senior living operators. With over two decades of experience and previous roles like Chief Sales Officer at Vitality Living, she has successfully developed sales strategies and impactful coaching methods. She's also authored Solving the Occupancy Puzzle, a senior living regional director sales playbook. Known for her passion for teaching and coaching, Julia is also actively involved in fundraising for children's education at Venice Theater. Her dedication and strategic vision make her a key leader in the senior living industry. I'm excited to have you on, Julie.
Speaker 1:I always like to kind of jump in with a few get-to-know-you questions. So where are you from? How did that affect kind of who you became? I feel like it's special people that work with seniors sometimes.
Speaker 2:Well where I'm from. I'm from Metro Detroit, so I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit and I consider myself a Midwest girl at heart. I went to University, michigan, but I have not lived in Michigan since graduating from college. I grew up there and then I sort of grew up as an adult in Southwest Florida. So I spent the majority of my adult life there and then for the past seven coming into eight years outside of Nashville, tennessee, and my family my husband and daughter, dogs and I moved here just to be part of a group that started a senior living operator. So I've been on all sides. I've been involved in all sides of senior living. That's sweet.
Speaker 2:So what inspired you originally to focus your career on senior housing and specifically the sales and marketing side of it? Passion throughout my life is coaching and teaching others in different, various capacities. I taught grade school, I taught dance, I own a dance school and I've taught people of all ages and I got my master's as a counselor. So I was recruited into senior living because at the time the executive director for this one community thought oh, I would like to take someone who has sales experience and someone who has counseling experience and put them together. It was a great marriage. It's a passion. I love teaching, but I like the sales piece. I've always liked it because I'm very motivated.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And motivated by those carrots. So in sales we're never happy, we're never satisfied and there's revenue opportunities in sales that aren't always at the ready in other disciplines. So I am very, very grateful. It just kind of clicked for me and now absolute passion. I would never want to do anything else in senior living.
Speaker 1:Do you feel like your counseling and psychology background influences your coaching and training methods at all?
Speaker 2:100%, 100%.
Speaker 1:How so.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, in so many ways what's critically important to understand human behavior and to connect, and that's in sales and selling. Senior living is very emotional and requires that sales mindset but also that connecting sort of really understanding human behavior and psychology.
Speaker 1:It is an emotional purchase, very emotional, and you're not able to connect.
Speaker 2:And counseling and psychology and sociology and coaching is really getting to know your customer and that's listening, really understanding motivations, and I think that makes me a really good coach. It's made me a really good salesperson because I love to learn about people. And there's also that side, caleb, that you're not just a counselor, you have to, as a salesperson, you have to come in and give them advice and start leading the way. Yeah, get them to close as much as we wish we could just counsel and counsel.
Speaker 1:As a salesperson, you have to come in and give them advice and start leading the way.
Speaker 2:Get them to close as much as we wish, we could just counsel and counsel Just sit there and let them talk all day long.
Speaker 2:And that's it too. I mean you've got to watch sort of the path and stay on the path of empathy and not cross over to sympathy Meaning. When one does that we lose our objectivity and we lose the ability to advise and to if you cross over like let me give you an example. So I've been working with a family who is just just emotionally. They don't want to leave home, they love their home, they live there 50 years.
Speaker 1:Which most seniors is like statistically, like 80% or something like that Never want to leave their home Right. They don't want to leave their home right.
Speaker 2:They don't want to leave their home and there's motions tied to it. And let's say, you do a home visit and you see their home it's beautiful, it's big, it's lovely, it's all this and they, I don't want to leave home. I don't want to leave home. And if you cross over to sympathy, you think, well, I wouldn't want to leave this either, for like a 600 square foot apartment. So, but as an empathy empathy is I hear what you're saying and I understand that that's how you feel. However, you've come to me with these challenges, so why would you consider leaving home? So, as an empathetic salesperson, we help them stay, but we listen, we understand, I get it. However, as painful as this may be for you, you're doing this because of these reasons and I want to help the same thing with coaching period, sort of like. Well, I don't have time to do all that, or I don't want to do that, or I don't know how to do that. You got to help keep people focused in on what they want to gain.
Speaker 1:You got to help keep people focused in on what they want to gain. How have you successfully helped people dial into empathy, specifically in the senior living, rather than sympathy? Because I feel like the vast majority of people that get into any sort of senior care do it because they care about seniors and they are very sympathetic to them. They have a grandparent or elderly mom or dad that they adore, have a grandparent or elderly mom or dad that they adore, so how do you get them to get into the empathy side and not cross that bridge over to sympathy when it can be so easy?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a great question. I think it's really. First is helping people understand the difference and the why behind staying on the empathy side and the why behind being an advisor. You know, I don't want to be pushy. Giving advice when someone's come to you for advice isn't being pushy, it's doing what we're asked to do. Some people can't, caleb, truthfully. For some they just simply aren't able to navigate that. But I think once people understand and they understand the importance of being that advisor, being the objective, and then understanding too that you can care very deeply while staying objective and if you cross over, you're actually not helping. And that's why I think, if you think about it in many, many disciplines, think about it In many, many disciplines I'm just thinking of doctors, in which we're not doctors. But if it's your parent or your loved one, and let's just say you're a nurse, you're not allowed to care, you're not allowed to treat.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true. Because when it is, your parent, you lose objectivity. Part of the sales cycle that senior care marketing or senior living marketing and sales people go through, do you feel like any part of that process is trying to get the adult children to be on that same spectrum of empathy versus sympathy, or is it just the salesperson is the only person typically that is empathetic about it all?
Speaker 2:No well, I think it's harder. It's harder when you're the adult child and the influencer, and so, and we can only control our own self. Yes, I think it's important to help as much as we can help others. See that same thing. My father was in the hospital last year. He did pass away. He was 92. He was in assisted living six and a half years hospital last year. He did pass away. He was 92. He was in assisted living six and a half years. When I'm the adult daughter, as much as I totally understand and I think I did a pretty good job of staying as objective as I could, you know, when it's coming to these really tough decisions about what to do in situations where things are not going to get better, it's still your dad, you know, and there's still that piece. However, if you really think about as logically as you can, how much help are we actually giving by maybe feeling sorry for somebody? That's true, and also, it doesn't mean you care more if you feel sorry for you know.
Speaker 1:Actually, I think that that's a disadvantage that's true especially when, yeah, you're feeling sorry for their situation or you're like, completely sympathetic, you're right on the same boat with them. And when you're on the same boat, you can't you can't be the tugboat to get them back to shore 100.
Speaker 2:That's a great analogy. Don't get in the boat. Stay on your boat so that you're able to talk, because if you're in their boat, who's driving the boat? Yeah, and you might sink because you just added your weight to it or whatever, and now it's off balance. It's a good.
Speaker 1:It's a really good analogy so switching gears a little bit so with. You've been in kind of the senior living industry for since the early 2000s-ish. Early, yeah, early mid-aughts, mid-aughts yeah, what are the most significant changes that you observed during that timeline?
Speaker 2:Started as a sales director at a community and so I feel like I've really never lost that boots on the ground. You know what's happening, boy. Changes, so many changes, so many changes. What's changed the most? I would say a combination of things. Number one our customer, for customers, not the needs, quote, unquote. You know people should coming to us with those similar needs, but the demands of a customer.
Speaker 2:So when I first started, it was the silent generation, world war ii you know, that the silent generation and their, their wants, their needs were very different, uh, than our, the cohort now and then, as the silver tsunami, you know, comes, and we've been talking about this for 20 years, those needs and wants. Let me give you you an example. I grew up in middle class suburbs of Detroit. My dad was a school teacher, lived in tract housing right and we all lived in a I think it was 800 square foot home, loved it, never thought anything of it. We had one bathroom, we all shared one bathroom. Never thought anything of it. And the thought of doing that now and that's not to say that people don't do that and everything but now it's like, oh gosh, you know you got to have two bathrooms, or your kids and a walk-in closet.
Speaker 2:You know, I never heard of a walk-in closet, what we feel are mobile phones. I mean, we had one phone on the wall and everyone shared it. Now, oh my gosh, if you didn't have a mobile phone, your life would be over. So it's like those things that we need or have to have are different, very different. So that's number one. Number two there's way more competition. It's a great business to be in. It's a great business to be in. There's way more competition.
Speaker 2:And people live longer and longer and longer. And it costs more and more and more and more. And I know that incomes go up too, but I think the ratio of how much it costs to the income is a little bit more disproportionate. So there's that too. And there's more choice. There's just more choice. And then, finally, our customers coming to us with much more information thanks to the internet. When I first started the internet yeah, when I first started the internet was a thing, but it wasn't. We just had like one page it was. You didn't have really no website. I mean, your website was like sort of a page of information yeah, it was like.
Speaker 2:It was like an info so people are, they do many, they do hours of research and really are quite informed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so what would you say are some of the best strategies that you've seen in trying to increase the occupancy where we do have such an informed generation that they like? How do you influence that if they are doing all the research and then choosing? How do you increase your pipeline when they have that almost made up before they get there?
Speaker 2:They do and they don't, but I think that let's never underestimate the influence, the power of a great salesperson and a great salesperson in senior living, the top of the top. They're excellent connectors, they listen, they're advisors. So, yes, they're coming to us and maybe they've reduced it to these two communities, but they or they've done a lot of research. It doesn't mean they're ready to move. It doesn't mean they're at the bottom of the funnel. It doesn't mean they won't change their mind. Like this Doesn't mean there's tons of options to stay at home too. That's another thing. There's a lot of additional support at home. So that the power of exceeding expectation like this experience so far exceeded our expectations.
Speaker 2:I'm really wowed and that entire experience. That's how you influence. You don't influence by leaning across the table and showing them a flip chart and what better it is living in your community. You're going to demonstrate that. So I think that's really how to influence and how to build a pipeline is to meet people where they are. And how do you know where they are? You got to learn about them. If I came to you for advice hey, kayla, would you give me some advice? I would think that before just sort of spewing out some advice. You'd say sure, well, let's talk about it.
Speaker 1:What is it you're?
Speaker 2:you know what kind of you know what are you thinking about, right.
Speaker 1:Do you want advice on giving birth Cause? I don't know anything about both ways before you cross the street.
Speaker 2:Don't spend more money than you make? I don't know. Yeah, so it's, it's that and it's it's also being being. It takes follow-up and follow through and these decisions are again empathize. This is decision. It's a big decision. So I recognize that, um, so that I would say that and and certainly some of the maybe more obvious, maybe it's not obvious you know, a great web presence, great digital presence and nurturing, having those tools, having referrals and references and having articles, residents engaging your customer and engaging them wherever they are.
Speaker 1:So that way, when they land on your website, it's not just and it's not a trifold brochure that they're seeing, they're seeing testimonials and social proof and things like that.
Speaker 2:Yes, and have nurturing, like if I'm not ready to schedule a tour, you know, and I just want to kind of download the brochure. I'm not ready to schedule tour, you know, and I just want to kind of download the brochure, gently nurturing, not trying to. Hey, you want to, when are you ready? You're giving them like a content, you know, content nurturing and, like you said, testimonials and what's it like?
Speaker 1:How have you felt with the internet and everything? I know that it still is really common these days where assisted livings they'll do like an antique car show or a barbecue and that's like their big thing to try to get top of funnel. You feel like that has changed, or what do you think right now is the most effective top of funnel metric? I know so many people are caught in with a place for mom and it's just brutal.
Speaker 2:It is brutal. Top of funnel is uh, it would be digital here. I mean, your top of funnel is is your SEM and then your SEO. You know your tower, your display and your messaging. Social media social media is not a huge. It can be a lead gen. Don't expect to put a Facebook page up and post once in a while and get tons of leads. You got to get out there and video.
Speaker 2:I think events are not necessarily top of funnel. For me it'd be the middle of the funnel more. I mean they can drop in, you know, drop in literally into the funnel by coming to your car show. I wouldn't dismiss those kinds of things, but they don't have the impact, and this is a global statement. They don't typically have the impact that they used to.
Speaker 1:That was something that was frustrating for me for a while. Is you put on these activities and it is quite expensive sometimes, and then you leave without any more contact information than you came with because there wasn't any like all the actions yeah, I would say like for events and my advice is the smaller, more kind of focused events, rather than and having a car show and having some things.
Speaker 2:You want to be presence in the community.
Speaker 2:And so like having the car shows or the antique, this or that, or having a food truck and all that you know. I think that's that's good for sort of like your, your community networking, your outreach in a sense. I wouldn't expect to sit back and know a bunch of leads are going to come in. Your prospects and events are either people who, they're topics of interest to that target demographic and even if you just get a handful, even five people come for a smaller talk, or you know that can be much more impactful and it costs to your point next to nothing and you get a few leads open houses or inviting, like a tour of homes and inviting people in to look at apartments, or having you know a food stations and things that that can still bring people in on a regular.
Speaker 2:You know we can do it on a regular basis.
Speaker 1:Are there any innovative things that you've seen? Different communities that you've coached to get in younger and younger, or earlier than competition, to get in front of prospects rather than they fell and all crap, mom's hurt. We need to find somewhere to get in front of them five years earlier, kind of thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, and here, yes, the answer is yes. But I do want to say, you know, we've been talking this, we've been talking this, we've been talking about this and saying this since I have started this how do we get people to come in early, to come in early, and then when they do, and they say I'm just starting my search, salesman, well, they're just starting their search and they put them cold or they put them in the future bucket and we don't do anything with them and we don't nurture them, and then we complain bucket and we don't do anything with them and we don't nurture them, and then we complain we need more leads which really we mean.
Speaker 1:I want the ones that are going to move in now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I want something that's commissionable. Exactly yeah, because I'm getting all the pressure and I get that it's like well when you do get those future, the futures we got, to nurture them.
Speaker 2:That's to say calling them every week, but nurturing, so I would say, things like that's where your events, your engagement, your having people maybe you're a, say, senior, but your volunteer organizations have lunch in your community or the bridge clubs or have the tour of homes. One event I thought was really cool, caleb, and this drew a ton of people, a ton the sales director. She was having trouble leasing studio apartments. She had like 20 of them open, so she invited three local designers and they each came in and designed a studio apartment and then music right, and then they had for two weeks they had people come in and vote which one do you like better. And so the designer got a lot of press and the press was involved in everything.
Speaker 2:And then they did a big event that night and she paid for this by having people like local providers sponsored the event, maybe for 200 each, and she had maybe 10 of them there with information, you know, maybe the home, health or the D&E companies, and everything. So food and snacks, and then, ta-da, the big reveal as to which one won, and she had local TV there. So for two weeks they had people come in and vote and then that night or afternoon they had, I don't know, a couple hundred people, I mean that was fantastic Wow that's genius.
Speaker 2:That was a couple hundred people. I mean that was fantastic, that's genius, that was so smart and like a giveaway too, because it makes exclusivity.
Speaker 1:If you come and bring free people, you can win three months free of the best room, or something like that. That could have been sweet, exactly Even better.
Speaker 2:And then the designers gave little, you know, and they got tons of press and they got tons of visibility.
Speaker 1:For all the different home builders. Exactly it's.
Speaker 2:they got tons of press and they got tons of visibility and all the different home builders and exactly it's like you know and engage us and you get 20% off of whatever it is We'll design your apartment. So to me that was a super, super clever idea. I liked that a lot.
Speaker 1:That's so smart.
Speaker 2:But they had a judge. Oh, I know it was a local sort of celebrity, but local, really well-known celebrity on a local level come and be the MC. So she was, I mean.
Speaker 1:Like a micro-influencer or something, or like the radio show host or something like that. Yes, wow, that's so smart. I think a lot of companies aren't thinking very creatively like that. Like, oh, we'll do the annual barbecue and get the same people.
Speaker 2:Another one that I thought was really cool was a talent show. So she had a talent show and she invited referral sources because she was having such a hard time getting referral sources to come in which you understand, because who's going to take time, who's got time to? I'm going to go, look at your business, I can barely finish my own day and so they had a talent show and they invited some of the residents and some of the residents' family the children of the residents, the grandchildren it wasn't children like children, meaning my age, and so forth.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And a couple of residents, and then they had these referral sources. So now you're getting younger and you're getting referral sources. And then she invited someone she could not get into that community to save her life, and she really wanted, so she asked him to be the mc and he said was it just an elder person, an older person? It was a referral source as discharge planner oh yes, my heart smart yeah and they had.
Speaker 2:They know the contest of who wins and all of that. And then she had the local paper out and the social media. They know that the attention she got was fantastic. So there's a lot of things that she can do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I want to make sure we get through all the things, but switching a little bit. What are some of the biggest challenges currently facing senior living?
Speaker 2:that you think so many. Well, the acuity is higher People, higher people wait longer.
Speaker 1:Acuity you need to find that.
Speaker 2:I feel like oh acuity is how, how high of level of care. So maybe they're a little farther along in their needs and so the length of stay is shorter because they're waiting, and waiting is way higher too, yeah, I think well, yeah, and so we.
Speaker 2:so we work really hard to move someone in, and maybe they're a little bit quite a farther along and maybe they're advanced cognitive impairment and maybe they live six months instead of maybe a year and a half if they had moved in, or maybe two years. So our length of stay, the average, is much lower. So our attrition, so the move out, is much higher than ever before. Wow. So to maintain occupancy, your move-ins have to be higher and to grow occupancy even higher. And then the margins the cost of doing business is much, much, much higher, so our margins are squeezed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so this is something. So outside of senior living. We have a home care and I've worked with we have clients in senior living. But what would you say I'm just curious, if you have like a ballpark number of like the average resident's acquisition payback period. I know like a place for mom where they're taking a massive commission up front, it can be like if that resident does die within the next six months they're losing money, right?
Speaker 2:Yes, great question. It's about three months. It costs three months to start going positive. So if you give a month's rent commission now, you're at four so if someone does pass away before the four months, you've lost money on that. If you've given that you know.
Speaker 1:So if you have a referral source that does things like that.
Speaker 2:You know that's I mean independent living, it's. You know it was more like two months or so, but assisted living memory care. I mean factoring in all the costs and think about like assessments you know that nurse's time, all those things that are done for free and there's so many assessments that are done and the person never moves in, and the cost of one's time, yeah, to have that Room turns, assessments that are done and the person never moves in, and the cost of time and room turns room prep.
Speaker 1:I've seen or heard that the average like attrition is about 50%. So, like you said, you have to be moving in. If you have a hundred rooms just to keep up with that year, you have to move in 50 people, which is whatever four or five a month. Is that pretty accurate?
Speaker 2:Yes, and it can be higher, and certainly during COVID it was in in some cases just yeah.
Speaker 1:So generally, yes, 50 is is a fair, that's fair, yeah that's so I, we have a software product as well that we, that we sell, and in software 10% attrition is awful. Like you're doing something wrong if you have 10% attrition is awful. You're doing something wrong if you have 10% attrition year over year. And so that is incredibly difficult, especially with such an emotional purchase, I think, and a hard sell, if you will. I guess are there any things in your insights from your book solving the occupancy puzzle that you feel like would be particularly relevant to people with the sales professionals in senior living trying to kind of battle that today.
Speaker 2:The reason I call it solving the occupancy puzzle is that we're in any problem. You know you've got an outcome that you're solving for. You know you're solving for in this case we need more move-ins than we have move-outs. So that's occupancy, and we know that that's the issue we want to solve. For what factors, what levers, if you will, are you attending to? Because there's multiple reasons that the move-ins are less than or the move-outs are higher. We're talking about the move-ins because we're on the revenue side. So the entire sort of crux of the book is identifying those factors of puzzle pieces and then focusing. So I'm going to pick this one piece right now, because it's going to be what I believe is going to be one of the key performance indicators, and I'm going to work on improving this one thing, or maybe these two things, rather than we need more leads and oh, my gosh, or let's turn up the volume on this list or their nurture part of that puzzle is at a zero.
Speaker 1:So they're getting all these leads and there's no nurturing. So it's like let's raise that level.
Speaker 2:Right. Well, it's like what problem are you solving for? We need to turn over this person or we need to. Yeah, we're dropping more leads and if you're looking at their pipeline, or they're not working what they have, or maybe their person that in the seat has never had any coaching or training, or maybe we've held on to them too long. They're just not going. You know, just maybe not the right fit for whatever reason. It's a discipline, though, because it's like okay, what exactly are we solving for and what factors make up? And so in the book it's like look, okay, if you've got this problem, here's five things or so, whatever, it is five reasons. So pick one of these, look at it and then adjust it, and here's how to adjust it or here's what to do about it. So, yeah, I think that's always relevant. It's just the pieces may be slightly different in what it will probably got.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's my favorite kind of books where they actually have equations or models and it's like it's not all like theory and this is going to be great. If it's like do these things and you'll be successful. So I love that.
Speaker 2:Somebody recently goes oh that's right, You're the nuts and bolts one and I thought you know, I kind of like that because I am and if you, Because I always want to know and tell exactly like what to do, Like you said, theory, like be a good listener and that's great.
Speaker 1:Oh cool. How do I measure that? Tell me how to do that.
Speaker 2:What do I do to be a better listener? Or role occupancy? Yeah, great. So what do I do? And I like to know exactly like I'm a choreographer and her and then a dance teacher choreographer, it's sort of that. It's like seeing the big picture of the show and I can see it in my head when I listen to a piece of music and then it's like, okay, I can see in my head. Now I got to bring that to fruition and put it together and then dance or doing it yeah that's awesome.
Speaker 1:Speaking of grow your occupancy, I'm sure there's obviously very tangible metrics their occupancy increases. So are there any other soft or like intangible things that you consider success when you go in and coach some of these companies?
Speaker 2:That's a great question Culture, how people are treated, how much effort somebody's putting in. Anything that you've done in your life and you're seeing others do it's effort in, effort out. And there is some maybe raw talent or raw potential, like I can practice tennis. I could get better, but I'm never going to be a great tennis, you know, I just don't have but, but I could get better. And but if I'm not practicing right, I'm not doing the leading measures like hey, how's julie progressing? Is there?
Speaker 2:is there any hope for her to get the ball over the net.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, I haven't seen her on the court in six months so it's seeing the efforts people have put in, so that sort of those intangible, it's a kind of culture. How does it feel? You know, when you walk into a community or you walk into a room or you walk in the team, how does it feel? Even on a video, a virtual, I can. There's a feeling. I do a lot of virtual training and there's a feeling I did one yesterday and they even everyone puts himself on mute after a while, but the feeling I got it just didn't feel that good. It's hard to see, that's intangible. It's like, is this group really going to implement any of this? I don't know.
Speaker 2:It's just kind of a gut and not to say they're not great people. It's just that feeling that that would be intangible. I don't know if that answers your question.
Speaker 1:That does. Yeah. So, like you said, culture. So when you go in, maybe you have your initial introductory call or baseline call with these coaching clients. Initial introductory call or baseline call with these coaching clients and it feels one way or like you can see that they might be disengaged, you know looking off and then, after working with through your occupancy for a few months, they get on the call and they're engaged, they're excited again about working and helping these seniors. Obviously the occupancy increasing is a very visible one, but just having people more engaged and I think that's one of the most rewarding things 100%.
Speaker 2:I call it buy-in, and you can't control someone else's buy-in because it's up to each one of us. It's how we show up, how you show up, how do you show up to a training, or how do you show up to your job, how do you show up to your relationship? Is this something that is it, whatever it?
Speaker 1:is this something that is it, whatever it is something that you want to address, that's everything am I making it yeah do you have any stories that kind of illustrate that philosophy, or like a success story that you are just obsessed with? And about how people show up or with grow your occupancy, something that you're just really excited about.
Speaker 2:I love the team here. I love Grow your Occupancy and the reason I left a steady career and a great one to sort of jump off a cliff is a passion for being sort of really in the trenches on sales and marketing and senior living. Get out of the the boardroom if you will and and even boots on the ground. My passion is in this business is the people. So to grow excuse the pun or the pun there, but the um, the team on you know our grow yard busy team is to help grow them, to help, you know, to be a mentor, to be better coaches, better sales people, to always and anyone that we work with.
Speaker 2:And the thing caleb just can't teach, train or anything is how people show up and I was on we once a quarter because we're all virtual. We got on today and you know I I kind of got teared up when I was telling them how much I appreciate and I like them so much. They're kind, kind, you know, kind, generous, good people and that's in senior living. You probably know this. People are kind and they're good hearted. You can't put a price on that or a tangible to it, it's just the culture, how you feel.
Speaker 1:You really can't put a price on how you feel. If you can show up to work every day and just be totally bought in and excited. There's just no price tag on that.
Speaker 2:It is, and then it's that seismic shift in leadership is the book I just read that it's really all about connection. You know being a leader. You know connecting people feeling seen and heard, people feeling validated, appreciated.
Speaker 1:It's a simple stuff one of the last few questions what advice would you give to someone considering a career or getting into a career in senior living sales?
Speaker 2:I would say it's a fantastic business. Fantastic, I would say. Keep an open mind to learn, learn, learn, learn. And that to the, the relentless quest for improvement.
Speaker 2:You know it's not beating yourself up like, oh, I can never do anything. Well, it's that, take the ego, take the ego out and bring your talents and your skills and everything to the table always. And then what else? What else can I learn? I would say to that and then to you know, just stay connected, be cognizant of continuing to remind yourself why you're in the first place. Because it's going to be challenging.
Speaker 1:That is something that I've told a lot of people. What gets you into helping?
Speaker 2:That is something that I've told a lot of people. What gets you into helping, whether it's senior living or home care space, is not what's going to keep you. Definitely. It's hard. You have to keep on finding the reasonmas in the entire world and I had a great relationship with both my grandmas and I'm very blessed, but I don't feel like I see, you know, agent or age or any you know or any of that to define people.
Speaker 2:But I think loving your grandma that's great but like you said like oh, I love my grandma, I'm gonna get into senior living is. It's a great start and it puts your foot in the door, but it's like you said continue to find your reasons, more reasons.
Speaker 1:So who should reach out to Grow your Occupancy? Who are you looking for? What makes you guys different?
Speaker 2:Anybody who is an owner, operator, investor, certainly individuals. We have online learning. We do free webinars once a quarter. You can jump on growyouroccupancycom and join us and try to provide as much content as possible for all anyone interested in every aspect of sales and marketing in particular, and some operations, and certainly reach out If you own or manage a community or portfolio with occupancy challenges.
Speaker 2:And what sets us apart, I think, is a couple of things. One is all of our team, all of our team have boots on the ground, as a matter of fact, where many of us are still we're doing it today, know, we're on the phone, we're we're at the community. So we we're not sort of sitting in an office and just, you know, sort of making it out, we, we're on the phone. So I feel like it's it's that that we really are. We take the knowledge and experience and the passion we have and I think people relate that the fact that we get it because we're doing it right this minute too, so we don't who's like. Well, this is what it was 15 years ago.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the has-been effect. I did really good and now I'm going to consult the next 20 years and use information from the 90s to try to run something.
Speaker 2:Exactly, yeah, yeah, and I think that we're. I think we're a great team and pretty fun, but we're intense in that we are laser focused on exceeding expectation, but I think we're pretty fun people.
Speaker 1:That's very fun. You are a fun person and I know. I've met one or two other people, so very fun, people. What? What is next for? Grow your Occupancy. What are you excited about?
Speaker 2:I'm so excited Always I love it. One of the best compliments I think I can get, caleb, is when someone says to me oh my gosh, I can tell how passionate you are, especially even days when I'm feeling super tired, you know, or like I don't know. Am I really making any difference? And when someone says, oh, I can see how passionate I am, that, and if someone ever tells me I'm a good mother, those are the best welcome hints.
Speaker 2:So Occupancy Funnel is our lead engagement tool. That's phenomenal and it has a virtual sales coaching component like none other in the business. And I'm going to be writing I'm in the middle of writing my second book and we continue to grow our virtual sales division and we have our online learning platform. We've got an outreach course coming live, as well as some other mini courses, if you will. So those are some of the things that we have coming up on the diet and continue to go out and speak and present, and we're at conferences and things the last question is how do people find you just growyouroccupancycom or well, I'm sure, julie, at growyouroccupancycom.
Speaker 2:We're on linkedin. Please follow us. Get a podcast grow your occupancy podcast on all the channels. Yeah, pretty easy to find awesome.
Speaker 1:Thanks, julie, so much, for I've really enjoyed this. I know that I've learned a lot, and I know that our listeners will too.
Speaker 2:Thanks for inviting me on, Caleb I really appreciate it. It was great talking with you.