The Path to Significant Leadership and Sales in Senior Living

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Transcript

Microphone (Yeti Stereo Microphone): 0:35

Hi, I'm Erin Thompson. Today, we're going to explore what it means to build meaningful and lasting career in senior living sales. And so my presentation to you today is the path to significant. leadership and sales inside Senior Living. I'm your speaker, Erin Thompson. I am the founder of the Aspire for More with Erin leadership and development company, as well as the co founder of the mentoring company. My history inside Senior Living began as a volunteer looking for a loved one, my grandfather, a respite stay, walked into a community and heard the angels sing and realized this is for me. So my experience from a volunteer to a concierge, to a sales and marketing director, to an executive director, was one of the most pivotal and meaningful experiences in my life. I got to work and then lead a community where my grandmother and my grandmother in law lived, inside this community. As a sales director, I grew two different communities. My first community from 75 percent to a hundred percent in four months. My second community, which was actually the community that I started out as a concierge in, we grew from around 67 percent to around 90 percent Sales director, and then I was promoted to executive director and we eventually reached somewhere close to a hundred percent, although I'm not sure if it was quite a hundred percent, but at another community that I worked at in two different, parts with two different owners, I was able to lead a team from 55 percent to a hundred percent in 18 months or less with a very bad state survey score of 55 on the wall and from COVID. We dipped from 100 percent to 67 percent and from 2021 to 2022, we were able to go from 67 percent back to 100 percent in one year and one month. So I know what I'm talking about and how to create meaningful connections and growing your occupancy to high performing occupancy percentages And I want to give you all the tricks and tips that I have on how to do that to earn significance for you in a meaningful way. currently, my goal is I want to teach future senior living leaders and sales directors like you on how to learn and grow so they can make great Places to live and work, I am currently creating courses for executive director leadership. I also coach one on one and we'll have leadership intensives in 2025. So I want to start with asking you this one question. Do you want your career to be successful? Or do you want it to be significant? So if you just take a minute and think about that. Do you want it to be successful or significant? Success is great! It's about hitting goals and achieving personal wins and adding value to yourself. putting the proverbial point in the win column, right? Success feels good. It's short term dopamine hits. It's where you know you did good and you can say, look what I did. And honestly that's the way that sales works inside senior living. It is The successful month that you have, and then it has to happen the next month and the next month. And so success is something that is wanted and expected very quickly whenever you enter work inside of a senior living community. But significance, it's different. It's where you truly make a difference. It's about creating lasting impact for your residents, for their families, for the tours. And the teams that you serve. It's about adding value to others, giving away value, right? So success can be quick with initiative and tensions and strategy, but significance takes a little bit more time of consistent actions towards serving others. You can have success without significance, but you cannot have significance without success. So success is obviously very important. Seeking significance will force you out of your comfort zone, completely force you out of where you feel comfortable, and give For no other reason than to give, right? To help solve problems, to compliment people just because, to teach people how to be successful or overcome problems that you once struggled with. Think about your life and think about the mentors or the significant people in your life. Why were they significant to you? If I had to guess, they poured resources into you. Time, money, attention. They mentored you. They stuck by you when times were hard. They celebrated with you when you moments of celebration were required, Earned. They called you, text you, emailed you, connected with you. They motivated you and influenced you. In simpler terms, they added value and impact to your life. One way that you can start creating significance in your career and in your community, even as a new sales director. is to realize this one thing. Sales is a team sport. It is not about what you did. It's about what they did. It's about what we did, In senior living, sales is the oxygen of our business. Without sales, there is no growth, no sustainability, but sales is far more than just numbers. It's about connection. When families walk into your community, they're often facing one of the hardest decisions of their lives, and one of the most emotionally charged time of their lives. The sales role is to guide, counsel, and reassure them. And here's the catch. You can't do it alone. Significance in this role means leaning on your team and ensuring every department, from activities, to dining, to nursing, Works together and maintenance to create a seamless experience for residents and their families. Sales can't do it alone. And one way to make a tour more impactful inside your community is to introduce Every family member or prospect to a member of your team walking down the hall. And not only introduce them by name. This is Debbie. She's our activities assistant. And she, let me tell you, she goes all in character. She steps on that stage and her goal is to make people laugh, happy, and engage in the activities. To bring them out. To let their personality shine. And she goes all out. It's amazing to watch. We are so blessed to have her in our community. See what I did there? What I did was gain trust on both sides. Create an impact on both sides. As the sales director, I know my team. I'm communicating to the tour. I know my team. And as the sales director, I'm pouring into the other person. And I'm telling them indirectly. In front of somebody, how valuable they are to my community. I'm working as a team and influencing the team at the same time. I'm adding value to someone. I didn't have to say that. Deposits in the emotional bank account. The more they feel valued, the more value they will give. And when you do this consistently, you build significance. And that's why even if you're a new sales director going into a new community, you can start creating significance immediately just by doing that. And realizing that sales is a team sport. You cannot do it alone. You will get the glory for everything that we accomplished. But, it's not about you, it's about we, right? working as a team and influence a team that is always on 365 days a year requires you to focus on three main influential factors. And those are, in my opinion, three important objectives your mindset, your boundaries, and your energy. Your mindset is the way you see, understand, and interpret the world. It is your mental map, your greatest influence. As a leader and honestly, in your life, the story that you tell yourself over and over again, as to why this happened, the meaning that you place on every experience that you have overcome and survived is very important. Make sure it serves you and it doesn't hurt you. We'll dive into that more boundaries. Boundaries are how you protect what is important to you. You cannot work and sacrifice 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. It's not possible. So in order to create freedom and more peace in your life, you have to let go of control. You have to learn how to collaborate and create boundaries and respect other people's boundaries as well. Energy. You have to be the energy in the room. Energy. It's what you think, your mindset, how you think, the meaning that we place on things. That creates your energy. Living in the possibilities or living within the limitations, right? Your energy will attract the same type of energy. And this is important because if you want more positive energy, you have to give more positive energy. And if you want to protect yourself from negative energy, you have to Put boundaries up, to where you can observe the negative energy and not absorb the negative energy. I haven't always been a fan of cheerleading, right? I was an athlete myself. But what cheerleaders bring to the table is encouragement. energy and excitement, right? Without cheerleaders, the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, the cheerleaders fans inside of a stadium, if they're playing hockey or any other kind of sport, there would be no energy. For these athletes to play, right? So it's very important that we protect our energy, we create good energy, and that we use that energy to serve us. So let's start with our mindset. Why should I be more positive or work towards a more positive energy? it is certainly more of a positive experience to live with a lens of what is working rather than what is not working. And being positive is not living with rose colored glasses, or not in reality. It is strategically focusing on what is working in order to connect the dots on how to fix What is not. What's wrong is always available. And the easiest thought to grab ahold to is what's wrong. I know what's wrong, right? But what's right is also available. And so if we can focus on what's right, we can then look at what's wrong and try to connect the dots. I have lived a lifestyle of focusing on the negative, and only noticing my limitations. And now, that I live in the possibilities of the belief that I can create the future that I want, My life has opened up exponentially. And here's the thing. I still fail, I still lose, and I still get things wrong. I just know how to use those experiences to my advantage. Rather than as an excuse. And so here's what I believe. are the advantages of positive thinkers. Positive thinkers are better problem solvers. Sales is problem solving. It's helping people understand. How to solve their problems, moving into our community can solve the isolation problem, moving into our community can solve the general oversight problem, moving into our community can help solve the the medication management problems, Positive mindset helps. Have a better capacity to embrace new information. You can't solve all the problems in the world if you're too stressed out to take one step forward, So a positive mindset can weed out what gets in the way and focuses on what's working and figuring out how to move that process over to what's not. Positive thinkers attract more positive outcomes. A sales director who greets people the same way at 9am and at 5pm will have better outcomes. More leads, more referrals, more joy, more consistency in approach and people coming to you and saying, I think you need to speak to so and so because they helped me solve my problem and I'm sure they'll help you solve yours. Positive thinkers are always looking for ways to make a difference. And positive people are more resilient. Positivity and confidence leads to more motivation. And a strong positive mindset allows us to learn through what we go through. To learn and grow. Honestly, it just makes life so much easier. And inside of a community, you're going to be a community. given lots of opportunities to focus on what's wrong. And I want to challenge you to make a strategic effort to look at what's going right because that's how you create the energy and the mindset lens that will help Push you forward towards more significance and more success. if I can steal some of Tony Robbins famous quotes that really helped me navigate becoming a positive thinker. The quality of your life is the quality of your emotions, and your emotional state shapes your decisions and your life. If your emotional home is filled with anger, frustration, or sadness, you will react to life negatively. But if your emotional home is of that of, Resiliency, perseverance about getting it right instead of being right and knowing that I can overcome anything, then you're going to react to things in a more resilient way. The meaning that we place on everything, the meaning you give to things, Controls the emotion you feel, which in turn makes you make different decisions. So this means that the quality of your life is directly dependent on the emotional state of your life. The meaning that you give anything is very important. like when our hand itches, does that mean that we're getting money? I don't know if that means the same way in Canada as it does in the States, but my grandmother had a meaning for everything. everything. if you find the penny on the heads up, that means you're going to have good luck. The truth is that you cannot control the outside world, but you can influence it. And the one thing that you can control is how you use your mind and your emotions to your advantage. if you know that every thought Directly affects your emotions, and then every emotion directly affects your actions, and we know that actions directly affect your results and your outcomes, then it all boils down to mindset. so now that we've talked about mindset, can anyone think or even share a time when your mindset, both positive or negative, affected your ability to lead or communicate? Did you talk yourself out of something? that you earned because you felt like maybe you didn't, or you were telling yourself a story that didn't serve you as to why you didn't reach a goal that you could have met with a little bit more effort, or you talked yourself into something, doing something that was way out of your comfort zone and you hit the mark, or maybe you didn't, but you learned something along the way. Stop and share with the class that experience, And see how you can use that experience towards a new experience similar to this family inside of senior living. Here's a lesson, honestly, that I wish I would have learned earlier in my career. Boundaries are not walls, they are bridges. And that's just so true. As sales leaders, it's easy to fall into the trap of always being available. But here's the thing. Without boundaries, you burn out. And when you burn out, you can't serve anyone. Not your team, not your residents, and not yourself. Boundaries protect your energy, and they create clarity for your team about what's expected and when you're available. This doesn't mean you're less dedicated. It makes you a better leader. When you understand your own boundaries, your own limitations of when you need to rest and when you need to give, then you create a positive energy. I want to talk about the relationship between a sales director and a nursing director here, because it's really important. Both of y'all are on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The nurse, from an operational standpoint, calls, calling out, residents going to the hospital, family members wanting questions, and the sales director as an inquiry call, a tour, other family members needing questions in the moment. Your phones are constantly ringing. The nurse has 15 jobs going on at the same time. A counselor, a mom, a nurse. It's a doctor, having to make all these decisions, being one of the most popular people in the community because everybody wants to see the nurse when they get a, when they get a need for a band aid, right? And you want them to go and do assessments and make these decisions and meet the families and move people in. It's important to acknowledge hard work, availability, and what is needed in the moment. And honestly, their own expertise. It's really easy for a sales director and a nursing director to clash. In fact, it's just like a hallmark of what people talk about inside Senior Living. But really, when the two positions work together, it's a synergy that just oozes into the entire community. And I believe that you can make this happen if you understand boundaries, acknowledge hard work and what needs to happen in the moment. And if you have to have something happen immediately and the nurse is pushing back, bring the executive director in and let's let the executive director figure out how to make this happen for everyone. your nurse, your maintenance director, your activities director, your culinary director are all people you need to have on your team. You need them to be a part of the sales process. So in creating your own boundaries, figure out what their boundaries are too and respect them and help them enforce them as well. We all want vacation time. We all want uninterrupted time off. And the best way to do that It's to train each other, release control. Increase collaboration and respect and acknowledge people's boundaries. So how do you create boundaries? How do you know what to protect? Honestly, a significant leader, you need to focus on more than just the sales metrics, right? You are going to be judged on your day to day input, month over month input. Are you hitting the tour numbers? Are you hitting the move in numbers? Are you hitting all these things, right? You're going to focus on those key performance indicators. And you're going to get judged on those key performance indicators. But you also have your own key performance indicators, right? You have the five pillars of what's most important to you. Family, friends, spiritual connections, emotional connections, and physical health. These are the five KPIs. Key performance indicators that you need to know what's important to you so you can protect them. Significance comes from building relationships, serving others, and finding balance in all areas of your life. So I want you to take a moment. And write down one goal for each of these five areas. Now, if you have multiple goals, you can write those down too. What does success look like in your family life? In your life with your friends? In your spiritual life, in your psychological life, and in your physical life, right? What gives you energy? What do you need in order to feel balanced? What do you need in order to feel rest, to feel successful? If you have kids, there's an element in that, going to the kid functions, being available for those, these types of things. Knowing in advance what you need to be successful in these areas will help you protect your boundaries and enforce them. For me, I was going to go to all of my kids activities. I needed to know those things in advance and plan for them. And plan to have my absence covered for that one hour or to be off for those days. A lot of people make the mistake of not taking vacation day because they feel that they're going to be needed. Let me just say, you are always needed. It's never going to stop. But, you can take a day off. That's why collaboration over control is very important. Schedule the trip. Schedule the days. But just plan, and have a team that will step in for you, just like you would do for them. take a moment, what does success look and feel like to me in these areas of my life? And what does it feel like when it's off? So you can know where the scale is tipping. Energy. Energy fuels leadership. In fact, Newton's third law of motion applies to sales leadership as much as it does to physics. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The energy you bring into a room, whether it's with a tour with a family, a meeting with the team, or a one on one conversation, sets the tone. Your energy sets the tone. If you are being burdened, they will feel like a burden. If you are excited to see them, They will be excited to see you. If you bring in positive, intentional energy, you inspire confidence and connection. But, if you bring frustration or distraction, that's what people will feel too. Have you ever been in a meeting where someone walked in, And the energy of the room just was sucked out and replaced with a negative air and it almost felt like coughing. let me tell you, I have been in a meeting and that happened. And honestly, I have been the reason that happened in a meeting, which I'm not proud of. What was it that caused the emotion to come out of the room? It was the heavy baggage. It was the anger. It was the. emotional reactiveness that was happening for the day. It was not being able to separate what happened 30 minutes ago to being present of where I am today. And then not even talking about it or acknowledging it. I think it's important as a leader, as a salesperson, you can walk into a standup, a one on one, or a morning huddle or a manager meeting, and you can say, y'all, I'm sorry. I am struggling today. This just happened, and I haven't gotten my bearings back. Acknowledged. We got it. We understand. And now that you've acknowledged that feeling and that emotion, it just lightens the mood. But when you walk into a meeting, and you don't even acknowledge The energy that you're bringing in that you could be taking away from other people, it becomes challenging. it's important to understand what takes your energy and what gives you energy. This is how you'll be able to keep going during the times of high demand and how you can recover fully during the times of rest and recovery. If pro athletes and college athletes can understand this concept, dang it, senior living leaders can too. Our jobs are more important because we're dealing with people, at very vulnerable times in their lives. Your mindset plays a huge role in creating your energy. Thoughts, you think the emotions that come from those thoughts will create the negative or positive energy that you bring to each day. encounter that you have. The same is true for the energy we give and receive in life. When we act with transformative intention, without transactional expectations, we set powerful reactions into motion, even if we don't see them immediately. So if you want to create positive energy in your life and you want to receive positive energy from what you're giving, here's some advice. Give freely. Expect the blessings to come back in their own time and form. Communicate clearly. Resentments are often unspoken expectations. Don't let them poison your relationships, your career, or your life. Or even more importantly, your soul. Be intentional. Know what you want, right? You know what success is to you. Take steps towards it, act on it, and let go of expecting others to deliver it for you and you go make it happen for you. When you release expectations, you create space for peace and positive energy to take root in your life. for those times when life is bumpy and it's going to be very easy to latch on to the negative emotions and the negative thoughts, here are some phrases that I keep on hand to help me stay positive through the chaos, right? You're going to have lots of chaos inside senior living. It's not about me. Their expectations, their reactions to this extreme are not about me. It's about them and their own experiences. I have done all that I can do, and I am at peace with the outcome that I cannot control. Now, you do have to go back and assess that you did all the right things, and that you did control all the controllables. And, if you did that, then it's not about you. There are some things that we just cannot avoid or plan for, I will be at the right place at the right time and what is meant for me will always find me. At the most perfect time for me, right? That helps me latch on to, I'm going to keep going because it doesn't matter what I do. It's teaching me, it's guiding me, it's taking me to where I want to go, right? I'm not going to lose what is mine. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to keep being consistent. My strength is being consistent. I will continue to show up and do the work because I know that momentum is created from effort and it takes a lot of effort to be as successful and significant as I want to be. Sales. The more calls I make, the more data in the CRM, the more prepared I will be in the long run. This work today is laying the foundation of greatness for later. And always look for the small wins because they will keep you going. I did want to add one other topic. Mindset, boundaries, and energy are the three most influential factors in a leadership's life inside of a community. But there's something else, it's knowing your community story. when you know why your community changes the lives of your residents, it's easy to tell the story. When you know the value of what you and your team bring to the community, it is easy to talk about. And when you can explain all of this with passion and confidence, it's inspiring. Knowing your story and the value that you give your residents will allow you to sell in a value driven way versus a commoditized or price driven way. Commodity is a product that is available from many different places, as if there is a community at every street corner. When you are competing with a community that is price driven, and amenities focused, and you are value driven outcome focused, you will seem as if you offer a different product, a different community altogether. There will be people who want to negotiate, and there are times when negotiating is needed. But, when you sell the value over the price. You will attract the people who need your community, your perfect resident. And so here are three things for you to focus on when creating your community story. What is special about your community? Most commonly used areas in your community and why? Know the stories as to why the residents love this room. And on your tour path, tell those stories. Know the stories of the impact your team has had on your residents. Tell that story as to why it's different here than down the road. Know the value that you bring to your team. Know the value that other team members bring to your team and tell it over and over again. All communities offer the same. We have an apartment, we have closets, we have bathrooms, we have activities, we have food. there may not be a pool at this one, there may be a pool at that one, there may be fancier chandeliers. That matters to some, but it doesn't matter to them all. You and your teen make the difference. Know your story. Tell your story. And be specific. Real specific. Ask the residents why they love your community. Listen for the stories every chance you can get. Not just when you ask them, but when they tell them freely. Write those down and use them on your tours. Listen to what family members say about how they felt when they first started and when the anxiety started to lessen and they started realizing this was a really good decision. Know what the problem was before. Know what the opportunity is, which is the value that you give. Know what the steps were that were hard that they almost couldn't overcome. And then know what the outcome is of what made them so happy now. These points. Are very, very important in differentiating your community from the community down the street and why people will pay the rate that you tell them for the outcome that you show them in conclusion, sales and senior living is about so much more than filling rooms. or apartments. It's about changing lives. The decisions you make, the connections you foster, and the way you show up each day define your community's significance. Significance is about the impact your career has on your life and the lives of others. In order to remain significant, you must remember to master your mindset, set clear boundaries, lead with positive energy, Know your community and your own story so that you can create your future. Thank you for letting me share my journey with you today and all of my tips and tricks of what made my community so successful. I hope that you'll take these lessons and use them to build not just a successful career. But a significant one. My podcasts can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon, and they are Aspire for More with Erin, and the I Have Fallen and Need Some Help podcast. I appreciate your time.