Whether you're selling senior living or just about any other service, the fundamentals of sales and great salesmanship that yield results are very similar.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Wallie Garrett, Sales Consultant at Two Sisters Maid to Clean, about the sales skills she uses when selling home cleaning services that result in sales success.

A lot of senior living operators have been seeking to cut out senior living lead aggregators from the occupancy equation lately. Some have been successful in doing so, and you can be too!

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Jenni Bost, Vice President of Marketing at Radiant Senior Living, about how they not only got rid of lead aggregators but are organically ranking high in their local markets!

Senior living prospects and their family members often face a variety of emotional and logistical challenges that can prevent them from moving forward with a senior living decision. Vetting movers and real estate agents, downsizing possessions and furnishings, preparing to sell their home, and actually moving are tops on the list of challenges.

In this podcast, Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Maureen Longoria, CEO and Co-founder of LivNow Relocation, about some recent AARP survey results from seniors considering senior living, the challenges they're facing, and why finding solutions can help you convert more prospects to move-ins.

It's a hot topic in senior living sales: saying no to costly paid referral sources for leads.

But how do you do it?

In this podcast, Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Cindy Robinson, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Capri Senior Communities, about their decision to stop using lead aggregators six years ago, how they did it, and how it's paid off for them.

Seniors and their family members look to senior living communities for guidance and information to help them make the choice of where to live.

While most senior living community websites provide the basic details like services, amenities, floor plans, and levels of care, what the prospects really want is for every aspect of the senior living experience to be demystified. Compelling storytelling about real people's experiences in senior living is vital to meet this want.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Dan Hutson, VP of Marketing at Priya Living, a senior living marketing thought leader and early proponent of content marketing, about how we can be a resource of help and knowledge for seniors and their families considering senior living.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Sara Robertson, CEO of The Arbors and Ivy Senior Living Residential Communities.

Sara tells about their transformation from not being "numbers people" to using data to make decisions, and how it has impacted revenue and sales.

Sara also shares her thoughts about women in senior leadership roles in the industry, her journey up through the ranks, and how she is leads by both her head and her heart.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Michael Morris, CEO and Founder of Willow Ridge Senior Living.

At age 15, Michael first caught the senior living “bug” as a dining room server. Years later, he and his wife invested their life savings to open a senior living community. Fast forward to today when he and his wife now own and operate ten communities. Mike shares his passion for all things senior living.

Julie Podewitz, Founder & CEO of Grow Your Occupancy, recently talked with Mona Hilton, Founder of sales and marketing automation software Advantage Anywhere.

Mona shared how the right technology can increase your senior living sales teams' productivity, lower costs, and improve sales outcomes.

It's the "nature vs. nurture" argument: are successful salespeople born with their talents as part of their nature, or do their talents require nurturing through training and coaching to bloom?

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy talks with Dan Fantasia, President of Treeline, Inc. about this question.

Plus, Dan explains the importance of matching a top candidate with a company based on its culture, and gives his advice on improving how you can identify top talent and attract it to your organization.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, and Sherrie Bebell, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Columbia Pacific Advisors, LLC, are back for part 2 of their conversation about Sherrie's strategies for overcoming sales challenges in senior living communities.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Sherrie Bebell, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Columbia Pacific Advisors, LLC.

In this first part, Sherrie shares her winning strategies for overcoming sales challenges in senior living communities.

Dani Merlino, COO of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with The Ridge Senior Living's Marti Milligan, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, and Diane Macheers, Vice President of Corporate Communications.

Marti and Diane discuss The Ridge Senior Living's boots on the ground approach to leadership, and give an update on their strategic plan initiative to eliminate paid referral sources (hint: it's working!).

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Greg Anderson, Managing Director of Northbridge Advisory Services, about the highlights of 2024 and the challenges he sees with owner/operator misalignment.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Patrick Dooley and Natalie Ross, the Co-Founders and Partners of One Extra Consulting.

Patrick and Natalie chat about the challenges they both experienced as senior living operators, their passion for helping the residents of senior living communities and those who serve them, and what inspired them to continue contributing to the industry by co-founding One Extra Consulting.

Dani Merlino, COO of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Aaron Fish, CEO and Founder of Trestle Hospitality Concepts, about creating exceptional resident experiences in senior living communities.

The resident experience is more than the calendar of activities, it's the community's spaces, programming, dining. It's also understanding the residents you're serving and the market you're in.

Aaron shares his pro tips for creating exceptional resident experiences in your senior living community.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Maggie Seybold, Vice President of Customer Insights at WelcomeHome Software, about their 2023 Year in Review report.

In this second part, Julie and Maggie dig into the report to find some surprises in the data, and identify some takeaways that can be used to improve senior living sales outcomes in 2024.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Maggie Seybold, Vice President of Customer Insights at WelcomeHome Software, about their 2023 Year in Review report.

In this first part, Julie and Maggie talk about the key trends that shaped senior living sales in 2023 and some of the observed traits of the most successful communities.

Dani Merlino, COO of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Christie Freeze, Founder of Care By Christie and author of the recently published "Roadmap for Eldercare: A Simple Guide Equipping You with Tools and Resources for Eldercare Ease".

Christie shares her purpose in writing the book: to be a resource to families in finding the best eldercare for their older loved ones.

Christie's book is available on Amazon.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Jill Berry, Vice President of Sales & Marketing of Country Meadows Retirement Communities, about compensating senior living sales and marketing professionals.

Jill shares her compensation strategies for increasing retention, improving sales and move-ins outcomes, and building team member loyalty.

Dani Merlino, Vice President of Strategic Development at Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Tiffany Marino, Founder, Creator, and Host of the Manis With Grannies Podcast, about helping seniors share their stories and the importance of passing them along as part of their legacy.

 

Check out the podcast here: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/qbijn-2bdfdd/Manis-with-Grannies-Podcast

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Paula Rathgaber-Gomez, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Sequoia Living, about how putting people first and leading by the heart has impacted her career and company outcomes.

We hear it all the time: "Outreach is dead." We also see outreach becoming a priority only when occupancy growth becomes urgent.

Julie Podewitz, Grow Your Occupancy's CEO and Founder, talks about outreach in senior living sales, the value and results it brings, and why it needs to have an ongoing place in your sales and marketing strategy. She also shares some new ways to approach it that you may not have thought of (hint: they're digital!).

Dani Merlino, Vice President of Strategic Development at Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Debbie Tedesco, Director of Admissions & Outreach at ACTS Retirement-Life Communities, about outreach in senior living sales the importance of making connections for outreach success.

At Primrose Retirement Communities, trust is a key piece of the culture that has allowed for the success and growth of the company.   Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with BJ Schaefbauer, President of Primrose Retirement Communities, about recruiting the right people who are genuine, get along, and align with the culture of trust, to join the Primrose family.

Dani Merlino, Vice President of Strategic Development at Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Katie Churchill, Managing Partner at Full Spectrum Search Group, about recruiting top talent into senior living sales positions.

Katie shares the importance of treating job candidates like sales leads, why culture and training matter, and the cost to senior living operators of vacancies in sales director positions.

There are many valid reasons why it's challenging to grow occupancy in senior living communities today: higher monthly rates, stronger competition, the economy, and the lingering effects of the pandemic are just a few.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks about why investing in the success of your highly skilled salespeople can be the key to help them make a difference in your bottom line.

Grow Your Occupancy's Dani Merlino, VP of Strategic Development, and Dresden Cincurak, VP of Training & Internal Development, talk about Virtual Sales Specialists: what they do for senior living communities to warm up cold leads in prospect databases, and some of the results they've produced for our clients in 2023.

Grow Your Occupancy's Dani Merlino, VP of Strategic Development, and Heidi Benard, Senior Living Sales Specialist, talk about the importance of creative follow up and how to build genuine connections with your prospects.

Heidi also shares the benefits of teaming up with Grow Your Occupancy's team of skilled and talented Virtual Sales Specialists to meet your senior living community occupancy goals.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Lori Wimmer, CEO & Founder of Simplified HR. Lori is an entrepreneur and master recruiter who helps her clients fill job openings with her signature recruiting methods. Lori talks about facing her fear of leaving corporate America to start her own company, what benefits are important to today's job candidates, and the importance of KPIs: Key Performance Indicators.

Grow Your Occupancy's CEO & Founder Julie Podewitz and VP of Business Development Dresden Cincurak share some special tips for senior living specialists to stay motivated and keep the leads warm during the holidays and through the winter months.

The will to succeed is within every one of us, but success in senior living sales also requires skill.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks about the will and the skill, and making the decision to use both to succeed.

What could senior living sales counselors and trial attorneys possibly have in common?

More than you might think!

Trial attorneys who practice-practice-practice before stepping into the courtroom and commit to bringing their authentic self win cases.

Likewise, sales counselors who practice-practice-practice their sales skills, and bring their authentic self to their meetings and calls with prospects, win more sales.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Meredith Mills, President & CEO of Country Meadows Retirement Communities, about how the sales skills she learned are also leadership and relationship skills that serve her in her leadership role.

PLUS: Meredith shares how Country Meadows successfully grows senior living occupancy WITHOUT using paid aggregators!

Dani Merlino, Vice President of Strategic Development at Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Ryan Galea, CEO of Icon, about the importance of experience management in senior living communities.

Creating a high quality experience for the entire senior living community - including residents, families, and staff - involves communicating and engaging efficiently and effectively. Find out how Icon (goicon.com) has integrated the tools needed to do so into its experience management platform.

In March of 2024, The Aspenwood Company experienced a perfect storm of portfolio growth, expanding their footprint 63% in a single month through the addition of a number of properties.

Despite the many distractions at the home office that onboarding the new communities brought, their existing portfolio grew occupancy in that same timeframe.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Heather Tussing, President, and Eric Varin, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, of The Aspenwood Company about their secrets to occupancy growth in their existing communities while the company was in a period of tremendous portfolio growth.

Dani Merlino, VP of Strategic Development with Grow Your Occupancy, had an incredibly insightful conversation about senior living with TV host, author, and downsizing expert Matt Paxton.

Here in part 2, Matt talked about the importance of giving storytelling its place in senior living communities.

Matt is host of the 2-time Emmy nominated series Legacy List with Matt Paxton on PBS and was a featured cleaner on the hit television show HOARDERS for 15 seasons. Matt is also the author of the best-selling book, Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff.

Dani Merlino, VP of Strategic Development with Grow Your Occupancy, had an incredibly insightful conversation about senior living with TV host, author, and downsizing expert Matt Paxton.

In part 1, Matt shared his Oldest Adult Daughter (OAD) Theory, and discussed the part it plays in marketing and selling senior living communities to families of older adults.

Matt is host of the 2-time Emmy nominated series Legacy List with Matt Paxton on PBS and was a featured cleaner on the hit television show HOARDERS for 15 seasons. Matt is also the author of the best-selling book, Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff.

Dani Merlino, Vice President of Strategic Development with Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Brandi Sharp, VP of Sales and Marketing, and Samantha Prinster, VP of Marketing at Allegro Senior Living, about the dynamic relationship between sales and marketing. Brandi and Samantha share ways they collaborate on a daily basis, and the importance of a united front.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, shares her takeaways from Valorie Burton's keynote address, "Coaching for Leaders: How to Bring Out the Best in Yourself and Others" at the Georgia Senior Living Association 2023 Conference & Trade Show.

Dani Merlino, Vice President of Strategic Development at Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Melisa Jones-Knight, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Elegance Senior Living, about breaking down the department silos and working together in senior living communities.

Dani Merlino, Grow Your Occupancy's VP of Strategic Development, talks with Dawn Holtz, one of our outstanding Senior Living Sales Specialists, about common pitfalls of tours, why executive directors should get involved in tours, and the importance of post-tour follow-up.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, recently talked with Jessi Weldon, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Primrose Communities.

Jessi shared her family's recent Make-A-Wish trip to Morgan's Wonderland, an ultra-accessible theme park in San Antonio, Texas, a bit about her daughter Lauren's experience, how kindness and compassion affect customer service, and what she has learned from the entire experience.

Join Grow Your Occupancy's CEO and Founder Julie Podewitz and Vice President of Strategic Development Dani Merlino as they share what's on their minds! In this episode, they talk about the heat, the impact of home visits in senior living sales, and doing chores!

Join Grow Your Occupancy's CEO and Founder Julie Podewitz and Vice President of Strategic Development Dani Merlino as they share what's on their minds!

In this episode, they talk about "cool vibes" in senior living communities, 90s music, and freshly cut grass!

In part 1, Grow Your Occupancy's senior living sales specialists shared some of the most common challenges they see when they're in the sales seat at senior living communities, and offered solutions that work to overcome them.

Here in part 2, our sales specialists are back to share some specific advice for senior living salespeople.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, welcomes back Brooke Saxon-Spencer, Vice President of Marketing at Claiborne Senior Living.

The last time Julie and Brooke talked, Brooke shared how Claiborne make the cutting-edge marketing move of eliminating virtually all paper from their marketing department.

In this episode, Brooke shares Claiborne's decision 2 years ago to shut off all lead aggregators, and what the company is seeing as a result.

If you're considering saying no to senior living lead aggregators, here's some advice on what to do and how to prepare for the change.

Grow Your Occupancy's senior living sales specialists talk with CEO and Founder Julie Podewitz about some of the most common challenges they see when they're in the sales seat at senior living communities, and offer solutions that work to overcome them.

10 move ins in a month at a senior living community may seem impossible, but with a success mindset and systems and processes in place it can happen.

Grow Your Occupancy Founder and CEO Julie Podewitz and Vice President of Strategic Development Dani Merlino share 5 tips for making it happen.

Grow Your Occupancy Founder and CEO Julie Podewitz talks with Dani Merlino, Vice President of Strategic Development, about how she started in senior living as a dietary aide and the path she's taken to lead her to her position at Grow Your Occupancy.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, recently conducted 4 in-person mystery shops for a client.

What's it like to be a senior living prospect visiting a community for the first time? It's exhausting, confusing, overwhelming.

Find out what really things really stand out, and what you can do to improve your prospect's touring experience and sales outcomes.