If ever there was a selling situation that cries out for a fresh approach, it’s senior living.
By Susan Saldibar
If ever there was a selling situation that cries out for a fresh approach, it’s senior living.
And Alexandra Fisher — co-founder of Sherpa, a Senior Housing Forum Partner — is all about changing out the standard “you really need to do this” approach for something that is softer, but will probably work better in the long run.
Of course, the ever-inquisitive Steve Moran put that concept to the test during the second in a series of short video interviews with Alex. Two things about Alex’s selling approach hit Steve right away:
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Seems like the process might take a long, long time.
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Seems like your approach is trying to talk people out of senior living.
Yes, and no to both as follows.
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Does it take a long, long time? Alex estimates:
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About 10 hours of interactive selling for assisted senior living.
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About 20 hours of interactive selling for independent living.
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So, yes, it takes time. But, to Alex, it’s relative. “It takes 9 months to have a baby; it takes 10-20 hours for someone to come to the conclusion that senior living is best for them. It is what it is.”
Makes sense. Given the weight of this kind of decision, maybe 10-20 hours is the new normal we need to come to terms with. And maybe it’s smarter.
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What about talking people out of senior living. Is this just reverse psychology?
No, Alex insists. It’s not about convincing or not convincing anybody of anything. It’s more about coming into a sales situation with no assumptions. “I don’t assume you’re ready or you’re not ready,” Alex says. “I just want to learn from you why would you want to change?”
Of course, in the process of answering, the prospective resident is bearing witness to his or her own thought process. It may take some time, but they will ultimately convince themselves if it’s the best thing for them.
Why wouldn’t this work? It would seem, once the prospect comes to his or her own decision, it will lock it in pretty firmly. So, assuming this does work, how do we better train tomorrow’s leaders to support this way of “selling”?
