By Susan Saldibar

Who made the list? In our industry, that means one thing: The 2023 Caring Stars senior living awards.

And they’re out!

I’ll forgive you if you skip everything below and click on this link to see the winners. If you didn’t make the list, at least you tried. You’ll need to work harder next year. And Caring can help!

If you didn’t even try to make the list, you’re missing a ton of opportunities. Because, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that getting a Caring Star from Caring.com (a Foresight partner) is a big deal. Here’s why:

  • You can’t buy it. (Unlike just about everything else out there.)
  • You have to earn it. (And it ain’t easy.)
  • When you earn a Caring Star, it’s worth it.

Caring Star communities have clout. For the last two years, the top-rated Caring Stars communities on average garnered almost three times more move-ins than those without the award.

They get attention — the right kind of attention — from prospective residents, families of prospective residents, prospective employees, and everyone you want walking through your doors.

Here’s why I know:

When I was looking for an assisted living community for my mom a few years ago, I went to Caring.com, and I looked for the Caring Stars. I kid you not. It was important to me because my mom was important to me. And, I have to believe it’s important to other adult children out there.

Do you have the potential to win a Caring Star? 

It’ll take you about three minutes to find out. Check out the 2023 Caring Stars criteria that had to be met by Oct. 15:

  • Fifteen or more published consumer reviews on your Caring.com profile.
  • An average overall rating of 4.5 stars or higher across all published reviews.
  • Four or more published consumer reviews between October 15, 2021, and October 15, 2022, with at least one 5-star review in 2022. Consumers nowadays expect to see more recent reviews, and Caring recommends you aim for at least one per quarter. And, respond to them! BrightLocal’s research shows that over half of all consumers won’t do business with companies that don’t respond to those reviews.

This year, I should note, the award includes more residential care homes, given that there’s new criteria for communities with a capacity of 20 or fewer residents. Here is the smaller-community criteria:

  • Same overall average rating as larger communities: 4.5 stars or higher across all published reviews on the community’s Caring.com profile
  • Five or more published consumer reviews on your Caring.com profile by the deadline
  • Between October 15, 2021, and October 15, 2022: at least two published reviews, including one 5-star review in 2022

And the one that really impresses your prospects and applies to all Caring Stars winners …

  • Public-facing business responses to any 1-star or 2-star consumer reviews of any date published on your Caring.com listing.

This last one is key. People won’t hate you for a few negative reviews. But negative reviews gone unanswered?

Kudos to the folks at Caring.com for setting the senior living bar high. Kudos for providing an important benchmark in an industry that needs it now more than ever.

Get involved. Study the criteria. Make some adjustments. Be diligent. Maybe there’s a Star in your future.