Driving top-line revenue for a new senior living development is never simple…especially in today’s market.
According to McKnight’s Senior Living, for the third quarter of 2017, assisted living occupancy averaged 86.6%, and occupancy for independent living and assisted living together was an average of 88.8%—with both figures lower than 2016 levels.
And, when you don’t have a robust market to fuel strong demand, the dividing line between successful operations and struggling ones can become narrower and narrower.
The good news is, empowering your senior living development to net up and grow comes down to several key essentials.
In this article, we’re sharing our 7-point checklist for revenue growth, giving you the opportunity to see if your new property has what it takes to generate top-line gains.
#1. An Overarching Strategy for Your Development
Increasing deposits before your opening date doesn’t happen by accident…and you’ll need a strategic plan if you want to fill apartments.
From marketing strategies to recruiting talent, it’s critical to have an overarching strategy of how you’ll secure deposits—before construction begins.
#2. Effective Positioning in Your Local Market
Every senior housing market is different. Communities in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, are going to be much different than the properties you’ll find in Seattle, Washington.
You’ll need to pinpoint what characterizes the senior living communities in your local area—and what makes your new community different so leads perceive your senior living development as superior.
#3. A Qualified Executive Director
No team member is more responsible for driving top-line revenue in a new community than the executive director (ED).
Sales, operations, clinical care—the buck stops with your ED, and he or she bears the primary responsibility for ensuring your property serves residents…and drives a profit.
Long before your doors open, you’ll need to know what marks a competent executive director and how to find, and vet, qualified candidates.
#4. Vetted and Trained Team Members
While the buck stops with EDs, that doesn’t mean they don’t need team members to fulfill their mission.
If you want to drive top-line revenue, you’ll need to carefully select team members such as sales counselors, your director of sales and marketing, and the director of business development.
Make sure that ticking deadlines don’t tempt you to quickly fill positions with mediocre team members. The result can be turnover or stunted growth.
#5. Proven Systems for Growth
But even talented team members can fail to drive revenue if they lack clear systems and procedures for increasing occupancy.
Filling apartments isn’t a secret art.
Like any business, success comes from knowing industry best practices and executing them. Your senior living development must provide staff with clearly defined systems to increase occupancy and revenue.
#6. Metric-Based Accountability
In addition to equipping your new property with best practices, you’ll also want to provide accountability.
Know how to evaluate team members against metric-based benchmarks so you track and measure performance. Your top-line revenue depends on predefined standards so you stay on track for growth.
#7. Strategic Marketing and Public Relations Efforts
Raising awareness for your new senior living development is critical.
It takes well-timed strategic marketing and community outreach efforts to introduce your local community to your property and its core message. That’s why you’ll want to outline key campaigns in advance to support your pre-opening goal.
From the details of your outreach activities to the broad plan of your master strategy, each of the 7 points we’ve included in our checklist are essential for driving top-line revenue.
But if you realize you lack the time to execute and oversee each of these components, rely on Bild & Company.
Our team of senior housing experts knows exactly what’s needed to secure deposits and fill your empty apartments, and we’ve created a turnkey solution for new senior living developments in our Blue Sky Roadmap.
To book a time to talk to our CEO, Traci Bild, contact us online, or call us at 1-800-640-0688 and ask for Liz Simpson.
