Why Professional Competitive Analysis is Essential for Senior Living Operators to Grow Revenue and NOI

In the highly competitive senior living industry, having a clear understanding of your market’s landscape is essential. Yet, many senior living operators fall short when it comes to setting rents and care fees based on objective, data-driven insights. The most successful operators know that in order to foster senior living growth, optimize NOI (Net Operating Income), and maintain a competitive edge, they need to conduct professional competitive analysis.

This blog explores the benefits of professional competitive analysis, the dangers of relying on sales teams for comps, and the value of having actionable data to drive strategic decisions.

The Power of Competitive Analysis for Senior Living Operators

A professional competitive analysis goes far beyond a surface-level understanding of your competition. When done correctly, it provides valuable insights into pricing strategies, fee structures, market positioning, and even potential new revenue streams. Here are some of the key outcomes senior living operators can expect:

1. Accurate Pricing of Rent and Care Fees

Setting your rent and care fees too high or too low can significantly impact your financial performance. Overpricing could drive prospects to competitors, while underpricing may undervalue your services and result in lost revenue. A competitive analysis allows senior living operators to benchmark their pricing against competitors, ensuring they are neither overpriced nor underpriced in the market.

By analyzing not just your own fees but also those of your competitors, you can confidently set rents that are optimal for both occupancy and profitability, driving overall senior living growth.

2. Strategic Market Positioning

Every market is unique. Professional competitive analysis provides senior living operators with an in-depth view of where their communities stand in the market compared to competitors. This insight helps you position your community’s offerings more strategically, highlighting your unique value proposition and making your community more attractive to prospective residents.

Whether it’s through differentiating your amenities, services, or care levels, a thorough market analysis helps you make informed decisions that strengthen your senior living strategy and position your community as the top choice for seniors.

3. Uncovering Revenue Streams

One of the most underutilized benefits of a competitive analysis is its ability to uncover additional revenue streams. By identifying gaps in the market—such as services your competitors offer but you don’t, or vice versa—you can make adjustments to your service offerings that appeal to a broader range of residents or charge premium fees for services that are in high demand. These insights are critical for operators looking to implement a successful senior living strategy that leads to financial growth.

4. Tracking Trends and Competitive Changes

A professional analysis provides senior living operators with a dynamic dashboard that tracks important trends over time. From new market entrants to competitor pricing adjustments and special discounting strategies, operators can keep a close eye on shifts in the market and adjust their strategies accordingly. This kind of insight allows you to be proactive rather than reactive, positioning your community to capture more market share and ensuring continuous senior living growth.

Why Sales Teams Shouldn’t Handle Market Comps

Many operators make the mistake of having their sales teams perform competitive analysis. While salespeople are adept at relationship-building and closing deals, they are not trained market researchers. Sales teams often lack the comprehensive tools and deep expertise needed to gather all relevant data points.

Professional competitive analysis firms, on the other hand, gather dozens of data points, including pricing trends, new entrants to markets, occupancy rates, fee structures, care offerings, discount strategies, and more. This depth of data provides a clearer and more actionable picture of your market’s dynamics, allowing for a more informed senior living strategy.

The result? More accurate insights and stronger financial outcomes.

The ROI of Professional Competitive Analysis

For as little as $500 per competitor analysis, senior living operators can ensure they are competitively positioned for success. Not only does this provide peace of mind in terms of pricing, but it also opens up opportunities to adjust service offerings, discover new revenue streams, and optimize financial performance. Ideally, this should be done at a minimum twice per year to keep your senior living strategy aligned with market trends.

Consider the cost of incorrect pricing or underutilized revenue streams versus the modest investment in a thorough market analysis. The returns on that investment can be immense, from increased occupancy to higher resident satisfaction and senior living growth in both revenue and NOI.

The Value of a Powerful Dashboard

In today’s fast-moving market, staying on top of competitive trends is more important than ever. A powerful dashboard that tracks rents, care fees, discounts, and new competitors gives senior living operators a strategic advantage. With real-time data, you can react swiftly to changes in your market and make informed decisions that drive revenue growth and operational excellence.

Having this objective insight also allows for more strategic planning, enabling you to forecast trends, adjust pricing strategies, and optimize your market positioning on an ongoing basis, all of which are critical components of a solid senior living strategy.

Why You Need Objective Insight

While many operators rely on their own intuition or internal teams to gather competitive insights, the importance of objective, third-party data cannot be overstated. A professional competitive analysis firm provides impartial, data-driven insights, often including a comprehensive PDF or Excel report that supports findings and recommendations. This objective analysis ensures senior living operators aren’t leaving money on the table or missing critical opportunities to enhance their market position.

Get a Complimentary Competitive Analysis Today!

At Bild & Co, we understand the power of competitive analysis and how it can transform your pricing strategy, market positioning, and overall financial performance. For a limited time, we are offering a complimentary competitive analysis (a $500 value) for any competitor you wish. Email revenue@bildandco.com with the location details or the specific competitor you want to be analyzed, and we’ll provide a comprehensive report to help you stay ahead of the competition and drive your senior living growth.

FAQ

Q: What is included in a professional competitive analysis?
A: A professional competitive analysis includes comprehensive data on competitor pricing, care fees, discount strategies, market positioning, and service offerings. It provides actionable insights that help senior living operators optimize financial performance and grow occupancy.

Q: Why should I use a professional firm for competitive analysis instead of my sales team?
A: A professional firm has the tools, expertise, and resources to gather in-depth data and provide objective insights. Sales teams cannot often collect the full scope of necessary data, leading to less accurate market positioning and pricing strategies. More importantly, a strong dashboard only gets more valuable over time as continued market data is collected.

Q: How often should senior living operators conduct competitive analysis?
A: Senior living operators should conduct competitive analysis at least annually, but in highly dynamic markets, it’s best to perform them quarterly. Frequent analysis ensures you’re aware of market shifts, new entrants, and pricing trends, enabling proactive adjustments to maintain your competitive edge. Updates to existing competitor analysis are much less costly, averaging $200 per analysis completed, an affordable way to keep your data up to date and actionable.

Q: What are the risks of not conducting regular competitive analysis in senior living?
A: Without regular competitive analysis, senior living operators risk setting inappropriate pricing, which can either lead to underpricing (losing out on revenue) or overpricing (losing prospects to competitors). Additionally, operators may miss market trends, new services offered by competitors, or evolving consumer expectations, all of which can impact occupancy rates and revenue.

About Bild & Co

Bild & Co is a premier consulting firm specializing in helping senior living operators enhance their sales, marketing, and operational performance. With over 20 years of experience, Bild & Co delivers data-driven insights and strategic solutions that drive revenue, improve occupancy, and optimize NOI. Our comprehensive services, including professional competitive analysis and mystery shopping services, empower operators to stay ahead of market trends, strategically position their communities, and make informed decisions that lead to long-term success. Visit Bild & Co to learn more about how we can support your business goals.