Seniors Housing Business is the magazine that helps you navigate the evolution of the seniors housing industry.
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industry has fallen short on meet- ing their expectations. Lobby décor should take a back seat Many developers and opera- tors get into the unending cycle of one-upmanship, plowing more and more money into services designed to "wow" the resident in order to beat the competition, noted Wylde. Dana Wollschlager, vice presi- dent of senior living consulting frm Plante Moran Living Forward headquartered in Southfeld, Mich., and a speaker on the "Technology and Operations" panel, said she sees this trap all too often. "Lots of clients get hung up on the sexy stuff like water features and lobby décor," she noted. "My response to that is, 'Will that hard feature bring you more revenue? If it won't, you might want to rethink that.' That water feature may get a family in the door, but it's not going to tell the family their mother has a UTI (urinary tract infection). That water feature won't be quite as effective on them 24 months from now." Another problem with develop- ers and operators trying to outdo their competitors when it comes to amenities is that seniors pay little attention to these elements, said Wylde. "All this money is being put into lots and lots of amenities, and it doesn't necessarily create a feeling of being at home," she said. "Are we pricing ourselves too high by building too much? Could we have a better product that more people could afford if we didn't feel we had to out-amenitize our competition? Studies show seniors care about two things: they care about the dining options and din- ing hours." ProMatura also sends "mystery shoppers" into many of the facili- ties it works with to examine the facility's sales approach. The con- sultant notices one specifc misstep occur time and again. "More than 90 percent of the time is spent talking about the real estate," said Wylde. "They ask nothing about the customer. In most places, you make an appoint- ment. You walk in, they make you sit down. You wait and fll out forms. It's like a doctor's offce. That's how we greet a $106,000 customer? "We need to make them feel at home," said Wylde. "Studies have shown communities and companies that have at least some semblance of customer service that does involve friendliness have higher occupancies and higher rental rates." While the conventional wisdom is that "at home" and "happy" are subjective terms, Wylde believes that when it comes to seniors housing those are important intangibles. The ASHA study "Unlocking the Mystery Behind Very Satisfed Independent Living Customers: Make Them Feel at Home" did the work itself. The study showed seniors felt more at home, comfortable, happy and therefore "very satisfed" with their housing if they easily made friends, interacted with a friendly staff, were allowed to keep their own furniture and had plenty of natural light. This led successful communities to more referrals, fewer defections and happy families, said Wylde. "If the customer is happy, the fam- ily is happy," she said, which leads to increased net operating income. "You don't have to go bigger," pointed out Wylde. "If we can sell them 'home,' and a day that would be similar to the day they would have if they were home, you'd be great. Location is impor- tant, but if I'm an investor I don't care about the real estate so much. The differentiator is how good the people are, how well the commu- nity is run, the competency and friendliness of the staff. That's the game." n Several seniors housing industry professionals mingle at the opening cocktail reception of InterFace Seniors Housing West at the Omni Hotel in Los Angeles on Feb. 26 A N N O U N C I N G Building on the success of InterFace Seniors Housing Southeast and West, this event will bring together owners and operators of seniors housing from across the Midwest, as well as national investors, developers, lenders and operators who are active in the region. 6 HIGH-LEVEL PANEL SESSIONS 5+ HOURS OF NETWORKING AGENDA TO INCLUDE: • ECONOMIC OUTLOOK & DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS • WHERE IS INDUSTRY IN THE CYCLE? • HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN IMPROVE CARE & PARE EXPENSES • INVESTMENT MARKET & VALUATIONS UPDATE • OPERATIONS ISSUES & TRENDS • DEVELOPMENT TRENDS • CAPITAL MARKETS UPDATE • PRODUCT ACCEPTANCE www.interfaceconferencegroup.com/srm2015 FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER: PRODUCED & PLANNED BY M E D I A , I N C . TM www.seniorshousingbusiness.com 27 February-March 2015 n Seniors Housing Business