What Top Communities Do in the First 7 Days (That You're Probably Missing) - Day 11

Follow-Up Protects Move-Ins

What happens after that first call matters more than most owners realize.

In this episode of Start With Occupancy, Tiffany explores why even well-run communities miss move in opportunities and how to build follow-up systems that works. 

You’ll learn how to design follow-up that is both efficient for your team and human for families, so no one falls through the cracks when days get busy.

You’ll hear how to balance efficiency with empathy, so your systems support your team and the families you serve.

In This Episode:

• Why follow-up failures are usually systemic, not personal
• The hidden cost of “checking the box” instead of staying connected
• A simple framework to help you stay responsive without burning out
• One practical step you can implement this week

Key Takeaway To Remember:

Follow-up isn’t about persistence.
It’s about presence.

Free Resource:

COMING SOON: Discovery Call Template
Want it early? Email: tiffany@startwithoccupancy.com

What’s Next:

I’m gearing up for Selling Senior Living Coaching Series January 24th:

• Deep Dive Discovery (8 week program) 
• Compass Rose XL cohort (12 months) for new owners or under 50% occupied

If you’re loving this series:

Share this episode with another operator, we’re all in this together!

Subscribe so you don’t miss the next part of the 21-Day All Things Senior Living Sales & Marketing.

And if you're ready to increase your move-ins in 2026, join the Momentum Marketing Bootcamp. Founding cohort launches in January 28th with special charter pricing.

Take what you need. Share what helps. Come back for more. 🎧

Transcript

Tiffany Updated voice: 0:00

Picture, this is 9:00 PM on a Tuesday night, you're driving home after a 12 hour day at your community. Your phone rings. It's a number that you don't recognize, but you answer it anyway because in assisted living emergencies, don't just keep business hours. On the other end is a daughter. She's crying. Her mom fell again today, the third time this month. She can't do this anymore. She needs your help and she needs it now. You talk to her for 20 minutes. You calm her down. You tell her you'll contact her first thing in the morning to schedule a visit, but here's what happens next. You get pulled into staffing crisis, you know how that goes. Then a family complaint, you also know how that goes. Then a medication issue, and by the time you remember that 9:00 PM phone call that you didn't take notes on or forgot to put the note in your briefcase or whatever, it's been 48 hours. You finally call her back and she says,"We already moved mom into another community. They called me back the next morning." Ugh, heartbreaking and heart crushing. That's a$48,000 annual move in for your community that you just lost, not because your community wasn't good enough, not because your care wasn't excellent. But because your follow-up system failed. Hi, I'm Tiffany, and today we're talking about the follow-up systems that will make sure this never happens to you again. Welcome to the Start with Occupancy podcast.

Tiffany: 1:38

/Uh huh. Welcome to Start With Occupancy, the podcast for senior living owners, operators, and sales professionals./Hi, I'm Tiffany, marketing strategist and former corporate baddie who got tired of producing results for wall street and wanted to make a change on main street./I provide quick tips, idea nuggets, and case studies to help you with proven sales, marketing, and business development strategies along with leadership concepts so that you can inspire change, impact lives, and improve outcomes for the aging, their families and your teams./I'm committed to equipping you with the tools, the knowledge and resources that you need to excel in your business./With experience working inside senior living companies, large and small, I've developed a deep passion for advocating for the aging adult and those who care for them, all while driving business growth./So whether you're already in the senior care industry or maybe you would like to be, if your mission is to serve them, my mission is to serve you./Join me as we unravel the strategies and tactics that drive success in your business while making a difference in someone's life./The goal is to touch, guide, and impact the lives of 10 families per month!/Are you with me? It's time to be inspired, gain practical tips and own your future.

Tiffany Updated voice: 3:09

Welcome. This is Tiffany. Most follow-up systems fail for a couple of reasons. They are inconsistent and inefficient. They may be efficient for your team, but they're cold to the family, and families can feel that instantly. They know if you're just checking a box or if there's genuine interest in what is happening in their lives in real time. Today we're talking about efficiency and empathy when it comes to follow up throughout my time in this industry. First as a person inside the community, and then overseeing sales managers and directors as a regional, uh, marketing and sales director, I've noticed that besides time management, people sitting in the seat of that office often do the same thing over and over without pausing. And when you have repetition without intention, families feel it. They start to feel unheard because for them, this is their loved one. For you. It can feel like just another inquiry. Now I know what you're thinking, Tiffany. I'm already overwhelmed. I am wearing 10 different hats. How am I supposed to add more to my plate? And I get it. I've been there. But here's what I've learned. The good news for you is follow up. Doesn't have to be exhausting. It can be impactful and effortless when you have a system. Systems help you become efficient. Even in my own business, I've created systems that help me to be more productive. When you don't have guardrails and guidelines, things get missed. What I created for you today is the three Cs of follow up, A framework designed to help you be more efficient while staying deeply connected to the families that you're trying to serve. The first one is consistency. Consistency is a regular rhythm that feels personal and not intrusive. Therefore, you don't have that. Icky feeling of being salesy, right? And families don't have that icky feeling that you're pushing them into something they don't want. Clarity is clear communications that saves time while building trust. And last but not least, my favorite creativity, personal touches that show you genuinely care about that person and about their loved one. So let's break down each one. Let's start off with consistency, right? The number one thing people struggle with across all industries, no matter what industry you're in, is follow-up and follow up inconsistency. Being consistent. Doesn't mean being a pest, it just means having a regular schedule. Based on a timeline that feels personal and not intrusive. So you are regularly, I can't say it regularly, scheduling contacts with that person who expressed interest in your community in a way that doesn't feel icky, basically. So let me give you an example. When I first came into this industry, we were required to do 10 touches in seven days. I know that sounds excessive to some of you out there who have residential homes, um, and who are like, what? But it worked. Let me show you what it looked like for, for me. Now, in day one, multiple touches throughout the day, let's say they called in the morning, I would call back. They didn't answer, so then I would send an email after the call in the afternoon. And then before I left, I might send a text or a second email. Day two might be a phone call where day three might be another email, and so on and so forth until day seven. We had to figure out 10 different ways of reaching out to people in those first seven days. And what it did was it forced us in the community, in the sales role to be very creative. And very intentional on how we contacted a person and how we connected with that person. So pause this episode right now. Whatever you're doing. I mean, if you're running or on a treadmill, you can't pause, but I want you to take a mental note, maybe put it in your notes section, or I want you to text yourself in your notes app, How many touches am I doing in the first week after someone contacts me? Just ask yourself that question. No answers, no anything, but I want you to put that in your context so that we can go back to it later. Your pattern might be different than what mine was, right? Maybe it's five touches in five days. Maybe it's one touch per day for the next seven days. The key is to establish a pattern and then to stick to it. And here's why this matters. Let me just say this. People who have reached out to you have finally gotten the courage to call you. It is up to you to reach out and connect to them to make sure that they are okay. Even if that means saying, Hey, I saw that you called, I got a note from my staff that you're looking for a place for your mom or dad or whoever. How can I help you? It takes time and courage for people to look you up. Yeah. And to say, I need help. How often are you screaming? I need help to people when you feel very vulnerable? Not so often, right? And that's what people are when they're calling us. Now, before I move to the next"C" want you to pause and ask yourself, when was the last time a family went ghost on you? You know what I'm talking about? They seem very, very interested. Everything in your mind and from what you can recollect went very well. Maybe they even came and visited your community and then nothing. Radio silence. When did you stop following up with them? They went ghost on you, but did you then after two or three times, go ghost on them? Most people give up way too early in any follow up system, but I'm going to show you how to stay engaged without being annoying. Remember, if you have an assisted living or a memory care, many of these families are reaching out to you while they are in crisis mode, and many times they are caregivers who are possibly overwhelmed, burnt out, and feeling guilty. The next C that we're gonna talk about is clarity because you want clear communication in your follow up. The way I did this while preserving my time was to create templates. For example, if someone reached out to me, um, through let's say an automated channel, maybe a referral site, maybe through my own website, maybe through an online aggregator, like A Place for Mom or Caring.com, I would respond back with a template. Meaning, and these are people who I haven't talked to personally, right? They just reached out to me, either left a message, whatever, and this is through obviously emails. Um, but I would respond with a template I created and that I had already tested. The templates that usually got quicker responses, I kept in my draft section of my email so I could just plug and play them leaving the positions or the information that's blank for me to fill in to make it personalized. I had templates for subject lines that would get opened. I had templates for greetings that reference how they found me, meaning the referral source. If someone, you know, Susie at X, Y, Z, skilled nursing Well, I would then contact, you know, or reference Susie in my email. And then I would also do follow up email templates. Here's your quick win for this week, and I want you to listen closely. Create one email template. Just one. Make it your,"Sorry I missed your call" email. Test it. See what happens. Remember, your subject lines should be something compelling that somebody will click through to it. So"Sorry, I missed your call" in the subject line was always good because people would be like, oh, who did I call? In my follow-up mastery module of the Deep Dive Discovery, um, sales training, I take people through the process of inquiry all the way through post move in and in the module, we build out your entire template library together with subject lines, greetings follow up sequences, even text message scripts that will help you get a better response from those who are inquiring, whether they're, um, um, referral sources, whether they're families, whether it's residents. I also had templates for were when people initially called me, called discovery calls. The information I needed to help them move further in this process and to help them effectively. I had that on a piece of paper. We usually call this a, a inquiry sheet. Um, some people have a pad, a lot of new owners. I have not prepared for this. They've worked on getting license and opening, but what happens when I get that first call and what do I say? So they fumble and I don't want you to fumble. This work is too important for you to fumble. You're going to get an inquiry sheet template as a part of the series once it wraps up this week. It'll be available on the website, Start With Occupancy.com. As with all the rest of the tools from the series, it will be available on my website once I have this all wrapped up. But by having these scripts and these templates, you're able to duplicate yourself because if you are in a family meeting, or if you are off property, who's going to help that next person who calls and you have something to leave behind that is your standard. You're giving yourself more freedom by having this systematized and having templates to handle other priorities without having to worry that your staff does not know how to take a, a call when it comes in, or if somebody just walks in because they were referred and they decide to drive to you. Um, you want them to be able to connect with that prospect correctly, right? All right, so what have we covered so far? Are you guys still with me? If you are, you know, we covered consistency and clarity because it's necessary, right? Now we're going to get to, my favorite part is the creativity. This is where being human matters. This is where you stop being just another community and become the person that they want to partner with in the care of their loved one, or that they would enjoy living with if you are an independent living, community. This is where connection happens. I was doing video messages before videos were even popular. We're talking 2011, 2012. No TikTok before Instagram reels. Even before Instagram had video. Let me paint the picture for you. It's 2012. I'm working at my assisted living community in Jacksonville. A daughter comes in to visit with her mom. She's looking for a place for her mom. We'll just call her Patricia, for example. I never use real names, just so FYI. She's exhausted. I can see it in her eyes. And she's been caring for her mom at home for three years, and she's at the breaking point. We walk around the community. And her mom loves the room specifically. She keeps talking about the window. She can see the bird feeder from the window. She lights up when she sees it. Patricia notices this. I noticed it. They leave and Patricia says she needs to talk to her siblings. Well, this is normal, right? I could feel her slipping away though. We only had studios. It wasn't large. It was a shared room situation in 337 square feet. So I did something for the first time after attending a real estate marketing conference and getting this idea. I pulled out my phone, and this is way back when phone videos were grainy and you could only record like 30 seconds. But I went back to that room, I stood by the window, filmed the bird feeder and her side of the room, and I talked over the video and I said,"Patricia, I know you and your mom loved this view. I just wanted you to see it again. There are a couple of squirrels out here right now, and I thought of your mom. Whatever you decide, I'm here to help." I send it through email because at that time that's all you could do back then. Right? And she called me back and she said,"Tiffany, no other community did anything like this for us. Everyone else gave us brochures and pricing. You actually saw my mom. You saw what mattered to her." Well, lo and behold, her mom moved in and you know what? All because of a 30 second video that literally took me two minutes to make. That's the power of creative follow up. Remember why families are reaching out to you while also keeping in mind that they wish they didn't have to. This is so important, and I'm gonna say this. I'm gonna say it straight. I'm sorry. No one wants to move into your assisted living. They're calling you because something happened. A fall, a diagnosis, a crisis. They're scared, they're overwhelmed, and if they are a prospective resident, they're grieving the loss of their own independence. Your follow-up isn't about filling beds, it's about being the calm in their storm. Think about the last family you followed up with. Did you just send information or did you connect with what they cared about? There's a difference, and that difference is what turns inquiries into actual move-ins for you and for your home and your staff. Here's some creative touches that you can add. Video messages after a visit showing them something that they loved or positively commented on. Handwritten notes still works today. I used to buy a pack of cards from the Dollar Store, thank you cards, thinking of you cards, sympathy cards, because life happens and I wanted them to know that I cared about what happened in their life. Personal references in follow-ups mentioning something in conversations that you've had, past experiences, shared stories you can use mine. People love stories and feel connected when they can relate to them. When families visit, get their phone number, get their email address, get their mailing address, and people like mailing address. Yeah, get their mailing address, and here's how you ask for the mailing address without sounding or being weird. Something simple like,"I'd love to send you some information and some resources as we go through this, um, process. I'm not going to put you on, um, a mailing list or e mail blast you, if it's an email, email blast you or inundate you with frivolous information. I just want to be a resource for you and for your family." That's it. That is how you kind of go over that hurdle. People understand that, and if you position yourself as a resource and a trusted advisor and you make a connection and not as a salesperson, they'll give you that information gladly and freely. Now you might be thinking, Tiffany, this sounds like a lot. I'm already stretched too thin, and I get it. I get it. I told you I get it. But here's the thing. You don't have to do all of this. You just need to do some of it and do some of it consistently. Pick one creative touch. Maybe it's a video message, maybe it's a handwritten note. Just pick one and make it your signature move. Don't overcomplicate it. Now, how do you track all of this? You need a system, it will help you stay organized. I personally recommend a CRM, also known as a customer relationship management tool. Um, my friend Cameron Barker, he has one called FobFlo. Um, there's Pipedrive, there's Google Sheets. If you're just starting out and you need to do something, you know, real quick, um, the key is to have a system. In my courses we set up. A entire CRM system together, and I specifically say in my course, Deep Dive Discovery. Um, we go through exactly how to track your inquiries, how to automate your follow ups, and never let a family fall through the cracks. But just know that you need a system. Some system, even a simple spreadsheet, is better than nothing. Set aside, dedicate a time. For a follow-up system that you can do every single day. I know it's hard with competing priorities, but let me go over the optimal times I have found in my, um, experience working in this industry. So the mornings are great times from 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM to do your follow-up emails. That's just if you have someone from the day before, um, looking at the emails, looking at what came in overnight and doing any of your follow-ups during that time. Mid-morning around 10am to 11:00 AM is great for, um, lunch calls or before lunch calls, even until noon. And then from 2pm to 3:00 PM is a great time for follow-up calls or texts before people leave work. And then in the evening time, you can catch people at home between 6pm and 7pm. It was standard for me to stay after work. Two times a week and work, um, from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM and during that time in the evening is when I was able to connect with a lot of families. I can't tell you how many discovery calls I took in my car, pulled over in a parking lot as well, because the evenings just work for people. That is the reality of this business. But the key is to follow through. So here's your homework. Create one email template this week, just one. And I would suggest your, um, I'm sorry I missed your call, email, write it, save it. Test it, use it. That's it. This is one small step that will save you time and help you to connect a lot faster. All right, so let's recap what you got here today. We covered the three C's of follow up, right? Consistency, creating a pattern, sticking to it, whether it's five touches and five days or 10 touches, and seven, just pick one and commit to it. Clarity is the second C, right? Use templates to save time while you're staying personal. Start with just one email template this week. That's all, that's all I'm asking. I'm not asking too much of you guys, right? Creativity, add personal touches that show you see the person, not just the prospect. Video messages, handwritten notes, um, specific references to things that they care about. Day 12 of our 21 day series. You're not going to wanna miss that. That's coming up next because we're going to build on what we're covering today. But before I let you go, I want you to remember one thing. Okay. Every family that calls you is in crisis or in decision making. A lot of times, even if it's the resident, they're scared and overwhelmed and they're making one of the hardest decisions of their lives. Your follow up isn't just about filling beds, it's about being the calm in their storm. It's about showing them that someone sees them, someone hears them, and someone is going to walk this through with them. So go and be that person. Until next time, we are here to inspire change, impact lives, and improve outcomes. I'll see you in the next episode.