Free Referrals From Local Influencers (And How to Get Them) - Day 16

You're probably spending thousands on senior living advisors and online lead aggregators. Or, struggling to get referrals from discharge planner and social workers. 

But what if there's a whole network of trusted influencers in your community that NO ONE else is tapping into?

In this episode, I share how I partnered with my area YMCA  and got more inquiries, more exposure, with zero referral fees paid. You'll hear about 5 non-traditional influencers and my L.E.A.D. framework for building partnerships.

What You'll Learn:

• The YMCA partnership story (how I packed rooms with 68+ seniors) • The 5 non-traditional influencers: YMCA directors, pastors, hair stylists, senior club organizers, realtors • The L.E.A.D. Framework: Locate, Engage, Align, Deliver • How to turn sponsorships into speaking opportunities (the Shepherd Center story) • Your quick win: reach out to ONE influencer this week (exact script included)

This Episode is For You If:

• You're tired of paying $3,000-$5,000 per move-in to senior living advisors • You're competing with big box communities for the same medical referrals • You want a referral network that costs NOTHING but delivers EVERYTHING • You're a small operator (1-4 homes) or new entrant looking for low-cost, high-trust referral sources.

Resources:

Momentum Marketing Bootcamp is starting soon! - Join the waitlist at startwithoccupancy.com

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

Next Episode (Day 17): Why Families Are Choosing Your Competitor (Before They Even Call You)

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Transcript

Tiffany Updated voice 0:01

Have you ever thought that your local YMCA could be a source of referrals and exposure for you and your community? Let me tell you about a partnership program I worked so hard on for the senior living company that I worked for for two whole years before it was ever approved. You see, I was overseeing eight senior living cluster communities in my city. When we started this conversation about a partnership, I was still a sales manager in a community doing what everyone else does, chasing referrals, and working the online inquiries from lead aggregators, like a Place for Mom and caring.com, and those referrals, they were expensive. We were paying through the nose anywhere from 3000 to 5,000 per move in because some places like senior living advisors included care as a part of their contract. And honestly the online ones, they were the lowest converting, but the highest in volume. We would get such a flood of them and having to do all the follow up and, and you know, chasing the people, it was like a lot.'cause sometimes people just wouldn't respond and it was a lot of work. And the ones that did respond, that did move in, whether it's from the online aggregators or the senior living advisors, sometimes they just didn't stay. I was so frustrated. I knew how much we were spending and saw this as an opportunity to help people without spinning my wheels, trying to connect with people who would not respond. I kept thinking there has got to be a better way. Okay. Then one day the citywide director from the YMCA reached out to me for a meeting. We sat down. I listened to her talk about her programs, her members, her mission, learned more about the YMCA. I asked what her members were struggling with, what they need, and what was she wanting to accomplish by partnering with us. I loved the idea. But I had to wait until I became a regional for it to finally become approved. And that's because I was in charge of approving them. We set everything up in motion, the lunch and learns at four of the locations all around the city. The topics for the sessions, the campaign, everything. At our first lunch and learn at one of the locations, the place was packed with aging adults. There were seniors everywhere. We actually had to turn people away, Beforehand, they told me that this particular location only averaged about 40 in attendance. When we reached 68, it became a fire hazard and we had to stop people from coming in. We actually had to turn people away. The Silver Sneakers Program the social groups the coffee club folks that was there. These are all YMCA members who were aging, or it was their caregivers with them. People were everywhere. Laughing. Talking. Connecting. We did our presentation. And their attendance increased by 20 to 40% at each location And as time went on and we became a regular every month, it kept increasing every single month. And I thought. These people are exactly who I need to reach, and the YMCA already had their trust. They provided the platform. All I had to do was show up and here's what happened. We received more inquiries overall in the city. Families were calling our communities because of the presentation that they saw and heard at the lunch and learn. We focused our presentation for the whole year about brain health, and every month we did a different segment of what keeps your brain healthy. It was more exposure for us, for our communities and our staff and the brand. My business development manager was invited to speak at additional 55 plus clubs in churches, in senior associations all around the city. It was more alliances because people who were attending belong to other organizations and zero referral fees paid not one dime, all from one partnership with the people who were trusted in the greater community. That's what we're gonna talk about today, how to get free referrals from your local influencers without spending a dime on referral fees. Hi, I'm Tiffany Hill Allen, and welcome to episode 16 of our 21 Days All Things Senior Living Marketing Series. Let's dive in.

Tiffany 4:53

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 6:24

Here's the problem with most referral strategies. Most people think about medical referrals. They visit doctors, they visit hospitals. They call on skilled nursing facilities. They pay senior living advisors thousands of dollars per move in and listen, I have to repeat this from the last episode. I am not knocking those sources. They all serve a purpose, but here's the thing. You're competing with every other senior living community in your area for those same referrals. It doesn't make sense. Why be a small fish in a very, very big pond or be the big fish in a very small pond. Right? Everyone is calling on the same discharge planners. Everyone is visiting the same skilled nursing facilities. Everyone is paying the same advisors. What if I told you. There's a whole network of influencers in your community that no one else is tapping into. People who already have trust. People who already have access to the families that you need to reach. People who will refer you for free. I call them non-traditional influencers, and when you learn how to partner with them, you can get referrals without spending any money. Let's talk about how. Now, before I give you this framework, let me explain why non-traditional influencers matter, possibly more than the traditional ones. When you connect with local influencers like the YMCA Director that I did, pastors hairstylists, senior club organizers, realtors, you're tapping into trust networks that no one else is using. And here's the key. These influencers have something doctors don't always have, or discharge planners. It's trust. Deep personal community trust. When a pastor or someone who's in clergy says to a family, I know a great community for your mom, the family's going to listen. When a senior club organizer says, you should check out this place. Families I know trust it. They're going to listen. When a hairstylist says, my client's mom lives there, and she loves it. Families believe it. That trust transfers to you, and that's why these partnerships are so powerful. Who are these nontraditional influencers? There are many. I'm going to give you five to get your minds activated, but look in your area where you live. These are some of the most powerful ones that I have experienced. And are, in my opinion, pretty darn good. the first one I'm going to talk about is the YMCA or senior program coordinators. That could be, senior centers. It could be like something like the Shepherd Center, different senior programs that is in your city. Okay. These are people who are running either 55 plus clubs or 65 plus clubs. They're the silver sneaker programs. They're the social groups like, the Red Hat Society, or like I said, the Shepherd Center. They're your VFW or your Kiwanis Club. These are coffee clubs, all these type of club things that is definitely, one you might be missing out on. They see aging adults before they need care. They know who's struggling. They know who's isolated. They know whose family is overwhelmed. And, their members trust them. Their member's families also trust them. So when they recommend a community, when they recommend your community, it will carry weight with the person who's receiving that recommendation. The second influencer is pastors. Clergy church leaders. These are the people that families turn to during a crisis, right? you have the hospital visit programs, you have the shut-in programs, all these different programs through nonprofits and churches. Especially religious organizations. They know who's caregiving. They know who's struggling financially, sometimes. They know who's making difficult decisions about their aging parents. They know who just passed away. They know who's, you know now, widowed. At the end of the day, they know they're congregants or they should, or they have people who do. And in my experience, I have had over my years of working inside a community as a sales manager, three pastors who became legal guardians of widows in their congregation who had no other family member, and kudos to them, right? They took on the role of being that extended family and took care of making sure that person was safe. All it takes from you is one conversation, one invite to the pastor to come and see your community. Or, to a group of pastors to have a breakfast at your community. One meeting about your passion about caring for aging adults with a pastor can lead to multiple referrals. The third group that I want you to think about is hairstylists and barbers. I know this sounds unusual, but hear me out. Please hear me out. Hairstylists see the same clients every four to eight weeks, right? They have intimate, trusted relationships. They hear everything. They hear about caregiving struggles, they hear about family stress. They hear about, aging parents who need help also, they're the ones that are doing the hair of aging adults or the person who is needing the care. Think about this, the wife who has dementia, whose husband drops her off at the hair salon to get her hair done. Some of their clients are aging as well. I realize how huge this opportunity is by talking to my own hairstylist, and she was sharing stories about who comes into the salon and the situations that occur with her older clientele. This is where I found out where somebody had an accident in the, in the bathroom because she knew what I did for a living. So she would naturally tell me, oh, we had this older person here. I felt so bad. She's telling me all of this. And I'm thinking, why are we as a company, as a group of people not reaching out to hairstylists. Don't underestimate the person who does your hair. Ask them questions and see who is coming into their salon. The next one is senior club organizers or civic leaders. These are people who are running like book clubs and garden clubs, like Rotary Lions Club, Kiwani, senior centers, right? The Shepherd Center, which I mentioned earlier. They know who's struggling with their aging parents. They know, again, who's overwhelmed with caregiving. They know who's looking for help. They know who are recent widows and widowers, just like the pastor. And in my years in a community, I had several members who reached out to me from these organizations, sometimes even paying for the one time community fee for the wife of a deceased member because their pledge was to take care of the, um, the surviving spouse. Right, so they would get their money together and pool it and pay literally for the community fee. That was like$2,000. They have access to networks of families, and one conversation with a club organizer can open the door to dozens of families emilys. The next group is realtors and estate planners. You know, these people are the ones who are working with families who are downsizing or selling their parents' home. They're involved in major life transitions and they're the trusted advisors during those very stressful times for families. They tend to know when families need senior living. A good realtor also has a database. They're constantly networking and they're meeting new people. My ex had over 1500 realtors that he would email weekly when he used to work for a builder. So many realtors are emailing their clients or potential clients or their database and my question to you is, have you been emailing realtors about your availability, your care, or your services? Are you getting it? Now? These are people in your community that they already trust, and when you partner with them, you're tapping into that same amount of trust. So pause this episode right now. Think about your community. Who are the most visible people in your greater community, not your home community, but the greater community around you. Who's the most trusted in your area or has a greater influence. Is it the pastor of the largest church? The leader at the local lodge that's very involved in a lot of, events in your area? Those are your non-traditional influencers. So now you're thinking, okay, I get it. These influencers have trust and access, but how do I connect with them? How do I build the partnerships? If you're thinking that, let's talk about my framework. It is called lead, LEAD, and let me walk you through it so it can help you process how to do this. We're gonna build partnerships through the L standing for locate. The E, standing for engage. The A is align and D is for deliver. So, locate, engage, align, and deliver. I'm gonna break down each step for you. Okay? So locate is exactly what it sounds like. You're gonna find the trusted community figures, and what you're going to do is you're going start by listing the top 10 most visible people in your community. Who do people listen to? Who has influence? And here's the steps that I want you to go through. Number one is to observe and notice who's visible. Look at who has visibility everywhere. Who's marketing? Who's that realtor on the city bus or who's on the billboard? You can also use Google. You can ask Chat GPT. You can search Eventbrite. Is it the clubs in your area? Is there a car club in your area that is doing a lot for the community? Check with your current resident's families. What organizations do they belong to? That's another way, right? Find out what they are doing and where they're going and who they're hanging out with. Attend community events and see who's leading them. I mentioned before Eventbrite. Eventbrite, a lot of times we'll have community events listed on there. Check your social media pages for your community, meaning your greater community, your city, your county, your your area. There are Facebook groups for, for that. Facebook group admins is another one. Is there a caregiver group in your community that is meeting or that's influential? is there a widower work group? For me, it was the YMCA. It was the Shepherd Center. It was the county sponsored senior centers that I partnered with, and it was realtors. For you, it might be the pastor of the largest church in town. It might be the organizer of the Pickleball Club. It could be the director of the local senior center, or even the most popular hair salon that has a good amount of older clientele. The key is, is to make the list then prioritize. Who has the most access to your target audience. Now, the E for Engage is just that build genuine relationships. Don't lead with your pitch. Lead with genuine interest in their mission. So how do you do that? The key is, is that when I met with the YMC director, I did not say, I want you to refer people to me. I want you to send people to me. I said to her, tell me about your senior programs. How does the Y reach out to their members? What are your members struggling with? What are your goals? And. I asked her, how can I support you in what you're doing? I then listened. I asked questions. I showed up for their event. I became a partner, not just a vendor. And here's the thing, people can smell a sales pitch from a mile away, but they respond to genuine interests. So when you reach out to a local influencer, your first conversation should always be about them. As a matter of fact, when you reach out to anyone, whether it's a physician, skilled nursing, no matter where, make sure your first conversation is about them and not you. You don't wanna go to them and it's your first time meeting and you're telling them all about you and why they should send their people to you. That's not how you build relationships. So. What you're going to do is you're going to ask what they're working on right now? What are the challenges that they're facing? What would make their job easier? And how can I support your mission is another question that you can ask them. You want to listen, you want to learn and build the relationship first. So let me tell you about another partnership I built. It was with the Shepherd Center. You might have heard me mention it a few times. There are several around the country. I didn't call and say, Hey, I want you to refer people to me. As a matter of fact, they called me to see if I would be a sponsor for their programs. And when she did, I said, you know what? I'd love to learn more about your program. I've never heard of the Shepherd Center. And, I've never heard what the Shepherd Center does for the community. I wanted to see if there was a way I could support her ministry. When we met, I found out that they offered enrichment classes to aging adults in our area. I asked her if I could not only be a sponsor'cause I was like, heck yeah, I'll sponsor you guys. There's nothing but older adults coming here for line dancing and classes from elder law attorneys like they had so many different classes and things for aging adults to do. And I think it was free. And so I said, instead of just becoming a sponsor, can I actually teach a class? I worked it out with my executive director'cause at this time I was a sales manager. And, the director of the Shepherd Center loved the idea. I taught an eight week class about the Blue Zones and longevity because I had read the book. So what I did is I took the book. I made each chapter into one week's lesson, and I went and did interactive lessons for this class. Anyone could sign up for it. So I gave the director what my class was going to be about, and a little bio about me and what we were going to go over, and people signed up. I think I had about 20 people in the class. Man, can I tell you? They loved it. I only mentioned my community and where I was from. It wasn't a sales pitch. Again, it was just me giving those people value. And for those who signed up, they went and they told everyone about it because it was a. Not, I'm not bragging on me, but Blue Zones is a very interesting topic, right? So what ended up happening is after the classes in the morning, they have lunch that they sponsor, and so everybody gets together for lunch. So while my class was only 20, there was probably 120 aging adults there, seniors that was taking all kinds of classes The director kept hearing about it week after, week and she then invited me to be their featured speaker at the luncheon to speak to all of the seniors. Man, that was the best time. It was a hit. And what happened is I got questions about our senior living community, about, senior living in general, the services. We offered all this stuff. Now I really was only supposed to sponsor, but I was listening. I saw what they offered. I saw an opportunity and I I seized the opportunity. Three families asked me, can I talk to you about our situation? And that was the power of engagement. The next one is A for align. Now align is this. Propose a mutually beneficial partnership. Much like what I did at the Shepherd Center. She wanted my sponsorship dollars, but after I learned about what they were about. The programs that they offered, how they operated, um, what was the impact that they were trying to make in the community, I then asked, not only was I giving money, but I was giving value, which would then turn back to me in terms of also giving me exposure. Once you understand the, their mission, these local influencers, their mission from their organization or whatever they're doing, propose a partnership that benefits both of you. That is the point, right? So with the YMCA, and them reaching out to me, I offered free educational workshops for their members. Right. it was on brain health, but you could do it on fall prevention or nutrition or caregiving tips, right? Another way is sponsorship of their senior events, what they had for their Silver Sneakers program, the Lunch and Learn. So by us sponsoring that event meant yes, I had to pay for everybody's lunch, but it gave me a room that really was overflowing and we used to have it catered and it put me in front of all those people. You could do coffee and donuts, something that. you know, is inexpensive like that for 55 plus club meetings, right? There's all these different things that you could do in your area. You can offer resources for the staff of some of those, influencers. It was mutual. It was just not transactional. Your partnership, again, should solve a problem for them, not just you. So you wanna ask yourself, what does this influencer need? What would make their job easier? What value can I provide for them? Then propose a partnership that addresses their needs while also helping you reach families. One thing that the Y offered me was access to their members and speaking opportunities and referrals. When I did this with a pastor, I provided caregiving workshops, support groups, resources for their families, for their congregants. What they provided for me was referrals and endorsement. For hairstylists, provide referral cards and small thank you gifts for referrals. What they can give you is word of mouth referrals and trusted recommendations. Right? If it's a senior club, you can do sponsorships. You can be a guest speaker, right? What they'll give you is access to their members and speaking opportunities. And the cool thing about realtors is that you can give them a listing. you can give them resources to downsize families when families are looking to downsize. What they can provide for you are families that are selling their parents' home. Or, they know someone who's selling their own home because they want to move into independent living. And, this is the first step. The key is mutual benefit for both of you. Now, the last part of this is the D. This means deliver. So how are you going to deliver? Right? This is how you're going to show results and recognize the support that they are giving you. So after the partnership starts, make sure you deliver results and recognize their support. How did I do this? Well, after I partnered with the Y made sure I delivered on my promises. I showed up to every workshop and I say I, my team, I had a business development director who also helped me to plan this out and execute it. And she was so, she was amazing. If anybody knew. My, my person, Tammy, oh my God, she was just amazing and she knocked it out the park. They loved her. And, what we did is we provided valuable content. It was actual presentations that was informational and a lot of the times, I didn't know the information, but guess what? I looked it up. I put it on a PowerPoint slide presentation. I went over it with her, and she is the one who actually, you know, executed. Some of them, I did myself, but it was four different locations and I was a regional. I couldn't do them all. And so she's the person who actually did that. But what I did do was I followed through, I checked with the team at the Y. Got feedback. Gave her the feedback and I made sure that, they could see the results and they were so happy. And I also, you know, was able to tell my team the results of it as well. I did have the directors of the Y come and visit our community. They did an actual full visit and tour and of all the services so that if any of their members asked them about our community, I wanted to make sure that they could confidently recommend us to their members if a member went to them. I showed them the impact of um, our partnership, and I recognized them publicly. I also recognized them on social media. I posted their events on my personal social account. The whole idea is that you want to share the outcomes. And I told them because of our partnership with them, X amount of families, called in. So that made them feel good. And, it made them feel like partners and that we were truly in a partnership, not just the vendor relationship. And I think that's what kept it strong for us. Now, here's your homework. Think about the last time you asked someone for a referral. Did you lead with your needs or did you lead with their mission? That's your answer for maybe why it didn't work, because you can't just go in and talk about your needs. You have to find out what is their mission, what are their struggles, and how you can help solve their problems. So here's some practical tips to make your local influencer partnership even more effective. Okay, are you ready? Here's tip number one. Offer to host events or fairs. It could be resource fairs, health fairs, anything that is going to be a benefit to them. Don't just ask for referrals. Offer to host something that benefits them, their members, their community, right? It's all about building community. Here's an example though. Um, if you're having some trouble thinking of some. Host a fall prevention workshop. I remember that when Tammy did a presentation at the Y, we were doing brain health, but someone requested for her to come and do a presentation at their church. And what we did was a presentation on fall prevention. And so just tips on how to prevent falls at home. So here's an example. You can host a caregiving support group at the church or at your community. Right at the local library, host a downsizing seminar with a realtor. I had one sales manager who every quarter did a panel as a resource for the local community, and she would have the influencers come into the community. With and send out invites to their data bank so that she could have, this panel about aging and she had that at her community. You can do the same thing. You may not have room in your small home to do that, but you can have it at the library or someplace like a restaurant. Um, and like there's so many different ways you can or who you might partner with. like your home care, your home health, your psych, hospitals, things like that will partner with you. I'm a big believer in using other people's money now, so I used to use other people's marketing dollars to get some of the stuff done and put me in front of people. So that is something that you can do. For a realtor, like we said, you can do the downsizing seminar. You can host also a fair at a senior center. When you host events, you wanna just, again, provide value, build trust and position yourself as a resource. Now, tip number two is to recognize people publicly. It helps people to feel good about what they're doing when they see that they were able to help you.'cause most people want to help you. They want you to be successful. So when you pay back by not just taking the referral, but giving them feedback, how is that person doing after they moved in? Tell'em how much you appreciate them, how happy the family was. It makes them feel really good. And you know, the other thing it does, it encourages them to refer more to you.'cause then now they know that they've made a difference. Tip number three. Make it easy for them to refer to you. Give your influencers the tools to refer to you easily. That could be referral cards with your contact information and the QR code. I used to, um, give these little refer me cards to emergency workers. So when we went to the local fire department and they're always going on fall, rescues, people who fell and maybe can't get up or, and usually that happens in the evenings, they had a, like a little card that they could say, Hey, you might wanna, you know, check this place out. And so they would just leave the card when they go and visit somebody in their home. You can also have a one simple page flyer about your community that you can have ready for your influencers. Um, a pre-written email that they could forward to people when they are, referring people to you. And of course, make sure they have your direct phone number. Tip number four, stay in touch even when you don't need anything. Right? Don't just wait until you need a move in to get in contact with people. reach out to them regularly. We used to have, we call it the top 20 and we have five people we visit every week. Five people we visit every other week. Five people we visit once a month. Five people we visit once a quarter. And, you want to keep those people on rotation. Um, because some people may fall off, some people may be added, you know, but these were what we called our our top 20. If they're having an event, support them. Even if you're not the one speaking, send them updates on your community and what's going on. Check in with them. When you check in, you want to find out how are things going with them, how you want to find out, how you can support them. Invite them to your community events. One of the best things we did was have events in our community. And at the end of the day, when you show up for their events, it shows that you genuinely care about them and their relationship and their success. The idea is to build long-term partnerships, not just transactional relationships. Now, here's your quick win for this week. Identify one local influencer and reach out, and here's how. Make a list of five non-traditional influences in your community. Whether it's a pastor or a hairstylist, or whoever you choose that is in your particular community. Pick the one who has the most access to your target market in your area. Reach out with this one simple message. You wanna say hi? I'm gonna say my name. My name is Tiffany. I run X, Y, Z, senior living, and I've noticed you serve a lot of seniors in our area. I'd love to learn more about your work and see if there's a way we could partner together to better serve our community. Can we grab a cup of coffee next week? Was that easy? I hope it was. Just show up to the meeting with genuine curiosity, not a sales pitch, and listen, learn, think, and then propose one way that you can support their mission. And that's it. One influencer, one conversation, one partnership. Start there and just see what happens. Now if you want the complete local influencer outreach guide with scripts, collaboration ideas, follow up templates. That's exactly what we will be discussing in my Momentum Marketing Bootcamp. The bootcamp does start next week, so head to start with occupancy.com and join the wait list. But even if you don't join, reach out to one influencer this week, build that relationship and just see where it goes. I know we covered a lot, but remember the L.E.A.D. framework for getting those referrals. Start that conversation, Now, before I let you go, remember you don't need a huge marketing budget to grow your occupancy. You just need to know who are the trusted people in your community, and when you partner with those trusted voices, you tap into networks that no one else is using. You build trust faster. You reach families before they're in crisis, and you create referral sources that cost nothing but deliver everything. So stop chasing the same referral sources that everyone else is chasing. Stop paying thousands of dollars in referral fees. Start connecting with the influencers sitting right in your backyard because here's the truth. The YMC director in your town, the pastor down the street, the hairstylist, who's been cutting hair for 20 years, they already have a trust system already built. They already have access to the families that you need to reach. All you have to do is partner with them now. Until next time, I'm here to inspire change, to impact lives, and to improve outcomes. I'll see you in the next episode.