Grow Your Occupancy

(Re)Solving the Occupancy Puzzle - A Senior Living Regional, Sales, & Executive Director Playbook is the fully revised and updated 3rd edition of the industry favorite. In this special edition of the Grow Your Occupancy Podcast, author Julie Podewitz takes a deep dive into chapter 1. Order your copy today on Amazon!

Do you really need another strategic plan for driving sales in your senior living organization? In this episode, Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Kevin Colley, Corporate Head of Sales at Bridge Senior Living, about working the plan you already have. It's important to keep things simple and focus on the fundamentals – or in Kevin's words, on the blocking and tackling. Before you get stressed out about the move outs, work on the leading measures. The results will come but you've got to stay consistent.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Erin Thompson, Founder of Aspire for More With Erin, and Aaron Fish, Founder & CEO of Trestle Hospitality Concepts. Together, Erin and Aaron co-founded The Mentoring Company to help train the next generation of senior living leaders to succeed. Erin and Aaron are the educators behind The New EDs Playbook: Creating an Impactful Community Culture, an online learning course available now in the Grow Your Occupancy Online Learning Library.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with longtime senior living marketing expert Lola Rain. Lola shares her advice around budgets, knowing your cost per lead and your cost per move in to know best ways to allocate funds: where are the best places to put your marketing dollars and where maybe to pull those dollars from? Lola is unique in that she works in a variety of different senior living spaces for different levels of care, with a focus on higher end CCRCs and rental communities. It's important to note that when she talks about one or two move-ins in a month, she's talking about the high end model of senior living with big dollar entry fees.

The initial connection with a senior living lead can make or break the sale. That's why it's so important to make the first connection a human connection with all new leads, and to track the metrics associated with those connections. Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Christa Daniello, Vice President of Sales at The Osborn, and Mona Hilton, CEO of Advantage Anywhere, about making a human connection with new leads, and how automation enables the sales team to focus on the human connection – i.e. picking up the phone – instead of babysitting lead nurturing activities.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Erin Hennessey, CEO of Health Dimensions Group. Erin shares her insights on her leadership journey to CEO, leading by values, hiring the right people, and the impact a strong executive director and strong sales director working together has in the success of a senior living community.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy talked with Karen Foley, Senior Vice President of Sales at LCB Senior Living, about their strategy for occupancy success. Karen shares her philosophy that occupancy is the result of an entire team, not just the sales staff. Because a lot goes into maintaining occupancy, it's key that the sales directors are focused on what they're there to do – educating prospects to help them make a buying decision – and not distracted by other aspects of the operation.

For the first time in the history of the Grow Your Occupancy podcast, Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder, is the guest! Dresden Cincurak, VP of Business Development, turns the tables and takes the role of host as she interviews Julie about senior living sales and marketing and so much more!

Grow Your Occupancy's Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder, and Dresden Cincurak, VP of Business Development, are back to share what's on their minds, what they're hearing from people in the senior living industry, and the sales and marketing challenges facing senior living providers and communities.

Has the Daylight Savings Time change got you feeling out of whack in your workday? Time management is a topic on the minds of almost everyone this time of year, when we're feeling just a little off of our entire day's schedule. In this solo podcast, Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, shares her tips for better time optimization.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with the sales leadership team at The Arbors and The Ivy Assisted Living Communities about their experience with the sales coaching they began over 3 years ago. Emily Quinn, Co-Owner and RDSM, Sondra Jones, RDSM, and Stephanie Zelazo, Regional Sales Specialist, look back on the coaching sessions, the things that had the quickest impact and the things that had a longer lasting impact on not only their sales team but their organization as a whole.

In part 1, Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talked with Kristin Ward, President of Austera Group, about positioning senior living communities to maximize their potential. Julie and Kristin are back for part 2 to dive deeper into the top 3 operational fixes that senior living operators can do to stay competitive and grow occupancy.

In this first of a two part conversation, Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Kristin Ward, President of Austera Group, about positioning senior living communities to maximize their potential. Kristin, a 30 year veteran of the senior living industry, shares the top 3 operational fixes that senior living operators can do to stay competitive and grow occupancy.

For senior living providers with a diverse portfolio of communities in varied markets, is there really such a thing as a universal approach to sales and marketing? Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Francine Bass, Vice President of Sales at United Group of Communities, about the secret weapon that is working to transform their occupancy outcomes.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, welcomes back Christy Van Der Westhuizen, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Legend Senior Living, to the Grow Your Occupancy podcast. Christy recently took a 3 week vacation to South Africa, and not only did her sales teams not fall apart in her absence, they actually grew occupancy! Find out her leadership skills that made it happen.

We're back with part 7 of our most popular topic – senior living sales specialists share what they're doing to get occupancy growth results in their senior living communities! Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, is joined by Jessi Barton from The Lodge at Stephens Lake in Jasper, GA, and a panel of Grow Your Occupancy's Senior Sales Specialists: Susan Braley, Heidi Benard, Jennifer Ptacek, Melinda Haney, and Lori Vernier. They share the greatest areas of opportunity they found that helped them to grow senior living occupancy in 2024.

Is your senior living community situated in a very competitive market? What can you do to make your community stand out from the competition? Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Sasha Davis, COO of Model55, and Allison Page, VP of Sales and Marketing at Thrive Senior Living, about making the most of your community's differentiating factors – and how custom-furnished spaces and model apartments can set your community apart from the competition.

We're back with part 6 of our most popular topic – senior living sales specialists share what they're doing to get occupancy growth results in their senior living communities! Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, is joined by Jessi Barton from The Lodge at Stephens Lake in Jasper, GA, and a panel of Grow Your Occupancy's Senior Sales Specialists: Susan Braley, Heidi Benard, Jennifer Ptacek, Melinda Haney, and Lori Vernier. They share what worked to grow senior living occupancy in 2024.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, takes a look back at 2024 – both personally and professionally – and shares her mindset to learn and grow, from not only the highlights but also the mistakes and challenges.

It's very common in senior living sales to see a push from management to increase occupancy at the end of the month. All too often, the result is a shift from sales activities that are proactive to ones that are reactive. Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, takes a closer look at the phenomenon of the month-end sales push and offers tips that result in better overall outcomes.

As we close out the year, Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, shares her insights on senior living sales and marketing for 2024.

Whether you're selling senior living or just about any other service, the fundamentals of sales and great salesmanship that yield results are very similar. Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Wallie Garrett, Sales Consultant at Two Sisters Maid to Clean, about the sales skills she uses when selling home cleaning services that result in sales success.

A lot of senior living operators have been seeking to cut out senior living lead aggregators from the occupancy equation lately. Some have been successful in doing so, and you can be too! Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Jenni Bost, Vice President of Marketing at Radiant Senior Living, about how they not only got rid of lead aggregators but are organically ranking high in their local markets!

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Greg Anderson, Managing Director of Northbridge Advisory Services, about the highlights of 2024 and the challenges he sees with owner/operator misalignment.

At Primrose Retirement Communities, trust is a key piece of the culture that has allowed for the success and growth of the company.   Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with BJ Schaefbauer, President of Primrose Retirement Communities, about recruiting the right people who are genuine, get along, and align with the culture of trust, to join the Primrose family.

In March of 2024, The Aspenwood Company experienced a perfect storm of portfolio growth, expanding their footprint 63% in a single month through the addition of a number of properties. Despite the many distractions at the home office that onboarding the new communities brought, their existing portfolio grew occupancy in that same timeframe. Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Heather Tussing, President, and Eric Varin, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, of The Aspenwood Company about their secrets to occupancy growth in their existing communities while the company was in a period of tremendous portfolio growth.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, welcomes back Brooke Saxon-Spencer, Vice President of Marketing at Claiborne Senior Living. The last time Julie and Brooke talked, Brooke shared how Claiborne make the cutting-edge marketing move of eliminating virtually all paper from their marketing department. In this episode, Brooke shares Claiborne's decision 2 years ago to shut off all lead aggregators, and what the company is seeing as a result. If you're considering saying no to senior living lead aggregators, here's some advice on what to do and how to prepare for the change.

Senior living communities generate a lot of data in the course of their marketing activities to attract leads. How that data is used – or isn't used – can make a big difference in sales and occupancy success. At Primrose Retirement Communities, the marketing team pulls the data together to tell a story, and the sales leadership uses that story to influence the behavior of the sales teams. Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, is back with Jessi Weldon, EVP of Sales & Marketing, and Brandon Christiansen, Director of Marketing, from Primrose Retirement Communities. They share how they use their senior living marketing data to tell a story that can be used to influence their sales team's behavior to improve outcomes.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Staci Lynn, Chief Operating Officer of Wickshire Senior Living, about Wickshire's focus on external business development in its sales strategy. External business development has had a tremendously positive impact on occupancy in Wickshire's senior living communities. Watch to find out more about this winning sales strategy!

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Chad Carnes, COO of YMP Senior Living and Shelli Webster, Sales Specialist at Grow Your Occupancy, about YMP's entry into the southeast Florida senior living market. Chad shares his tips for competing against much larger and more established senior living providers including tailoring your efforts for the local area and focusing on the 3 Ps: Product, Pricing, and People.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with senior living provider Merrill Gardens' Amanda Warren, VP of Marketing, and Corneil Vacirca, VP of Sales. They share the advantages of the collaboration between their different sales and marketing roles, how they use data to inform their sales and marketing strategy and decisions, and when to close out a lead in the database.

Senior living prospects and their family members often face a variety of emotional and logistical challenges that can prevent them from moving forward with a senior living decision. Vetting movers and real estate agents, downsizing possessions and furnishings, preparing to sell their home, and actually moving are tops on the list of challenges. In this podcast, Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Maureen Longoria, CEO and Co-founder of LivNow Relocation, about some recent AARP survey results from seniors considering senior living, the challenges they're facing, and why finding solutions can help you convert more prospects to move-ins.

It's a hot topic in senior living sales: saying no to costly paid referral sources for leads. But how do you do it? In this podcast, Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Cindy Robinson, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Capri Senior Communities, about their decision to stop using lead aggregators six years ago, how they did it, and how it's paid off for them.

Seniors and their family members look to senior living communities for guidance and information to help them make the choice of where to live. While most senior living community websites provide the basic details like services, amenities, floor plans, and levels of care, what the prospects really want is for every aspect of the senior living experience to be demystified. Compelling storytelling about real people's experiences in senior living is vital to meet this want. Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Dan Hutson, VP of Marketing at Priya Living, a senior living marketing thought leader and early proponent of content marketing, about how we can be a resource of help and knowledge for seniors and their families considering senior living.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Sara Robertson, CEO of The Arbors and Ivy Senior Living Residential Communities. Sara tells about their transformation from not being "numbers people" to using data to make decisions, and how it has impacted revenue and sales. Sara also shares her thoughts about women in senior leadership roles in the industry, her journey up through the ranks, and how she is leads by both her head and her heart.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Michael Morris, CEO and Founder of Willow Ridge Senior Living. At age 15, Michael first caught the senior living “bug” as a dining room server. Years later, he and his wife invested their life savings to open a senior living community. Fast forward to today when he and his wife now own and operate ten communities. Mike shares his passion for all things senior living.

Julie Podewitz, Founder & CEO of Grow Your Occupancy, recently talked with Mona Hilton, Founder of sales and marketing automation software Advantage Anywhere. Mona shared how the right technology can increase your senior living sales teams' productivity, lower costs, and improve sales outcomes.

It's the "nature vs. nurture" argument: are successful salespeople born with their talents as part of their nature, or do their talents require nurturing through training and coaching to bloom? Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy talks with Dan Fantasia, President of Treeline, Inc. about this question. Plus, Dan explains the importance of matching a top candidate with a company based on its culture, and gives his advice on improving how you can identify top talent and attract it to your organization.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, and Sherrie Bebell, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Columbia Pacific Advisors, LLC, are back for part 2 of their conversation about Sherrie's strategies for overcoming sales challenges in senior living communities.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Sherrie Bebell, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Columbia Pacific Advisors, LLC. In this first part, Sherrie shares her winning strategies for overcoming sales challenges in senior living communities.

Dani Merlino, COO of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with The Ridge Senior Living's Marti Milligan, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, and Diane Macheers, Vice President of Corporate Communications. Marti and Diane discuss The Ridge Senior Living's boots on the ground approach to leadership, and give an update on their strategic plan initiative to eliminate paid referral sources (hint: it's working!).

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Patrick Dooley and Natalie Ross, the Co-Founders and Partners of One Extra Consulting. Patrick and Natalie chat about the challenges they both experienced as senior living operators, their passion for helping the residents of senior living communities and those who serve them, and what inspired them to continue contributing to the industry by co-founding One Extra Consulting.

Dani Merlino, COO of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Aaron Fish, CEO and Founder of Trestle Hospitality Concepts, about creating exceptional resident experiences in senior living communities. The resident experience is more than the calendar of activities, it's the community's spaces, programming, dining. It's also understanding the residents you're serving and the market you're in. Aaron shares his pro tips for creating exceptional resident experiences in your senior living community.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Maggie Seybold, Vice President of Customer Insights at WelcomeHome Software, about their 2023 Year in Review report. In this second part, Julie and Maggie dig into the report to find some surprises in the data, and identify some takeaways that can be used to improve senior living sales outcomes in 2024.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Maggie Seybold, Vice President of Customer Insights at WelcomeHome Software, about their 2023 Year in Review report. In this first part, Julie and Maggie talk about the key trends that shaped senior living sales in 2023 and some of the observed traits of the most successful communities.

Dani Merlino, COO of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Christie Freeze, Founder of Care By Christie and author of the recently published "Roadmap for Eldercare: A Simple Guide Equipping You with Tools and Resources for Eldercare Ease". Christie shares her purpose in writing the book: to be a resource to families in finding the best eldercare for their older loved ones. Christie's book is available on Amazon.

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Jill Berry, Vice President of Sales & Marketing of Country Meadows Retirement Communities, about compensating senior living sales and marketing professionals. Jill shares her compensation strategies for increasing retention, improving sales and move-ins outcomes, and building team member loyalty.

Dani Merlino, Vice President of Strategic Development at Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Tiffany Marino, Founder, Creator, and Host of the Manis With Grannies Podcast, about helping seniors share their stories and the importance of passing them along as part of their legacy.   Check out the podcast here: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/qbijn-2bdfdd/Manis-with-Grannies-Podcast

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Paula Rathgaber-Gomez, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Sequoia Living, about how putting people first and leading by the heart has impacted her career and company outcomes.

We hear it all the time: "Outreach is dead." We also see outreach becoming a priority only when occupancy growth becomes urgent. Julie Podewitz, Grow Your Occupancy's CEO and Founder, talks about outreach in senior living sales, the value and results it brings, and why it needs to have an ongoing place in your sales and marketing strategy. She also shares some new ways to approach it that you may not have thought of (hint: they're digital!).

Dani Merlino, Vice President of Strategic Development at Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Debbie Tedesco, Director of Admissions & Outreach at ACTS Retirement-Life Communities, about outreach in senior living sales the importance of making connections for outreach success.