Off Your Rocker, A SeniorVu Podcast

Did you know that when a prospect's call is transferred to a sales team's voicemail, 90 percent of the time the caller hangs up without leaving a message? Those prospects are left on the table. Even when you do call a lead back, many times it can go unanswered because the prospect thinks the call could be spam. Now sales teams are tasked with finding new ways to connect with the lead instead of going to spam.  Our guest today on the Off Your Rocker podcast is Scott Payne, a leader in the mortgage and lead management business since 2004. Payne is the Founder of SDP Solutions, a Lead Management Consulting firm that assists sales organizations with optimizing and improving lead conversion metrics.  In this podcast, you will learn how to optimize your sales process so you can convert more leads. Key Takeaways from the episode (01:30) The importance bringing on new customers  (07:32) How to align your sales team with your company goals  (09:30) Evolving technology in lead management  (12:20) New sales technology you need to know  (15:01) How to keep your messages out of the spam folder  (19:05) Never missing a lead on the weekend  (29:12) Senior Living lead management tips  (40:00) How to increase engagement post sale 

Change is hard and new habits are tough to stick to.  This can be a truism of life, including when it comes to  moving into a senior living facility. Residents go through a big life change by moving someplace new and it can be difficult to participate in the wellness activities being offered.  Our guest today is an expert on wellness in senior living facilities, and is passionate about helping seniors live a more holistic healthy lifestyle in their communities. Listen to learn:  How to bridge the marketing and sales side of senior living with the health and wellness side of senior living  Tips on how to help a resident see the need for a holistic wellness plan How to get someone who has moved into your senior moving facility to engage in wellness activities immediately HIT THE HIGHLIGHTS (02:17) Where to start with your content strategy  (07:10) The best way to deliver content to residents once they are in the community.  (13:45) Do communities need to offer an active lifestyle to be attractive to future residents?  (19:41) How to move past the barriers and create a lifestyle change for your senior residents.  (21:46) How to help your residents stick to a wellness plan in your community.  (26:15) How to turn wellness interests into a marketing opportunity. 

Staffing is an ongoing issue in senior living and senior care.  Most communities experience a 50% staff turnover each year. In-home services and senior living communities are often looking for new team members…everyone from nurses, certified nursing assistants to office staff and dining crew. Many communities often don't have the resources to connect with top applicants fast enough.  In this episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast, Jeff Davidson, SeniorVu's Vice President of Platform Services takes us through the applicant management system and shares the results of a case study that we believe is very compelling, but we'll let you decide for yourself! 

In this episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast host Valissa Smith talks with Nicole Will of willGather, and Creator and Host of the willGather: Navigating the World with Your Aging Loved One Podcast. Nicole has a gerontology degree, worked in senior living several years right out of college and is now using that knowledge, education and experience to connect and work with families who are on the journey to find care for their loved ones. 

In this episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast guest James Lee of Bear Wise Consulting discusses ways communities can take the change that was forced on the industry during the pandemic to build momentum for more and much needed change in 2021 and beyond.

A SeniorVu client was recognized as one of the Top 5 ‘Best in Wellness’ senior living communities in North America, a 2020 ICAA NuStep Pinnacle Award. It’s a prestigious honor, so we asked them to join us on Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast to share their secret to success and by golly, they did it! 

Getting your brand above national senior living brands and large 3rd party lead providers in online searches has been an ongoing complaint from communities across the country.  It’s a pain point our clients ask about often: “How can I get my community to rank better in search engines? And how do I manage search engine optimization?”  Great questions!

In this episode of Off Your Rocker, we invited James Merson to join us. James is the Chief Customer Officer at Caresmartz, Inc. which is a technology platform built to support the in-home care industry.  It was founded about 10 years ago and its primary focus is on providing software to home care agencies which helps them manage their staff and their clients more efficiently. 

In this episode of Off Your Rocker, host Valissa Smith takes a close up look at the purpose and value of placement agents like Kelly who is really an educator.  She has built her latest career to help others just like her, becoming that person she longed for when she was just 23 making one of the biggest decisions of her life for her grandmother.  We talk about how to determine which placement agents are legitimate and which ones are not, and she offers important examples and great advice to senior living communities when it comes to helping families transition their loved ones into a community successfully. And yes, we even get Kelly to spill the beans on a celebrity story from Hollywood!

With all the vaccine information swirling around on social media and not completely clear on the official websites, we invited Ann Cheverton on the podcast to help us separate fact from fiction.  Ann is Senior Vice President of Resident Services for Bickford Senior Living and wants nothing more than for everyone to get the vaccine so we can get life back to some sense of normalcy. 

In this episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast, SeniorVu’s CEO Tim Donnelly turned the tables on the frequent host of Off Your Rocker to find out what Valissa discovered in those community conversations. Some of the information revealed is eye opening!  

In this episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast SeniorVu’s CEO Tim Donnelly talks with Mark Goetz, founder of the HomeCare Advocacy Network about his inspiration for leaving a larger in-home healthcare agency to start his own business whose key goal is to ensure seniors can comfortably age at home.

In this special episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast, host and SeniorVu Senior Vice President Valissa Smith speaks with Geriatrician, Dr. Jessica Kalender-Rich with The University of Kansas Health System.

In this episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast we learn from a pioneer of video marketing, SeniorVu’s Founder and CEO, Tim Donnelly.  More than 20 years ago Tim started teaching his clients in the mortgage industry various, unique ways to utilize video to better connect with the consumer, and that created results like they had never seen before.  This conversation between Tim, Billy Daniels, VP of Digital Marketing and Valissa Smith, former broadcast journalist and current video producer shares the effectiveness and simplicity of this medium. 

In this episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast listen in as Benjamin Surmi along with Valissa Smith and Tim Donnelly of SeniorVu share a conversation with Chris about UX as he educates us on the value of UX work as we have a discussion on why those of us in senior living should care about it.  Parts of this interview were shared in our SMASH 2020 presentation titled The Customer Journey in a Virtual World: It Will Reshape the Way We Sell in Senior Living.  In this episode of the podcast, you will hear the conversation that nurtured the idea for the SMASH 2020 session.

Ascension Living Alexian Village Executive Director Terry Thompkins joins host Valissa Smith along with Chattanooga Real Estate specialist Janet Johnson and downsizing, organizing and moving specialist Wanda Hicks to talk through some of the obstacles that might keep older adults from making a move. All of them have years of experience working with seniors.

In this latest episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast we shine the Community Spotlight on this special Continuing Care Retirement Community.  Though we are more than seven months into this coronavirus pandemic, Ascension Living Alexian Village is still moving in new residents.  Their COVID-19 protocol is reviewed often and provides a safe routine to help keep current residents virus-free and help new residents move into the community safely. 

A family from Ascension Living’s Alexian Village talks about what life is like in this beautiful community that sits atop Signal Mountain in the Cumberland Plateau near Chattanooga, Tennessee.  Beth and her daughter Elizabeth join host Valissa Smith of SeniorVu along with Alexian Village Executive Director Terry Thompkins for a candid conversation as we shine the Community Spotlight on this Continuing Care Retirement Community.

In this episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast, SMASH Founder and Managing Director, Bailey Beeken shares with host Valissa Smith, Senior Vice President of SeniorVu how her team mapped out the UX (user experience) for both the solution partners and the community providers participating this year. She talks about how the conference evolved from an in-person event with the typical 3-day face-to-face speakers, workshops and networking to a hybrid event and then eventually set as an exclusively virtual conference. 

In this episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast John shares how he first experienced senior living, how he became hooked on serving the industry and how he quickly developed a passion to fix frustrations many communities were facing.  Through many conversations with operators - listening and learning about their CRM pain points - John and team developed a plan and set out to create a different CRM that did more than many. 

In this episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast Lee Ann O’Brien, Chief Marketing Officer with the McGregor Foundation begins by sharing the history of the foundation and the purpose behind their mission, which is s a great reminder of why so many of us got into this industry to begin with – to truly do what is truly right for seniors regardless of their life’s circumstances.  After all, they have contributed years to our families, our communities and our country.

In this CEO to CEO episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast, SeniorVu’s Founder, Tim Donnelly has a conversation with O’Keefe worth listening to. Not only to understand why Nate wanted to solve this problem for families but to hear about the evolution of Roobrik and to learn where he and his team plan to take the company.  Find out why Roobrik looks like a survey but is more of a guidance tool to empower the user to take action.  Learn how it takes a family’s current situation – their readiness, values, preferences and finances – to guide them toward the best decision for their loved one.

There is no doubt that one of the biggest sales and marketing challenges during this COVID-19 pandemic is connecting with families and prospects.  Without the ability to hold events inside a community, or even meet families in their homes senior living sales and marketing teams are searching for professional virtual experiences that will allow them to develop rapport with prospects.  In this episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast Valissa Smith, Senior Vice President of SeniorVu and Billy Daniels VP of Digital Marketing share with the audience the tips and tricks to producing a successful virtual event.

Podcast host Valissa Smith, Senior Vice President of SeniorVu learns from Mike Roberts, Business Development Manager of Ascension Living’s Live at Home about how this service works and why Mike is involved.  Most people in St. Louis remember Mike from his days as KSDK’s broadcast meteorologist.  Upon retirement about 4 years ago, Mike found Live at Home to be a perfect fit for a second career.  His genuine connection to seniors in the St. Louis community makes this new position a great fit for Mike. 

In this podcast, Andrew talks with Stephanie about how upon arrival at HumanGood he set out to assess their current situation by collecting numbers and data points.  Andrew’s goal was so much more than simply the rate of salary growth versus revenue, but also how much overtime pay, double time pay and agency hiring fees were costing the company overall.  

Terry Thompkins is not only the Regional Executive Director of this beautiful place, but he is a resident there.  In this Community Spotlight episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast hear why Terry and his wife call Alexian Village home, why they are big fans of this continuing care retirement community and find out about the upcoming virtual event: Reopening Together: Real Residents and Families Talk About Safety and Comfort at Alexian Village.

Hollie Kemp spent most of her career on the front lines of the senior living business. She joined the Sagely team after using their product and services in her own community.  She says the platform is simple to use and provides valuable data that helps caregivers track the resident’s well-being.  But more importantly, Hollie says, the platform helps communities become more aware of any chances the senior might have before it becomes too serious.  Hollie shares examples of the video and photo components which are a couple of the favorite features for residents and families. When the caregiver takes a photo, they can simultaneously send it to all resident family members, so everyone gets notified at once.  Join Valissa Smith as she learns more about the Sagely platform.  

The Spires at Berry College just opened its doors in Rome, Georgia so Off Your Rocker host Valissa Smith pulled up a chair with Morgan Lamphere, Vice President of Marketing for Greenbrier Development to learn all about it. Find out about the magic team behind this latest Greenbrier Development and exactly how they handled all of the sales and marketing inquiries about The Spires over the last year or so!

Alex and Tim also discuss how to spend quality time with fewer leads, which prospects may most likely benefit from a move to senior living, the rising acuity levels likely to occur and who would be a great fit for your community. Surprisingly, finding those leads may be easier than you think! And perhaps most importantly in this episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast Alex and Tim discuss how to build a stronger, more trusting relationship in the future with those prospects who you already have in your sales pipeline. 

Christy Cunningham, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Judson Retirement Community, wrote an article and shared it on LinkedIn about what communication practices she believes communities should consider now and even after COVID-19.  Her article sparked so much interest, that SeniorVu invited Christy on Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast to discuss further. 

Customer service in Senior Living is typically talked about with a list of amenities, activities and floor plans.  Benjamin Surmi, who holds an M.S. in Gerontology, thinks of customer service on a very different level at his company’s communities.  Benjamin is the Director of People and Culture with the Koelsch Living Well Program, and he is the guest we learn from in this episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast

Nick Nemer, Vice President of Development for LifeLoop joins us in this Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast to talk about this technology – how it helped communities before COVID-19 and how it is especially helping them now.  Nick shares with us where this idea for communication technology came from and how the company has adapted its technology over the last few years to better benefit senior living communities. 

Fara Gold McLaughlin is a well-known and well-respected senior living consultant. As Founder and CEO of GoldMark Seniors she provides senior living communities specialty consulting services for strategic marketing, pricing, competitor analysis, brand management, strategic sales objectives, sales coaching, training and revenue expectations.

Join our Off Your Rocker co-hosts Valissa Smith and Billy Daniels from SeniorVu as they learn from Jonathan Bryant, Innovative Live Chat Servant Leader with SiteStaff. The three of them talk about what SiteStaff and SeniorVu team of agents are hearing from families who are still reaching out to inquire about senior care and housing. They also talk about the challenges sales and marketing teams face from inside senior living communities all across the country and how delicate the decision will be to reopen the communities when the time is right.

In this episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast our special guest is Morgan Lamphere with Greenbrier Development.  Morgan and her senior living sales and marketing team were used to flying the country, working face to face with communities and prospects and now they were spending time trying to figure out how to set up a virtual meeting through technology.  Their strength as a sales team was suddenly challenged.  It took more than just clicking on a link and making sure the microphone wasn’t on mute.  It started with their own team’s capabilities of creating an inviting video set in their own homes.  (If you watch television news, you’ve seen the home “virtual” sets transform over the last few weeks.) 

In this episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast co-hosts Valissa Smith and Billy Daniels want to know what ideas David might have for those of us who have a harder time finding humor in the midst of anxiety, depression, PTSD and a worldwide pandemic as we all shelter in place to avoid this potentially deadly virus.

The Coronavirus has everyone quarantined in their homes – whether it is inside a senior living community or in your own neighborhood.  In this episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast hosts Billy Daniels and Valissa Smith discuss what some of their client communities have been doing to communicate with families about protocol, entertain their residents who are quarantined from one another and maintain a little sanity during these unprecedented times.  Billy shares how the Google Tour Builder can help senior living communities produced virtual tours for prospects interested in their community.  The internet and online capabilities have never been more important for the senior living industry, including SeniorVu’s 24/7 Crisis Phone Support to help relieve some of the stress on caregivers working the front-lines. We are here to help them stay focused on the most vulnerable – precious seniors.

The Coronavirus has us all on high alert, especially those who work directly with senior citizens. While we all understand why seniors are one of the groups most susceptible to coronavirus, there are many details around the virus that have been unanswered, like is it really a more serious virus than the flu?  And will this virus in fact fade out over the summer like a typical flu virus does or stick around?  In this special edition of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast we hear from the Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control for the University of Kansas Health System, Dr. Dana Hawkinson.

In this episode, you will learn why a simple press release isn’t enough when trying to connect with someone at your local news outlets.  Find out how many news organizations in your community you should connect with, what types of content those news outlets and reporters are actually looking for, how to pitch that content to them so they will actually cover it, and how often you should reach out to local media.  You will also get a bonus tip on how to handle crisis communication in the media. 

Finding the best applicants is only as good as your response time.  Find out from a national healthcare staffing expert just how quickly senior living communities must respond to new applicants, how fast they need to make decisions to get the best applicants, and tips on how to stay in front of the competition to bring the best people into your company.  In this episode of Off Your Rocker: A SeniorVu Podcast, the Chief Talent Officer from Supplemental Healthcare will show us how their clients are winning the staffing game. 

On this episode of Off Your Rocker, a SeniorVu Podcast, we are joined by Jeannette Cox, Execute Vice President for Oddo Development, with over 18 years experience Jeannette shares how multi-family has evolved in the last few years to adopt technology into their sales process. 

In 2020, SeniorVu is creating more opportunities for our client communities with 12 aggressive initiatives – all 12 revolve around the family experience when they seek information about care for a senior. When we truly put families first, we believe everything improves including the bottom line, and our client communities couldn’t agree more.  

In this episode of Off Your Rocker - A SeniorVu Podcast our special guest is an 8 year old who is fast becoming a senior living celebrity.  You'll meet Oliver Davis - a.k.a. Officer Oliver who spends much of his spare time visiting senior living communities in Kansas City spreading joy, just for fun!  His infectious personality comes with a very important message that reflects the meaning of the season. 

What's all this hubbub around data?  (BTW, you decide how to pronounce it: day-ta or dad-uh.)  Understanding the value of tracking data in senior living sales will unleash your community's ability to make adjustments to improve occupancy.  We talk descriptive, prescriptive and predictive data which some says is addictive.  Join Valissa Smith and Billy Daniels as they discuss why data and transparency is the best recipe for success. 

In this episode of Off Your Rocker, A SeniorVu Podcast: SeniorVu Co-founder and COO, Tom Goldman joins co-hosts to share why SeniorVu stays focused on the family’s journey and how that helps the senior living communities.  This serial entrepreneur talks with co-hosts Billy Daniels and Valissa Smith about what makes this business venture different than all the others and why providing a comprehensive lead management platform and extensive marketing and sales support to the senior living industry is personal and important to him as a business leader. 

On this episode of Off Your Rocker, A SeniorVu Podcast, Digital Marketing, VP, Billy Daniels joins the crew to talk about Email Marketing. Billy's expertise in email marketing spans more than 10 years in a multitude of industries. From golf to automative, he's done it all.

On this episode of Off Your Rocker, A SeniorVu Podcast, Tim Donnelly, CEO at SeniorVu joins Billy Daniels and Valissa Smith to talk about everything Marketing Automation. Tim's expertise in marketing automation comes with 20 years of experience perfecting the concept of sending the right message to the right person at the right time. 

This is the very first episode of Off Your Rocker,  A SeniorVu Podcast. Why are we doing a podcast? Give this episode a listen to understand why we are doing a podcast.