Lead Blitz - Jazz Up Your Follow Up on Old/Cold Leads
Following up on old/cold leads can be a challenge and drudgery for some of us senior living sales reps, despite the fact that:
A. It is our job.
B. If we do it, we will get more move-ins and make more money.
C. A & B make following up on old leads a critical success activity (CSA) because the more we do it AND do it effectively, the more move-ins we will have.
I have found that it is perceived as drudgery because this activity lacks immediate results. There isn’t the jazzed feeling you get from a great tour, getting a check or someone committing to a move-in. However, you must remember, not all the leads that come to you are ready to move-in immediately, especially if you offer independent living services or are a CCRC. Those leads may be in your CRM for years before moving in. If you want to be successful in senior living sales, then following up on old/cold leads is a MUST and the Lead Blitz will help you, and your team, get fired up to do the job.
The Lead Blitz design is simple! Pick a late afternoon/early evening time frame when there are minimal distractions for you or your sales team. I liked scheduling Lead Blitzes from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm during the week or 11:00 am to 2:30 pm on Saturday. Your sales teams should be blocking lead follow up after work hours and weekends regularly to increase the chance that a prospect (especially adult working age caregivers/family) will pick up the phone. If they are not, the Lead Blitz motivates (ok maybe forces them) to conduct after-hour lead follow-up.
The goal of the lead blitz is simple, to turn cold/old leads into warm/hot leads by getting the prospect to commit to a next step. The MOST valuable next step for a prospect to commit to is a tour, whether it's their first one or subsequent one. The second most valuable next step is committing to attend a special event, which, naturally, you turn into a tour. Lead Blitzes are great for supporting and increasing attendance at special events! One of the side benefits of the Lead Blitz is identifying prospects that are no longer viable so you can take them off your list for follow-up.
If you are an Executive Director or Regional with a team, have everyone do a Lead Blitz on the same day! Buy them pizza or whatever comfort food they want and make a contest out it. If your region is relatively close have them all come to one community with their laptops, fire them up and start making calls. Be creative and have fun with your Lead Blitz. Have prizes for the rep who:
1. Makes the most calls!
2. Spoke directly to the most prospects.
3. Obtained the most next steps.
Use a cash bonus as added incentive for the best performer, maybe the one who get’s the most tours or the one who moves the most cold leads to warm/hot status. One little tip about the Sales Blitz, call leads that were classified as lost or not appropriate. Every Lead Blitz I ever hosted advanced leads that were classified as lost or not appropriate.
Lead Blitz Results
Over a 2+ hour time frame 1 rep can call hundreds of leads. I have seen as many as 10 advances per rep per Lead Blitz. As the Chief Sales and Marketing Officer for Harmony Senior Services we had a call center of five employees executing Sales Blitzes daily. This team averaged 1 voice-to-voice call with a prospect for every 7 calls they made. Of the voice-to-voice calls made, they converted 17.2% to a next step. Getting Jazzed Yet? So, schedule a Lead Blitz and jump start your sales by filling your pipeline with future move-ins.
About the Author: Luke Fannon is an expert in healthcare sales and marketing. He’s had c-suite leadership roles in Senior Living, Post-Acute Care, Home Care and Adult Day Care and he has been a successful consultant for 15 years. He’s an expert in developing healthcare referral sources and in how families make stressful care decisions. He believes that our role is to help families make decisions ethically by connecting emotionally with families and providing custom education on services and care options. Luke has trained nearly 10,000 healthcare professionals in his career.
For the more informative blogs and podcasts go to www.thefannongroup.com. If you have any questions or need help, do not hesitate to call me at 484-429-5846.
