Brand loyalty is up for grabs, but there are things you can do to inspire your residents to stay with you from independent living to assisted living to long-term care and more. It is not enough to do everything right. You need to bring your connection to the next level.
It probably goes without saying but providing the highest quality customer service and making your residents feel valued are two of the best things you can do to create brand loyalty. This is a great foundational start, and now you want to see that loyalty expand to create a community of raving fans for your brand who refer others. Here are a few ways to help you do that.
Provide timely updates about changes that affect your residents and prospects. If you have a robust CRM, you can segment your contacts based on their terms of care, what their individual needs are and what you know they are interested in. You wouldn’t send a memory care update to an independent living prospect. By segmenting your lists to provide relevant information, you’re showing your audience that you care about what interests them. This can make the information appear personalized to them and foster their loyalty to your brand.
Create opportunities for individual connection and make it personal. If you are keeping notes about your residents and top prospects, you likely know a few personal facts about them. Perhaps you know they’ve always gone to Colorado for their family vacation every year, for the last 15 years or that one of their grandchildren graduated from high school. Asking about these events during the beginning of a call or email is a terrific way to get the conversation going. You can then bridge into the business at hand but remember to always show an interest in them personally.
Thank your residents for choosing you. You may be thinking that this is an obvious one and, yes, most everyone is good at thanking their residents for all of the great memories around the holidays. However, when was the last time you sent them a thank you card at a random time of the year or a gift card? Perhaps they just went through a challenging surgery or they beat cancer. Sending a gift when one is not expected is when you will stand out and, even more importantly, make people feel special. We aren’t saying you should skip holiday gifts but sending a thank you at an unexpected time will stand out.
Fostering brand loyalty is something that begins with a prospect and continues throughout the resident relationship. Once someone becomes a resident, it doesn’t mean the work ends. This is when the relationship can truly grow and thrive.
Need more ideas to help you meet your long-term care marketing goals? Give me a call and let’s set up a time to chat!
