What are the top features residents and family members look for when they are exploring their senior living options? Are these must-haves universal? Which ones are important enough to continue to delight residents and family members after moving in?
In early 2021, Sensight Surveys asked 5,724 residents and family members to select the most important reason they chose their senior living community. Nearly half of the respondents selected more than one reason. Location was the primary reason for selecting a residence (44% of respondents), followed by Recommendation of a friend or family member (35% of respondents) and Community appearance (20% of respondents). These three reasons together accounted for almost half of all answers given. Respondents came from independent living, assisted living, and memory care settings, and length of time living in the community ranged from less than 6 months to more than 3 years. However, care level and length of stay did not significantly influence their answers. The below table shows the complete list of reasons, from most to least selected.
Advocates Versus Detractors
These numbers paint a straightforward picture. The location of a community, a referral from a friend or family member, and appearance were the top reasons residents and family members selected their community. To take our understanding a level deeper, we wanted to know if top reasons for moving in differed between individuals who were generally happy with their community and those who were not. We compared and contrasted two groups of respondents, those who rated their community 5 out of 5 (we call Advocates) and those who rated their community a 1, 2, or 3 out of 5 (we call Detractors). Evaluating these groups separately, we learned that Location and Recommendation of a friend or family member continued to top the chart for both groups. But then things began to shift. Community appearance no longer placed third for Advocates. Instead it was Friendly and caring staff at 27% of responses, a whole 19 percentage points higher than Detractors. All told, Advocates were significantly more likely than Detractors to identify four reasons for selecting their community: 1) Recommendation of a friend or family member, 2) Friendly and caring staff, 3) Community appearance, and 4) Helpfulness of the sales/admissions team. The table below calls out significant differences in blue.
Are these differences between Advocates and Detractors important on a practical level? How could they inform the sales and marketing strategies senior living communities put in place and, perhaps more importantly, the customer service programs they implement to ensure delighted residents down the road?
Hypothesis: Location, Word of Mouth, and Appearance May Draw Them In But Great People Keep Them Happy
For many years, Sensight has found that the top drivers of resident satisfaction and engagement are people-related factors. Residents who are very satisfied with their community overall tend to give high ratings to the community management team and front line staff members, while dissatisfied residents often give low marks to these groups. When residents and family members are drawn to their community because of friendly and caring staff members, that positive impression is likely to have a long lasting impact on their overall satisfaction. Residents crave a real connection with staff members as an essential part of their relationship with their community.
How To Apply This Information In Your Community
Location, referrals, and physical appearance are always going to be important factors for selecting a senior living community, however our findings suggest these attributes may not be enough. We saw that Advocates (highly satisfied residents) have a much greater tendency to think about the friendly and caring staff in their community as a top reason for living there. For years, our survey data have been telling us that good people are the key to creating delighted residents. This is important from a passion and morality driven perspective, but it is also helps from a business perspective. Advocates are the likeliest group to tell their friends and family how amazing their community is, which translates into more referrals and move-ins. Building a team of compassionate and customer service oriented staff members promises to turn your residents into advocates, translating into a flourishing community with happy residents and high occupancy.