Why Senior Living Communities Should Avoid Mainstream Medical CRMs

Achieving and maintaining high occupancy rates is a top priority for all senior living communities. But attracting a steady stream of new residents is no easy feat. You need the right marketing strategies, sales tactics, and customer relationship methods to attract leads and get new residents to commit. Without the perfect combination of approaches, you may not meet your occupancy goal and lose out on resident clients to competitors. 

Many senior living operators have turned to customer relationship management (CRM) software to improve and streamline the sales process. Mainstream medical vendors have developed a variety of CRM solutions, including Salesforce, Sherpa, and WelcomeHome. These systems have many valuable features, such as marketing automation and customer data centralization. 

But most mainstream CRM systems aren’t designed to meet the unique needs of senior housing sales teams. This article explores the numerous advantages of choosing a specialized CRM for senior living. 

Understanding the Unique CRM Needs of Senior Care

Vendors often advertise their mainstream medical CRM to all healthcare organizations, from hospitals to home healthcare businesses. But assisted living communities, nursing homes, and other senior care communities have distinct CRM needs, including: 

Extended Sales Cycle

Moving to a senior living community is a major life transition, and potential clients need time to choose their new home. A CRM designed for senior care should have robust lead management capabilities to build relationships over an extended period. 

Family-Centric Approach

Families often help their loved ones research and choose senior living communities. Sales teams need a CRM that allows them to easily involve families in decision-making and share information. 

Social Media Management 

Many long-term care communities use social media to market their services, engage residents and families, and share news. A CRM with social media management tools can boost your online presence and help families stay up to date with community happenings. 

Senior Living Software Integration

Senior living providers use a variety of software to manage different aspects of resident care, such as community engagement and mobile point-of-care platforms. A CRM that integrates with these tools reduces the need for duplicate data entry and streamlines data sharing across your entire organization. 

Tour Scheduling

Potential residents typically want to explore senior living communities and meet staff before moving in. Operators need a CRM that makes it easy to manage tour appointments and follow up afterward.  

Waitlist Maintenance 

Many senior living communities have lengthy waiting lists. The right CRM should allow sales representatives to update the waitlist in real time and automatically notify interested customers when a spot opens. 

The Limitations of Mainstream Medical CRMs

Mainstream medical CRMs offer many beneficial features for hospitals and other healthcare organizations. But these systems often have limitations that make them less suitable for assisted living, independent living, and skilled nursing communities. These drawbacks include: 

• Complexity: Mainstream medical CRMs typically come loaded with flashy but unnecessary features for actual day-to-day workflows in senior living. As a result, senior living sales reps and care providers may need extensive training to learn how to navigate the interface and locate the functions they need. 
• Emphasis on Acute Care: Most medical CRM platforms are intended for acute care environments like hospitals and primary care clinics. They often lack features to support holistic, long-term care, such as tour scheduling and connections to resident engagement tools. 
• Expensive Pricing: Many vendors design medical CRMs for hospitals and major healthcare systems. The price tags for these products that are intended for large corporate healthcare systems can often exceed the typical marketing budgets of small senior living communities. 
• Lack of Customization: Senior living communities often have unique operational needs and marketing workflows. Mainstream CRMs may not have customizable functions that can adapt to the needs of individual communities. 
• Lack of Family Engagement: Collaborating with family members is an essential part of lead generation and the move-in process. But mainstream CRMs may lack the tools needed to engage families. 

Why You Need a CRM Specific to Senior Living Needs

You don't need to sit through dozens of product demos or spend hours scouring the internet to find the best senior living CRM. Simplify your search by looking for a system designed specifically for the senior housing industry. Eldermark's CRM software, for instance, is created by former senior living operators and nurses. Our experts understand your team's unique challenges, and we've developed the ideal solutions to improve the customer experience and your sales performance. 

Choosing software built for senior living has many advantages, including: 

Affordable Pricing 

Assisted living communities, home care organizations, and other small businesses need innovative solutions that don’t break the bank. That’s why we’ve designed Eldermark’s CRM to give you the marketing and sales tools you need without the expensive bells and whistles of mainstream CRMs. You’ll enjoy optimal functionality at an affordable price. 

Expert Vendor Support 

Eldermark’s team is intimately familiar with the ins and outs of the senior living industry. Our support staff will use their knowledge to help you get the most out of your CRM software. For example, our team can build or revamp your website to attract more potential clients. We can also help your sales team develop effective marketing campaigns with persuasive messaging. 

Data Analytics

Eldermark’s CRM automatically tracks conversion rates, customer retention rates, referrals, and other performance metrics. The software uses predictive analytics and other powerful business intelligence tools to assess this data and generate actionable insights. These findings can improve lead generation, marketing, and other sales activities. 

Interoperability 

Our CRM integrates seamlessly with other senior living software, such as electronic health records (EHR) and risk management tools. This interoperability allows you to share data and coordinate care for incoming residents more efficiently. 

User-Friendly Interface

You don’t need to be a tech expert to use Eldermark’s senior living CRM software. Anyone can quickly learn how to navigate our accessible dashboards and intuitive features with minimal training. As a result, all senior living professionals can harness the power of CRM to drive growth and attract potential residents. 

Transform Your Sales Pipeline With a Senior Living CRM

Contact Eldermark to learn how our senior living CRM can help you fine-tune your marketing campaigns, generate new leads, and increase move-ins.