MBK Senior Living’s Best of the Best Program to Spotlight, the MBK Sales Excellence Leadership System, uses a four phase approach to training executive directors and directors of sales and marketing that has resulted in increased occupancy rates.
MBK Senior Living offers one example of how local and regional providers can jump to the next level in sales and marketing by shifting attention from short-term census concerns to long-term sales leadership and customized training.
MBK’s own version of a sales excellence leadership system (SELS) for executive directors and directors of sales/marketing provides in-depth understanding of the organization’s core values and six months of focused sales leadership training. The four-phase program includes classes, on-the-job training in every department, sales training at another property, and, finally, a certification exam.
“It’s not just a two week orientation,” says Carl Knepler, vice president of sales and marketing. “When I hire people and tell them they’re going to become certified in our program and that there’s going to be a test, that in and of itself gets people’s attention.”
The need for a SELS program became apparent as MBK took on a new role as a management company and required systems that could carry over to new properties. It’s also a necessity in the current market. “There’s more and more competition for seniors these days and we want to understand each senior’s specific individual needs to ensure we can best accommodate them,” says Knepler.
Significantly, participants learn how to analyze and adapt their overall plan when sales goals are not being met. “In the past, sometimes the sales person is blamed or it’s just looked at as ‘there’s a problem with the economy,’ but we’re able to really narrow down what we can do to increase our move-ins and improve overall occupancy,” says Knepler.
MBK has enjoyed a continuous increase in occupancy since initiation of SELS, to 95 percent occupancy in the last quarter of 2010. Closing ratios are consistently high; about 35 percent of those who tour an MBK community end up moving in. One struggling property, a new acquisition, increased from 50 percent occupancy to 95 percent in 12 months.
MBK plans to expand the program to include a recertification program. “The best investment a company can make is in their people, and the additional training we do for our sales people is well worth the initial expense,” says Knepler.
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