Competition in Senior Living: What Every Operator Should Know...

In today’s competitive senior living landscape, those providers who have a thorough understanding and ongoing insight of their competitors are more likely to succeed. Whether you are a part of a large national or regional company or a stand-alone assisted living or independent living facility – your local market dynamics are specific and unique to you. Research into decision making related to senior living has revealed that adult children often visit up to 5 senior living communities on average prior to making a final decision, making it vital for providers to understand what people are seeing, being told and how they can effectively position their service offerings in the marketplace. 

The first place to start is defining who you consider to be your competitors and to segment them in tiers. Generally, all senior living communities have their top three, and then tier two top three, and tier three top three. It is important to distinguish your competitors based on criteria that makes sense. Generally, tier one competitors are the closest in geography and the closest in pricing and care and service offering. Make sure that key decisions you make in marketing and sales revolve around your top 3-5 and not group 10-15 into your decision making as it will dilute your focus and strategy.

Pricing/Occupancy: You should know your top 3 competitors’ occupancy weekly – down to what style of apartments they have open and in what units. This is key to determine if they will offer pricing specials and deals to increase occupancy which obviously impacts you and the rest of the market. Knowing the details of your competitors pricing is essential – pricing components such as community fees, levels of care, second occupant fees, all-inclusive pricing, etc. will help you better compete with price sensitive shoppers and also enable you to assist your prospects with how to compare pricing which is often a complicated maze.  Ascertaining competitor pricing increases (frequency, amount, etc.) is also smart to keep on top of to ensure your pricing strategy is always competitive and reflective of the market. If your pricing is noticeably higher or lower than your competitors, be sure to explain why as both can lead to questions (and concerns) that potential clients often do not voice but that you must be aware of to overcome.

Services: Important clinical offerings such as a 24-hour on-site nursing, on site physical and other therapies, physicians who visit, nurse practitioners, memory care features and staff training, etc. It is important to really dig deep on staffing. For example, do any of your competitors employ a “universal worker” concept? Do they use nurses or medication aides (in states where this is permitted) to pass medications? How many staff members are on site nights, evenings, and weekends? etc. Some other areas to investigate include: What type of emergency call response system is used? How quickly is the response rate to emergency calls? etc. 

Digital/Online Information: Check out your competitors’ digital presence. Google your competitor to get a sense of what current and past residents and their families have to say about them. Do not forget to review other sites such as Glassdoor and Indeed to view what their employees have to say. As an aside, be sure to know your online reputation with customers and employees as well – a proactive plan to respond to comments online is essential today to ensure the public understands that your company takes complaints and suggestions seriously. Also, check out your competitor’s social media sites to get a sense of what events and activities they are promoting in real time so that you can make sure your digital marketing plan is competitive. Do not forget to also check out their website as well. 

Unique Features: Many prospects are “sold” specialty programs which can have a differentiating “wow” factor when considering a community. I have seen sales lost to competitors due to prospects being drawn to a perceived “expertise” offered elsewhere that no one else has. Make sure you understand what unique features and programs you competitors are selling so you can professionally position your services to compete and highlight your unique programs and features. A good tip is to encourage prospects to ask specific questions of competitors about their specialty programs if you feel their programs are not strong, so that prospects have clarity and the full picture on what is really offered. For example, if a competitor is offering a specialty diabetic program: What training an education does the clinical staff have? Can the prospect speak with a nurse about the program? What specific outcomes have your produced, etc., etc. Credibility is key when marketing niche services and programs, make sure you have yours in line as well.

Mystery Shop: I suggest mystery shopping your competitors a minimum of 2 times a year. You can do this with full disclosure or via a secret shopper, and it is preferred to do it in person. The quality of the tour and salesperson giving the tour will provide you with a lot of ideas and information that you can use in your own marketing and sales. Pay special attention to the friendliness of staff, appearance of residents, competency of the tour guide, cleanliness, activities taking place (or lack thereof), outdoor areas, etc. Although it is ill advised to ever speak negatively about a competitor to a prospect or referral source, there are ways you can emphasize strengths of your community knowing that it is a weakness for a competitor – the only real way to assess your opportunities though is to visit your competitors.

Reputation: Senior care is small world. Everyone knows the facilities and communities who have or are struggling with quality issues. Issues like turnover or poor staffing levels, poor food quality, cleanliness, etc. become public very quickly and can stick if left unaddressed. What is important to know is that most providers work to improve and eventually do. Allowing yourself to think a competitor has problems and therefore thinking this is not a threat is not wise, once they turn things around and you start losing clients, it might be too late. Always be in the know about what is going on at “troubled” competitors so you can alter your game plan as their situation changes.

Community Leadership Team: Get to know your competitors Administrator or Executive Director, Nursing Director/Wellness Director, and other department heads. Attend their marketing and community events and introduce yourself. You will find out a lot in developing these relationships which generally should be cordial and friendly. Competitors can be allies and collaborators. You can still compete aggressively with your competitors but do it fairly and not at the expense of developing relationships. Getting to know your competition’s leadership will also give you insight into how savvy they are from an operational and marketing perspective to enable you to compete smarter.

Organization/Ownership: Consumers are becoming increasingly savvy; they want to know more about your community beyond your specific building. You should have a clear and transparent presentation about the ownership structure of your organization and your competitors should as well. It is not always a comfort zone for people to discuss the ownership of their organization and sometimes people fail to position their companies in the right way. Some communities have gone through multiple acquisitions, management company changes, etc. Make sure you are aware of the story your competitors are sharing about the ownership of their facilities so that you can ensure your presentation is as solid, transparent, and credible as possible.

Anecdotal Information: Additional things to examine with your competitors include, things such as what is their clinical and financial move out criteria? What happens to clients when they spend down their private assets? Do they guarantee that a move out is never required? What relationships are in place with home care agencies, hospitals, nursing homes and rehab facilities and other community health providers? Also, find out how services like transportation, outings, lab services, etc. are handled and how they price for these services. 

Finally, with some good detective work, you should be able to find out what elder care and health care professionals tend to refer to your competitors and other details about their marketing focus. Capturing market share from competitors is a core component of any strong marketing strategy so it is smart to have a plan to position your community to referral sources and influencers who may not know about you and prefer your competitors. At the end of the day, the best marketing is offering high quality of care and service. It is helpful to know how your competitors are trying to position their features and services to give you a leg up with your prospects, community influencers and professional referral partners.