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Roleplaying, analyzing leads, taking notes – not way back, these have been strictly human domains. However senior residing operators are discovering concrete makes use of for AI with all of those duties, and extra.
Because the creation of synthetic intelligence in the previous couple of years, corporations in a wide range of industries have sought to make use of it to energy their companies. Senior residing operators have struggled considerably to seek out new makes use of for the know-how, given the human nature of senior residing and care. However all that’s altering in 2025.
Senior residing gross sales and advertising and marketing employees are utilizing it to coach for gross sales calls and in-person conferences with prospects, generate high quality leads and analyze information to make higher selections on the bottom.
For instance, Roswell, Georgia-based Phoenix Senior Dwelling has used AI to generate new social media campaigns and analyze multi-year efficiency information to determine gross sales traits.
“It’s change into an integral a part of how we function,” stated Phoenix Senior Dwelling Vice President of Gross sales and Advertising Justin Harden. “In the event you’re not exploring how AI can assist your employees, you’re seemingly leaving effectivity and alternative on the desk.”
These shifting priorities in gross sales and advertising and marketing come as potential residents need extra data and have extra selection of senior residing choices than ever earlier than. Subsequently operators together with Heritage Communities, Phoenix Senior Dwelling, Atria and Radiant Senior Dwelling are looking for to present their frontline gross sales employees instruments essential to sustain.
AI permits operators to maneuver from ‘reactive to proactive’
By analyzing gross sales traits information in actual time, senior residing operators may also help enhance their efforts in a extra constructive method and troubleshoot areas inflicting friction and take a “extra complete” have a look at their operations to seek out particulars that will have beforehand eluded gross sales groups, in accordance with Heritage Communities Chief Advertising Officer Lacy Jungman.
“AI helps us see the place we’re overspending, underperforming, or lacking key engagement moments. It permits us to be way more agile and strategic with our price range allocation,” Heritage Communities Chief Advertising Officer Lacy Jungman advised SHN. “It’s helped us flip our digital advertising and marketing from reactive to proactive.”
The Omaha, Nebraska-based senior residing supplier is within the technique of refining its AI instruments to assist higher mine information from a key a part of the promoting course of in senior residing: when a gross sales individual speaks to residents over the cellphone or in-person.
Heritage is recording inbound and outbound gross sales calls then transcribing them into the corporate’s buyer relationship administration software to finally create “scorecards” with suggestions for gross sales employees, Jungman added.
Heritage is doing so to determine the strengths and weaknesses of its salespeople and their coaching, with ongoing assist and steerage from regional gross sales leaders.
“These calls are stuffed with actually nice information, however till we quantify them and determine traits with motion gadgets, we aren’t utilizing them successfully,” Jungman stated.
Heritage Communities has a portfolio of 19 senior residing communities in 4 states, 17 of that are owner-operated and two underneath third-party administration.
Phoenix Senior Dwelling makes use of AI-powered transcription that removes the “burden of note-taking.” Which will appear to be a small change, nevertheless it’s had payoff within the type of serving to gross sales employees be “totally current” throughout conversations with prospects as an alternative of jotting down notes.
Phoenix makes use of an AI software with one in all its tech companions to research digital conversion charges “in close to real-time,” one thing that beforehand took hours and even days within the not-too-distant previous, in accordance with Harden.
Portland, Oregon-based Radiant Senior Dwelling additionally makes use of an AI software to assist with onboarding of recent gross sales employees together with different associates, in accordance with Vice President of Advertising Jenni Bost. AI-supported know-how has helped Radiant higher analyze resident surveys and feedback, whereas additionally enhancing lead scoring and referral scores within the gross sales course of, Bost stated.
Radiant makes use of AI to “figuring out scorching leads extra successfully,” and for transcribing and summarizing cellphone calls between gross sales employees and prospects, Bost added. It’s additionally helped Radiant gross sales employees lower down on bland advertising and marketing content material, with an adage of avoiding “copy, paste, publish” by screening AI-crafted content material utilized in advertising and marketing supplies or coaching movies.
“In gross sales and advertising and marketing, you can actually work day and night time, and there’s nonetheless extra to do,” Bost stated. “So, these AI instruments are necessary to make use of as a result of, in my view, the trade is behind the curve and I feel that we have to set up totally different differentiators between figuring out advertising and marketing and gross sales certified leads.”
‘Making time for the work that issues’
It’s a typical chorus that senior residing operators wish to take burdens off of staff to allow them to spend time with residents. Some operators see AI as a strategy to do exactly that.
As an example, Louisville, Kentucky-based Atria Senior Dwelling is ready to use its AI-supported tech to scale back administrative burdens, determine potential leads and automates some back-end processes, in accordance with Chief Advertising Officer Sanela Graziose.
“The most important alternative lies in making time for the work that issues, connecting with individuals,” Graziose stated. “AI instruments can function a assist system for workers, not a substitute. We’re at all times in search of methods to make our groups simpler whereas preserving the human contact that defines our service.”
Phoenix Senior Dwelling has saved “dozens of hours every week” throughout which employees are specializing in gross sales technique and new coaching alternatives, Harden stated.
“It’s permitting us to maneuver quicker and concentrate on higher-value work,” Harden added.
He just lately was tasked with constructing a 12-month calendar of neighborhood occasions, a course of that usually takes between 10 and 12 hours. Utilizing ChatGPT, he had the idea inside minutes and added in month-to-month gross sales contests aligned with community-themed occasions.
Roleplaying and coaching instruments
To enhance margins and occupancy, gross sales groups are sometimes tasked with sorting by way of many leads. The place AI instruments can enhance the method is on the entrance finish with making a extra dynamic coaching atmosphere for brand spanking new gross sales employees.
For instance, Phoenix Senior Dwelling is growing an AI-powered roleplay bot that simulates prospect objections with gross sales administrators to allow them to work together with the AI prospect and obtain a real-time rating primarily based on their responses.
“This software helps sharpen gross sales expertise with out requiring intensive teaching from our regional and residential workplace groups,” Harden stated.
Atria has seen success in utilizing AI-generated lead summaries that assist assist “extra tailor-made” potential resident observe up by gross sales groups, whereas additionally utilizing an AI software that features moderation instruments on social media to “mitigate potential reputational dangers,” Graziose stated.
In a latest coaching, Radiant confirmed gross sales employees, govt administrators and life enrichment groups tips on how to enhance their correspondence to prospects and residents. Bost stated she was shocked by the “mind-blowing” response.
Trying forward, Harden sees AI as a method for senior residing gross sales groups to “keep within the promoting zone longer,” a interval through which prospects are almost definitely to decide to maneuver right into a neighborhood.
“I consider AI will finally deliver us again to person-centered promoting. With AI dealing with administrative duties, information entry, and after-hours inquiries, our groups can keep centered on what issues most: constructing actual, human relationships,” Harden stated.
The proliferation of AI use in senior residing to assist gross sales and advertising and marketing groups will proceed, Graziose stated, noting that it might proceed to evolve behind-the-scenes to create higher companies, faster responses and smarter market segmentation.
“The secret’s utilizing it responsibly and deliberately, particularly in a high-trust atmosphere like senior residing,” Graziose stated.
