Mature Market Experts

In our last blog entry, we talked about step 1 to outbound sales calls success for selling to seniors, creating the proper enviroment. Today, we’re going to talk about steps 2 and 3 for selling to the mature market. Again, today’s topics are nothing new. In fact, several different sales training programs utilize these very same techniques. Two sites I highly recommend every sales team visit is Traci Bild’s site and Selling and Persuasion Techniques, written by the incomparable Dr. Robert Caldini. Traci is one of the industry’s premier sales trainers and much of what we write about has been learned by applying her techniques from her book 7 Steps To Successful Selling and then making adjustments as we learn from our clients’ experiences.  In addition to joining the Tuesday Morning Sales Club, I recommend purchasing anything Traci publishes. She is a genius.  The secret is knowing how to apply these techniques to what you are doing each and every day … selling senior housing.

Step 2: Let Your Smile Shine Thru

For most retirees, the decision to call us did not come lightly. After all, moving to an active 55+ retirement community, continuing care retirement community (CCRC), assisted living facility, or skilled nursing home is a life altering decision. When people call us, they are scared. Usually, despite what they might be telling us, that call has been stirred by negative circumstances in their life (failing health, the death of a spouse, or loneliness). It’s our job as a sales team to lift them up and reassure them that they made a good decision to call us. The first task in accomplishing this sales goal is for our voice to exude courtesy, warmth, enthusiasm and knowledge.

If this is an incoming call, the correct way to answer is, “Hi! This is FIRST NAME. Thank you for calling COMMUNITY NAME! How can I help you?

If this is an outbound call, we’ll be taking a much different tack on our opening communication, but more on that later.

• Exude a warm, friendly attitude topped off with generous dose of enthusiasm and knowledge.

• Conveying energy and a can-do-attitude is the key to success. If we show excitement towards our jobs and the community we are selling, our customers can’t help but be excited. Remember, enthusiasm is contagious!

• Speak clearly, loudly and at a pace that they can comprehend (remember, like me, much of this audience has lost a good part of their hearing).

Step 3: Engagement

The key to senior housing sales success is placing outbound phone calls. Lots of them! At a minimum, you should be making 20 outbound calls a day (except on event days).

The top senior housing sales people in the country convert 1 of every two calls they place. How? By following a process. Remember, these people — the prospects —contacted us. They have a need.

Opening step for outbound calls

“Hi, is John in? (Pause, wait for “yes.”) Hi John, this is Tom Mann calling. (Pause, wait for “yes?”)

Most people say “Hi, is John Smith in? This is Tom Mann from the Heritage of Green Hills. How are you today?” And the prospect will say something like, “I’m fine” or “Hi, Tom, unfortunately, I can’t talk right now.” Why? Because they instantly recognize you as a sales person.

When we know we’re dealing with a salesperson our guard instantly goes up. In fact, most people HATE sales calls. Why? Well, first off, you are interrupting my day with your call. Second, I know you want my money. And my money is something I and our prospects guard with a zeal … and they are thinking, “Please, I have stuff to do. I don’t have time for this right now” and they might even be polite and talk with you a little, but they want to get off the phone. This conversation is destined for failure.

When you start a conversation this way, you might not even get to discuss the real reason you called…to talk about how your community can help them. So avoid that trap that pretty much ALL sales professionals get in to — which is naming your community. Instead, we would like you to use this very successful and proven opening step.

Here is how simple it is.

Ring, ring. “Hello is John in?” PAUSE, WAIT FOR REPLY

“Yes, this is he.”

“Hi John, this is Tom Mann calling.” And pause.
 
Polite and personalble, and I’m sure you are wondering “OK, when are we going to tell them who we are with?” And we will, just not yet. Because if you do, you can kiss the likelihood of this call being a success goodbye. This is a relationship business. If you open with this technique, you will form the personal connection.

I am not TR Mann Consulting, I’m Tom Mann, so I am never going to call someone up and go, “Hi, this is Tom Mann with TR Mann Consulting, how are you today?” If I did, that person KNOWS it’s a sales call. Instead, I’m going to say “Hi, John, this is Tom Mann calling. And they are going to go, “Hi Tom” if they know me. And if they don’t know me, they’ll reply, “Hi, Tom?” and then they’ll wait for me to tell them what the call is about. Or, they go, ”How can I help you?”

It’s very important that you address the prospect by first name only. Don’t say, “Hi, is Mr. John Smith in?” Yes, I know you were trained to be polite and that Miss Manners would like you to address people this way. Unfortunately, Miss Manners can’t help you sell. Even after we train people, this is a hard habit to break. I don’t even think sales people even realize they are doing it. But what friend do you know, that calls you up and asks, “Hi, is Tom Mann in?” So you’re going to go, “Hi, is John in?” Pause and wait for “yes.” “Hi John, this is Tom Mann calling.” Research shows us that the word “calling” instigates a “yes?” response … but you have to pause, so that they can say “yes?” The team at The Tuesday Morning Sales Club believes that communication is about two people engaging. You speak, I speak. In a poor sales environment the sales person typically does 85% of the talking. That is not communication. You must use your ears as well as your mouth. Learn to listen. So your new parameters are:

A. Address them by first name. If it’s a couple and you only have one of their first names, address them only by last name, “Hi, is Mr. Smith in?” NOT “Hi, Mr. John Smith.” (Note: when meeting in person, it’s OK to refer to them by Mr. or Mrs. and then their last name as is a common sign of respect in the South, ie., Mr. John.)

B. Then you are going to introduce yourself by both your first and last name and you are going to use that magical word “calling” directly after your name. Followed by a pause. When you pause, they are going to say “yes” 99% of the time. Now, don’t worry if you don’t get the “yes,” there are two other things they’ll do.

They’ll say “oh, Hi Tom, how are you?” When they do that that means they recognize you. That’s a positive and that’s what we want, a positive response.

The other thing they might do is pause.

“Hi, John, this is Tom Mann calling.” (If they don’t respond after a long pause,  start back up, “if you recall…” then you go on to step 4.

The other thing they might say is “who?” In that case, just restate your name. “Tom Mann.” They will respond with a, “yes?” This just means they can’t remember or place your name, so they are trying to figure out who you are. That’s a good thing, now instead of trying to figure out how to get off the phone, you have them engaged. They’re thinking … thinking … thinking… “Tom, who?” That is what we want. We want them engaged.

So your call should go like this:

“Hi, is John in?” (Pause)

“Yes, this is he.

“Hi John, this is Tom Mann calling.” (Pause)

 “Yes?”

“If you recall, you requested an information kit from the Heritage of Green Hills.” (Pause)

“Oh, yes I did.

You have now prepared your customer for step 4, which we’ll write about next time. In the meantime, share the passion you have for this incredible life-changing product! Also, I invite you to join our Tuesday Morning Sales Club.

Interesting side note: “Calling” is not the only magic word.  Dr. Caldini in his book The Principals of Influence, discusses the power of another magical word:

What single word increases compliance from 60% to 93%, simply by adding it to a request?

That single word is . . .  “because”

“This parallel form of human automaticity is aptly demonstrated in an experiment by social psychologist Ellen Langer and her co-workers (Langer, Blank, & Chanowitz, 1978). A well-known principle of human behavior says that when we ask someone to do us a favor we will be more successful if we provide a reason. People simply like to have reasons for what they do.

Langer demonstrated this unsurprising fact by asking a small favor or people waiting in line to use a library copying machine: “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush?” The effectiveness of this request plus-reasons was nearly total: 94 percent of those asked let her skip ahead of them in line.

Compare this success rate to the results when she make the request only: “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?” Under those circumstances only 60 percent of those asked complied.

At first glance, it appears that the crucial difference between the two request was the additional information provided by the words because I’m in a rush. However, a third type of request tried by Langer showed that this was not the case.

It seems that it was not the whole series of words, but the first one, because, that made the difference. Instead of including a real reason for compliance, Langer’s third type of request used the word because and then, adding nothing new, merely restate the obvious: “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?” The result was that once again nearly all (93 percent) agree, even though no real reason, no new information was added to justify their compliance.”

Additional note: I’ll be presenting the 10 Steps To Sales Success For Selling To Seniors  in full at the National Active Retirement Community (NARA) 11th Annual Business Conference in Columbia, SC October 20-22.

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Selling to seniors? The success of a good senior housing sales team rests in their ability to build relationships over the phone. Why the phone? Because after a retiree requests information, they are WAITING for us to tell them what the next step is. In fact, the mature market needs us to help them break the inertia that comes from living in the same home 10, 20 or even 50 years.

Trust us, no one ever requests information on a active 55+ retirement community, CCRC, assisted living facility or skilled care because they are low on a little light reading. If they have requested a brochure (or retirement information kit as we like to call the brochure), they are in need!

And yet, despite the fact that the phone is the pipeline to sales success, we find it is often one of the most ignored areas of sales training.

Over the next several weeks, we are going to share with you The Tuesday Morning Sales Club’s 10 steps for phone sales success. This system was designed by the TR Mann Consulting team … a team with over 20 years of senior housing sales and marketing experience. They have helped sell over 20,000 homes with a settlement pace four times faster than the industry average.

As a member of The Tuesday Morning Sales Club, you’ll not only benefit from the TR Mann Consulting team’s vast experience, you’ll also benefit from the latest techniques and research that will cull for you from the rest of the senior housing industry.

Some of what we will share with you will be old hat, some of it will be brand new to you. In our experience, what separates the top 5% of sales people in the country is a practiced system that is followed religiously.

It is our belief that lack of training leads to lack of confidence and success on the phone … which in turn leads to lack of outbound calls. A confident, well trained sales person loves the phone.

So, let’s get started. The first step is the most obvious, but also one of the most overlooked.

(Write these steps on index card as they appear in the gray boxes, then place them in front of you during your calls, cycling through each as the call progresses.)

Step 1: Environment

Just like a good pilot does a walk through before taking off, you want to make sure that you environment is set up for success.

Never let the phone ring more than 3 times before someone picks up.

It’s important to answer as quickly as you can (always by 3rd ring). It shows the prospect that we are all about prompt service and that their call is important to us. Also, it is a proven fact that people will often hang up if they think they’re call is going to go to an answering machine. People HATE answering machines. NEVER, EVER, EVER, let a call go to an answering machine (unless it’s after hours). Answering quickly gets the call off to a good start!

Give full attention

• There are many distractions going on around us when we pick up the phone; be sure to give your full attention to the caller. Our callers are important to us, so let’s show them we care enough to give them the courtesy of our attention.

• Do not let your computer distract you during your conversation. While you are handling calls the only thing that should be on your computer screen is the customer relationship program and your appointment calendar. Nothing else.  (We estimate that an open email program knocks down your effectiveness by at least 25%).

• If you have an office door, keep it closed during your calls.

Nationally speaking, the average cost per lead for an independent retirement community is in excess of $500. Each time we don’t answer before 3 rings (or we let the WRONG person pick up the phone) we are tossing $500 in the office paper shredder.

Are you ready for step 2?

Filed under: Mature Market Experts, Senior Housing Sales, TR Mann, Tom Mann, Uncategorized, marketing, mature, mature market, real estate | No Comments »

National Active Retirement Association Conference Set for Oct. 20-22 in Columbia, SC

As many of you know, I speak at a lot of conferences on boomers, seniors, and the mature market, so I’m hard to impress but this is a conference that I can’t wait to attend (let alone speak at). America’s top professionals involved in building for, marketing to and serving people 50+ will be speaking at the National Active Retirement Community (NARA) 11th Annual Business Conference in Columbia, SC October 20-22 (http://www.retirementlivingnews.com/).

Think about it, you’ve got three major associations represented at this one event! The National Active Retirement Association with Dan Owens … the International Council on Active Aging’s (ICAA) Colin Milner … and the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB)!

Professionals, academicians, real estate developers, marketers, sales people and other businesspeople seeking to capitalize on the unprecedented aging of America will attend. Topics will range from internet marketing to strategies to attract retirees to invest in your community to advice on how to successfully design, build and market 50+ housing.

Hearing Colin Milner speak is worth the price of admission alone. In addition to being a dynamic speaker, Colin is the founder of the ICAA, a spectacular association focused on promoting healthy aging. Today, Colin’s vision is shared by over 8,200 organizations connected to the ICAA network across the world.

In addition, I always like to be where the money is. John Randolph of Lancaster Pollard, one of the powerhouses in financing senior housing, will be speaking.

Dr. Joe Gribbin, head of the masters’ program at the Erickson School of Aging at the University of Maryland, will give a detailed presentation about the future of Social Security and Medicare.

I’ll be speaking (Tom Mann of TR Mann Consulting and The Tuesday Morning Sales Club) on “Selling to Boomers and Retirees – A Boot Camp on Getting to ‘Yes’ in a Challenging Market.” For those of you who don’t know me, here’s a short bio.

Throw in the honorable Andre Bauer, Lt. Governor, State of South Carolina and you have one powerful event!

Plus, NARA will be collaborating with the National Association of Homebuilders to offer special 55+ courses to builders in conjunction with the conference.

 

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Wednesday, October, 20 2010
(Open to the General Public)

8:15 – 8:45 a.m. Coffee/Juice/Networking 

8:45 – 9 a.m. Convene/Welcome/Recognition of Guests

9-10:15 a.m. Opening Speaker

10:15-10:30 a.m. Break

10:30-12 a.m. Taking a Sharp Eye at Social Security and Medicare
Dr. Joe Gribbin, College Park, MD, Dean, Masters’ Program
Erickson School of Aging, University of Maryland

Special Conference Seminars:

1-4 p.m.  Retirement Relocation Seminar (Separate Conference Event)
Trends and Tips on Luring Retirees to Your Community

Sponsors/Hosts: Thomas,Warren + Associates of
Phoenix, AZ, Retirement Lifestyles™ magazine and NARA.
Facilitators:  Gene Warren and Alan

1-4 p.m.  Selling to Boomers and Retirees (Separate Conference Event)
“A Boot Camp on Getting to ‘Yes’ in a Challenging Market”

Sponsors/Hosts: TR Mann & Associates, Retirement Lifestyles™ magazine and NARA.
Facilitator:  Tom Mann, co-founder of TR Mann Consulting, The Tuesday Morning Sales Club, and Mature Market Experts

6 – 8 p.m.  Welcoming Reception/Networking – (Dinner on your own)
Thursday, October 21, 2010

8:15 – 8:30 a.m. Coffee/Juice/Networking 8:30 a.m.  

8:30 – 8:40 a.m. Convene/Welcome/Recognition of Guests and Introductions

8:40-9:30 a.m. A Look at Our Aging Future

Colin Milner, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
CEO, International Council on Active Aging (ICAA)

9:30-10:30 a.m. Trends in Boomer Services, Retiree Marketing and 55+ Building

PANELISTS:

*Dick Ambrosius, South Dakota, NeoCorta

*Dave Segmiller, Charlotte, NC, Freeman White

10:30-10:40 a.m. Break

10:40-11:45 a.m. Serving a Growing and Powerful Market:  55+ Active Adults

David Reitz, Chicago, Ill, 55+ Active Adult Expert

11:45-12:45 p.m. Lunch at Columbia Convention Center
   Preparing for an Aging State (And World!)

The Honorable Andre Bauer, Lt. Governor, State of South Carolina

BREAKOUT SESSIONS:

1-2:30 p.m.  A Study of the 55+ Housing Market:
Designing, Building and Selling Active Adult Housing

PANELISTS:  

*Nancy Borum, ID Collaborative, Greensboro, NC

*Dan Horner, Tribute/True Homes, Charlotte, NC

*Jim Chapman, Jim Chapman Communities, Atlanta, GA

1-2:30 p.m.  Retiree Recruitment for Towns, Cities, States:
Recruiting Retirees through Tourism & Special Programs

PANELISTS:  

*Simon Hudson, Columbia, SC

*Miriam Atria, Capital City/Lake Murray Country

*Sherri Gothart-Barron, Director, GO TEXAN program, State of Texas

2:30 – 2:45 p.m.  Break

2:45-4 p.m.  Internet Strategies to the 55+ Consumer

2:45-4 p.m.  Getting New Projects Financed

 John Randolph, Atlanta, GA, Lancaster Pollard

6 – 8 p.m.  Reception/NARA Awards (Offsite:  Directions and transportation options to be provided; dinner on your own)
Friday, October 22, 2009

8:30-9:30 a.m.  Opening Speaker

9:30-10:45 a.m. Economic Development through Rural Retiree Attraction

John Cromartie, Washington, D.C., Senior Demographer, USDA

10:45-11:45 a.m. Speaker Roundtable/Final Thoughts on Marketing to “Boomers and Beyond”

11:45 a.m.  Door Prizes/ADJOURMENT

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Buzz in the press is good for all.  Articles about using technology to monitor aging parents — like the most recent two in the Thursday NY Times by Hilary Stout and Eric Taub can be great for the aging tech industry. They generate buzz and interest in the media; they are syndicated and carried throughout the Internet; re-mailed (many times to me); they boost awareness of prospective buyers; and create curiosity and even leads, both of consumer prospects as well as vendors and dealer channels.  Given buzz like this, one might think that technologies to help monitor your aging parents will now be well-understood and vendors will have to spend less of their time educating and explaining, and more time just taking orders. We thought that when we read the February, 2009 Times article by John Leland. Meanwhile, Living Independently Group, now part of GE, launched QuietCare in 2003 – when remote monitoring then really was fairly ‘new’.  And then again, in September, 2009, in Business Week, when Arlene Weintraub wrote about the business of aging in place. Oh, were it true.

The caveats and conundrums qualify each rendering of buzz. The Hilary Stout article cited several of the almost clichéd concerns expressed by various University research experts: worries about privacy (‘big brother is watching you’), false alerting (70-year-old mom was painting the sun room, not having a heart attack), parental resistance to the tech (being bothered by it, or being bothered by their children who want them to use it.)  Meanwhile, the Leland article raised cautions about price and lack of reimbursement, whether the technology monitoring would let adult children off the hook for visiting their parents. And in September 2009, Business Week quoted IDC’s Scott Lundstrom, vice-president for research at IDC Health Insights: “Right now this is a niche market made up of affluent people who want to monitor their parents. The technology is going nowhere without a reimbursement model that supports it.” Yeah, yeah, yeah, but why?

So let’s swat our way through the thicket of buzz and caveats.  What will make the market for technologies for aging in place, or the inverse, technology to help with caregiving of aging parents, or the market’s largely overlapping segment, telehealth, become mainstream enough to be a given, expected to be available, and NOT newsworthy as a ‘new’ category? 

1.  Wanted, a viable channel strategy.  While it is possible that family members may hop onto the Internet and search for a remote monitoring system for their aging parents, more likely a member of the senior value chain (the industry) finds families like those in the Times article through local activities and local contact.  Systems need to be installed; high quality service must be provided; products must be leasable and returnable; pricing must enable revenue sharing; products must have easy-to-integrate interfaces — see more of this very important list provided on this blog by contributing integrator, Susan Estrada from Happy Home.

2.  Wanted, insurance reimbursement or viable pricing.  Studies continue to launch here there and everywhere to re-prove yet again the benefits of telehealth and remote monitoring of all types.  Because insurance companies and government agencies are not yet convinced, even with FCC and FDA enthusiasm, technologies that include or integrate with chronic disease monitoring fall into (or are placed there by vendors, actually) into health, disease management categories that health professionals must quantify financial benefits again and again to convince those who may be perpetually doubtful, possibly due to lack of endorsement.  As one research interviewee told me once: a dollar saved in the healthcare industry is a dollar lost by someone.”  In the absence of this elusive reimbursement, pricing must fit into the budgets of families or those who provide services in order to become mainstream.

3.  Wanted, a tech-smart senior value chain.  Hopefully some of the buzz from the Times caught the ear of what I refer to as the ‘senior value chain’ – the multiple and diverse organizations and people who really want to help support aging seniors. These include: caregivers, geriatric care managers, social workers, discharge planners, home care agencies, independent and assisted living providers. Do all members of this chain view staying current and knowledgeable about technology tools as part of their job? Even as aging in place (aka not moving) becomes a near-national mantra among families and seniors, even as home care agency businesses grow at the expense of nursing homes and assisted living, the technology categories described in the Times articles (past and present) are not mainstream among home care agency providers, for example. So families mull over what will be happening in this largely tech-free world on the off-days, and off-hours when aides are not present or don’t appear.

4.  Wanted, the ‘right’ products and services.  So let’s say the above 3 issues were all non-issues. We still have no really clear expectations of what we (the senior value chain) want from the products and services themselves.  We have phones with no GPS, we have GPS tracking without phones, we have PERS devices that are mobile without fall detection, we have products with fall detection that not mobile-enabled. We have remote monitoring devices that cost hundreds and remote monitoring devices that cost thousands of dollars. We have HIPAA-compliant and FDA-approved, and we have no-and-no to either. We are targeting markets of the still-well-enough to drive, or is it the frail-enough to be home bound? Products can be marketed direct to consumers, or no, should vendors seek distribution? Vendors must decide, channels must be recruited, manufacturing decisions must be made, but this is an industry of uncertainty about the correct strategy — because the market expectations are not yet ‘mainstream’.

The technology isn’t really new, but a mature market isn’t really here, either.  I love buzz — it is energizing, exciting, and validating for what those who are working hard in this industry — and it energizes me as well. But a few (how many?) years from now, it would be great to read stories about how adoption of all of the technology categories discussed in the two Times articles last week grew by leaps and bounds, practices are standardized, training of professionals incorporates those practices, senior well-being is clearly better in the study groups versus the control groups, and the young engineering talent of the world recognizes the opportunity to enter this well-established and mainstream market.

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photo toddnoordyk.com)

It’s a world of laughter
- A world of tears
It’s a world of hopes
- And a world of fears
There’s so much that we share
- That it’s time we’re aware
It’s a small world after all …
-Written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman

BMI (body mass index): A ratio of weight to height (weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) BMI = kg/m2

The other day I was working with a gastroenterologist (GI doctor) who was sporting a smart looking Mickey Mouse watch. She had acquired it on a recent family vacation to Disneyland. This sparked some conversation about the land of enchantment and some of the rides they experienced. Of course I had to ask about the Small World ride.

The line: It’s a small world after all (sorry now that it’s stuck in a circular loop in your head), has been the subject of many jokes and comments throughout the years; but what followed was a new twist to me. Seems the ride had been out of commission for repairs and the reason…

Well, there is some controversy surrounding the reason the ride was shut down in 2008. The ride has been around some 45 years and the original flume and fleet of boats made their maiden voyage during the 1964-65 New York World’s fair. The sturdy little pastel boats have been doing yeoman’s work ever since. No doubt that kind of run would even cause Cal Ripken to pit stop for some refurbishments.

According to MiceAge the Imagineers of the 1960’s designed the ride to accommodate the average man (175lb) and woman (135lb) of the era; not the adult of today who can often weigh more than 200lbs. The boats ride lower in the water and tend to “bottom out,” causing the whole contraption to stop in its tracks. The solution (prior to redesign) was to limit passengers or escort embarrassed patrons off the ride.

Several stories including one in the New York Times call on readers to draw their own conclusions. The subject is somewhat taboo and Disney denies any connection between redesign and weight of the riders.

Whether the connection is valid or not the fact remains Americans are getting heavier on average. According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, approximately two-thirds of adults age 20 or older are overweight or obese with BMIs greater than 25, and nearly one-third have BMIs greater than 30. Less than one-third are at a healthy weight with a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9.

In my own experience as a nurse I’ve witnessed hospitals having to equip ceilings with steel I-beams to support mechanical lift systems to get obese patients in/out of bed. A recent staff development in many care settings are the “Lift teams.” These are designated staff whose sole job is working the lifts and turning patients—in order to save nurses from back injuries.

Kaiser Permanente purchased a fleet of love-seat sized wheel chairs years ago to accommodate the increased girth of its members. I once took one of these devices to a presentation at Nike World Head Quarters…they couldn’t believe their eyes as I rolled it in the room.

At issue are not just the obvious effects of BMI on health and longevity but control of one’s own experience and for this discussion that means aging in place.

It’s About Control (but not what you might think)

In an article from Newsweek (Feb/23/2009): Stress Could Save Your Life, author Mary Carmichael writes about the connection between control and stress. Carmichael notes a classic study where scientists put two rats in a cage, each locked to a running wheel. The first rat could exercise whenever he liked. The second was yoked to the first and forced to run when his cage-mate did.

The exercise that usually decreases stress and encourages neuron growth in the brain did just the opposite in the second rat—the reason…control. Psychologists know that one of the biggest factors in how we process stressful events is how much control we have over our lives. A body rendered un-available due to high BMI can place limits on personal control (mobility and independence). Much of the appeal of aging in place is about choice—to make the issue relevant is to frame it as matter of control.

Research has shown that by avoiding a further increase from 28 kg/m² to 32 kg/m², a typical person in early middle age would gain about 2 years of life expectancy. Two years of extra life down the road might not sound all that compelling to some, but the issue is really more one of extending health—not extending life.

Inactivity doesn’t necessarily shorten the life-span…it most definitely shortens the health-span. –Dr. Rosenburg, Tufts University

Extending the health-span can equate to maintaining mobility and independence; ultimately leading to a higher degree of control (& decreased stress) over one’s life experience. And that’s what aging in place is all about.

See:

Calculate: Your BMI
Research on life expectancy
Middle aged women and stroke
It’s a small world video

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(CHARLOTTE, NC) Retirement Lifestyles magazine has been named the second best United States magazine for 50+ readers by the judges of the 2009 19^th Annual National Mature Media Awards.

“It almost seems inconceivable that our small 11-year-old magazine could compete favorably with AARP, but we do and that’s a testimony to our fabulous staff,” said Publisher/Executive Editor Dan Owens. “We hate to get beaten by AARP, but we take comfort in the fact that they have enormous national resources and their parent organization receives millions of dollars in support each year from the federal government. AARP should be better than everybody else,” he said.

Owens founded Retirement Lifestyles as an annual North Carolina tabloid newspaper in 1999. It is now a quarterly national slick magazine. “We write colorful articles that help our 50+ subscribers learn more about their lifestyle options,” Owens said, adding that a common theme is that you can relocate in a less expensive spot and put a nest egg in the bank.

The magazine was judged one of the top seven U.S. 50+ magazines in 1999, 2005, 2007 and 2008 among magazines and organizations of any size in any location in America. The 2009 Mature Media Award is the highest recognition Retirement Lifestyles has received.

“The first of 78 million baby boomers will turn 65 next year, officially kicking off the massive ‘age wave’ in this country,” said Owens. “Retirement Lifestyles fills part of a large vacuum of information in the marketplace for these aging consumers.”

The founder of the National Active Retirement Association (NARA), Owens said awareness of the aging of America is increasing.  “People were awestruck when James Taylor and Carole King packed concert venues around the country recently when other concerts were being cancelled. People are also amazed that Fox News’ conservative morning show leads all morning ratings. Aging boomers can be a powerful market,” he said. 

For a free sample copy of Retirement Lifestyles, call (888)742-7362 or go to www.retiresouth.com. For a complete list of Mature Media Award winners, go to www.seniorawards.com.

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Heritage of Green Hills Serves As Prototype For Super Noggin

Over the next 18 years the baby boomer tidal wave will reach the shores of retirement.  Add to that the fact that people over 85 are now the fastest-growing segment of the population, and the result is that by 2050, the number of Americans 85 years and older will quadruple.

Total healthcare costs are more than three times higher for people with Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias than for other people age 65 and older, according to the 2010 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures, published by the Alzheimer’s Association.

According the Facts and Figures report, in 2006:

• Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes plus Alzheimer’s or another dementia had 64 percent more hospital stays than those with diabetes and no Alzheimer’s, and their average per person Medicare costs were $20,655 compared to $12,979 for beneficiaries with diabetes but no Alzheimer’s or dementia.

• Medicare beneficiaries with coronary heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia had 42 percent more hospital stays than those with coronary heart disease and no Alzheimer’s or dementia, and their average per person Medicare costs were $20,780 compared to $14,640 for beneficiaries with coronary heart disease but no Alzheimer’s or dementia.

• With family members providing care at home for about 70 percent of people with Alzheimer’s disease, the ripple effects of the disease can be felt throughout the entire family. According to Facts and Figures, in 2008, nearly 10 million Alzheimer caregivers in the U.S. provided 8.5 billion hours of unpaid care valued at $94 billion. In addition to the unpaid care families contribute, the report also reveals that Alzheimer’s creates high out-of-pocket health and long-term care expenses for families.

• Out-of-pocket costs that are not covered by Medicare, Medicaid or other sources of insurance are 28 percent higher for Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer’s than those without. Individuals with Alzheimer’s and other dementia living in nursing homes or assisted living facilities incurred the highest out-of-pocket costs – an average of $16,689 a year.
 
Growing prevalence of Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia 

• There are 5.3 million Americans living with the disease and every 70 seconds someone in America develops Alzheimer’s Disease. By mid-century someone will develop Alzheimer’s every 33 seconds. By 2050 there will be nearly a million new cases per year.

• Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the country, surpassing diabetes; it is the fifth leading cause of death among individuals 65 and older.
From 2000 to 2006, while deaths from other major diseases dropped -

> heart disease (-11.5 percent),
> breast cancer (-.6 percent),
> prostate cancer (-14.3 percent) and
> stroke (-18.1 percent) -
deaths from Alzheimer’s disease rose 47.1 percent.
 
Two innovative organizations fight back 

The Heritage of Green Hills, a stunning full-service retirement community for retirees 55 and up, has made a name for itself by pushing preventive health care, rather than reactive health care. “Our residents are some of the most active, independent people you will ever meet. We aim to keep it that way! ” says The Heritage’s Executive Director, Chris Romick. “Currently, we are a country that reacts to health care problems rather than practicing preventive health care. As part of our Well By Design program we’ve teamed up with the not-for-profit LEAF Ltd. Foundation. LEAF has developed an innovative new program called Super Noggin.”

Super Noggin is a brain fitness program for those who want to stay mentally sharp throughout life.  It is designed to maintain and even improve brain fitness, but following the program also contributes to good physical health – a bonus! It’s the first cognitive fitness program to integrate live classes, advice on computer programs, and behavioral changes (namely sleep and diet) to promote healthier brain fitness.
 
The components of the program promote cognitive challenges, physical exercise, good nutrition, social interaction, stress reduction, and personal reflection.  Super Noggin is compatible with the wellness model of the ICAA (International Council on Active Aging).
 
“We’re honored to be the first retirement community in the country offering Super Noggin,” exclaims Chris, “we know it will make a huge difference in the quality of the lives of our residents. Our Well By Design staff members are among the first in the nation to be Certified … and now they can lead groups in maximizing their brain fitness throughout the year. That’s exciting! ”

Super Noggin Class An Overwhelming Success

On July 1st  the Super Noggin team led a packed room of more than 70 Heritage residents, ages 55 to 88, in a Super Noggin class titled, “Ten Steps To Brain Fitness.” But Super Noggin is more than just classes; it’s about making lifestyle changes that can dramatically improve life.
 
Super Noggin is a comprehensive brain fitness program offering a multi-pronged approach to LEARN and PRACTICE brain-healthy habits and to TRACK progress.
Super Noggin includes:
 
• educational and motivational workshops
• brain exercises to stimulate cognitive functions
• a year-long schedule of individual and group activities to keep your brain fit individual tracking of progress toward a healthier lifestyle

Registered Nurse and resident of The Heritage, Bonnie Ebling likes what she sees in Super Noggin, “We keep active physically. We need to keep active mentally too! When you go to a Super Noggin session, it reinforces things you already knew but you also tend to have a lot of ‘Ah ha’ moments.”  Executive Director Chris Romick agrees, “At The Heritage, our residents believe in prevention through a healthy lifestyle… rather than reactive health care. Our residents want to STAY healthy! Which is why Super Noggin was such a perfect fit for our community. I can tell you this much, people have told us that one of the attractions for moving to The Heritage was the availability of Super Noggin.” 
  

Full Disclosure: Both The Heritage of Green Hills and Super Noggin are clients of TR Mann Consulting.

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Line up to learn your longevity likelihood.  Aren’t you just loving the opportunity we will soon have to download that free genetic marker test kit, the one that with 77% accuracy will tell whether we will live past 100? Boston University scientists have ‘no plans to profit’ from the results, but they will make the kit available later this summer. (Warning: analysis of the results will be costly.) I am so struck by how the law of unintended consequences could play out, especially in areas of insurance — as with a home test kit for Alzheimer’s, people might be more likely to purchase long-term care insurance. With a longevity test on the market, how long will the term need to be in term insurance? Taking it a step further, should insurance companies offer free kits as a marketing device? Should your doctor know that you’ve taken such a test? Should a health insurer know? What happens to rates, deductibles and lifetime caps? What kind of housing and support systems would we want if we knew we could live to 100 or more (or if we knew we would suffer from Alzheimer’s)? What would our families do with that information?

Which brings me to home care — what we want. So let’s just imagine that many more of us are going to make it to 100, that we fear nursing homes and obsessively want to stay in our own dangerous-but-familiar houses. Of course, we will want to be there all alone in our later years, visited only by home health or companion aides from the growing home care industry (hopefully they won’t visit us too often, though, and draw attention from the SEC). Hopefully the aides are background-vetted, well-paid, well-trained, dedicated and conversational, and are the low-turnover folks. Hopefully they will take us out to events and social activities, make sure that we are well-monitored and Skype-connected to our far-flung relatives, if not in the home then by driving us to places like this just-opening and Skype-enabled Clearwater Aging Well Center.  Hmm. Do you believe this?

We have the time to craft a better experience. Let’s face it, the lonely boomer at home at 100 is unlikely: our mis-managed bodies may not permit it — even if the above scenario was realistic. That doesn’t mean we aren’t going to live far beyond ye olde expectations. If we knew how long we might live, we also need to imagine and advocate for lower-cost, longevity-friendly housing for those ‘middle’ decades of the 70′s and 80′s, but that will house us when we’re 95 and low on money. We need a rethink of nursing homes, blending them into services for seniors in a community — so that they move past the current shrinking anathema status. That might mean more consolidation, along with blending of skilled services first into communities, and then those services into group housing that will match our budgets and interest profiles. 

Care we want — can we get it? Where we’ll be living, the aides are kind to us: they form friendships and support each other and are well-supported by management. They enable us to find friends and continue to do activities we like — with others, not alone. Where we’ll be living, monitoring our well-being will be welcome and standard; enabling our tech-connectedness will be understood and supported by management and staff. When we move in, we won’t need to take our tech gadgetry with us — they’ll be part of the residence, with Kindles and Nooks in the library, wireless in our home, and appropriate use of video. Maybe useful and friendly robots (not just Paro-fluffy-friendly) will free up the repetitive and low-skilled labor, doing so at a low cost, freeing up staff to focus on higher-skilled tasks. This has happened in every single other industry in the past 50 years — why not this one?

We are in a crisis of mistaken expectation — thus tech opportunity.  In today’s economically challenged world, we suffer from a lack of product and service marketer realism (see Tom Mann’s Mature Market blog about senior housing developers) all along the continuum of care to the consumer. Everyone wants things the way they were (as in the above senior housing example) or they don’t know what they want but are shocked at what they actually get, whether it is with the doctor, the hospital, or the home care agency. Those who are creating and selling tech-enabled products and services have an opportunity to sell into the gap — whether it is in cost-reduction, family expectation management, or enabling standardized back office consolidations for service providers — who want to enable a better longevity experience at a lower cost.

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Mature Market Experts: Selling to Boomers, Seniors, and the Mature Market: Marketing to Baby Boomers, Seniors and the Mature Market - By Tom Mann, TR Mann Consulting: My partners at TR Mann Consulting and I regularly receive emails and phone calls from reporters, bloggers, advertising agencies, marketing firms, and consumer good manufactures asking us what the secret is to selling to Baby Boomers, seniors, and the Mature Market. I would argue that there are no secrets to selling to these different age groups, just refined techniques. Here are some baby boomer, senior and mature market marketing basics:

How is marketing to baby boomers different from marketing to seniors, the mature market or the public in general?

For decades now, marketers have been selling their clients on demographic breakouts. They tell you that the baby boomer generation (the 76 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964) represent unlimited herd-like opportunities. On top of the 76 million American Boomer goldmine is another six to eight million immigrant boomers.

The magic demographic breakout? People born between 1946 and 1955 are called leading-edge boomers by these marketers. Those born between 1956 to 1964 are commonly referred to as late- or trailing-edge boomers.

These lazy marketers will tell you that these are two sociologically distinct target audiences . . . the “leading-edge boomers” grew up during the Vietnam War era. They will tell you that they were shaped by the “cultural revolution,” modern feminism (remember Billy Jean King and Bobby Riggs?), the Beatles, the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King, and the civil rights.

And yes, these events did influence some of their decisions but unfortunately for marketers, it’s much more complex than that. Boomers and the mature market (like all humans) are driven more by their personal needs (remember Maslow’s pyramid?) and the stage of life they are currently in.

In short, marketers need to understand that it’s about “stage” . . . not age. In other words, where is that individual in their personal journey? Just because we are from the same generation doesn’t mean were in the same stage.

David Wolfe, one of my favorite bloggers and a true expert on aging states on his blog Ageless Marketing:

“Needs drive our behavior. Our need to be physically and mentally comfortable, whole, safe and secure does not change from one generation to the next. In Maslow’s hierarchy, that bundle of needs is the most basic of all needs. Then, our need for love and to be loved never changes from one generation to the next. The same holds true of our need for self-esteem and the esteem of others.

What does change from generation to generation are the ways in which we strive to meet our needs.”

By approaching consumer’s with a “stage mentality” new targeting opportunities arise. My favorite example of this is one of my clients, GRAND Magazine. GRAND doesn’t address the readers’ age; it addresses the stage of life this group (Grandparents) has just entered. By recognizing the importance of this role, the grandparent role, GRAND and its advertisers, connect with their audience on a much deeper level. Think about it this way, there are over 72 million grandparents in America, and according to Age Wave Communications they’ll spend over 30 billion this year on their grandchildren. And I would say that $30 Billion is low, I’ve seen estimates of over $75 billion a year!

Because we believe it’s about stage, NOT age, at TR Mann Consulting we have created a different set of lens for looking at the sales process called the Maslow-Mann Brand Match. The great thing about this approach is that unlike the traditional marketing approach it’s inclusive, rather than “cutting out” market segments . . . so your market opportunities are bigger, not smaller. For example, did you know that the average age of a grandparent in the U.S. is 48? If you applied a traditional approach to reaching grandparents (a presumed age) you would miss much of the market.

Why are so many people and companies talking about boomers and the mature market now? How much buying power do boomers and matures have?

You have to remember, every eight seconds, another boomer turns 50. Over 50% of the households in the U.S. are now headed up by a baby boomer. And the mature market continues to grow at an incredible rate; by 2010 one-third of the U.S. population will be over 50. By 2020, one in five Americans will be over 65.

More importantly, they control the bulk of the nation’s wealth . . . and they shop! According to a recent study by Nielsen and Hallmark Channels, households with baby boomer members account for nearly $230 billion in sales of consumer packaged goods and represent 55% of total consumer packaged goods sales.

Those numbers get even bigger when you include all the mature market, the 78 million American seniors who were 50 or older as of 2001 controlled $28 trillion, or 67% of the country’s wealth.

The mature market controls 70 to 79% of all the financial assets, 80% of all the savings accounts; 62% of all large Wall Street asset accounts; and 66% of all the money invested in the stock market.

Boomer women in particular will control the bulk of the mature market’s wealth. By 2010, women are expected to control 60% of all wealth in the U.S., according to a study from Allianz Life Insurance Company.

If you want to see more of these amazing numbers on mature women, click here.

What is the best way to market to boomers and the mature market?

Boomers and seniors are at completely different stages of their lives. It’s important to identify which stages most closely align with your product or service.

· Do they have kids at home? Young or returned to the nest?

· Do they have parents at home?

· Are they healthy? What ailments do they have?

· Are they retired?

· Are they active?

The point is, that by acknowledging that marketing is a whole lot harder than just selling to a “herd” of boomers you’ll start to position your product more carefully.

Aside from physical ailments and illnesses, as we age and mature, we tend to proceed further up Maslow’s pyramid with our needs becoming less materialistic and more emotional/spiritual. Creating advertising that connects emotionally and logically is essential. This is one of the reasons TR Mann Consulting likes to use testimonials for our clients. Testimonials tell stories, they connect emotionally and logically. Plus, they maximize the principals of authority and social proof (The principles of influence: Consistency, Likability, Authority, Social Proof, Scarcity, and Reciprocity — as taught by researcher, Dr. Robert Cialdini).

Next, you have to take in consideration the visual and psychological differences between the different stages. One stage might be “elderly with declining health.” For the 65+ audience your ads should look dramatically different than if you were targeting younger boomers exclusively. Why? Because vision becomes an issue for print and TV, as do fast cuts in TV commercials. Although, in my opinion, all your ads should include these inclusive visual techniques . . . after all, why cut out potential customers? (If you’re interested in learning more about the mature market and vision, click here, then go to the bottom of the page and select “Vision and Aging.”)

Want to learn more about Baby Boomers, Seniors, and the Mature Market?

Of course, an article this short can’t possibly cover a topic this complex and do it justice. But hopefully, it does stop you from buying the traditional “herd-mentality” marketing approach being sold by most marketers for reaching the Boomers. If you’d like to learn more to improve your chances for marketing success with the mature market, give TR Mann Consulting a call at 410-292-4333.

Note: this blog was orginaly published December 23, 2008. For some reason, when our blog was rolled over to our current URL this blog didn’t follow. Therefore, we have reposted.

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I always find it inspiring when busy people go out of their way to do good things. Mike Rowe is one of those guys.

Mike Rowe has had more jobs than you. In fact, Mike has had more jobs than anyone.

As the creator and executive producer of Discovery Channel’s Emmy-nominated series Dirty Jobs With Mike Rowe, Mike has spent years traveling the country, working as an apprentice on more than 200 jobs that most people would go out of their way to avoid. From coal mining to roustabouting, maggot farming to sheep castrating, Mike has worked in just about every industry and filmed the show in almost every state, celebrating the hard-working Americans who make civilized life possible for the rest of us.

No one is better suited to the role of good-natured guinea pig than Mike — mainly because it’s not a role. Dirty Jobs is entirely unscripted, and Mike doesn’t cheat; he actually does the work, with a sense of humor rarely portrayed in such professions. In fact, the notion of depicting hard work as noble and fun is central to his personal mission. On Labor Day 2008, Mike launched a Web site called mikeroweWORKS.com, where skilled labor and hard work are celebrated in the hope of calling attention to the steady decline in the trades and bolstering enrollment in trade schools and technical colleges. Mike is also the voice of one of my favorite shows, Deadliest Catch.

Despite all of this, Mike still finds the time to do the important stuff … like serving as the voiceover for a series of public service announcements for Believe in Tomorrow.

So the next time you see Mike, give him a big hug and say, “Thanks.” Or better yet, donate to one of the charities Mike cares deeply about … The Believe In Tomorrow Children’s Foundation.

PS       I’ve served on the board of Believe In Tomorrow for over 15 years, so I can tell you personally that this organization is incredibly efficient (93% of every dollar goes to supporting the programs). They’ve served thousands of kids with amazingly important hospital housing like The Children’s House at Johns Hopkins and The Children’s House at St. Casimir, just to name a few. Here’s how you can help.

PPS    Now, if only we could get Mike to be a GNA for a day.

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