5 Ingredients to Senior Living Success Revealed at SMASH 2024

The recent Senior Care Marketing & Sales Summit (SMASH) 2024 had Jerry Vinci, CEO of CCR Growth, engaging in one-on-one conversations with senior living professionals to learn more about their major pain points and how best to elevate their marketing and sales strategies to reach their goals.

From data and AI to strategic partnerships, here are the 5 top takeaways from the conversations he had at the summit. In combination, they provide a helpful roadmap to measurable senior living success.

1. Data & AI: Powerhouse Tools, Seamless Integration

While data and AI were a hot topic at SMASH, the real win lies in their integration. Forget clunky, complex systems that don’t talk to each other. It’s vital to start considering how to unify your various platforms to streamline data and processes. Doing this will free up your marketing and sales teams to focus on their core tasks: closing deals and nurturing leads. And, perhaps most importantly, it should give you a chance to view all of the important data at a glance to make well-informed business decisions. Ultimately, making AI work for you is about finding ways to amplify your human efforts, not replace them.

2. Crafting Holistic Strategies That Deliver

Many at the conference felt there was too much of a focus on tools over actionable strategies. Sure, technology is powerful, but it’s the “why” and “how” that truly matter. Crafting comprehensive, data-driven strategies that are tailored to your unique needs as a senior living operation should be the primary goal. At CCR Growth, our team starts by analyzing your current approach, identifying areas for improvement, and then implementing solutions that deliver tangible results. Tools become drivers of growth, not just add-ons.

3. Teamwork is the Dreamwork

As a senior living provider, it’s vital to build partnerships with your vendors. This is all about trust, collaboration, and mutual success. Viewing your vendors as a part of your core team helps to keep them accountable and involved in your overall success rather than just service providers delivering a one-dimensional offering. This is how the CCR Growth team operates – working as an extension of your team to optimize everything from marketing efforts to lead generation systems. It’s about a shared commitment to maximize your potential.

4. Cultivating Direct Lead Generation

It was a hot topic at the summit: reducing reliance on expensive referral agencies like A Place for Mom and Caring.com. While these have certainly served a purpose in the past, many providers realize that direct leads are often higher quality, and serve your long-term business goals. Indeed, this is a topic close to our hearts too. We’ve consistently shown how internal lead generation and nurturing systems can significantly decrease dependence on referrals – sometimes by as much as 75%! This translates to cost savings and a sales team focused on qualified leads that are more likely to convert.

5. Fractional Roles and Tailored Support

Not every senior living organization needs a full-fledged marketing and sales team. That’s okay! Flexible, fractional roles can often cater to your specific needs much better and be effective at helping you achieve your overall goals. The CCR Growth model is a good example of this as we can come in as a strategic consultant to assess your online presence, lead generation, or sales approach. This offers you a topline viewpoint of what your team needs to do to achieve results. And should you require a more comprehensive partnership, our team thrives on building a collaborative, results-oriented relationship with your team.

Watch Jerry’s recent recap here: