Effectively Dealing with the Most Common Senior Living Sales Objections to Close More Sales (Part 2)

Nov 17, 2016 | Sales/Sales Training

By Rick Hunsicker, Vice President Sales Services – Western Division

Senior Living Sales Objection: “We just need to think about it”

So this couple says, “This is a very nice place, and you’ve been very helpful, but we’re just not ready.”

The couple leaves, and the executive director comes out: “So, tell me what the next step is with that couple who just left?”

And the sales counselor says, “Oh, well, they’re just not really ready yet.”

“Not ready for what?”

“Well… I’m really not sure.”

“But then how will you move forward with them, if you don’t know what they’re not ready for?”

“I don’t know… I guess I should have tried harder to find out what they really mean when they say ‘I’m not ready’.”

Do we know what they’re not ready for? Yes! And I’m going to go through a list of things that people typically have in their perception of “I’m not ready.” If we understand these perceptions, and also how to provide information, education and experience related to those perceptions of “not ready,” we’ll be more successful.

And I’m spending more time on this particular objection because so many of us – especially if you’re independent living – want to get these folks in sooner, before a crisis.

So here are some things seniors say they’re not ready for:

  1. “Going through all of my stuff and getting ready to sell the house.”
  2. “Going through the process of selling my house.” They haven’t done it in years, it’s a hassle… they’re just not ready.
  3. “Selling my house in today’s market.” Now today’s housing market really isn’t a bad market – it’s going to get worse, I’ll tell you that, for older homes over time, for multiple reasons. Which is really a whole separate subject.
  4. “I’m not ready for my friends to say to me, ‘What in the heck are you thinking? Why are you moving in with all those old people?’ ” Don’t you think a lot of the folks aren’t ready because of what their friends or family are going to say? You know that’s an issue.
  5. “I’m not ready to try and fit all of my stuff into this small space.”
  6. “I’m not sure if I’ll really like it.”

Now, I want to tell you a story about an experience I had in Florida. After conducting one of my seminars down there, we were sitting at lunch with some couples in their sixties or seventies. There was one couple sitting directly across from me, and the wife said, “Well, Mr. Hunsicker, I’m ready to do this. Everything you said in the seminar, I completely agree with. I’m definitely ready to move forward, but my husband here is just not ready to do anything.”

So I looked at Mr. Husband and said, “Well, sir, tell me why you feel that way.”

He said, “Well, Mr. Hunsicker, I get rid of all my stuff, I sell my house, I move in here… and what if I don’t like it? I don’t have a house to go back to, a lot of my stuff that I’d use if I had a house is gone, I find out I don’t like it – so what am I going to do?”

So I said to him, “Why don’t you come try it for three days?”

And he said, “What??”

I said, “Yeah! You’ve never lived in a community, right?”

And he said, “No – I just don’t know if I’d like it. And if I move in and don’t like it, there’s a risk of not being able to go back and get all my stuff and go back to my house, so, you know, that’s why I’m not ready.”

So I said “Why don’t you come for three days and try it out?”

And he said, “I can do that?”

And I said, “I assume this community would probably have a three-day trial visit that you can try out.”

And he said, “That’s exactly what I need. I need to know what it’s really like, living in one of these places: what the people are like, what the services are like, what the food is like. And then I’ll know if this is something I’d be comfortable doing, because at least I’ll have a better idea of whether I’d like it here. ”

So that’s what a lot of people are holding back for. Those of you who are doing the trial visits probably know that they really do work for a lot of the people, because they live there and they say, “Wow! This is really nice. It’s not at all what I expected. The people are nice, and I guess I am ready.” So, again, to commit to something I’m just not positively sure about, not sure I’ll fit in… these are perceptions that are in the back of their head. So that’s a great way to deal with that.

~

Next time, we’ll look at four more objections: “Your price is too high,” “My kids/spouse/financial advisor objects,” “We like your competitor better,” and “We’re not sure we’ll fit in.” 

 

For more information on how to generate more qualified leads, contact Tim Bracken at 410-207-0013.

Editor’s Note: This blog originally was posted on the Hunsicker Senior Living blog which we are now migrating to this current site.

This is a three part series:

Part I

Part III

 

 

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