By Steve Moran
In my frustrating senior living journey with my 91-year-old stepfather Gary, there is one glaring missed opportunity that stands head and shoulders above all others. It is a miss that I had not really given much thought to until I became a consumer. It is low-hanging fruit for all senior living communities.
The underlying problem is that most senior living organizations have not really thought through who their customer is.
It should be obvious, but it is mostly NOT THE RESIDENT.
The Customer Is Me
While the community is providing for my stepfather, I am the customer. I am the one who made the move-in decision. I am the one who makes sure there is enough money to pay the monthly charges. I am the one they will call when things go downhill. I am also the one who can make the decision to move out or to call licensing.
Not Once
When I first moved Gary into the community, the executive director gave me a little talk about how if I saw problems or had questions, I should promptly reach out so that things didn’t fester or go downhill. It was impressive. In practice, getting them to respond when I reached out was not very impressive.
Even if it had worked like it was supposed to, it would not be enough.
Not once did anyone ever call me up or even stop me in the corridor or invite me into their office to ask:
“How are things going?”
“How are we doing?”
“What could we do to make your experience better?”
I Bet …
While I know the community we are customers of is not great, I bet that in most communities — even those that are a lot better than this one — they primarily see their customer as the resident and not the family.
This makes everything worse. It means the little things don’t get taken care of and turn into bigger things. It means family members are not raving fans, which is critical for high occupancy. It also makes family members more critical and less tolerant when things go wrong.
The Great Opportunity
It is such a simple thing; it takes so little effort, so little time: Particularly during the move-in process, but any time you see a family member, take the time to ask how things are going and what would make the experience better.
Most of the time, they will tell you everything is fine, and when they offer you a suggestion, take it seriously and act on it if at all possible.
I am a believer that there are three customers in an AL/MC setting: the resident, the family, and our employees. We need to serve all three well to be successful.