With the internet changing the way that way that we search and find information more and more people start their purchasing process online. While businesses such as real estate agents have adopted this method as an effective way to sell more houses the senior housing community is only just starting to come around to the benefits of providing virtual tours. With a main demographic being the tech-savvy "adult children" of seniors making the purchasing decisions on senior housing this is a tactic that should not be ignorned. Below are just a few of the benefits of virtual tours when marketing assisted living.
1.) Showcase Your Community
Many potential prospects of your community may either live too far away or may not have the physical means to come to your community for an on-site tour. These loved ones may not live in the immediate area of a retirement community of interest. A virtual tour makes it possible to connect with everyone involved in the process.While most will eventually book a tour before committing to your community it can hugely help your chances of gaining interest by showcasing the highlights of your community through a virtual tour. Having the ability to dictate the timing of your virtual tour allows you to highlight your community in it's best light. Also the ability the footage allows you to really hone in on your communities best features.
Maximize exposure potential with an online virtual tour that is available 'round the clock from anywhere in the world. Even if your facility has an excellent website, active social media page and YouTube channel, a virtual tour creates even more exposure. By having a professionally produced 360° Virtual Tour placed directly with Google Search, Google Maps, a facility's Google Plus business page and embedding the tour into a website and social media pages, a facility secures the most strategic online positions which strengthens a facility's online presence.
*Two out of three people WANT more virtual tours according to recent studies.
2) Cater to the Adult Children
As studies have shown it's now the "adult children" who are making the majority of decisions when it comes to senior housing for their parents. This demographic is used to making 2/3rd of their purchase decision on a community or business before even speaking with a salesperson. They want to their homework online, by themselves, and expect a certain level of transparency when they're looking for information. A virtual tour is a perfect example of this. In the statistic below it shows that companies with a virtual tour are 2X more likely to want to book a reservation. This is a huge statistic. Unkowingly by not having a virtual community tour on your website and social media profiles your community could be missing out on a huge number of personal visits. And while you're not doing your local competitors might be; and therefor are taking that business from your community without you even knowing.
3) Qualify Your Prospects
A major issue that assisted living communites run up against is qualifying their potential residents before setting up an on-site tour. Asking the tough financial questions is an awkward but neccessary part of a community sales directors job. Although you wouldn't think so a virtual tour can be a great tool for qualifying potential prospects. If you have a high-end community showcase that it' high-end. If you have a low-end community showcase that you have a more affordable community. A virtual tour makes the decision process more transparent to the potential resident and therefor can help themselves qualify their financial position simply by seeing the quality of what they're getting. A low income resident wouldn't book a tour after a very high-end virtual community tour; and believe it or not this ends up saving your sales team time, effort, and therefor money.
Making a move to a senior living community is a major life decision. Prospective residents are often leaving behind a home they have enjoyed for many years. Therefore the initial discovery process of a possible future home is a crucial first step. A virtual tour offers a detailed, interactive glimpse that will reveal a comfortable environment that will really feel like home while meeting all of their needs. It's instantly accessible through all devices from desktop computers to smartphones and will ultimately help you convert more of the right type of residents you want at your community.
