About a year ago, we ran a large-scale secret shop across 150 senior living communities in 20 different states. Our goal was simple:To understand how well senior living communities actually respond when a family urgently requests a tour.
Not theory. Not self-reported data. Just real-world behavior from actual senior living communities.
What we found was eye-opening — and explains why so many operators struggle to convert expensive leads into actual tours and move-ins....Here’s what the data showed.
How the Secret Shop Worked
We submitted inquiries through each community’s website using their “Request a Tour” or contact form. Each inquiry was intentionally written to signal strong buyer intent, for example:
“My father urgently needs senior living. We’d like to schedule a tour as soon as possible. Can someone reach out quickly?”
This is as bottom-of-funnel as it gets — families actively looking and ready to talk.
We then tracked every form of follow-up over a six-week period, including:
- Phone calls
- Emails
- Text messages
And measured:
- How long it took to respond
- How many times they followed up
- The methods they used to follow up (ie via phone, text, email etc)
- Whether meaningful contact ever actually happened
Nearly 40% Never Followed Up At All
The most alarming statistic:
Almost 40% of communities never followed up — not once.
No calls.
No emails.
No texts.
Just silence.
These were families actively asking for help… and no one ever responded.
Average Phone Response Time: 46 Hours
When we looked at all responses across the study, the average phone response time for those that DID respond was 46 hours — almost two full days. In senior living, where families are often contacting multiple communities at once, this is devastating.
By the time many teams respond, the family has:
- Booked elsewhere
- Lost urgency
- Or simply moved on
Only 3% Responded Within 30 Minutes
Speed to lead matters — especially for high-intent inquiries.
But out of 150 communities:
Only 3% responded within 30 minutes. Thats just five communities in total out of the 150.
Only two communities responded within five minutes.
These are the communities most likely capturing tours before competitors even make first contact.
Average Follow-Up Attempts: Just TWO
We also tracked how persistent follow-up was. The average number of follow-up attempts? Two.
Sales research consistently shows that it often takes 7–9 attempts to reach a prospect. But most communities stopped after just a couple tries — not because prospects weren’t interested, but because teams are often:
- Short staffed
- Juggling multiple responsibilities
- Forced to prioritize in-the-building duties over outbound follow-up
Estimated Contact Rate: Only 22%
Based on the number of follow-up attempts and engagement patterns, we estimated that only about: 22% of leads would ever actually end up having actual contact with a salesperson.
That means: Out of every 5 families requesting a tour, Only 1 actually speaks to someone.
The other 4? They’ve likely already cost you money through paid referrals or marketing — and now they’re going to competitors or giving up altogether.
Only 7% Did What Was Needed to Truly Convert Leads
We also evaluated which communities did enough follow-up to realistically convert the lead into a tour.
Only about: 7% of communities put in the required effort to fully work the lead.
At NextWave, we typically see: 15–20% lead-to-tour rates when proper response systems and follow-up processes are in place. That’s why one of our core promises is to increase tours by roughly 47% or more using existing leads — without increasing marketing spend.
What Communities Can Track Starting Today
If you want to benchmark your own performance, start with two metrics:
-
Contact Rate
Did a real one-to-one conversation happen between staff and prospect? -
Lead-to-Tour Rate
How many inquiries actually result in scheduled tours?
But these only work if your team is consistently logging interactions in your CRM — phone, text, and email — so you can see what’s really happening.
How We Help Fix This at NextWave
For our clients, we ensure:
- 100% of leads are contacted
- Immediate response through text and email
- Fast follow-up calls from trained agents
- Enough attempts to actually reach families
- Qualification before scheduling tours
The goal isn’t just speed — it’s persistence and consistency, which most internal teams simply don’t have the bandwidth to maintain.
Want the Full White Paper?
We’ve published the full breakdown of this secret shop, including charts and graphs showing response time distribution across all 150 communities.
You can download it using the link below the video.
And if you’d like to see how much opportunity might be hiding inside your existing leads, we’re happy to run the numbers with you and show you what’s possible — without spending more on marketing.
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