The Covid-19 pandemic is disrupting the senior care industry in unimagined ways, and likely will for the foreseeable future. As the crisis progresses, marketing and sales teams may find themselves busier than ever in a job that normally entails face-to-face interaction.

By: Chuck Sudo

March 23, 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic is disrupting the senior care industry in unimagined ways, and likely will for the foreseeable future. In spite of lockdowns and precautionary measures taken by operators and owners across the country, however, senior living communities remain open for business — and sales and marketing teams are remaining busy but working in drastically different ways than usual.

As the crisis progresses, marketing and sales teams may find themselves busier than ever in a job that normally entails face-to-face interaction. They will need to work remotely, leverage tech into their marketing and sales strategies, set up virtual tours and incorporate their communities’ responses to protecting residents from contracting the virus into the sales process. Third-party referral platforms are also adjusting in response to Covid-19.

Low-key tech solutions

Being nimble with marketing plans and how they are implemented also serves the residents inside, K4Connect CEO and co-founder Scott Moody told SHN. The Raleigh, North Carolina-based tech firm serves over 29,000 senior living residents across the country on its K4Community platform.

K4Connect began planning for Covid-19 well ahead of its initial disruption, and began sending out “Covid 911” bulletins to communities it serves. The firm developed a hotline for communities to keep residents and families updated on their response strategy, which can be accessed via phone or Alexa-enabled devices for residents. It is also providing virtual support for on- and off-premise staff.

Moody believes that there has been bad press regarding not having good communication with the outside world. For senior care, there needs to be an immediate response to address an issue or else a community will pay for it down the road.

“It’s not just about marketing, but marketing the community that you have,” Moody said.