Raleigh’s K4Connect, Building ‘Smart Home’ Living for Seniors, Closes on $21M Series B

Our investors have continued to support our vision and equally value our mission. The additional funding allows us to keep serving the older adult community, the families, and staff through technology.

 

By: Chantal Allam

July 8, 2020

RALEIGH — K4Connect, which creates tech solutions for older adults and individuals living with disabilities, has raised an additional $7.7 million led by the Silicon Valley-based Forte Ventures. That officially closes its Series B round with $21 million in its coffers and brings total outside venture funding to date to $31 million.

As part of the investment by Forte Ventures, Louis Rajczi will join the K4Connect’s board of directors.

“We are thrilled to lead this round of funding to support all that K4Connect is doing to serve the older adult community and the senior living industry,” said Louis Rajczi, partner at Forte Ventures, in a statement. “This is a particularly exciting partnership for us as we are passionately behind K4Connect’s vision of improving the lives of the nation’s older adults through innovation. Forte Ventures focuses on opportunities where strategic investment will push industries forward, and K4Connect is clearly leading the innovation movement in the senior living segment.”

 

Founded in 2013, the Raleigh-based startup has become one of the fastest-growing companies in the Triangle. It currently serves tens of thousands of residents at over 800 continuing care, independent living communities across the nation.

The company tailors a variety of technologies to benefit the residents, staff, and resident families of senior living communities through its flagship solution, K4Community.

K4Community is built upon K4Connect’s patented operating system, FusionOS, an advanced multi-modal edge-cloud architecture and, according to the company, the only of its kind in the senior living industry. It offers a comprehensive suite of solutions. Among them: allowing residents to stay connected through digital communications (e.g., voice, video, messaging); keeping them engaged (e.g., content, virtual engagement, voice-first experiences); and supporting independence through features such as home automation and Resident Check-in.

The K4Community Team Hub also features automated family/guest communications and Hotline for critical communications. Ultimately, the goal is to enable communities to transform into “smart senior living communities,” the company said in its release.

“We are incredibly fortunate in our investor relationships in that they not only believe in our vision but equally value our mission. Forte Ventures is a prime example of that relationship and we’re proud to welcome them to the bench of our valued investors. With their support, and all of our investors, we’re continuing to accelerate to serve as many older adults through technology as possible,” said K4Connect CEO and Co-Founder, Scott Moody.

Additional investors taking part in the round include existing K4Connect investors Sierra Ventures, Intel Capital, AXA Venture Partners, the Ziegler Link•Age Fund, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest, Topmark Partners (formerly Stonehenge Growth Equity Partners) and Traverse.

Read more from WRAL TechWire, here!

Raleigh Startup K4Connect Gets Multi-Million Dollar Injection from Investors

The software aims to make senior living residents more easily connected and reachable by their health providers, families, and community managers.

 

By: Zachery Eanes

July 8, 2020

Raleigh-based K4Connect, one of the fastest-growing startups in the Triangle, said Wednesday that it had landed a large injection of cash from investors. 

The money, which completes a $21 million round of new cash for the company, comes as K4Connect’s technology has seen a boost in usage because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The startup builds software that integrates smart devices and internet-of-things technology into retirement communities. The goal is to make residents more easily connected and reachable by their health providers and community managers.

Some residential facilities for seniors have become hot spots for COVID-19 outbreaks, which can be particularly dangerous for older people with pre-existing conditions. 

In response, the movements of some residents have been restricted to prevent the spread of COVID-19. When residents can’t gather in dining halls or have visitors, technology can become a critical tool for communication between isolated residents and their family members. 

“I think we have definitely gone from that nice (service) to have to a must-have,” the company’s CEO Scott Moody said in an interview with The News & Observer.

Moody said K4Connect’s software is added onto smart devices like iPads and Alexa speakers. The startup’s average user is 85 years old, Moody said, and about 85% of residents at K4Connect-partnered communities use their technology on a daily basis. 

The company has grown rapidly in the past two years. The startup said in 2018 that it worked with around 60 retirement communities in the U.S. Now, the company provides service to around 800 communities. 

Moody, who sold his last startup to Apple for $356 million in 2012, said now is the time to keep investing into the company’s growth. 

“When you go into a crisis like this … there’s a defense element and there’s an offense element,” he said. “The defense element is making sure your costs are in line and things are being managed and people are safe at home.” 

“The offense,” he added, “is how do we serve better and more?”

Moody said the new money will put the company on the offensive and “expedite a lot what we’re doing in terms of our product development.” 

The latest round of funding for K4Connect was led by Forte Ventures in Atlanta, but other investors including Sierra Ventures, Intel Capital and Revolution’s Rise of the Rest fund participated.

Check out The News & Observer for more, here!

K4Connect Raises Additional Capital to Close Series B Funding of $21M; Brings Forte Ventures on as New Investor

Mission-aligned company and investors move to make big impact with technology in senior living.

RALEIGH, N.C., July 8, 2020 – K4Connect, a mission-driven technology company that integrates the best in technology to serve and empower older adults and those living with disabilities, today announced a financing raise of $7.7 million led by Forte Ventures. This financing officially closes K4Connect’s Series B round at $21 million, bringing the company’s total outside venture funding to-date to $31 million. K4Connect is the leading provider of enterprise connected-life technologies for senior living communities, currently serving thousands of residents at over 800 premier continuing care, independent living and assisted living communities across the nation. This financing round will further accelerate the development and deployment of solutions that support today’s most vulnerable population during COVID-19 and beyond – older adults.  

The challenges brought on by COVID-19 have had far-reaching implications for senior living, but have magnified opportunities where technology can have an immediate and long-lasting impact on the daily lives of residents and working environments for community staff. K4Connect brings cutting-edge enterprise technologies to this industry, which innovation has long ignored. The company tailors a variety of technologies to benefit the residents, staff, and resident families of senior living communities through its flagship solution, K4Community. 

“We are thrilled to lead this round of funding to support all that K4Connect is doing to serve the older adult community and the senior living industry,” said Louis Rajczi, partner at Forte Ventures. “This is a particularly exciting partnership for us as we are passionately behind K4Connect’s vision of improving the lives of the nation’s older adults through innovation. Forte Ventures focuses on opportunities where strategic investment will push industries forward, and K4Connect is clearly leading the innovation movement in the senior living segment.” 

K4Community is built upon K4Connect’s patented operating system, FusionOS, an advanced multi-modal edge-cloud architecture and the only of its kind in the senior living industry. A comprehensive suite of solutions integrating the best in technology, K4Community enhances daily life for residents, augments the workday for staff, and enables community operators to operate more efficient and data-driven businesses. Residents stay connected to each other and their families through digital communications (e.g., voice, video, messaging), informed on the latest community news (e.g., COVID-19 updates, visitation policies, daily menus), engaged and stimulated during quarantine (e.g., content, virtual engagement, voice-first experiences) and more independent through features such as home automation and Resident Check-in. Community staff benefit from creation, productivity, and awareness tools via the K4Community Team Hub, and key features including automated family/guest communications and Hotline for critical communications. Ultimately, the goal is to enable communities to rapidly transform into Smart Senior Living Communities, creating a more connected living and working environment driven by a foundation of technology. 

“We are incredibly fortunate in our investor relationships in that they not only believe in our vision but equally value our mission. Forte Ventures is a prime example of that relationship and we’re proud to welcome them to the bench of our valued investors. With their support, and all of our investors, we’re continuing to accelerate to serve as many older adults through technology as possible,” said K4Connect CEO and Co-Founder, Scott Moody. 

Additional investors taking part in the round include existing K4Connect investors Sierra Ventures, Intel Capital, AXA Venture Partners, the Ziegler Link•Age Fund, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest, Topmark Partners (formerly Stonehenge Growth Equity Partners) and Traverse. As part of the investment by Forte Ventures, Louis Rajczi will join the K4Connect Board of Directors. K4Connect was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Raleigh, N.C. To learn more about K4Connect and its current and future technologies, please visit www.K4Connect.com.

About Forte Ventures:

Forte Ventures is a multi-stage venture capital firm that collaborates and co-invests with corporate strategic partners in technology companies across diversified industry sectors throughout North America. Focus areas include Information Technology, Insurance Tech, Financial Tech, Mobility, On-Demand Tech/Services, Cybersecurity, IoT and Industrial Tech. Initial investments generally range between $1-3 million and typically include participation from leading corporate strategic partners as co-investors. Forte Ventures has offices in Atlanta and Silicon Valley. For more information please visit www.forteventures.com.

About K4Connect:

K4Connect is a mission-driven technology company that integrates the best in technology to serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, together with the people, communities and organizations that also serve them. We believe the future of senior living is in enabling Smart Senior Living Communities through tech-based solutions that truly impact the lives of older adults, wherever they live. Our premier solution, K4Community, provides smart products and features across Home, Wellness, and Engagement for residents, and Productivity, Building, and Insight for staff and operators. 

Based in Raleigh, N.C., K4Connect is currently serving tens of thousands of senior living residents and staff at over 800 continuing care, independent living, assisted living and memory care communities across the nation. For more information, please visit www.K4Connect.com.

K4Connect, a Startup Bringing Tech to Senior Living Centers, Closes its $21M Series B

The FusionOS-powered platform integrates a suite of solutions designed for senior living residents in independent or assisted living facilities.

 

By: Sarah Perez

July 8, 2020

K4Connect, a startup focused on bringing new technologies like voice assistance, home automation, digital messaging and more to older adults and those living with disabilities, has closed on $21 million in Series B funding. The B round had originally wrapped in October 2018, but was extended with the recent addition of $7.7 million led by Forte Ventures.

Others taking part in the round include existing investors Sierra Ventures, Intel Capital, AXA Venture Partners, the Ziegler Link•Age Fund, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest, Topmark Partners (formerly Stonehenge Growth Equity Partners) and Traverse. As a result of the new funding, Forte Ventures’ Louis Rajczi will join the startup’s board.

 

To date, K4Connect has raised $31 million in venture funding.

Notably, the additional funds were raised amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has been disproportionately impacting older adults in care facilities, cutting off their communication from loved ones and disrupting their daily activities.

The company provisions Alexa devices for residents, so they don’t have to configure devices themselves — they just plug them in. It also supports other home automation devices like smart thermostats, smart lights, motion sensors, sleep tracking devices, and more. 

This is all managed by way of the company’s “K4Community” solution powered by the underlying FusionOS technology. Residents can access this as an app their own smartphones, on pre-provisioned tablets, or even through digital signage in the facility itself.

Read the full story on TechCrunch, here!

Artificial Intelligence Giving a Boost to Senior Care through 2 Raleigh Startups

K4Connect’s Staff Assistant and Pryon Answers work together to assist senior living caregivers with fast and accurate answers to new and important questions amid COVID-19.

By: Chantal Allam

July 1, 2020

RALEIGH — K4Connect believes artificial intelligence (AI) can help to improve the lives of seniors living in assisted living communities, especially during a pandemic.

That’s why the Raleigh startup, which creates technology solutions for older adults and individuals with disabilities, has teamed up with another local tech firm, Pryon, to bring AI-powered staff assistants to its clients. It currently serves tens of thousands of residents at over 800 continuing care, independent living, assisted living and memory care communities across the nation.

The AI effort is one of several K4 has launched in attempts to improve senior care during the pandemic.

HOW IT WORKS 

With K4Connect’s Staff Assistant, caregivers simply ask their AI assistant questions about company policies and procedures, government regulations, and best practices from the latest medical reports and research. To always deliver the best answers, Pryon Answers ingests documents, links, and other data sources selected by senior living operators, then creates a sophisticated AI-model based on that information. Operators can update the answers delivered to caregivers by having Pryon Answers ingest new or replacement documents.

“This technology is not about replacing the human element, rather assisting the caregiver to do their work more efficiently,” CEO Scott Moody told WRAL TechWire. “For caregivers, AI can deliver more efficient support systems and tools (saving themtime), data-driven practices that enable better decision-making, and increased awareness of resident behavior/interest that ultimately fuel better care.”

Scott Moody, of K4Connect, talks to a resident at The Cardinal, where technology is custom designed for seniors to engage and enjoy. (WRAL photo by Mandy Mitchell)

“Dedicated caregivers for older adults were already heroes. With COVID-19, these frontline workers have proven to be superhuman,” said Igor Jablokov, CEO of Pryon, in a statement. “Even so, they are being impacted by the tremendous workloads, risks to their own health, and lack of fast and accurate answers to new and important questions. This is the perfect opportunity for AI to augment people so they can thrive and do their jobs better than ever before.” 

Read more on WRALTech Wire, here!

K4Connect and Pryon Bring the Power of AI to the Senior Living Industry to Improve the Lives of Residents and Empower Caregivers During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

K4Connect’s Staff Assistant Built On Pryon Answers Delivers Knowledge to Caregivers So They Can Spend More Time Caring for Residents and Less Time Finding Answers to Important Questions

 

RALEIGH, N.C., June 29, 2020—COVID-19 continues to put older adults at unprecedented risk. To improve the lives of seniors by empowering caregivers with answers to important questions, K4Connect, a mission-driven technology company that integrates the best in technology to serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, is partnering with Pryon, an AI company focused on augmented intelligence for the enterprise, to bring the power of AI to the senior living industry. K4Connect’s Staff Assistant powered by Pryon Answers enables senior living operators to provide each caregiver with an AI assistant that augments their knowledge, helps them make better decisions, and frees time to spend with residents.

“The pandemic has greatly impacted the most vulnerable people—older adults—and those who care for them. It’s also created an environment in which policies and operational practices are changing rapidly,” said Scott Moody, CEO and co-founder of K4Connect. “Our Pryon Answers-based Staff Assistant is designed to enable caregivers to stay up-to-date with the latest COVID data, treatments, regulations and more, so they can deliver the safest, highest quality care to their residents. Our vision is to harness the power of AI to better serve and care for older adults; Pryon is the perfect partner to begin this journey with.”

AI Answers for Caregivers

With K4Connect’s Staff Assistant, caregivers simply ask their AI assistant questions about company policies and procedures, government regulations, and best practices from the latest medical reports and research. To always deliver the best answers, Pryon Answers ingests documents, links, and other data sources selected by senior living operators, then creates a sophisticated AI model based on that information. Operators can update the answers delivered to caregivers by having Pryon Answers ingest new or replacement documents.

“Dedicated caregivers for older adults were already heroes. With COVID-19, these frontline workers have proven to be superhuman,” said Igor Jablokov, CEO of Pryon. “Even so, they are being impacted by the tremendous workloads, risks to their own health, and lack of fast and accurate answers to new and important questions. This is the perfect opportunity for AI to augment people so they can thrive and do their jobs better than ever before. By partnering with K4Connect, I’m proud that our augmented intelligence solution is being used to improve the lives of older adults and the caregivers that look after them.”

The Staff Assistant beta program, slated to run through the end of July, is available to all K4Connect customers currently using its staff tool suite, K4Community Team Hub. Currently, beta users are leveraging Staff Assistant to deliver timely COVID-19 information. Post-beta, K4Connect plans to expand the Staff Assistant solution to encompass more data and capabilities.

For more information about Pryon Answers, send an email to info@pryon.com or visit pryon.com. To learn more about K4Connect’s technologies, visit K4Connect.com.

About Pryon

Pryon is an AI company focused on augmented intelligence for the enterprise. Its core AI platform enables companies to reimagine knowledge so employees can effortlessly tame data overload, intelligently apply answers and insights to their work, and continuously learn from new data, users, and feedback. Because Pryon believes everyone should benefit from AI, the company has automated many of the processes that require experts, coding, and data preparation so no technical expertise is required. For more information, please visit www.pryon.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @Pryon.

About K4Connect
K4Connect is a mission-driven technology company that integrates the best in technology to serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, together with the people, communities and organizations that also serve them. We believe the future of senior living is in enabling Smart Senior Living Communities through tech-based solutions that truly impact the lives of older adults, wherever they live. Our premier solution, K4Community, provides smart products and features across Home, Wellness, and Engagement for residents, and Productivity, Building, and Insight for staff and operators.

Based in Raleigh, N.C., K4Connect is currently serving tens of thousands of senior living residents and staff at over 800 continuing care, independent living, assisted living and memory care communities across the nation. For more information, please visit www.K4Connect.com

K4Connect Partners with Bandwidth to Enhance Hotline Capabilities

Senior living residents, families, and staff are staying connected and informed through COVID-19 with the use of K4Community Hotline.

By: Kimberly Marselas

June 24, 2020

Enterprise communications software firm Bandwidth has partnered with K4Connect, a technology company serving older adults, to deliver an enhanced COVID-19 communications tool for senior living communities.

K4Community Hotline is a recorded phone message feature that keeps residents, families and staff constantly updated with the latest community information. K4Connect is leveraging the Bandwidth API and telecom platform to swiftly build, deliver and manage this solution at scale.

It initially launched in March, and 20 K4Connect senior living communities have activated hotlines using them to make an average of 280 calls per day. The hotline has proven a straightforward way to communicate about quarantine protocols, visitation policies, and daily routines such as dining changes or socially-distanced activities. It can also limit caregiver stress by reducing abnormally high numbers of incoming and outgoing calls.

Read the full article on McKnight’s, here!

K4Connect Seniors ‘Hotline’ Receives Boost from Bandwidth to Assist with Pandemic Needs

Through our partnership, we can bring K4Community Hotline, an effective and simple tool for critical senior living communications during COVID-19 and beyond, across the nation.

June 17, 2020

RALEIGH — K4Connect is teaming up with software communications firm Bandwidth to deliver a newly enhanced “hotline” for its staff and residents.

The Raleigh startup, which creates technology solutions for older adults and individuals with disabilities, is leveraging the Bandwidth API and telecom platform to build and manage its K4Community Hotline.

The recorded phone message keeps residents, their families, and community staff constantly updated with the latest, including safety protocols, visitation policies, and other information like dining menus and virtual or socially-distanced activities.

Since the feature’s initial release this past March 20, K4Connect said the hotlines are averaging over 280 calls per day.

“This is how K4Community Hotline was created and we’re glad to see communities valuing it,” said K4Connect CEO and co-founder Scott Moody, in a statement.

Scott Moody of K4Connect, talks to a resident at The Cardinal, where technology is custom designed for seniors to engage and enjoy.

“This solution enables us to continue supporting the industry with an incredibly efficient and easy-to-use tool as it prepares for the anticipated second wave of COVID-19 impact in the fall,” Carl Tarbell, executive director of Masonic Village at Burlington, said the hotline has been a “lifeline” to families, residents, and staff members. “It has given our team the ability to update each group with daily updates and critical information. The impact has been immeasurable,” he said.

RALEIGH NATIVES COLLABORATING

In recent years, K4Connect has become one of the fastest-growing companies in the Triangle. It currently serves tens of thousands of residents at over 800 continuing care, independent living, assisted living and memory care communities across the nation.

The Bandwidth team at Nasdaq

Bandwidth is also a big success story from the Triangle. Founded in 1999 by attorney-turned-entrepreneur David Morken in a Raleigh spare bedroom more, the firm went public in 2017 valued at around $300 million. Last year, it hit the $2 billion mark. Companies like Google, Microsoft, Rover and Zoom use Bandwidth’s APIs to easily embed voice, messaging and 911 access into software and applications.

“Given that they are also Raleigh natives, we were eager to find a way to work together,” said Adam Covati, vice president of Research & Development at Bandwidth. “We’d been in talks previously, and after K4Connect built the prototype for the hotline, partnering with Bandwidth emerged as a natural choice. Their communities’ need for local numbers made our national coverage incredibly appealing. Plus, they needed a long-term provider they could trust as they continue to grow, and our customer-focused team helped them find the easiest way to get the K4Community Hotline up and running.”

Read the article from WRAL TechWire, here!

Bandwidth and K4Connect Partner to Deliver Critical Communications Tool for Senior Living Communities; Release Enhanced K4Community Hotline

Raleigh companies team up to keep older adults, their families, and senior living staff connected during COVID-19 and beyond

RALEIGH, N.C., June 17, 2020 – Bandwidth Inc. (NASDAQ: BAND), a software company focused on communications for the enterprise, and K4Connect, a mission-driven technology company that integrates the best in technology to serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, announced today a collaboration to deliver a newly enhanced critical COVID-19 communications tool to senior living communities – K4Community Hotline. K4Community Hotline is a recorded phone message feature that keeps residents, their families, and community staff constantly updated with the latest community information. K4Connect is leveraging the Bandwidth API and telecom platform to swiftly build, deliver, and manage this solution at scale. 

The senior living industry is continuing to manage the challenges brought on by COVID-19, and most essential is keeping residents and their families informed and connected as strict quarantine protocols continue. Technology has quickly emerged as an avenue to diversifying and expanding these communications both within and outside of communities. With K4Community Hotline, residents and families have 24/7 access to the latest information and caregiver stress is reduced as the hotline augments high volumes of daily inbound and outbound informational calls. Since the feature’s initial release this past March, 20 K4Connect senior living communities have activated hotlines and are averaging over 280 calls per day. 

“In early March we anticipated the Coronavirus would impact senior living like nothing we’d seen before, so we quickly pivoted to accelerate high impact solutions that provide communities immediate resources and relief. This is how K4Community Hotline was created and we’re glad to see communities valuing it,” said K4Connect CEO and Co-Founder, Scott Moody. “Leveraging Bandwidth’s enterprise communications expertise to deliver and manage this solution enables us to continue supporting the industry with an incredibly efficient and easy-to-use tool as it prepares for the anticipated second wave of COVID-19 impact in the fall.”

K4Connect customers are using the hotline feature to promptly deliver key communications including safety protocols, visitation policies, and daily community updates such as dining menus and virtual or socially-distanced activities. As the solution is fully managed outside of the community, no burden is placed on staff teams to configure or manage the hotline; staff need only update the recorded message with the latest information. “The K4Community Hotline has simply been our lifeline to families, residents, and staff members. It has given our team the ability to update each group with daily updates and critical information. The impact has been immeasurable,” said Carl Tarbell, executive director of Masonic Village at Burlington.

“K4Connect is a great group with an amazing mission,” said Adam Covati, Vice President of Research & Development at Bandwidth. “Given that they are also Raleigh natives, we were eager to find a way to work together. We’d been in talks previously, and after K4Connect built the prototype for the hotline, partnering with Bandwidth emerged as a natural choice. Their communities’ need for local numbers made our national coverage incredibly appealing. Plus, they needed a long-term provider they could trust as they continue to grow, and our customer-focused team helped them find the easiest way to get the K4Community Hotline up and running. We love what K4Connect is doing and look forward to a long partnership together.” 

For more information about K4Community Hotline, you can reach out to the K4Connect team at Hotline@K4Connect.com. K4Connect is the leading provider of enterprise-grade senior living technology solutions, currently serving tens of thousands of residents at over 800 premier continuing care, independent living, assisted living and memory care communities across the nation. The company’s flagship solution, K4Community, brings together the best in technology to serve residents, staff and operators alike. 

About Bandwidth:

Bandwidth (NASDAQ: BAND) is a software company focused on communications for the enterprise. Companies like Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Zoom and Ring Central use Bandwidth’s APIs to easily embed voice, messaging and 911 access into software and applications. Bandwidth is the first and only CPaaS provider offering a robust selection of communications APIs built around their own nationwide IP voice network – one of the largest in the nation. More information available at www.bandwidth.com.

About K4Connect:

K4Connect is a mission-driven technology company that integrates the best in technology to serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, together with the people, communities and organizations that also serve them. We believe the future of senior living is in enabling Smart Senior Living Communities through tech-based solutions that truly impact the lives of older adults, wherever they live. Our premier solution, K4Community, provides smart products and features across Home, Wellness, and Engagement for residents, and Productivity, Building, and Insight for staff and operators. 

Based in Raleigh, N.C., K4Connect is currently serving tens of thousands of senior living residents and staff at over 800 continuing care, independent living, assisted living and memory care communities across the nation. For more information, please visit www.k4connect.com.

5 Things Every Senior Living Sales & Marketing Director Needs to Think About Right Now

“The role of a Sales and Marketing Director at any senior living community could not be any more important than right now. Here are the top five things I believe each director should be thinking about, planning for, and acting on.”

By: Cindy Phillips | Managing Partner, K4Advisors

June 16, 2020

Many communities are beginning to re-open and are allowing new resident move-ins after almost 35% (from Ziegler CFO Hotline survey) had closed this down during the worst of the COVID-19 outbreak. Other surveys project occupancy has dropped slightly, but recent news, especially in IL, shows some positive news that inquiries are rising again.  

Additionally, Covid-19 reportedly followed “I’m not ready yet”, “I’m uncertain about the effects on my finances,” and “I don’t want to leave my home,” as reasons for not moving to a senior living community. A lot has changed, but some things never do. 

The role of a Sales and Marketing Director at any senior living community could not be any more important than right now.  Here are the top five things I believe each director should be thinking about, planning for, and acting on (if you are not already): 

  1. Messaging/Proactive Public Relations – The last few months, the negative press around death rates in nursing homes has affected everyone’s reputation in the senior living industry. While unfair (in my opinion) to nursing home operators, this characterization must be met head on with a clear and consistent message from your sales team.  It should be shared proactively with prospects and their families, and include such topics as your community approach to safety and communication, services you provided during COVID (not available to them at home), precautions taken, stories of the staff heroes, the emphasis on social engagement even in stay-at-home times, and how the community overcame and learned from all of this to keep resident and staff safety as the #1 priority.

    There are a lot of very good stories out there, and it is incumbent on all of us to make sure they get heard. Every community, every team will have a unique message, but the Director must ensure it is assembled, updated as needed, and shared consistently by the sales team as well as other key staff across the organization. Everyone is a sales person right now. Good references on prospect sentiment can be found in survey results here and here.
  2. Lead Generation & Prospect Management Strategy – Most data points to a decreased sales pipeline of as much as 20%. If you were without a wait list pre-COVID, you are likely scrambling to re-evaluate your method of lead generation. Even if you did have one, where will your future leads come from? Couple this with the old paradigm of large events, tours, luncheons, and stayovers being no longer viable in the COVID-era. Sales teams must re-think their entire approach, including how to nurture prospects virtually – emails, blogs, webinars, etc. This may not be comfortable for either party at first, but even our prospects are getting good at Zoom these days. At K4Connect, we are exploring how the K4Community App can reach and engage with Prospects, please let us know if that is of interest to you.
  3. Staff Morale and Confidence – The two items above are enough to discourage any sales associate. It is essential to be mindful of their psyche and motivation in the face of declining commissions, and the potential fear or anxiety around their abilities to sell virtually.  For many, those skills were not needed previously, in fact their face-face skills may have been their strong suit. How will they pivot? What tools and training will you provide them? Will some have to change roles? Your ability to motivate and keep things positive will be put to the test, and no matter what great ideas emerge from #1 and #2, a Director’s ability to hold together the sales team will be the key to success.  
  1. Move-in Policies – As part of the messaging to prospects, or even to those who had already planned their move in 2020, you need clear expectations after move-in. How are you handling new residents? Will there still be quarantine periods? What will trigger those? What services will be available to them during this time? How can you engage new residents in creative ways to ensure they integrate despite the circumstances? You have been through this to some degree, but what have you learned and how can you make this difficult time more tolerable?  Perhaps even a member of your team is assigned this role if you did not have a designated Move-In coordinator. The uncertainty of a COVID-19 reoccurrence will make this policy fluid, so a timely and clear communication channel is key.
  2. Streamlining Paperwork and Payments – As an on-going advocate for using more technology in the sales process, I see no better place to start than the document signing and paperwork steps. Leveraging this virtual environment to incorporate cloud-based document review and storage tools, in addition to electronic signature software for contracts and disclosures, and credit cards or EFT payments for deposits or entrance fees. These keep the process moving, reduce time to drop out of the sale, and enable your sales team to focus on more valuable relationship building steps. Make the case and see if we can get it done!

These are not the only things a Sales and Marketing Director has on their mind right now, but I believe they are some of the most important. Work to limit your priorities, otherwise you will get overwhelmed by the challenges of our day. The future of Senior Living is still bright, and I am sure the team around has accomplished amazing things during these past 100 days. Tell the story – it deserves to be told!

Look for a future article with the 5 Things that Every Senior Living Activities/Wellness Director Needs to Think About Right Now. As always, you can reach me at Cindy.Phillips@K4Advisors.com, or (910)477-1556.  Keep doing good work!