A full building is a happy building, and a happy building is a full one. That mantra guides one senior living sales leader as she adds to a growing list of communities achieving full occupancy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whispering Winds of Apple Valley, a Pegasus Senior Living assisted living and memory care community in Apple Valley, CA, achieved 100% occupancy within four months of opening its memory care “Connections” neighborhood this spring.
The community is the latest under Pegasus Divisional Vice President of Sales Becky Leaf to achieve the milestone.
Leaf told McKnight’s Senior Living that she works to identify the right person for the sales job, then tries to understand what motivates that person. She added that she celebrates individual wins across the division to develop a sales culture in which teams are recognized for their hard work. By prioritizing staff well-being and satisfaction, Leaf said, Whispering Winds has many long-term employees.
“A full building is a happy building, and a happy building is a full one — and that includes staff,” she said. “This uplifting culture and transparent sharing of success is a powerful motivator, inspiring every team to deliver their best performance consistently.”
Through that model, Leaf fashioned a sales and marketing strategy that focuses on creating connections by sharing what makes its communities “exceptional” rather than “selling” its product through passive emails or text messages. She gave the example of a video showing a water balloon fight during a monthly staff meeting.
“Simply sharing a brief, joyful video of residents and staff in such moments leads influencers to think, ‘Wow, my mom would love that,’” Leaf said.
With so much going on day-to-day in a building, she said, a solid and consistent sales presence is critical to maintaining growth as a top priority. Before opening, Whispering Winds held weekly sales calls with the onsite team to build a waitlist. Once the community was operational, the sales team intensified its efforts to maintain a focus on growth.
Leaf has helped several other Pegasus communities achieve 100% occupancy, too, including buildings in Stockton, CA, Sacramento, CA, Atlanta and Tucson, AZ. On deck is a 189-unit independent living community in Kansas, which is at 98% occupancy.
“Each time I have another team hit 100%, I buy them custom jackets with their community’s name,” she said. “It’s becoming expensive.”
