One of the coordinators wheeled her right next to me. As he was backing her up she looked over at me, gave a wink and stuck her tongue out at me.
This happened to me recently while visiting my grandmother in a skilled nursing community. My grandmother was at the community because she recently broke her hip. The community was in the town she was born and raised in, so she knew everyone there and right away felt welcomed.
This community had a wonderful activity director. There was something going on every day. The director planned singing, homeschooled children to do arts and crafts with the residents, animals going in and out the rooms. Every time I was there, there was something happening.
One particular day this past holiday season, me and my sister were visiting my grandma. We all went to the common area to watch a man sing and play the guitar. There was around 30-40 people and we got a front row seat.
That’s when I met her.
As the coordinator wheeled her right next to me he says, “Here you go Irene… right next to a handsome young fellow.” This is when she winked. I immediately thought, “O man…she’s going to be a hoot!”
The man with the guitar started playing and was very good. He sang Christmas music, holiday songs, and songs from my grandmother’s generations. Everyone was having fun, even me and my sister.
And boy was Irene having fun. Even though she was bound to her wheelchair, she was moving side to side and shaking her legs back and forth. I thought she was going to get up and dance the night away.
She came alive and was having such a fun time. She keep yelling to the man playing guitar, “God bless you. You’re wonderful. God bless you….(turning to the crowd) He’s good!!!”
He was very entertained by this.
This whole time she kept cocking her head to the side winking at me. Finally, she put her hand on my thigh and whipped herself around to face me. I was half in shock.
She asked, “how old are you.”
I said, “30… Ugh I’m 30 years old.”
She says, “I can’t hear you show me with you hands.”
So I held up a three and a zero and her eyes lit up. She kept saying, “God bless you… you’re a wonderful boy…. God bless you.”
She insisted on telling my grandma how wonderful I was and must have God blessed everyone in there 50 times.
It was truly amazing seeing how familiar music brightened these seniors and made the 92 year old Irene feel like she was 30.
Clearly everyone in that room was feeling good. From my grandmother, me, my sister, to the cradle robbing 92 year old Irene.
Every decision us humans make starts with emotion. This is certainly apparent when you see 90+ year old seniors come to life with a little music.
Are you connecting with prospects on an emotional level?
If humans are emotional creatures, then every communication you have with prospects should connect with them on an emotional level. Whether you’re a skilled nursing community looking to reach out to care givers, or a continuing care retirement community trying to reach the 55-60 crowd.
A caregiver is not just looking for skilled nursing. They’re looking for their life back, relief from the stress of taking care of their parent or spouse, comfort knowing their parent or spouse is getting good care. They want the time they spend together to be cherished moments and not spent caring for and worrying.
A couple looking for a continuing care retirement community is looking to relieve themselves from the daily maintenance of a home, be part of an active community, all while knowing their future care needs will be covered.
When you create your advertisements and marketing communications you must appeal to your prospects emotions. Don’t just say you’re a retirement community or skilled nursing community; show the benefits of your community through emotion and story. Imagine you are writing a page out of their diary and put those hot buttons in your messages.
If you take a normal feature based advertisement or communication and zing it up with emotional hot buttons, you can be sure to separate yourself from your competition and watch your response increase dramatically.
About Kevin Williams
