It's About Time!: How to Grow Revenue with Prospect-Centered Selling

By David A. Smith

"Imagine trying to inspire people who need help but who are actively resisting change. That is the essence of Heroic Selling."

In It's About Time!, David Smith chronicles his thirty-plus-year journey in senior living. He reveals how to turn deep-seated resistance into successful conversions. His field-tested technique, Prospect-Centered Selling®, is based on a theoretical model adapted from the psychology of change. It's a strategy supported by data-driven metrics and a purpose-built CRM platform.

David's methodology is disrupting the universally accepted speed-to-lead paradigm. This book provides case studies and is a step-by-step guide that will show you how to double your close rates, drive higher occupancies, and achieve faster fills. It will not only boost your performance, but it will also help hundreds of thousands more people get ready for a new and vibrant chapter in their lives.

Be heroic. It's time. Come join us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jul 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9781544520490

David A. Smith

Dr. David A. Smith is a senior lecturer in American history at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He received his undergraduate degree from what is now Texas State University in San Marcos, and his Ph.D. in modern American history from the University of Missouri in the year 2000. In addition to being the author of Money for Art: The Tangled Web of Art and Politics in American Democracy, his columns on history, culture, and politics have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Townhall.com, Foxnews.com, the Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle, the Austin American-Statesman, and he writes a weekly column on art and culture for the Waco Tribune-Herald. He has been featured on NPR's Morning Edition, the Jim Bohannon Show, The G. Gordon Liddy Show, the Mars Hill Audio Journal, the Mark Davis Show, WNYC's "Soundcheck," KERA's "Think," and many other radio stations. An avid public speaker, he has spoken to civic organizations ranging from art galleries to the Rotary Club, the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, the Fort Worth World Affairs Council and the Audie Murphy Museum. His book reviews have appeared in outlets from the Washington Times to the Naval War College Review.

Book preview

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Contents

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1

There Is No Place Like the Old Folks’ Home

CHAPTER 2

Confronting Emotional Resistance, One Prospect at a Time

CHAPTER 3

Vital Behaviors That Drive Conversions

CHAPTER 4

It’s About Time in the Selling Zone

CHAPTER 5

Connect and Build Trust with Empathy

CHAPTER 6

Untangling and the Psychology of Change

CHAPTER 7

Advancing Toward Ready

CHAPTER 8

Purposeful, Proactive Planning for Next Steps

CHAPTER 9

High-Impact Tactics

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ADVANCE PRAISE

This is a powerful book, a breakthrough on the power of empathy and connection in doing the essential work of selling possibility and hope.

—Seth Godin, best-selling author, This Is Marketing

David A. Smith has written an extremely important and practical book that should be a must-read for all senior living professionals, not just those involved in marketing and sales. With more than 30 years of success as an owner, operator, and consultant, Smith provides the reader with unique and profound insights about our customers. This book will enlighten all, even those who have worked in the profession for many years who think they understand all they need to know about selling to seniors.

—David Schless, President, American Seniors Housing Association, Washington, DC

David Smith is a giant in the senior living sales space. He invented Prospect-Centered Selling (PCS) to show our industry how to sell people a product they really didn’t want, and I mean REALLY didn’t want, but one they desperately needed. Because of Prospect-Centered Selling, we improved our sales closing ratios, and our sales consultants found a new fondness for the sales process. It gave our sales consultants purpose. David insisted that we connect and build trust before offering solutions. Above all, we shouldn’t rush the process, because trust is built over time, and trust is the secret sauce to senior living sales success.

—Richard Westin, CEO, Agemark, San Francisco, CA

I am an owner and COO of Charter Senior Living. I was first introduced to David years ago at a national conference. His concept was to invest more time with prospects, doing home visits, creative follow-ups, and aligning with the prospect. It was different than any other sales approach, and at the time David was perceived as a rebel in the industry. Many executives just couldn’t make a paradigm switch to PCS. I took a leap of faith and adopted PCS. I have never looked back. I brought Prospect-Centered Selling everywhere I went and within three to four months, I saw increases in sales conversions and move-ins. Communities that were averaging two to three move-ins per month were able to nearly double their results. I want to thank David for never giving up on his vision. With this book, his tenaciousness and desire to change the way we sell in senior housing is coming to fruition. I now hear many organizations talking about Time in The Selling Zone, home visits, case studies, and creative follow-ups. You did it, David. You changed the way we are all selling in the industry.

—Jayne Sallerson, Partner, Chief Operating Officer, Charter Senior Living, Boston, MA

David is a visionary in the senior housing field. I had the pleasure of working in the trenches to learn from him while he filled communities in both Chicago and Texas over 20 years ago. Since then, I have incorporated many of his philosophies and techniques into my own consulting and coaching style. I highly recommend his sales approach and his book.

—Kristin Kutac Ward, Founder and CEO, Solutions Advisors and Solvere, Saint Petersburg, FL

When I’m working with sales professionals who may feel stuck in advancing prospects toward making a senior living move-in decision, I recommend slowing down to win more often. Taking the time to understand a prospective resident and their family’s level of readiness, including emotional readiness, enables the salesperson to offer personalized next steps in line with the customer’s needs. Knowing more does take time, leveraging the knowledge gained will increase the likelihood of welcoming new residents to your senior living community. The PCS process David A. Smith discusses in this book has impacted my coaching conversations, which have affected the experiences of the prospective residents and their families talking with our sales teams. This book will help your sales teams understand how slowing down doesn’t mean going slow.

—Kelly Singleton-Meyers, SVP of Sales, Sunrise Senior Living, Cleveland, OH

"David Smith is a true pioneer in senior living sales. The introduction of Prospect-Centered Selling into an industry driven by obsolete, transactional sales methods not only changed the way we looked at sales in the senior living sector, but it also drastically improved the results of those who adopted this methodology. It not only improves sales performance in the US but in Canada as well. Presenting the background and theory of this approach in It’s About Time! provides a practical opportunity for all of us to learn more from David!"

—Jason Moorehead, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Revera Retirement, Ontario, Canada

I met David Smith while I was searching to find a sales system that was complementary to my trademarked system, ‘The WOW! Experience’. My system focused on the complex process that teaches how to nurture and advance a connection with the potential customer. But I needed more depth, clarity, and training tools for my teams. There were a lot of sales systems out there, but nothing else that focused on the lives and journeys of our prospects and families. David and PCS taught people how to dive deep through empathetic listening and a guided approach that would help them be better salespeople. I have watched David’s approach help our sales teams become much more effective and increase their success rates. It has helped us at a time when competition is at an all-time high and, of course, as we bear the added stress of a global pandemic. I’m fortunate to call David a colleague and a friend who shares my passion for helping seniors and their families find solutions in a complex world.

—Kevin Carlin, MS, Principal, Meridian Senior Living, Bethesda, MD

I was captivated after hearing David Smith present at a national conference. He spoke about what to do with a prospect or family member who came to check it out but wasn’t sure whether a move was in their best interests. I found it refreshing to hear someone address that critical issue. His Prospect-Centered Selling methodology soon became the governing sales technique of our company. Now, 20 years later, Balfour has continued to use this innovative and still unique approach to sales and marketing, and its occupancy at all communities consistently exceeds that of its competitors by 5 to 10 percent, averaging consistently 95 to 100 percent.

—Michael Schonbrun, Founder and CEO, Balfour Senior Living, Louisville, CO

We had learned about PCS from David Smith and years ago made it part of our culture. His exciting new book, along with the Sherpa CRM, empowers us to guide the behavior of our sales professionals in a much more focused and precise way. With PCS, our overall average visit to move-in closing ratio went up by 50 percent, which is an incredible achievement. I believe the late Tony Mullen, one of our industry’s pioneers, who co-founded the NIC. Tony said that David and PCS will revolutionize the industry forever. We agree. This book lays out how you can join the senior living sales revolution.

—Jason Rock, Seniors Housing/Active Adult Sales and Marketing, Allegro Senior Living, Palm City, FL

Prospect-Centered Selling has been instrumental in the success of my senior living career over the last 15 years. David’s approach to PCS honors and values the genuine relationships that our sales teams build with prospective residents in guiding their decision to make a transformational change in their lives for the better. In this book, David offers a simple but proven formula for helping resistant prospects ‘get ready,’ connect empathically, untangle emotional resistance, then advance toward ‘ready’ in small steps. The foundations of PCS in this book will not only improve your occupancies but will also improve how you communicate as a team and as a leader.

—Jacqueline Omstead, Director of Operations and Sales, PARC Retirement Communities, Vancouver, Canada

"Generations’ transition to Prospect-Centered Selling was strategic and mission-driven. ‘Enhancing Lives and Celebrating the Excitement of Living’ is a mission statement we work to live out in all aspects of our business. Upon learning more about the PCS scientific and measurable approach, along with the focus on ‘relationship’ rather than ‘closing,’ we were all in. What we have learned in these past years is that it has been a ‘road less traveled’ experience. Shifting out of old industry habits of selling, changing our mindset (we do have enough leads), and deepening our belief that with this strategy, we not only could get to 100 percent occupancy but maintain high occupancy took time. It also took a deep commitment from owners, community leadership, and sales staff. Like the flywheel concept, once Sherpas made meaningful traction on quality advances, with thoughtful CFU and more than adequate Time in The Selling Zone, magic happened. We found companywide that our residents were more satisfied and engaged and had longer stays, and PCS helped feed an otherwise already healthy community culture.

I can’t say enough about David’s work and the impact on us at Generations. I am very grateful for him and how his work is shifting our industry focus to where it should be: on our prospects."

—Melody Gabriel, CEO, Generations, Portland, OR

David and his team have done an incredible job in developing the Prospect-Centered Selling process. PCS brings our sales and marketing people back to a time that was truly ‘primal’ in its approach. The entire premise of the approach is based on developing a relationship with the prospect that enjoys a foundation of trust. Trust, as we all know, in a sales environment, is like Pandora’s box, as it opens the most important phase of the sales process: discovery! This process enables our team to truly facilitate the desires of our prospects in the most expedient way possible, ultimately helping the team exceed the expectations of our prospects time and time again.

—Kevin Pidgeon, President, Nautical Lands Group of Companies, Ontario, Canada

I have a lot of fond and scary memories about the early days of trying to fill the Breakers at Edgewater Beach. It was my first and flagship community, and getting it filled really led to my success today, thanks to David and his selling style. What really separates David and Prospect-Centered Selling from other selling approaches is that they do things that are outrageous and outside of the box. That’s what makes it exciting. David truly likes what he does and the people he works with. Everything is done as a team approach, and everyone has fun doing it!

—William Kaplan, Chairman of the Board, Senior Lifestyle Corporation, Chicago, IL

For those of us in the emerging UK senior living market, this book is fascinating. Generally, the sector here has a long way to go to move away from the real estate approach, and we are working on it! Reading about the history of senior living in this book, it was heartening to see that we’re not the only ones struggling to evolve to a person-centered perspective. When it comes to retirement communities, the UK has a lot to learn from the US. Especially from pioneers such as David Smith, who throughout this book reminds us to focus on what customers really want—instead of what we think they need.

—Michael Voges, Executive Director, Associated Retirement Community Operators UK (ARCO), London

Connecting with David and learning his principles of PCS was a pivotal moment for our company, and also for me personally. Similar to his own personal experience referenced in the opening pages of the book, we were so focused on generating leads and ‘selling’ that we rarely took the time to slow down and listen to what our prospects were saying. Not only did a shift to a Prospect-Centered Selling approach allow us to achieve and maintain 100 percent occupancy, but it also allowed us to enhance our culture and services within our communities because we better understand those we are serving.

—Greg C. Joyce, Legacy Retirement Communities

David has done so much for the senior housing and care industry. People like David are the reason it’s so gratifying to work in this field! We met when I was the Director of External Relations with UMBC’s Erickson School of Aging Studies, Executive Education Program. David was the lead instructor for the Sales and Marketing course. His approach was empathic and innovative. He taught that connecting deeply makes an extraordinary difference in helping people find their own motivation to move. In my current position, our nonprofit culture and mission focuses on teaching and advocacy for professionals who deeply care for seniors. This book will help you understand how adopting Prospect-Centered Selling is a natural path to higher occupancies and an extension of your company’s mission. I give it my very highest recommendation!

—Kevin Heffner, President, LifeSpan Network, Columbia, MD

David, I want to tell you how much I appreciate your efforts to help me make the decision to move to The Gatesworth. Although I was reluctant at first, you and your team were very warm and engaging. It was obvious that they cared a lot about me as a person. Making the move was absolutely the best thing I ever did for myself and for my family. My only regret is that I didn’t move sooner. The next time a prospect tells you that they aren’t ready yet, please ask them for me: it’s time. What are you waiting for?

—Ruth, Resident, St. Louis, MO

It’s About Time!

HOW TO GROW REVENUE WITH PROSPECT-CENTERED SELLING

David A. smith

Copyright © 2021 David A. Smith

All rights reserved.

It’s About Time!

How to Grow Revenue with Prospect-Centered Selling

ISBN 978-1-5445-2051-3 Hardcover

978-1-5445-2050-6 Paperback

978-1-5445-2049-0 Ebook

978-1-5445-2052-0 Audiobook

I dedicate this book to my parents, Phil and Gerry Smith. They inspired me to always strive to be heroic and to make the world a better place.

To my in-laws, David and Helen Spitzberg, for their love, support, and for their confidence to invest in me and The Gatesworth. Also, to my bonus parent, Vita von der Lancken, and to thousands of other older adults like her who got ready for a move to senior living. People who courageously opened their hearts and shared their life stories along with their fears and aspirations. People who allowed me the honor to connect, assist in, and guide their efforts to untangle resistance and then advance toward a vibrant new lifestyle.

I further dedicate my book to those Senior Living Sales Professionals who have adopted a Prospect-Centered Sales approach. Professionals