Consulting Services
New Project Development & Operating Properties
Phil's goal is simple: to be succinct in determining how he can support your needs and goals, tailor his services to be cost-effective, and provide tangible benefits. He can guide from the sidelines and provide support outside the sphere of a community, or he can dive in and work closely with your community-based leadership team. Phil has participated in the moves of thousands of seniors transitioning from their homes to senior living communities. Among his other services, he has integrated a customer satisfaction survey of these experiences into his operating model. Read on for more of Phil's service offerings...
Deep Dive Community Assessment
A Blueprint to Dissect the Inner Workings of Your Operation
Whether your community is performing admirably, moderately, or even poorly, there is always merit in assessing the market dynamics: the competitive arena and its influences, demographics, and psycho-graphics. Phil will guide you through conducting a deep dive into your physical plant and every operational department. Call it your community’s annual physical exam.
During your assessment, Phil will address every component of your community deploying the following tools and so much more:
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Cursory Quantitative Market Feasibility Analysis
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Competitor Comparative Analysis (How do you match up against your competition?)
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Focus Group Facilitation with a Customer Service Edge (Learn how to successfully listen and respond to feedback and concerns from your residents and their family members.)
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Physical Plant Assessment (Target CapEx, Target Contingent Liabilities)
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Preventive Maintenance (Is preventive maintenance occurring on a regular basis? Are you prepared for funding major capital improvements?)
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Way Finding-Signage Review (Can prospects easily navigate to get to your concierge station?)
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Recommendations for Operational Improvements (Productivity reviews take place in every department.)
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Dissection of the Marketing Dashboard and CRM Data Collection Methods
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Meet and Gauge Key Department Directors (Do you have the right people in place and are they performers?)
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Cost-Benefit Analysis (Get a weigh-in on upside NOI opportunities.)
This farm owner was denied a council permit to build a horse shelter. Fortunately, you don't need a permit to build a table and chairs.
Problem Solving
Sometimes Solving the Root Problem Requires Peeling the Onion
Problem solving is part art and part science, but it is mostly a process that requires honest acknowledgement of problems that need to be confronted and solved. It’s always easier to turn the cheek (didn’t your parents challenge your tendency to procrastinate when you were younger?), but there’s an inherent benefit in engaging an independent specialist. A professional and objective assessment from Phil can help you effectively confront and solve both short- and long-term problems with clarity and efficiency, which can ultimately rejuvenate and optimize the way you do business.
Strategic Planning
Embracing Strategic Planning is a Pilgrimage; It Takes Time
Sparky Anderson, a world-class Major League Baseball manager who built championship teams in both leagues, summed up strategic planning with the saying, “You don’t know where you’re going unless you know where you came from.”
Does your senior living company and its community (or communities) know where it’s going? Do you have mission, values, and vision statements that are comprised of little more than the diploma hanging on your wall? The changing of the demographic guards is already occurring with the end of the Depression-Era senior and the advent of the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers who are jockeying for position. Creating an edge in and leading the market requires a clear message and a solid plan. Phil can work with you to bring a measure of perspective to the table and challenge you to set your foundation and course with a new, concise, and deliberate strategic plan (or he can help you dust off the one you’ve had in the file cabinet for a while). Phil's strategic planning process includes:
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Market Segmentation
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Re-Affirmation of Your Target Market
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Optimization of Positioning and Product Differentiation
Differentiation & Repositioning
When Positioning Your Brand, Avoid Becoming a "Me Too!" and Strive for "Who's That?"
Stand out from the rest by answering these important questions:
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How is your community perceived by customers (senior end-users and their adult children) and referral sources?
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Are you truly promoting "the right stuff?"
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Learn how to apply Purple Cow strategies and tactics
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Are you ready for a makeover?
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How can you effectively promote your greatest strengths?
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Are you correctly priced?
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Are you target marketing your product?
New Project Development
Every Project Has Challenges; Make Yours Rewarding
Phil has been an active participant in this industry for over 30 years, including soup-to-nuts/ground-up projects, renovations, phased development/construction, and major face lifts. He’s confronted challenging construction markets. He’s overcome barriers to entry that included the religion of Nimbyism, which required developing a strategic entitlement plan to confront uneducated municipal planners, abutting neighbors, homeowners' associations, and other real obstacles. Phil can help you assess and assemble the right team of design, construction, and legal experts to ensure your community will thrive.
Innovation
Innovation Can Be Contagious... Become a “Purple Cow”
Without innovation, a project runs the risk of becoming stagnant and even obsolete. How do you stay on top of it all? Phil has visited hundreds of senior living communities across the country. It’s been a constant in his career, so he’s met a lot of interesting people along the way. He understands what’s working and what’s not.
What’s Phil’s best advice regarding innovation? Don’t be afraid to break the mold. You have to take risks when you’re an innovator. That said, not everyone wants to be the leader. Some clients simply want to have a nice property that comfortably and consistently performs. Phil suggests the market leader is more insulated to competitive forces than the rest of the pack. Here are a few examples of programming as the leader:
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Deploy universal design, the concept of designing for “aging in place,” to enhance and optimize residents' length of stay in a certain environment.
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Promote collaboration with universities, colleges, and healthcare systems that further enrich residents with continuing education and also enhance the brand. Sponsors add to the benefits for both the residents and the community, but they also embellish a brand by their incorporation. Support an alliance with universities and healthcare systems within the community that resonates and adds credibility and confidence.
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Reduce high staff turnover rate by creating wellness programs and sufficient space for your staff to take a break and relax. The normative turnover rate for staff in senior living communities is 30 to 40 percent, annually. Developing innovative measures and providing the right tools to help them cope with their important but difficult work helps to encourage continuity of staff.
Phil works with his clients in these areas and much more, not only to ensure that their communities stand out in the market, but also that they perform efficiently in the long run.
