5 Critical Components to Consider When Evaluating Senior Living CRM Software

Choosing the best customer relationship management (CRM) software platform is no simple task, especially in the senior living industry where the sales process involves an emotional and personal customer journey and often multiple decision-makers. Evaluating, narrowing the field, and choosing the best CRM software platform for your senior living company is much easier when you know what to look for.

Here are 5 tips for choosing the right senior living CRM software in 2022:

Ease of Use

Anyone who has worked in sales in the past 25 years has most likely experienced a CRM that is clunky, awkward, not customizable, unintuitive, and has a steep learning curve. In the modern world, your CRM should be:

1. 1.Simple for the end user to navigate to all necessary functions.
2. 2.Simple for users on every level—from sales director to executive director to corporate/enterprise user—to learn and use.
3. 3.Intuitive, designed with the senior living industry in mind and its unique sales process and customer journey.
4. 4.Visually appealing, with easy-to-read fonts, meaningful colors and symbols, and an enjoyable user experience.

Reporting

The ability to generate reports is a must for users on all levels of senior living. The CRM’s reporting function should be:

1. 1.Easy to navigate, with reporting functions within easy reach.
2. 2.Accessible to all user levels, from sales directors to the CEO.
3. 3.Pre-set with the most common reports, anticipating user needs.
4. 4.Capable of querying data easily for specific marketing or sales needs.
5. 5.Able to generate complete, presentation-ready reports without requiring export to other tools.

Integrations

While all-in-one applications can be tempting, a dedicated CRM is typically more robust. It’s imperative that your CRM is designed to integrate with your other systems. Consider whether your CRM can integrate with current and future systems, including lead generation, marketing automation, live chat, mass emailing, virtual meetings, call tracking, virtual tours, office suites, website management, and operating systems. The ability to integrate, including two-way integration where needed, is essential.

Home Screen

The home screen of the CRM should provide relevant information and actions for users at all levels:

1. 1.Sales directors: To-do lists, sales pipeline status, progress toward benchmarks, move-ins and move-outs, year-to-date sales, and KPIs.
2. 2.Regional directors: Sales status and health of all communities in their region, with easy access to reporting.
3. 3.Enterprise-level users: Sales health of the entire portfolio, with accessible reporting.

The home screen should be visually appealing, intuitive, and provide enough data to support users without overwhelming them.

Customer Service

Before committing to a CRM, investigate the provider’s customer service:

1. 1.What avenues of help are available (helpline, training portal, tech support ticketing, user forum, etc.)?
2. 2.What is the duration of tech support—ongoing or only during setup and training?
3. 3.What does training and support cost—are there additional charges?
4. 4.Who do you contact with questions—assigned account manager, specific support person, or general help desk? How many clients are they supporting?
5. 5.How responsive is the support—can you expect help within the hour, 24 hours, or several days?

Choosing a CRM is an ongoing relationship with the provider. Because senior living providers experience changing portfolios and systems, it’s important that the CRM’s customer support team is a good long-term fit for your company.

If you’re adding CRM software to empower your senior living company’s sales team or changing from one that is not meeting your expectations, knowing what to look for in a CRM is very helpful in making the best decision.