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All Articles Are You Experienced? $62.6 Million Start-Up CCRC Staying Focused Myrtle Beach Sales Symposium

Staying Focused

Change is the only constant in today's marketplace. How your team adapts to it can spell success or failure to a project. To anticipate the needs of the rapidly changing senior market Retirement DYNAMICS is committed to working with our clients to "measure the market". The success of any community rests heavily on its product, program and pricing to appropriately position the community in the marketplace. With our full range of market research tools, we will help you make the best decisions at all stages of the sales and marketing process.

One of the tools RD uses to your advantage is the focus group. Well-run focus groups enable rich dialogues on critical subjects with people who most often have the best information and they send a strong signal to members of your target market that you are interested in their future as well as your own.

Running a focus group without first establishing clear, measurable objectives is like shooting in the dark. Make sure you know up front why you're doing the event and specifically what you want to get out of it. Establishing objectives up front gives your event a clear focus, helps keep your discussions on track, and ensures that you achieve your desired outcomes.

Choose participants for your focus group carefully and according to the objectives you have set. If, for example, your aim is to discuss and refine your community's pricing strategy, be sure to include participants who have considered a move to a retirement community and are familiar with your community's place in the market, and also who understand the value your product and services deliver for the money.

Contact the potential group members before the session to confirm there is still interest to participate. A phone confirmation does not ensure their participation; if you desire to have a certain number individuals present, it does not hurt to have more candidates than required. Recording the session will help your team remember key points. A moderator, or any invited observers, will not be able to record every detail. Using a tape or video recorder will also provide insight on tone of voice or facial expressions.

Make sure there is a moderator who can drive the agenda and keep the discussion on track. It's also important that participants know what you're planning to do with the information they provided, what outcomes they may to see and when. Always follow up with attendees as they often become ideal advocates for your community.

Retirement DYNAMICS recent focus groups

• 16 engagements involving 1,290 households participating in 68 focus groups sessions
• Conducted in 9 states
• 4 Greenfield, 12 expansion projects