So often we see assisted living facilities that have rigid schedules, much like hospitals. Wake up now to have your breakfast - hurry off to lunch - it's bath time, etc. It's nice to see a change, even knowing it's probably an effort to stem the declining number of residents.
Westminster Communities of Florida, like many such facilities, have different choices and areas for different levels of care. Here in St Pete, Westminster is focusing on their "Person-Centered Model" which allows residents to decide when they want to get up, when they want to go to bed, what their meal preferences are, and what they want to do during the day.
When my mother was at the Northshore (now closed), they advertised themselves as a Cruise Ship without the ocean. They had lots of recreational choices and an afternoon Happy Hour,
Our industry, too, needs to focus on how our clients want our services, and when. Many have already decided that they'd rather look at homes at night in their jammies rather than spend a sunny Sunday afternoon looking around.
That is very true. As Realtors we need to adapt our style of doing business to our customer's.
Hi Sharon;
We should always learn about our clients needs, great post.
Good morning early bird or did you stay up all night? I noticed that you started at 3 in the morning?!?!? hey I tagged you earlier this week for the book meme...Did you receive it by email? If you are busy and did not want to do it I understand that too. here is the link: The Bookworm MeME and Three Cups of Tea I hope all is well with you and yours!
Wonderful post Sharon! I completely agree!
Sharon~
THANKS for this post! It brings a smile to my heart...and a breath of hope...I treasure the idea that we can be humane, tender, and honoring to those of us who grow old and survive all the challenges life offers. . .
Possibly now is the time to create such sanctuaries across the nations for real estate professionals who really know what it means to blaze trails and suffer the results =)
Carol, Anthony and Kristin - thanks for your comments.
janeAnne - sometimes I wonder if we should move to Japan where the elders are revered and cared for lovingly at home.
Russell - fell asleep very early (8ish) and then was wide awake at 1:30 - probably thinking about all the things to be done for my new office - so got up, came in to my home office, and I'm still here. Yes, I did get your book meme - promise I'll get to it today or tomorrow. Closest book was/is my Kindle so I have to flip through to get to the appropriate page. Thanks for being you!
Hi Sharon,
This is so true and it is helpful to learn about your customers to save not only their time showing them property they have no interest in but saves you a lot of time and effort. Plus it is much more efficient and makes you look like a pro when you know exactly what they want (because a lot of times they aren't exactly sure what they are looking for). Thanks for sharing!
Jenn - it's the simple things. How would you like me to communicate? How often? Does x time work?
OK, assisted living with a happy hour sounds like a great idea to me!
Pat - my mother thought so, too - as did most of the residents. We even joined her some days. Why take away the joys of life or make them sneak it in their rooms - the sharing with friends is part of the joy.
Sharon - that was interesting and informative! I had no idea that we had such a facility right here in our county!
Well hello again! My gosh...with all the recent travel and your work load, you also have a new office?!!? You are something else an I hope you do get some rest in the near future! Good to hear from you!
Barbara-Jo - they're down at the southern tip of St Petersburg.
Russell - we WILL have a new office - it has to be built out before we can move in, and that's time consuming meeting all the contractors and subcontractors to get bids. Never realized a phone system was such a big deal!