Senior Living Communities Success Story -

Challenge: The owners of a Michigan-based existing 82-unit assisted living facility were in pre-sales to add 185 independent living units on its 30-acre campus to eventually create a full continuing care retirement community. Initial pre-sales of the new units had used a significantly lower price structure than what was now being presented to the market. Resistance to the new prices was strong and only 2 units had been sold since the price increase. Management needed to determine why pre-sales were stalled and needed a study to submit to the State to obtain technical approval for the independent living development to allow the project to move forward.

JCS Solution: Despite having a positive reputation, our research determined the local community still viewed the campus as being “assisted living.” This was due in part to a blurred understanding in the community of what independent living actually meant because area independent living facilities were functioning more like assisted living. We learned that campus marketing staff had not been effective in communicating with prospects about the lifestyle and amenities that would be enjoyed in the independent living component of their campus or in how it would differ from what the market expected. We reviewed the various promotional options used by marketing staff and suggested that the budget be redeployed from television advertising to efforts that had a better ability to generate qualified leads. Our competitive review also uncovered significant challenges created by the campus’ bundled pricing option in comparison to what successful local independent living operators were selling. We recommended that the units be developed in a two-phase process to minimize the market risk for the project.

Results: The State of Michigan approved the project and the new independent living units were constructed. The marketing director was replaced, a more effective marketing effort focusing on independent living was successfully implemented, and a more competitive pricing structure was developed.

Research Services:

• Comprehensive Secondary Research
• Demographic Analysis
• In-Depth Qualitative Interviews
• Competitor Intelligence
• Focus Groups
• Surveys

Analysis Services:

• Market Studies
• Company Evaluations
• Situation Analysis
• Market Opportunity Analysis
• Industry Trends Analysis
• Product or Service Concept Development
• Marketing Audits

Planning Services:

• Strategic Planning
• Business Planning
• Marketing Planning
• Business Start-up or Expansion
• Individual Business Coaching