Ep 10 - Interactive Sales Tools to Increase Engagement with Mary Greer, Engrain

On Episode 10 of The Drake Insights Podcast, we are joined by Mary Greer of Engrain. Listen to learn more about how the power of interactive sales tools, like those offered by Engrain, can increase website engagement, qualified leads and ultimately increased conversions and deposits. In todays digital world, it is imperative we are bringing these tools to the forefront of our sales offices and websites to empower prospects while also providing key planning insights for the sales team. 

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This is the Drake Insights Podcast,your weekly dose of cutting edge
senior living marketing insights.
Join me, your host, Natasha Drake for boldideas, proven strategies and inspiring
stories straight from the experts.
Tune in and let's conquer the seniorliving marketing landscape together.
Hey guys, welcome back tothe Drake Insights Podcast.
I'm your host NatashaDrake from Drake Strategic.

(00:23):
Let's get started.
So on today's episode I'm gonna dig alittle more into what I mentioned last
week in talking about one of my topwebsite tips is having strong interactive
tools on your website to help converthigher quality leads from your website.
And so I thought who better to talkabout that than Mary Greer from Engrain.

(00:43):
And so welcome, Mary.
Thank you for joining us.
If you can introduce yourself,
Hi, Natasha.
Thank you so much for having me.
As you said, I'm on the Engrain team.
I have been with Engrainalmost eight years.
So, I'm a lifer here at Engrain.
That's what they call us.
I have the role as a seniorsolutions consultant.

(01:04):
I oversee all of our senior livingmarket as well as really help consult
really any of our clients on our fullsuite of products, but I specialize in
our TouchTour solution, which I'll talka little bit more about in a moment.
I not only have worked for Engrain forabout eight years, but I was previously a

(01:28):
client of Engrain for several years prior,having worked in both the multifamily
market and also the senior living market.
So I have worked withour solutions since 2009.
And in the senior living market,we were the first at my CCRC life
plan community to utilize Engrainsolutions within the senior space.

(01:50):
So, I have literally worked with ourproducts from fruition and now I'm
fortunate every day to get to show peoplehow they can really enhance their overall
sales process and customer journey.
You know, within their communities.
So I appreciate you having me here today.
Yeah, thank you.
I'm just so happy to have you.
I want to also say that I truly believethat having this interactive tool

(02:14):
on your website is crucial today.
And I know I mentioned thatlast week, but I wanted to
reiterate that today with Mary on.
And you especially I think is importantfor people to know having senior living
experience, you know, being in theirshoes, working on the sales line,
understanding how hard it is to thatlong process of working a lead and how
tools like these can help salespeopletoday convert leads faster, close them

(02:39):
faster, make it just a better experience.
And so I appreciate you beinghere and kind of explain
that to our listeners today.
If you don't mind talking a littlemore specifically, so I'm talking about
website, but can you talk about Engrain,all the tools that Engrain has to offer?
Absolutely.
So I think it's important to understandkind of where we are now, you know, in

(02:59):
kind of looking at the history of Engrain.
So we initially started as acreative agency, 20 plus years ago.
So we have a long history of creatingwebsites and doing branding and marketing.
And we started providing interactivetools back in 2009 was when our
touchscreen solution was launched.
And that product is calledTouchTour that lives on site within,

(03:23):
sales centers, leasing offices.
It's an engaging tool that ultimately,anyone can walk up and utilize, in the
multifamily market, it can be more selfservice, but in the senior space, we
usually see that being used in discoveryrooms or sales counselors offices where
they're having that in depth conversationand discovery with perspective residents.

(03:47):
So it's a super engaging tool, asales enablement tool that ultimately
has everything they need to speakto what sets their community apart
and really help find the righthome for that perspective resident.
And it's all right at theirfingertips, right at their desk.
One of the most important featureswithin our touchscreen solution TouchTour

(04:11):
is the interactive community map.
And we had clients that would say,we utilize your TouchTour, but we
love that map and we would love tohave that on our property website.
So, we decided that'ssomething everybody needs.
And we productized that interactive map.
We named it SightMap and we nowhave, I believe it's close to,

(04:37):
or over 11,000 community maps,SightMaps out in the market today.
And those senior, multifamilyand other market sectors.
And so we specialize in thisinnovative mapping technology
that takes a community map.
It can showcase where the apartmentsare located within the community.

(05:02):
It also showcases where the wonderfulamenities and lifestyle aspects of that
property are located and someone candrill in and understand if they were
to live, you know, on a certain floor,what apartment might be most suitable
to them that's closest for instance,to the dog park or whatever their
specific needs are in terms of location.

(05:24):
So this tool has really helped expediteand move forward the engagement with
a prospective resident or their family,even before they connect with that
sales counselor, they're already ableto kind of understand a community as
a whole and what might interest them.

(05:46):
Yeah, and as I mentioned last week, youknow, that's, that's our buyer today.
Those are our prospects today, youknow, and adult children, they want
to, even for independent livingprospect, they want to go on the site
and feel like they can get a feel ofyour community before they contact you.
They want, like I mentioned, they wantto see all the information, but they want
those interactive tools, and one of those,like you're mentioning, is that SightMap.

(06:08):
They can actually look at the amenities.
They can look where thedifferent apartments are,
what's available, what's not.
You can customize that, I believe, right?
You can make it, you know,what do you want to show,
what do you not want to show?
You can decide what that is,but let's let them be in control
of their visit and their tour.
It's going to then help you increasethose conversions from your website.
So yeah, I really, I think that tool isreally important and I believe you have,

(06:30):
if you don't mind sharing some of thedata or stories or case studies a little
more into that website tool specifically.
Yeah, absolutely.
And, and you touched on a point thatI want to reference back to in that,
Transparency is a really big topic withinthe senior living market right now.
And what you show and when you show it, issomething that, you know, I think a lot of

(06:54):
companies are sort of dabbling with, as towhat level of transparency are they really
comfortable in showing on their website.
Coming from the industry, I knowback in the day, we would give a
sprinkle of a floor plan or two,to create a little bit of interest
there, wet their whistle, if you will.
But now more and more providers arerealizing that you have to show more.

(07:17):
You really need to give them whatthey're looking for from the beginning.
Otherwise, you may lose that perspectiveresident, or in many, many cases, that
adult child that is helping mom andis used to that instant gratification
that we get with all shopping today.
You can go online and you can shop foranything you need to filter down to what

(07:40):
you're looking for and get it immediately.
And that is ultimately what SightMap does.
And with that, you know, going towardsthose stats that you wanted to talk about.
We've run several market research studies.
We've consulted with our clientsto gain insights into what results
they see after implementing SightMap.

(08:02):
And we see that by adding SightMapto the property website, it increases
the site session and duration,engagement by 24% on average.
We see that prospects have twice as manysessions or views within the SightMaps
website pages compared to if you just showfloor plans, so that's, I think, very

(08:26):
telling and that people to your point aregetting in there and they want to dig in
and they want to find out more and really,you know, do their research ahead.
We also see that they spend 88% longeron unit levels searches, meaning they are
digging into those specific apartments.
And what's really cool about thistool is we can utilize everything

(08:50):
else that you're incorporating.
Like you're investing right nowin virtual tours, for instance.
That's an investment that you wantto reap the most out of, right?
So we can add within SightMapthose links to those virtual tours.
And in doing so you will see anincrease in that volume and use as well.

(09:11):
So we see that well over 100%increase in when you add a
virtual tour to that individualhome within the SightMap search.
So it's making that investment andeven those other areas go further,
which is really exciting and what we.
Yeah, I forgot about that.
I'm glad you brought that up.

(09:31):
So yeah, all that photography, lifestylephotography, videos, if you've content,
whatever you have that ties to a specificapartment or amenity, menu, whatever it
might be, I'm sure you can do anything.
You can attach it to that place and that'sjust going to extend that user's time on
that page, which is what we want, right?
We want them to spend time on yoursite, click through your site, you know,

(09:53):
look at all those interactive toolsthat's going to then help them convert.
So I'm really glad you mentioned that.
It's really cool feature.
Well, and most importantly, we wantto convert them to a lead, right?
Like that's the most important thing.
We want to get not only that lead,but that applicant ideally, right.
So we do see an increased volume ofconversion to applicants and depositors.

(10:16):
So, you know, we have stats thatshow that there's an increase of
applicant volume to up to 225%.
So that's, that's huge.
And I do think it goesback to that empowerment.
It goes back to perspective residentor family member being able to reach
out and say, these are the homesthat I feel are best suited to me.

(10:39):
And then that counselor, of course,can take that ball, run with it.
You know, and, and get themwhere they need to go from there.
But that engagement and the, empowermentthat seniors feel is really, really
important from the beginning.
And I do want to speak to that.
I think a lot of the sales teammembers probably listening or thinking,
you know, I want to be in control.
I want to make sure I'm directingthem through that process.

(11:00):
And I know that can be a little scary.
I, as a salesperson, also in my pastlife, I know what that feels like, but I
think what these tools are doing for theseprospects, like you just said, are letting
them feel in control because you know,once you get them in the door, they're
in your control that, you know, you cankind of guide them as you need, but you're
also getting a ton of information becausewhen they're on that site, digging around,

(11:24):
clicking on things, reading things, youthen know before they come in, what they
were interested in and looking at, right?
They've already had an ideaand they've had a touch.
They've seen photos.
They've already kind of come in going,well, I definitely want to be, I
know I want to near the elevator andyour dining room looks incredible.
Be great to be down the hall.
And so it's really helping you.
You know, a lot of times when I would dovisits and tours, you're going in cold.

(11:48):
You have no idea.
You're trying to do discovery.
See how much you can figure outabout the prospect before you do
your tour and it can be difficult.
So tools like this, this interactivetool can actually help you in the
long run for them to come in andhave a more personalized guided
visit rather than just going cold.
So, I do think it's a really neat feature.

(12:09):
I wish I had when I was doing sales,but something that, you know, with the
data I've seen with my clients, we haveseen an increase in conversions, and
so I do truly believe a tool like thisis very helpful for the sales team.
So is there anything, Mary, you know,any last leaving tips or anything else
you want to mention before we end today?

(12:30):
Best advice is to try things, you know,go outside the box of what we've all
kind of traditionally thought are the,you know, the marketing tactics and
strategies that have been put in placefor all of these years and branch out
and try something new and differentbecause the seniors today are not the

(12:53):
seniors that we had 10 years ago, andespecially not anywhere past that.
They are a much more tech savvy group.
They are wanting to find thatinformation, that immediate
gratification when going to your website.
So exploring options that reallyultimately speak to the seniors today

(13:18):
and the families that are in thatsearch is really, really important.
So that would be my best advice istry something different and you
don't have to spend a lot to do it.
So, you know, one thing that we haveprioritized in building these maps is to
also give something that is affordablefor communities that you don't have to

(13:41):
have a big development budget to havethis type of tool on your website.
And I've already spoken to howit can make the money you've
spent in other areas go further.
But this particular solution in generalis a pretty affordable solution.
So we've made it where, whether it'sa community that's, you know, 30 years

(14:03):
old, that stays pretty occupied, butstill could use that, you know, that
engagement that competes with the othercommunities that are doing a little
bit more, from a technology standpoint,or it's of course, that shiny new
development or expansion that you wantto go ahead and wet their whistle and

(14:24):
get them excited about coming in andplacing those early deposits, really
SightMap is suitable for any community.
We truly believe that everycommunity can use a map.
And not just on their website,but that's a tool in hand for
sales counselors to utilize.
And so it's twofold there.
You get the benefits for bothperspective residents and that on

(14:46):
site team that we care so much about.
I agree.
And it's something just that goeswith everything else that's digital
these days, you know, we can turnit on, let's test it, let's see
how it's increasing our results.
Cause I'm not gonna say guarantee,but pretty sure you're going to see an
increase in results, you know, for asmall amount that you're paying monthly.
Just like you're paying for e-newsletters,or whatever it might be, right?
You're really going to helpincrease those web leads.

(15:06):
And that's what we need to befocusing on today with all the
digital traffic you're getting.
So, thank you for, for mentioning that.
Okay.
Well, that's all we have for today.
Mary, thank you so much for introducingus to Engrain and to yourself.
If anyone has any questions,please reach out to me or to Mary.
We're happy to, to guide you onthis path if you're interested.

(15:26):
And I look forward toseeing you next time.
Real quick, if you enjoyedwatching the podcast today, please
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And if you have any questions or wantto talk after about anything that Drake
Strategic can provide for you, pleasereach out to me, call me, email me, or
visit our website at drakestrategic.
com.