October 22, 2025 • 38 mins
Summary
In this episode, Jerry Vinci speaks with Mona Hilton, CEO of Genesis Global Technologies, about the intersection of technology and senior living. They discuss the importance of automation, personalization, and AI in enhancing human connections rather than replacing them. Mona shares insights on the current state of technology adoption in senior living, the challenges faced by providers, and practical applications of AI that can improve engagement and operational efficiency. The conversation emphasizes the need for a strategic approach to technology that prioritizes human-centered care while leveraging innovative tools to streamline processes and enhance the overall experience for both staff and residents.
Learn More:
- Connect with Mona Hilton on LinkedIn
- Learn more about Advantage Anywhere
- Get the 2025 Benchmark Report
Takeaways
- Automation is key to consistency and accountability in senior living.
- Technology should enhance human connection, not replace it.
- Personalization in marketing is crucial for engagement.
- AI can help identify patterns and improve follow-up processes.
- Sales pipelines often leak due to lack of timely responses.
- Standardizing workflows can protect revenue and improve outcomes.
- Small changes, like quick follow-ups, can significantly impact conversion rates.
- AI tools can help sales teams perform better without replacing them.
- Future-proofing tech platforms is essential for long-term success.
- Adopting technology gradually can lead to better results and less overwhelm.
Chapters
00:00 From Leads to Leases - A Senior Living Business Podcast
01:31 Welcome Mona Hilton - Creator of Advantage Anywhere
02:17 Mona's Path into the MarTech Industry
04:57 How Automation Enhances Human Connection
06:58 Small Steps into AI, Automation, and Personalization
09:58 Where Senior Living Sales are Losing Leads
13:02 How Advantage Anywhere Develops Automations
14:22 Does Senior Living Sales Feel Threatened by Automation?
15:29 Operational Benefits of Automation
16:28 The Benefits of Personalization in Marketing
18:48 Is Senior Living Slow to Adopt New Tech?
23:18 Moving at the Speed of AI
26:09 How MarTech Companies are Handling AI Adoption
30:17 Workflows that Work are Essential
33:05 How Operators Can Get Started with AI
Keywords
senior living, automation, AI, technology, personalization, CRM, marketing, sales, engagement, innovation
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
You have to start now where you're at right now, and you
have to do something now. You don't need to do AI
overnight. You just need to pick one pain
point. Maybe it's a slow follow up or
tour, no shows. I think the biggest mistake for
us is waiting for perfection. What if your CRM wasn't the end
goal, but just one part of a deeper conversation about
(00:20):
personalization and the future of care?
Today's guest has spent 3 decades in tech, and she
believes senior living is finally catching up.
Welcome to From Leads to Leases,a CCR growth podcast that helps
senior living providers transform their complex
challenges into opportunities. Listen in for stories from
(00:41):
industry leaders, innovative strategies and insights, and
with our expertise, learn how toincrease occupancy faster,
Guaranteed. Welcome back to another episode
of From Leads to Leases, the podcast that dives deep into the
senior living and senior care industries, bringing you
insights, strategies, and stories from the experts at the
forefront of innovation, leadership, and care.
(01:03):
I'm your host, Jerry Vincey, CEOof CCR Growth, and for those of
you who don't know about us, CCRGrowth is a full service
marketing and growth agency that's exclusive to the senior
living industry. And through this podcast, I'm
here to guide you through the evolving landscape of senior
care, exploring the innovations,strategies and leadership
insights that are shaping the future of the industry.
So whether you're a provider, a caregiver, or an industry
(01:26):
leader, this show is here to help you make informed decisions
and create meaningful impact. Today's guest is Mona Hilton,
the CEO of Genesis Global Technologies and the creator of
Advantage Anywhere, ACRM and automation platform purpose
built for senior living. With over 30 years of experience
in the technology space and a foundational background and
marketing, Mona has become a fierce advocate for smarter
(01:49):
human centered automation. She speaks frequently at
national conferences, including those in senior living and
multifamily housing and is focused on bridging the gap
between high tech capability anddeeply personal care.
So, Mona, welcome to the show. Why, thank you so much.
It's so great to be here with you, Jerry.
Yeah. I love talking tech and it's
always so interesting to see what other people are doing and
(02:11):
I love specifically what you guys are doing.
So I wanted to talk a little bitabout behind the software,
right? So your path into tech and
automation. So I know before you ever built
the CRM, you're a marketer, you always love systems and you
shared experiences and how tech taught you about what
communities actually need and why automation isn't about
(02:33):
removing the human, but enhancing it.
So what initially sparked your interest in blending marketing
and technology? Yeah, that's, that's a great
question. My truth is in the background
and I've been in marketing my entire life.
My degrees in marketing, I did marketing for many years,
whether it's, you know, time customer service, Florida Power
and Light and the other places. But I love tech.
(02:55):
I'm kind of like you, Jerry, before it was even a thing.
When I was at time customer service, I was offered a job in
tech, but at the end of the day,I just I couldn't leave
marketing. She said, can you leave
marketing? I said, I just can't do it.
So when I came down to Fort Myers, I made it a sense for me
to create a marketing and tech company put together.
(03:16):
So because I've always believed that technology's perfect
pairing was with marketing. And you know, as you know,
tech's highest purpose is to become how people do more than
they could ever do alone, which is of course, what AI does for
us now. So that's why I started building
advantage anywhere. And in terms of the senior
(03:37):
living industry, what kind of systems did you see that are
missing when you first entered the space?
Yeah, yeah, that, that's a greatquestion.
When I first stepped into seniorliving, you know, I was kind of
shocked at how personality dependent everything was.
So sales pipelines were basically built on sticky notes
(03:58):
like these or spreadsheets or someone's memory.
And then of course, if that person quit, so did their follow
up and their notes. There were real, no real
systems. They were all based on who had
the best personality or perhaps even the best coffee that day.
What what I thought was missing was consistency.
(04:18):
So consistency is a key to automation.
It's the key to accountability. It's basically the key to every
area of our life. So when we built a system, we're
looking to take the top performers process so that top
people and then make sure that everyone followed the same
thing. So we're not no longer winging
(04:39):
it. We're no longer waking up in the
middle of the night with what I call it, oh shoot, I follow up
with someone. It's just using smart
automation, guiding every step from, you know, the lead to the
inquiry, to the prospect, to thetour and eventually to the move
insurance. That was what we were all about.
Yeah, I know. Outside of marketing too,
there's so many other ways to automate and improve data
(05:03):
collection right across the board.
I mean, you've got the care staff and they're note taking,
right? A lot of that's still done
manually. And then even on the resident
side of things, there's so many different ways you could
implement tech and AI and other systems to help improve their
experience as well. Within the community.
There's a lot of skepticism in senior living, and part of it's
because this industry tends to be a little bit behind the the
(05:26):
curve in terms of early adoption.
But there is skepticism about automation replacing real
relationships, or I guess fear of it replacing real, real
relationships. What would you say to
communities that worry tech willdamage the human connection?
Yeah, I know. I hear that everywhere I go.
Everyone says, oh, it's going toruin the sales, it's going to
ruin everything. Here's what I would say.
(05:48):
I would say that the tech doesn't replace the human
connection, it actually protectsit.
So if you think of it that way, the real threat to connection
isn't necessarily AI or automation.
It's you know when your leads fall through the cracks, or you
know your follow up isn't consistent, or you know your
teams are so overwhelmed they don't have time to actually
(06:09):
connect or or engage with the prospects.
So automation handles the repetitive stuff so your people
can do only what humans can do. You know, we can build trust, we
can listen. We can take a tour and tour into
a relationship. We're not removing that personal
touch. We're removing, you know, the
(06:30):
busy work that gets in the way of the human touch so that we
can do what we are designed to do, which is engage with people.
Yeah. So really, lack of time is the
biggest threat. It's not necessarily AI.
It's wasting our time doing all these meaningless tasks that
could be automated to the point where we can spend more time
actually spending human connection with our prospects or
(06:53):
even with the care staff, with the residents.
So yeah, totally agree with that.
What are some small behind the scenes uses of AI that providers
could benefit from right now? So yeah, everybody's talking
about AI like it's a big, scary,futuristic type of thing.
And you know, that might eventually be the case, but
right now the truth is it's likeyou said, the small behind the
(07:15):
scenes uses of AI that are the real game changers for people in
business. So let's think about that.
So AI that writes a perfect follow up e-mail that's based on
where the lead is at that journey.
So that will save you time. AI that reminds your salespeople
when to reach out and even tellsthem what to say, that'll save
(07:36):
your team stress. We're talking about AI that
spots patterns like when a campaign actually drives tours
or when a lead is most likely toconvert.
That will save you money at the end of the day.
None of that is loud or flashy if you think of it that way, but
it will quietly save hours in your process and boost your move
(07:57):
insurance without adding additional staff.
And eventually that's where the real ROI lies in AI and
automation, if that makes sense.Yeah, yeah, I found an
interesting statistic specific about senior care.
It's that more than 70% of senior care providers believe AI
can significantly reduce staff workload, while 44% said it
(08:17):
gives them more one-on-one time with.
Residents. Yeah, that's very true.
Yeah, you know, personalization too.
I mean, that's a, that's a big part of what you do.
And I, I know I read a statisticfrom, I was probably five years
old now, but it said over 75% of, of consumers today expect
personalization in their marketing.
(08:37):
And if they don't get it, they actually, it actually turns them
off. So the, the organization's, the,
the senior living providers who are creating those personalized
steps where they're, you know, calling people by name or
tailoring the content specifically as to wherever that
they're at in the journey. I think those are the ones that
are really winning out right nowbecause people want to feel like
they're, they're special. They're not just another number
(08:59):
in the system. I think that's really true.
I think if you get generic emails that will look like it
was a design for everyone and all, you know, all kinds of
places. It just doesn't work.
You know, personalization. In my opinion, it like you said,
it's a difference between being ignored and getting engagement.
So generic follow up sounds likespam.
You get them all the time. You delete, delete, delete,
(09:20):
delete. But I want to lead gets a
message that says their name, especially in the subject line.
You know, that's a great place mentions, you know, the
community that they're looked looking at includes a video from
a real person and answers a question.
They they pay special attention to that.
And I think we see a, you know, 3X engagement just by
personalizing the timing. You can talk about the message,
(09:43):
the medium, of course. And here's a kicker.
You don't need to manually personalize every message.
You you can do it using automation and make it at scale.
So that's the future. Personalizing like a human, but
powered by AI, if you think of it that way.
Yeah, I know. We both agree that tech is most
powerful when it runs beneath the surface.
What are the biggest leaks in most senior living sales
(10:05):
pipelines today? Yeah, I think that the biggest
leaks, I think they're everywhere, but I think they're
invisible until it's too late, unfortunately.
So let's see leaks come from leaves that come in that don't
get don't get responded quick enough.
You know, there's still a speed to lead or we'll talk about the
(10:25):
five minute rule in a minute. But hopefully leads that die
after two days. So maybe they don't tour right
away. Maybe they've been forgotten or,
you know, tour no shows because no one is nurtured or confirmed
them properly. They don't show up and then you
lose that lead and then you know, ultimately from the
(10:47):
leadership, it's 0 visibility atthe top.
So leadership doesn't know it's working.
They don't know what stock and they don't know what to do about
it. Ultimately, I think worse of all
these leads happened so silently.
You know, the CRM looks really good.
The people are busy, busy, busy,but the move install and that's
why automation matters. It really plugs a gap from what
(11:08):
you can't see with reminders andnurture sequences, you know,
real time insights that keep that pipeline.
If you think of the pipeline flowing all the way through and
unfortunately you, you can't seewhat you, you don't have, you
don't have aspect to, you don't have that information.
And I think too, when it comes to personalization and
(11:29):
automation, there's a, there's acadence involved with that and
there's a formula that works. But I think some sales teams,
they don't or salesperson, they may think they're following up
in a timely manner, you know, but we may have a different
perspective or the client, the resident or the prospective
resident or their family might have a different idea in mind in
terms of in terms of what's realistic for follow up.
(11:51):
Like the salesperson might say, I'm going to follow up in three
days and this person might be like, I'm expecting a follow up
in 24 hours, you know, and not be able to get to it for three
days. So that's a problem where
automation can solve that. And just, it just keeps them
warm the entire time as long as it's done well.
And it's not just some, like youwere saying, generic cookie
cutter message that it doesn't resonate.
I think I think that's the best case scenario.
(12:13):
I think that bad automation feels like extra work for people
and good automation removes thatwork if you think of it that
way. So we structure automation and
be like a smart assistant. It's not something that you have
to fight with. It actually means that your reps
know what they need to do when they need to do it.
They automate your next step suggestions based on the sales
stage. You'll trigger follow-ups,
(12:35):
reminders, content, and do all that without having to click
through 10 different things. You know, keep it really clean.
One screen, one focus, no overwhelm.
Ultimately, the goal of automation is to keep it very
simple. Make your sales people perform
like they're the best 1. And automation isn't making
(12:56):
sales faster, easier, and smarter.
It's really not helping you. That's ultimately the bottom
line. When you create automations for
sales teams, are you doing that?Is that a customized experience
for their needs or do you have like a base system that you use
for all clients? Yeah, that's a great question.
So we do have a base system that's based on what 30 years
(13:17):
worth of experience and then we customize every single client to
be what they need. So what happens in New York is
different from what happens in North Carolina or another part
Minnesota. So each one is different, but
ultimately the the idea is to engage that prospect so there is
a base that we know works and then we will use our
(13:40):
relationship with that client tofigure out what they need and
we'll customize everything for them.
How do most operators ensure that their sales team adopts
that system or gets trained properly on system?
Is that something you you work with them on intimately or are
they responsible? Yeah.
Yeah, for sure. So when they go live, we
actually do the entire what we call onboarding system for them.
(14:01):
You know, I think that they wantautomation, but I think
oftentimes they they don't know what they need and they're just
overwhelmed by the whole thing. So we will work with the client
to get them exactly what they need.
Again, based on our best practices, what we've known
works, what we've known doesn't work, and we will automate that
(14:22):
for them. Do you think some sales teams
are threatened by automation? They feel like it's taking their
job or potentially could take their job or their Commission,
something like that. I, I think they do.
I think honestly, they want better results.
Again, they're overwhelmed by everything and they feel like
their communities are juggling with manual follow up and staff
turnover. But when you say, hey, I'm going
(14:43):
to help you with video, emails or a, a copywriting, they don't
know what to think of it. They might think it's something
that they need to learn to use. So the truth is tech we've been
sold tech we haven't been sold outcomes.
So we flip that and we provide the tech, but we customize it
for each client. So this is something that will
(15:05):
help the sales people do better with what they're doing every
day. So you could do more in a day
than you could in 10 days of doing things automatically or
manually. I'm sorry.
We can help that with that. And that's going to make their
life a lot more productive and eventually get a lot better
results, which of course makes them look good to their
(15:25):
management as well. That's the bottom line.
Yeah. One data point I found on this
too. So the communities report up to
25% operational cost savings over five years using automation
tools. Have you, have you tracked any
of that or have you seen that orgotten that kind of feedback
from your clients as well about savings?
Definitely, Yeah. I think that we've seen some
(15:47):
automation that will go from a nine percent click through all
the way to a 27% click through. It's the same offer.
It's just much more human and a lot faster.
And ultimately that results in higher tours and eventually into
move insurance. That's what they're all about.
So I think that there's several things that you could do to make
(16:08):
that automation higher. Help what they're doing for us,
it's, it's really not a tech problem.
It's a, it's a trust problem, making sure people know what
they need to do to, to automate their process and make things a
lot easier and make things, you know, we always say help them
get their movements faster, easier and with less stress.
That's what it's all about for us.
(16:28):
Talking about personalization ofscale, so I know video e-mail
open rates jump by like 65% whena recipient's name is mentioned
immediately, so personalization is obviously no longer optional.
How much does personalization impact engagement in your
experience? I think it impacts a lot.
We actually noted 60% in our emails of people opening the
(16:50):
emails. The truth is that
personalization is definitely a game changer.
You know, 1 senior living community, we added the leads
name in the subject line, the community of interest.
And then another thing that we talked about is 22nd videos from
the sales director, director, and we've actually tripled the
engagement just by incorporatingthose three things.
(17:14):
So again, we went from like 9%, I believe to 27%, same offer,
but just more human. And you're right, people don't
want to feel like a number. They want to feel seen.
And with the right automation, you can make every lead feel
like they've met, you've messaged them, and you're not
burning out your team. And at the end of the day, it's
(17:35):
about the secret sauce or what we call the unfair advantage.
So we're just trying to help them get better results from
what they're doing. What about SMS marketing?
I know there's everybody talks about the open rates with e-mail
dropping so significantly, but with text messages, I mean
there's almost, it's a 80% or above open rate on average even
(17:55):
90% in some cases. Are you, are you, is that
something that you're working with and have you seen those
similar results? Yeah, absolutely.
We definitely have that in there.
I think that in senior living, especially some of the older
people, most people, you need toask them, do they want text
messaging before you go message them.
I think in the younger people itworks a lot better.
(18:16):
But again, you know, with this going off all the time, you're
not really paying attention to what you're doing.
So I think it's really importantthat you incorporate a sense of
medium. So you have emails, you have
text messages, you have video mails, you have all those kinds
of things and reach the leads wherever they're at, whether
it's text or video or e-mail, whatever that looks like for
(18:37):
you. But I wouldn't focus
specifically on text because some people get irritated by
that. Yeah, that's true.
That's very true. Why do you think more
communities have an adopted video, e-mail or an AI copy
tools yet? Do you think it's a tech
adoption issue or is there something else going on there?
(18:58):
Yeah, I do think it is a tech adoption and I do think that
they're overwhelmed by things. So if we say you're going to do
this, you're going to do that, they you're asking them to do
more things and lighten their load.
I do think that once they, once they use those tools and they
get the automation, they get theresults that they want, they're
hooked. You know, it's, it's like having
(19:20):
a 22nd video e-mail and an AI crafted follow up.
You know, it's, it's better thanmaking, you know, 10 phone calls
or hours of guessing. So it happens every single time.
So I think it's a not quite surewhat to do, don't know what to
do, But if they start adopting it, use something, they're going
to find that it's going to work better for them.
(19:42):
I know a lot of senior living communities too, they're, they
don't feel necessarily like they're ready for AI in this
moment, but it doesn't mean their teams can wait.
And I think, you know, with yourmarketing background too, I'm
sure you'll agree that I see a lot of operators or even just
providers looking at what their competitors are doing.
And then they're saying, oh, we need to do that because this
person is doing it, but they're not really sure why they need to
(20:04):
do it. Or they're not sure why that
person is doing it, but they, they don't want to be lost in
the sauce, you know? What kind of reactions do you
get from providers who've never used automation before?
Yeah, I think that's really, I think that's a really good
point. I think a lot of providers, you
know, they're a mix of curiosityand they're a mix of caution.
You know, some are, like you said, are very skeptical, some
are very excited, some say, hey,we're not really techie.
(20:28):
But again, once I see it in action, how automation follows
up for them, it nudges A-Team, you know, it sends the right
messages and eventually the light bulb will go off.
So I, I remember one sales manager told me it's like having
a smart assistant that never, ever forgets, doesn't ever take
a day off and knows exactly whatto say.
(20:49):
And I think at that point, they're all in.
And how do you, I mean, this is probably the $1,000,000
question, but I mean, how do youfuture proof a tech platform
when the industry is slow to adopt?
Because I feel like no matter how cutting edge we are, if our
clients are not ready to adopt that we're still going to be
behind the curve, right. And then even like we look at
and I think, I think part of thereason the senior living
(21:10):
industry is behind it is becauseof who we serve, right?
We're serving residents who are not all that tech savvy.
I mean, they're getting more tech savvy, but even their tech
savviness isn't the same as say a millennial or someone in
someone who's Gen. Z, right?
Like they're, they're just so much more tech savvy.
So how do we future proof? Yeah, that's a great question.
(21:31):
It's something we talk about a lot around here.
And I, I, I told to get it. You know, I think there was a
football coach who once said that you don't build.
You don't build for where the industry is at right now.
You build for where it's going. So you know what, like you said,
a lot of platforms are chasing features that keep up.
And so we're looking to design for what's next, you know, the
(21:53):
AI automation, the voice driven tool, so they don't wear out
their fingers. They can actually speak to it or
talk to the system and have it do whatever they ask.
So you make sure the simple is it is designed for them in the
future, but also easier for themto adopt now.
To me, it feels like, you know, we're building a flexible
architecture because you know what, whatever we do now is
(22:15):
going to be different in six months or a year from now.
So we, we try to make that so that whatever happens, we can
make that change. We can, you know, keep the
interface really clean as much as you can.
And then for our clients who arescared of the big AI, we say,
you know, start small. Start wherever they're at right
(22:36):
now. And then whenever they're ready,
they can scale big. We have a saying around here
that says we crawl, walk and run.
You start off by crawling, eventually you start walking and
eventually you can run. But it's like what you said,
senior living moves really slow,but the challenges, the demands
on operators are moving really fast.
(22:56):
So while we're not trying to patch together something with
outdated tools, we're really kind of creating a platform that
grows with them and not one thatthey'll be able to outgrow.
So it's a situation where you have to think about everything
and make changes as you go. Like you said, it really depends
on that, the industry and the client.
It just depends on where they'reat.
(23:18):
And I know a eyes, it's moving so fast it's it's almost
impossible to keep up. Sometimes we're shifting now or
we've already shifted from just AI where it's just, we're
prompting AI to do things for usto now the agentic AI systems
where they're thinking they're producing, creating things on
their own. And then next we have like
(23:38):
quantum computing that's going to be here.
So things are going to be happening in a in a heartbeat
that are now taking, you know, hours or days to complete.
I mean, what do you, what do youthink about that?
I mean, how do you see that integrating like the AI agents
into the system? We're working on it right now.
So yeah, you say this, I'm like,are you watching what we're
(23:58):
doing over here? Yeah, it is something that we're
working on. We actually did a a training
tool recently on one of our client did a how you use AI to
incorporate into your system anddoing those kinds of things.
So I, I do think that's a big part of it.
I do think that for us, it becomes a way to increase our,
(24:21):
our performance without and lowering our cost.
So for example, one of the things that we're looking at is
an AI agent to help with the support calls that come in that
are the same ones we have it, it's all available.
It's on the knowledge base. You can do whatever you want,
but sometimes you don't want to take the time to go search on
the knowledge base. You just wanted to talk to you.
You just wanted to say, hey, here's where you go, here's
(24:43):
where you look that up and help them with that.
So that's a way that we can kindof increase our exposure without
reducing our costs as well for our client care.
So there's all kinds of things we can do.
There's a way of incorporating tools directly into, in our case
into advantage anywhere to help them find a better way to
(25:04):
increase what they're doing. We we're doing an AI one on soon
on community living. We're going to talk about all
the things you can do, like how you can talk to your chat GT and
say, hey, I want to be Mona. Here's my YouTube channel,
here's my videos. Learn how I talk and then start
replacing that. So when it talks to you, it
(25:25):
sounds like it's your voice. Or you can say, hey, I want to
be Tony Robbins. I want to look like Tony
Robbins. You can say, hey, I want this to
appear like Tony Robbins. That will go out, search his
documents and come back and provide tools that sound just
like him. So there's all kinds of things
you can do to make it look like you and even sound like you if
(25:45):
you can. So yeah, there's a lot of things
going on. Very excited about that.
As you can tell. I get really excited about this.
There's so much we could do. And yes, I know that AI might
have a downside at some point, but right now we need to use it
as a tool that it is. It can help us perform much
better than if we did, if we if we got nervous about it.
(26:07):
We just need to work with what we have.
As a business owner too, I mean just even outside of senior
living, how are you handling AI adoption?
Are you, do you have a specific team member that's managing that
for you or is that something that company why you guys are
kind of focused on as a team andmaking sure you're all staying
up to date? Yeah, that's a great question.
I think the answer to that is it's really every, we're
(26:30):
constantly talking about AIII think I told you earlier, we
have a morning meeting. We talk about all kinds of
things. And one of the things we're
talking about is what's the newest in AI?
You know, one of the things thatwe talked about right now is
called 11 labs. I don't know if you've seen this
before, but you can program yourvoice and it will do whatever
you want. And so we're always using those
(26:50):
things to not just use it for our clients, but also for
ourselves to make what we're doing a lot better.
I think it because we're a tech company, we're all into AI.
Most of us are. There's a few people who are
like, I don't know about all this, but eventually I think
this is if you're not using AI now, you're going to get left
behind. That's just the bottom line.
So we've got to make sure that we're constantly staying on top
(27:13):
of what's happening with AI and automation, all those other
kinds of things. And a lot of the things that we
build inside of the system, sorry, I don't know if you
mentioned this, but inside of the system is what we call a
sales follow up and it's based on where that client is in the
stage and it shares with you things that have worked, things
that haven't worked. So you can make that suggestion.
(27:34):
It grows, it grows as you continue to use it.
So there's so many ways we can use it and you know, increase
our results as well and increaseour clients results.
As well, I hear all the time, because we're mostly in a
marketing agency, I hear a lot that we'll be out of the job in
five years. And so one of our, one of our
goals is to is to look at how wecan use AI to innovate what
(27:57):
we're doing to build systems that, you know, we can implement
into our into our clients communities that.
So we're in the process of hiring an AI engineer right now.
So there's going to be a person on our team who's dedicated to
looking at all those systems andprocesses that we're using, as
well as that our clients are using to see how we can improve
those and, and work those into the packages that we're
offering. So that's one way that we're
(28:19):
definitely going to stay ahead of the curve.
And it was funny, when I first started the agency, I always
said, I want #1 I want full timepeople on the team, but I want
people who are, they're very focused on one thing.
They do one thing great. I don't want someone who does 10
different things. Because, you know, you could be
good at a lot, but you can only be great at one thing, right?
And now it's, it's completely shifted.
(28:40):
Now I'm in a space where I want everyone to be versatile.
You know, I don't want to have 100 people on my team if I can
have 30 who all know and have that same skill set of, of being
adaptable, of being AI, thinkingforward and being able to maybe
do two or three different thingsrather than just that one thing.
So it's just interesting how thewhole mindset around business is
(29:03):
changing now. Yeah, I think it applies to
everyone. No matter what role you're in, I
don't think marketing is going to go away.
I think your your focus is goingto change.
But I don't think you're going away.
There's no way. And I do think we need the human
touch. But wherever you're at in the in
the company, whether you're marketing, wherever you do, you
can use AI to make that job so much better.
(29:23):
I think that's what you're seeing with your people as well,
and what we're seeing with our people as well.
We just, we have to adopt it. Yeah, absolutely.
No. And I think as leaders in our
organization, it's important forus to have that vision to
understand that that's what's needed, you know, to grow the
company, but also to to help ourteam grow as as individuals too.
Because, yeah, you don't want tosee anybody get left in the
(29:45):
dust. And if you force somebody to do
one thing and and that's it. And now, you know, it's almost
like you see people who are who spend 20-30 years in the
military doing this one job and then they come out into the
workforce and that's not applicable in the real world.
And they're just like, I have togo back to school or I have to
start from scratch, you know, even though I've got 30 years of
experience doing this one thing.And it's just a shame.
(30:05):
I would hate to see see more people in the, in the economy
like that. You know, unfortunately that's
going to be the case for some people.
But I think, I think being a tech savvy company, we can help
our our teams kind of grow and evolve.
Getting back to standardizing the sales journey.
I know different salespeople mean different results, but also
automation can kind of level theplaying field and raise the
(30:26):
baseline a little bit. Why do you think it's so
important to build workflows that work no matter who's using
them? Yeah, I think that's really
important. And I think that your move
insurance shouldn't depend on who's showed up that day.
In most communities, that sales journey lives in someone's head,
you know, worse or a sticky note.
(30:47):
So that means when a rock star leaves, so does that process.
I think standardizing your workflows, turning that
guesswork into a proven system, you know, that's what makes sure
that every lead gets followed upwith the same urgency, every
tour gets the same prep. No one falls through the cracks
regardless of who's on that teamor what they know.
So that's how you scale. You can protect your revenue by
(31:08):
doing it that way. I think that's part of the plan
for using automation to make sure that everyone is at a level
playing field and you're not dropping the ball on any
clients. Is there one automation you can
think of that was like a huge win that you saw for a client?
Yeah, I think I, I have a coupleof ideas in, in mind, one of
which was a client. You know, they, they, they had
(31:30):
leads that were sitting for daysbefore anyone followed up with
them. They were just really
overwhelmed. They had really no system and
they just sat there and nothing happened with them.
So we implemented what we call an automation that instantly
engages every lead. So what we call a smart form
down to a nurture campaign. So that nurturing campaign
included, you know, a video, e-mail, branded emails,
(31:54):
testimonials, AI guided follow up for that team.
It's really strategic, really intentional.
And each step of those has a CTA, which gets them to tour.
So eventually in about 90 days, their tour bookings were
tripled. You know, the follow up dropped
(32:14):
from, you know, three days to 3 minutes and they boosted their
move insurance by 40%, like 90 days without adding a single
person. So that's the power of
automation. It doesn't just speed things up,
it really transforms the entire sales rhythm if you think of it
that way. That's huge.
What a what an anchorage. I was going to ask you that if
if more tourists and more more leads don't always equal more
(32:36):
tours and more tourists don't always equal more move
insurance. So I was curious if the if the
quality remain consistent even though the number of bookings
went up. Sounds like it though if they
had a 40% increase in movements,that's awesome.
Right. And I think part of that process
is qualifying that lead to find out they're really qualified.
Maybe they don't have the money involved or they don't have some
(32:57):
of the things that will take forthem to become.
So you're not wasting your time on unqualified leads, you're
focusing on the ones that are qualified.
My last little section for you, I think, is just talking about a
little bit more about innovationwithout the overwhelm.
And I know you had talked about why clear frameworks matter in
that space. So what advice do you have for
(33:19):
operators who want to adopt AI, but maybe they feel overwhelmed?
Yeah, that, that's a great question.
I think you have to start now where you're at right now and
you have to do something now. I don't think you should wait
any longer. You know, you don't, you don't
need to do AI overnight. You just need to pick one pain
point. Maybe it's, you know, a so
follow up or tour no shows or you don't maybe content that's
(33:42):
taking too long to write and then solve that with AI.
You know, then I think the biggest mistake for us is
waiting for perfection. You know, the winners are the
ones that get in. They get in early, they test,
they tweak, and they learn. But we don't want to go through
this alone. You know, you need something
that will help you with your industry and it'll help replace
(34:03):
that. AI isn't here to replace your
team. It's here to really make them
unstoppable and give them an advantage, as we say, an
advantage. So I think you need to start
right now, do something now, andthen grow as if your progress
change. You can always add more to it,
but you've got to do something now.
You can't wait, It's too late. Absolutely agree with that.
(34:25):
And if there was one small change that they can make today
that would have a big impact, what do you think that would be?
Turn your first tour follow up into automation right now.
So mostly sit too long. You know, before anyone
responds, you know that lead, that silence.
It costs you tours, it costs youtrust and move in.
So setting up a smart follow up you'll like and we send a text,
(34:48):
an e-mail, a short video, whatever that fires immediately
when someone inquires. That's the best place to
started. I think I talked about the five
minute rule earlier. That rule says if you follow up
with a lead within 5 minutes, waiting 30 minutes versus 30
minutes, if you follow up with alead within 5 minutes, you'll
increase your conversion by 100 X, about 100 * 100 X.
(35:11):
So that alone can double your engagement.
So I think that's where you start.
It's really a small change, but it tells the leads, hey, we see
you, we're on it. And that momentum, I believe is
everything for them because that's their first reaction with
you. Their first interaction with you
is getting that lead or getting a response from you.
Yeah, I would agree with that. That's a great place to start,
(35:34):
Mona. Thank you so much for such a
great conversation. I hope I know why I don't hope.
I know our audience is going to get a lot out of this, and it's
going to spark a lot of ideas around automation and how to
integrate AI from the start. Where can our audience go to
learn more about Advantage Anywhere or connect with you?
Yeah. Thank you so much.
I really appreciate getting to know you, getting to understand
(35:54):
a little bit about what you guysdo.
I'd love to chat with anyone. You can reach us at
advantageanywhere.com. We have all kinds of things on
there. If you want to dive deeper, you
can just subscribe to our YouTube channel.
It's called Advantage anywhere. It's really about behind the
scenes walkthroughs, automation tips, you know, and interviews
Someone Like You guys. So if you want to reach out to
(36:17):
me, oh, we're also doing a 2025 benchmark report.
It is almost available. It's packed with really national
data and automation insights. If you want that, just reach out
to me. You can reach me at
mona@advantageanywhere.com or you can reach me at LinkedIn
under Mona Hilton. Thank you so much.
I'd love to connect with whatever your team is working on
(36:39):
and it'd be my honor. Awesome.
Thanks, Mona. All right, well, as we wrap up
today's episode, I want to thankMona Hilton for joining us and
sharing our vision for a smarter, more human centered
future and senior living. From automation behind the
scenes to AI powered personalization and scalable
workflows, Mona reminds us that technology doesn't have to
replace connection. It can amplify it.
(37:00):
So if you want to connect with Mona or explore Advantage
anywhere, check out the links inthe show notes.
As always, we hope you found this episode insightful and
inspiring. And don't forget to subscribe to
our podcast on your favorite platforms.
Stay tuned for more episodes where we continue to explore the
evolving world of senior care, covering everything from
innovative care models and leadership strategies to family
support technology in the futureof aging.
(37:22):
And also remember that From Leads to Leases isn't just an
audio experience. We're also a video podcast, so
you can subscribe to our YouTubeor Spotify channels to watch the
full episodes. I'm Jerry Vincey, CEO of CCR
growth. Thank you for joining us on From
Leads to Leases and please like,subscribe and share this episode
with anyone who might find it useful.
Until next time, leave with strategy and with heart.
(37:42):
Chat with you again soon. Thanks, Mona.
Bye bye. Thanks for listening to From
Leads to Leases. Are you ready to fill your rooms
faster and increase occupancy? Visit ccrgrowth.com to learn
about our Senior Growth Innovation Suite, a proven
system to generate highly qualified tour ready leads,
accelerate sales and reduce acquisition costs.
(38:03):
Let's connect and turn your challenges into opportunities.
See you next time.
You have to start now where you're at right now, and you
have to do something now. You don't need to do AI
overnight. You just need to pick one pain
point. Maybe it's a slow follow up or
tour, no shows. I think the biggest mistake for
us is waiting for perfection. What if your CRM wasn't the end
goal, but just one part of a deeper conversation about
(00:20):
personalization and the future of care?
Today's guest has spent 3 decades in tech, and she
believes senior living is finally catching up.
Welcome to From Leads to Leases,a CCR growth podcast that helps
senior living providers transform their complex
challenges into opportunities. Listen in for stories from
(00:41):
industry leaders, innovative strategies and insights, and
with our expertise, learn how toincrease occupancy faster,
Guaranteed. Welcome back to another episode
of From Leads to Leases, the podcast that dives deep into the
senior living and senior care industries, bringing you
insights, strategies, and stories from the experts at the
forefront of innovation, leadership, and care.
(01:03):
I'm your host, Jerry Vincey, CEOof CCR Growth, and for those of
you who don't know about us, CCRGrowth is a full service
marketing and growth agency that's exclusive to the senior
living industry. And through this podcast, I'm
here to guide you through the evolving landscape of senior
care, exploring the innovations,strategies and leadership
insights that are shaping the future of the industry.
So whether you're a provider, a caregiver, or an industry
(01:26):
leader, this show is here to help you make informed decisions
and create meaningful impact. Today's guest is Mona Hilton,
the CEO of Genesis Global Technologies and the creator of
Advantage Anywhere, ACRM and automation platform purpose
built for senior living. With over 30 years of experience
in the technology space and a foundational background and
marketing, Mona has become a fierce advocate for smarter
(01:49):
human centered automation. She speaks frequently at
national conferences, including those in senior living and
multifamily housing and is focused on bridging the gap
between high tech capability anddeeply personal care.
So, Mona, welcome to the show. Why, thank you so much.
It's so great to be here with you, Jerry.
Yeah. I love talking tech and it's
always so interesting to see what other people are doing and
(02:11):
I love specifically what you guys are doing.
So I wanted to talk a little bitabout behind the software,
right? So your path into tech and
automation. So I know before you ever built
the CRM, you're a marketer, you always love systems and you
shared experiences and how tech taught you about what
communities actually need and why automation isn't about
(02:33):
removing the human, but enhancing it.
So what initially sparked your interest in blending marketing
and technology? Yeah, that's, that's a great
question. My truth is in the background
and I've been in marketing my entire life.
My degrees in marketing, I did marketing for many years,
whether it's, you know, time customer service, Florida Power
and Light and the other places. But I love tech.
(02:55):
I'm kind of like you, Jerry, before it was even a thing.
When I was at time customer service, I was offered a job in
tech, but at the end of the day,I just I couldn't leave
marketing. She said, can you leave
marketing? I said, I just can't do it.
So when I came down to Fort Myers, I made it a sense for me
to create a marketing and tech company put together.
(03:16):
So because I've always believed that technology's perfect
pairing was with marketing. And you know, as you know,
tech's highest purpose is to become how people do more than
they could ever do alone, which is of course, what AI does for
us now. So that's why I started building
advantage anywhere. And in terms of the senior
(03:37):
living industry, what kind of systems did you see that are
missing when you first entered the space?
Yeah, yeah, that, that's a greatquestion.
When I first stepped into seniorliving, you know, I was kind of
shocked at how personality dependent everything was.
So sales pipelines were basically built on sticky notes
(03:58):
like these or spreadsheets or someone's memory.
And then of course, if that person quit, so did their follow
up and their notes. There were real, no real
systems. They were all based on who had
the best personality or perhaps even the best coffee that day.
What what I thought was missing was consistency.
(04:18):
So consistency is a key to automation.
It's the key to accountability. It's basically the key to every
area of our life. So when we built a system, we're
looking to take the top performers process so that top
people and then make sure that everyone followed the same
thing. So we're not no longer winging
(04:39):
it. We're no longer waking up in the
middle of the night with what I call it, oh shoot, I follow up
with someone. It's just using smart
automation, guiding every step from, you know, the lead to the
inquiry, to the prospect, to thetour and eventually to the move
insurance. That was what we were all about.
Yeah, I know. Outside of marketing too,
there's so many other ways to automate and improve data
(05:03):
collection right across the board.
I mean, you've got the care staff and they're note taking,
right? A lot of that's still done
manually. And then even on the resident
side of things, there's so many different ways you could
implement tech and AI and other systems to help improve their
experience as well. Within the community.
There's a lot of skepticism in senior living, and part of it's
because this industry tends to be a little bit behind the the
(05:26):
curve in terms of early adoption.
But there is skepticism about automation replacing real
relationships, or I guess fear of it replacing real, real
relationships. What would you say to
communities that worry tech willdamage the human connection?
Yeah, I know. I hear that everywhere I go.
Everyone says, oh, it's going toruin the sales, it's going to
ruin everything. Here's what I would say.
(05:48):
I would say that the tech doesn't replace the human
connection, it actually protectsit.
So if you think of it that way, the real threat to connection
isn't necessarily AI or automation.
It's you know when your leads fall through the cracks, or you
know your follow up isn't consistent, or you know your
teams are so overwhelmed they don't have time to actually
(06:09):
connect or or engage with the prospects.
So automation handles the repetitive stuff so your people
can do only what humans can do. You know, we can build trust, we
can listen. We can take a tour and tour into
a relationship. We're not removing that personal
touch. We're removing, you know, the
(06:30):
busy work that gets in the way of the human touch so that we
can do what we are designed to do, which is engage with people.
Yeah. So really, lack of time is the
biggest threat. It's not necessarily AI.
It's wasting our time doing all these meaningless tasks that
could be automated to the point where we can spend more time
actually spending human connection with our prospects or
(06:53):
even with the care staff, with the residents.
So yeah, totally agree with that.
What are some small behind the scenes uses of AI that providers
could benefit from right now? So yeah, everybody's talking
about AI like it's a big, scary,futuristic type of thing.
And you know, that might eventually be the case, but
right now the truth is it's likeyou said, the small behind the
(07:15):
scenes uses of AI that are the real game changers for people in
business. So let's think about that.
So AI that writes a perfect follow up e-mail that's based on
where the lead is at that journey.
So that will save you time. AI that reminds your salespeople
when to reach out and even tellsthem what to say, that'll save
(07:36):
your team stress. We're talking about AI that
spots patterns like when a campaign actually drives tours
or when a lead is most likely toconvert.
That will save you money at the end of the day.
None of that is loud or flashy if you think of it that way, but
it will quietly save hours in your process and boost your move
(07:57):
insurance without adding additional staff.
And eventually that's where the real ROI lies in AI and
automation, if that makes sense.Yeah, yeah, I found an
interesting statistic specific about senior care.
It's that more than 70% of senior care providers believe AI
can significantly reduce staff workload, while 44% said it
(08:17):
gives them more one-on-one time with.
Residents. Yeah, that's very true.
Yeah, you know, personalization too.
I mean, that's a, that's a big part of what you do.
And I, I know I read a statisticfrom, I was probably five years
old now, but it said over 75% of, of consumers today expect
personalization in their marketing.
(08:37):
And if they don't get it, they actually, it actually turns them
off. So the, the organization's, the,
the senior living providers who are creating those personalized
steps where they're, you know, calling people by name or
tailoring the content specifically as to wherever that
they're at in the journey. I think those are the ones that
are really winning out right nowbecause people want to feel like
they're, they're special. They're not just another number
(08:59):
in the system. I think that's really true.
I think if you get generic emails that will look like it
was a design for everyone and all, you know, all kinds of
places. It just doesn't work.
You know, personalization. In my opinion, it like you said,
it's a difference between being ignored and getting engagement.
So generic follow up sounds likespam.
You get them all the time. You delete, delete, delete,
(09:20):
delete. But I want to lead gets a
message that says their name, especially in the subject line.
You know, that's a great place mentions, you know, the
community that they're looked looking at includes a video from
a real person and answers a question.
They they pay special attention to that.
And I think we see a, you know, 3X engagement just by
personalizing the timing. You can talk about the message,
(09:43):
the medium, of course. And here's a kicker.
You don't need to manually personalize every message.
You you can do it using automation and make it at scale.
So that's the future. Personalizing like a human, but
powered by AI, if you think of it that way.
Yeah, I know. We both agree that tech is most
powerful when it runs beneath the surface.
What are the biggest leaks in most senior living sales
(10:05):
pipelines today? Yeah, I think that the biggest
leaks, I think they're everywhere, but I think they're
invisible until it's too late, unfortunately.
So let's see leaks come from leaves that come in that don't
get don't get responded quick enough.
You know, there's still a speed to lead or we'll talk about the
(10:25):
five minute rule in a minute. But hopefully leads that die
after two days. So maybe they don't tour right
away. Maybe they've been forgotten or,
you know, tour no shows because no one is nurtured or confirmed
them properly. They don't show up and then you
lose that lead and then you know, ultimately from the
(10:47):
leadership, it's 0 visibility atthe top.
So leadership doesn't know it's working.
They don't know what stock and they don't know what to do about
it. Ultimately, I think worse of all
these leads happened so silently.
You know, the CRM looks really good.
The people are busy, busy, busy,but the move install and that's
why automation matters. It really plugs a gap from what
(11:08):
you can't see with reminders andnurture sequences, you know,
real time insights that keep that pipeline.
If you think of the pipeline flowing all the way through and
unfortunately you, you can't seewhat you, you don't have, you
don't have aspect to, you don't have that information.
And I think too, when it comes to personalization and
(11:29):
automation, there's a, there's acadence involved with that and
there's a formula that works. But I think some sales teams,
they don't or salesperson, they may think they're following up
in a timely manner, you know, but we may have a different
perspective or the client, the resident or the prospective
resident or their family might have a different idea in mind in
terms of in terms of what's realistic for follow up.
(11:51):
Like the salesperson might say, I'm going to follow up in three
days and this person might be like, I'm expecting a follow up
in 24 hours, you know, and not be able to get to it for three
days. So that's a problem where
automation can solve that. And just, it just keeps them
warm the entire time as long as it's done well.
And it's not just some, like youwere saying, generic cookie
cutter message that it doesn't resonate.
I think I think that's the best case scenario.
(12:13):
I think that bad automation feels like extra work for people
and good automation removes thatwork if you think of it that
way. So we structure automation and
be like a smart assistant. It's not something that you have
to fight with. It actually means that your reps
know what they need to do when they need to do it.
They automate your next step suggestions based on the sales
stage. You'll trigger follow-ups,
(12:35):
reminders, content, and do all that without having to click
through 10 different things. You know, keep it really clean.
One screen, one focus, no overwhelm.
Ultimately, the goal of automation is to keep it very
simple. Make your sales people perform
like they're the best 1. And automation isn't making
(12:56):
sales faster, easier, and smarter.
It's really not helping you. That's ultimately the bottom
line. When you create automations for
sales teams, are you doing that?Is that a customized experience
for their needs or do you have like a base system that you use
for all clients? Yeah, that's a great question.
So we do have a base system that's based on what 30 years
(13:17):
worth of experience and then we customize every single client to
be what they need. So what happens in New York is
different from what happens in North Carolina or another part
Minnesota. So each one is different, but
ultimately the the idea is to engage that prospect so there is
a base that we know works and then we will use our
(13:40):
relationship with that client tofigure out what they need and
we'll customize everything for them.
How do most operators ensure that their sales team adopts
that system or gets trained properly on system?
Is that something you you work with them on intimately or are
they responsible? Yeah.
Yeah, for sure. So when they go live, we
actually do the entire what we call onboarding system for them.
(14:01):
You know, I think that they wantautomation, but I think
oftentimes they they don't know what they need and they're just
overwhelmed by the whole thing. So we will work with the client
to get them exactly what they need.
Again, based on our best practices, what we've known
works, what we've known doesn't work, and we will automate that
(14:22):
for them. Do you think some sales teams
are threatened by automation? They feel like it's taking their
job or potentially could take their job or their Commission,
something like that. I, I think they do.
I think honestly, they want better results.
Again, they're overwhelmed by everything and they feel like
their communities are juggling with manual follow up and staff
turnover. But when you say, hey, I'm going
(14:43):
to help you with video, emails or a, a copywriting, they don't
know what to think of it. They might think it's something
that they need to learn to use. So the truth is tech we've been
sold tech we haven't been sold outcomes.
So we flip that and we provide the tech, but we customize it
for each client. So this is something that will
(15:05):
help the sales people do better with what they're doing every
day. So you could do more in a day
than you could in 10 days of doing things automatically or
manually. I'm sorry.
We can help that with that. And that's going to make their
life a lot more productive and eventually get a lot better
results, which of course makes them look good to their
(15:25):
management as well. That's the bottom line.
Yeah. One data point I found on this
too. So the communities report up to
25% operational cost savings over five years using automation
tools. Have you, have you tracked any
of that or have you seen that orgotten that kind of feedback
from your clients as well about savings?
Definitely, Yeah. I think that we've seen some
(15:47):
automation that will go from a nine percent click through all
the way to a 27% click through. It's the same offer.
It's just much more human and a lot faster.
And ultimately that results in higher tours and eventually into
move insurance. That's what they're all about.
So I think that there's several things that you could do to make
(16:08):
that automation higher. Help what they're doing for us,
it's, it's really not a tech problem.
It's a, it's a trust problem, making sure people know what
they need to do to, to automate their process and make things a
lot easier and make things, you know, we always say help them
get their movements faster, easier and with less stress.
That's what it's all about for us.
(16:28):
Talking about personalization ofscale, so I know video e-mail
open rates jump by like 65% whena recipient's name is mentioned
immediately, so personalization is obviously no longer optional.
How much does personalization impact engagement in your
experience? I think it impacts a lot.
We actually noted 60% in our emails of people opening the
(16:50):
emails. The truth is that
personalization is definitely a game changer.
You know, 1 senior living community, we added the leads
name in the subject line, the community of interest.
And then another thing that we talked about is 22nd videos from
the sales director, director, and we've actually tripled the
engagement just by incorporatingthose three things.
(17:14):
So again, we went from like 9%, I believe to 27%, same offer,
but just more human. And you're right, people don't
want to feel like a number. They want to feel seen.
And with the right automation, you can make every lead feel
like they've met, you've messaged them, and you're not
burning out your team. And at the end of the day, it's
(17:35):
about the secret sauce or what we call the unfair advantage.
So we're just trying to help them get better results from
what they're doing. What about SMS marketing?
I know there's everybody talks about the open rates with e-mail
dropping so significantly, but with text messages, I mean
there's almost, it's a 80% or above open rate on average even
(17:55):
90% in some cases. Are you, are you, is that
something that you're working with and have you seen those
similar results? Yeah, absolutely.
We definitely have that in there.
I think that in senior living, especially some of the older
people, most people, you need toask them, do they want text
messaging before you go message them.
I think in the younger people itworks a lot better.
(18:16):
But again, you know, with this going off all the time, you're
not really paying attention to what you're doing.
So I think it's really importantthat you incorporate a sense of
medium. So you have emails, you have
text messages, you have video mails, you have all those kinds
of things and reach the leads wherever they're at, whether
it's text or video or e-mail, whatever that looks like for
(18:37):
you. But I wouldn't focus
specifically on text because some people get irritated by
that. Yeah, that's true.
That's very true. Why do you think more
communities have an adopted video, e-mail or an AI copy
tools yet? Do you think it's a tech
adoption issue or is there something else going on there?
(18:58):
Yeah, I do think it is a tech adoption and I do think that
they're overwhelmed by things. So if we say you're going to do
this, you're going to do that, they you're asking them to do
more things and lighten their load.
I do think that once they, once they use those tools and they
get the automation, they get theresults that they want, they're
hooked. You know, it's, it's like having
(19:20):
a 22nd video e-mail and an AI crafted follow up.
You know, it's, it's better thanmaking, you know, 10 phone calls
or hours of guessing. So it happens every single time.
So I think it's a not quite surewhat to do, don't know what to
do, But if they start adopting it, use something, they're going
to find that it's going to work better for them.
(19:42):
I know a lot of senior living communities too, they're, they
don't feel necessarily like they're ready for AI in this
moment, but it doesn't mean their teams can wait.
And I think, you know, with yourmarketing background too, I'm
sure you'll agree that I see a lot of operators or even just
providers looking at what their competitors are doing.
And then they're saying, oh, we need to do that because this
person is doing it, but they're not really sure why they need to
(20:04):
do it. Or they're not sure why that
person is doing it, but they, they don't want to be lost in
the sauce, you know? What kind of reactions do you
get from providers who've never used automation before?
Yeah, I think that's really, I think that's a really good
point. I think a lot of providers, you
know, they're a mix of curiosityand they're a mix of caution.
You know, some are, like you said, are very skeptical, some
are very excited, some say, hey,we're not really techie.
(20:28):
But again, once I see it in action, how automation follows
up for them, it nudges A-Team, you know, it sends the right
messages and eventually the light bulb will go off.
So I, I remember one sales manager told me it's like having
a smart assistant that never, ever forgets, doesn't ever take
a day off and knows exactly whatto say.
(20:49):
And I think at that point, they're all in.
And how do you, I mean, this is probably the $1,000,000
question, but I mean, how do youfuture proof a tech platform
when the industry is slow to adopt?
Because I feel like no matter how cutting edge we are, if our
clients are not ready to adopt that we're still going to be
behind the curve, right. And then even like we look at
and I think, I think part of thereason the senior living
(21:10):
industry is behind it is becauseof who we serve, right?
We're serving residents who are not all that tech savvy.
I mean, they're getting more tech savvy, but even their tech
savviness isn't the same as say a millennial or someone in
someone who's Gen. Z, right?
Like they're, they're just so much more tech savvy.
So how do we future proof? Yeah, that's a great question.
(21:31):
It's something we talk about a lot around here.
And I, I, I told to get it. You know, I think there was a
football coach who once said that you don't build.
You don't build for where the industry is at right now.
You build for where it's going. So you know what, like you said,
a lot of platforms are chasing features that keep up.
And so we're looking to design for what's next, you know, the
(21:53):
AI automation, the voice driven tool, so they don't wear out
their fingers. They can actually speak to it or
talk to the system and have it do whatever they ask.
So you make sure the simple is it is designed for them in the
future, but also easier for themto adopt now.
To me, it feels like, you know, we're building a flexible
architecture because you know what, whatever we do now is
(22:15):
going to be different in six months or a year from now.
So we, we try to make that so that whatever happens, we can
make that change. We can, you know, keep the
interface really clean as much as you can.
And then for our clients who arescared of the big AI, we say,
you know, start small. Start wherever they're at right
(22:36):
now. And then whenever they're ready,
they can scale big. We have a saying around here
that says we crawl, walk and run.
You start off by crawling, eventually you start walking and
eventually you can run. But it's like what you said,
senior living moves really slow,but the challenges, the demands
on operators are moving really fast.
(22:56):
So while we're not trying to patch together something with
outdated tools, we're really kind of creating a platform that
grows with them and not one thatthey'll be able to outgrow.
So it's a situation where you have to think about everything
and make changes as you go. Like you said, it really depends
on that, the industry and the client.
It just depends on where they'reat.
(23:18):
And I know a eyes, it's moving so fast it's it's almost
impossible to keep up. Sometimes we're shifting now or
we've already shifted from just AI where it's just, we're
prompting AI to do things for usto now the agentic AI systems
where they're thinking they're producing, creating things on
their own. And then next we have like
(23:38):
quantum computing that's going to be here.
So things are going to be happening in a in a heartbeat
that are now taking, you know, hours or days to complete.
I mean, what do you, what do youthink about that?
I mean, how do you see that integrating like the AI agents
into the system? We're working on it right now.
So yeah, you say this, I'm like,are you watching what we're
(23:58):
doing over here? Yeah, it is something that we're
working on. We actually did a a training
tool recently on one of our client did a how you use AI to
incorporate into your system anddoing those kinds of things.
So I, I do think that's a big part of it.
I do think that for us, it becomes a way to increase our,
(24:21):
our performance without and lowering our cost.
So for example, one of the things that we're looking at is
an AI agent to help with the support calls that come in that
are the same ones we have it, it's all available.
It's on the knowledge base. You can do whatever you want,
but sometimes you don't want to take the time to go search on
the knowledge base. You just wanted to talk to you.
You just wanted to say, hey, here's where you go, here's
(24:43):
where you look that up and help them with that.
So that's a way that we can kindof increase our exposure without
reducing our costs as well for our client care.
So there's all kinds of things we can do.
There's a way of incorporating tools directly into, in our case
into advantage anywhere to help them find a better way to
(25:04):
increase what they're doing. We we're doing an AI one on soon
on community living. We're going to talk about all
the things you can do, like how you can talk to your chat GT and
say, hey, I want to be Mona. Here's my YouTube channel,
here's my videos. Learn how I talk and then start
replacing that. So when it talks to you, it
(25:25):
sounds like it's your voice. Or you can say, hey, I want to
be Tony Robbins. I want to look like Tony
Robbins. You can say, hey, I want this to
appear like Tony Robbins. That will go out, search his
documents and come back and provide tools that sound just
like him. So there's all kinds of things
you can do to make it look like you and even sound like you if
(25:45):
you can. So yeah, there's a lot of things
going on. Very excited about that.
As you can tell. I get really excited about this.
There's so much we could do. And yes, I know that AI might
have a downside at some point, but right now we need to use it
as a tool that it is. It can help us perform much
better than if we did, if we if we got nervous about it.
(26:07):
We just need to work with what we have.
As a business owner too, I mean just even outside of senior
living, how are you handling AI adoption?
Are you, do you have a specific team member that's managing that
for you or is that something that company why you guys are
kind of focused on as a team andmaking sure you're all staying
up to date? Yeah, that's a great question.
I think the answer to that is it's really every, we're
(26:30):
constantly talking about AIII think I told you earlier, we
have a morning meeting. We talk about all kinds of
things. And one of the things we're
talking about is what's the newest in AI?
You know, one of the things thatwe talked about right now is
called 11 labs. I don't know if you've seen this
before, but you can program yourvoice and it will do whatever
you want. And so we're always using those
(26:50):
things to not just use it for our clients, but also for
ourselves to make what we're doing a lot better.
I think it because we're a tech company, we're all into AI.
Most of us are. There's a few people who are
like, I don't know about all this, but eventually I think
this is if you're not using AI now, you're going to get left
behind. That's just the bottom line.
So we've got to make sure that we're constantly staying on top
(27:13):
of what's happening with AI and automation, all those other
kinds of things. And a lot of the things that we
build inside of the system, sorry, I don't know if you
mentioned this, but inside of the system is what we call a
sales follow up and it's based on where that client is in the
stage and it shares with you things that have worked, things
that haven't worked. So you can make that suggestion.
(27:34):
It grows, it grows as you continue to use it.
So there's so many ways we can use it and you know, increase
our results as well and increaseour clients results.
As well, I hear all the time, because we're mostly in a
marketing agency, I hear a lot that we'll be out of the job in
five years. And so one of our, one of our
goals is to is to look at how wecan use AI to innovate what
(27:57):
we're doing to build systems that, you know, we can implement
into our into our clients communities that.
So we're in the process of hiring an AI engineer right now.
So there's going to be a person on our team who's dedicated to
looking at all those systems andprocesses that we're using, as
well as that our clients are using to see how we can improve
those and, and work those into the packages that we're
offering. So that's one way that we're
(28:19):
definitely going to stay ahead of the curve.
And it was funny, when I first started the agency, I always
said, I want #1 I want full timepeople on the team, but I want
people who are, they're very focused on one thing.
They do one thing great. I don't want someone who does 10
different things. Because, you know, you could be
good at a lot, but you can only be great at one thing, right?
And now it's, it's completely shifted.
(28:40):
Now I'm in a space where I want everyone to be versatile.
You know, I don't want to have 100 people on my team if I can
have 30 who all know and have that same skill set of, of being
adaptable, of being AI, thinkingforward and being able to maybe
do two or three different thingsrather than just that one thing.
So it's just interesting how thewhole mindset around business is
(29:03):
changing now. Yeah, I think it applies to
everyone. No matter what role you're in, I
don't think marketing is going to go away.
I think your your focus is goingto change.
But I don't think you're going away.
There's no way. And I do think we need the human
touch. But wherever you're at in the in
the company, whether you're marketing, wherever you do, you
can use AI to make that job so much better.
(29:23):
I think that's what you're seeing with your people as well,
and what we're seeing with our people as well.
We just, we have to adopt it. Yeah, absolutely.
No. And I think as leaders in our
organization, it's important forus to have that vision to
understand that that's what's needed, you know, to grow the
company, but also to to help ourteam grow as as individuals too.
Because, yeah, you don't want tosee anybody get left in the
(29:45):
dust. And if you force somebody to do
one thing and and that's it. And now, you know, it's almost
like you see people who are who spend 20-30 years in the
military doing this one job and then they come out into the
workforce and that's not applicable in the real world.
And they're just like, I have togo back to school or I have to
start from scratch, you know, even though I've got 30 years of
experience doing this one thing.And it's just a shame.
(30:05):
I would hate to see see more people in the, in the economy
like that. You know, unfortunately that's
going to be the case for some people.
But I think, I think being a tech savvy company, we can help
our our teams kind of grow and evolve.
Getting back to standardizing the sales journey.
I know different salespeople mean different results, but also
automation can kind of level theplaying field and raise the
(30:26):
baseline a little bit. Why do you think it's so
important to build workflows that work no matter who's using
them? Yeah, I think that's really
important. And I think that your move
insurance shouldn't depend on who's showed up that day.
In most communities, that sales journey lives in someone's head,
you know, worse or a sticky note.
(30:47):
So that means when a rock star leaves, so does that process.
I think standardizing your workflows, turning that
guesswork into a proven system, you know, that's what makes sure
that every lead gets followed upwith the same urgency, every
tour gets the same prep. No one falls through the cracks
regardless of who's on that teamor what they know.
So that's how you scale. You can protect your revenue by
(31:08):
doing it that way. I think that's part of the plan
for using automation to make sure that everyone is at a level
playing field and you're not dropping the ball on any
clients. Is there one automation you can
think of that was like a huge win that you saw for a client?
Yeah, I think I, I have a coupleof ideas in, in mind, one of
which was a client. You know, they, they, they had
(31:30):
leads that were sitting for daysbefore anyone followed up with
them. They were just really
overwhelmed. They had really no system and
they just sat there and nothing happened with them.
So we implemented what we call an automation that instantly
engages every lead. So what we call a smart form
down to a nurture campaign. So that nurturing campaign
included, you know, a video, e-mail, branded emails,
(31:54):
testimonials, AI guided follow up for that team.
It's really strategic, really intentional.
And each step of those has a CTA, which gets them to tour.
So eventually in about 90 days, their tour bookings were
tripled. You know, the follow up dropped
(32:14):
from, you know, three days to 3 minutes and they boosted their
move insurance by 40%, like 90 days without adding a single
person. So that's the power of
automation. It doesn't just speed things up,
it really transforms the entire sales rhythm if you think of it
that way. That's huge.
What a what an anchorage. I was going to ask you that if
if more tourists and more more leads don't always equal more
(32:36):
tours and more tourists don't always equal more move
insurance. So I was curious if the if the
quality remain consistent even though the number of bookings
went up. Sounds like it though if they
had a 40% increase in movements,that's awesome.
Right. And I think part of that process
is qualifying that lead to find out they're really qualified.
Maybe they don't have the money involved or they don't have some
(32:57):
of the things that will take forthem to become.
So you're not wasting your time on unqualified leads, you're
focusing on the ones that are qualified.
My last little section for you, I think, is just talking about a
little bit more about innovationwithout the overwhelm.
And I know you had talked about why clear frameworks matter in
that space. So what advice do you have for
(33:19):
operators who want to adopt AI, but maybe they feel overwhelmed?
Yeah, that, that's a great question.
I think you have to start now where you're at right now and
you have to do something now. I don't think you should wait
any longer. You know, you don't, you don't
need to do AI overnight. You just need to pick one pain
point. Maybe it's, you know, a so
follow up or tour no shows or you don't maybe content that's
(33:42):
taking too long to write and then solve that with AI.
You know, then I think the biggest mistake for us is
waiting for perfection. You know, the winners are the
ones that get in. They get in early, they test,
they tweak, and they learn. But we don't want to go through
this alone. You know, you need something
that will help you with your industry and it'll help replace
(34:03):
that. AI isn't here to replace your
team. It's here to really make them
unstoppable and give them an advantage, as we say, an
advantage. So I think you need to start
right now, do something now, andthen grow as if your progress
change. You can always add more to it,
but you've got to do something now.
You can't wait, It's too late. Absolutely agree with that.
(34:25):
And if there was one small change that they can make today
that would have a big impact, what do you think that would be?
Turn your first tour follow up into automation right now.
So mostly sit too long. You know, before anyone
responds, you know that lead, that silence.
It costs you tours, it costs youtrust and move in.
So setting up a smart follow up you'll like and we send a text,
(34:48):
an e-mail, a short video, whatever that fires immediately
when someone inquires. That's the best place to
started. I think I talked about the five
minute rule earlier. That rule says if you follow up
with a lead within 5 minutes, waiting 30 minutes versus 30
minutes, if you follow up with alead within 5 minutes, you'll
increase your conversion by 100 X, about 100 * 100 X.
(35:11):
So that alone can double your engagement.
So I think that's where you start.
It's really a small change, but it tells the leads, hey, we see
you, we're on it. And that momentum, I believe is
everything for them because that's their first reaction with
you. Their first interaction with you
is getting that lead or getting a response from you.
Yeah, I would agree with that. That's a great place to start,
(35:34):
Mona. Thank you so much for such a
great conversation. I hope I know why I don't hope.
I know our audience is going to get a lot out of this, and it's
going to spark a lot of ideas around automation and how to
integrate AI from the start. Where can our audience go to
learn more about Advantage Anywhere or connect with you?
Yeah. Thank you so much.
I really appreciate getting to know you, getting to understand
(35:54):
a little bit about what you guysdo.
I'd love to chat with anyone. You can reach us at
advantageanywhere.com. We have all kinds of things on
there. If you want to dive deeper, you
can just subscribe to our YouTube channel.
It's called Advantage anywhere. It's really about behind the
scenes walkthroughs, automation tips, you know, and interviews
Someone Like You guys. So if you want to reach out to
(36:17):
me, oh, we're also doing a 2025 benchmark report.
It is almost available. It's packed with really national
data and automation insights. If you want that, just reach out
to me. You can reach me at
mona@advantageanywhere.com or you can reach me at LinkedIn
under Mona Hilton. Thank you so much.
I'd love to connect with whatever your team is working on
(36:39):
and it'd be my honor. Awesome.
Thanks, Mona. All right, well, as we wrap up
today's episode, I want to thankMona Hilton for joining us and
sharing our vision for a smarter, more human centered
future and senior living. From automation behind the
scenes to AI powered personalization and scalable
workflows, Mona reminds us that technology doesn't have to
replace connection. It can amplify it.
(37:00):
So if you want to connect with Mona or explore Advantage
anywhere, check out the links inthe show notes.
As always, we hope you found this episode insightful and
inspiring. And don't forget to subscribe to
our podcast on your favorite platforms.
Stay tuned for more episodes where we continue to explore the
evolving world of senior care, covering everything from
innovative care models and leadership strategies to family
support technology in the futureof aging.
(37:22):
And also remember that From Leads to Leases isn't just an
audio experience. We're also a video podcast, so
you can subscribe to our YouTubeor Spotify channels to watch the
full episodes. I'm Jerry Vincey, CEO of CCR
growth. Thank you for joining us on From
Leads to Leases and please like,subscribe and share this episode
with anyone who might find it useful.
Until next time, leave with strategy and with heart.
(37:42):
Chat with you again soon. Thanks, Mona.
Bye bye. Thanks for listening to From
Leads to Leases. Are you ready to fill your rooms
faster and increase occupancy? Visit ccrgrowth.com to learn
about our Senior Growth Innovation Suite, a proven
system to generate highly qualified tour ready leads,
accelerate sales and reduce acquisition costs.
(38:03):
Let's connect and turn your challenges into opportunities.
See you next time.
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