How does a retirement communities’s offerings stack up against competitors?
Confero’s competitive analysis via phone shops show opportunities and challenges.
Challenge:
A leading developer of retirement communities, offering independent living, assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing services, wanted to understand how their offerings stacked up against competitors. They sought to determine if pricing for similar room sizes and services was comparable. With an additional goal of learning what incentives competitors were offering, and the levels of care provided by rival organizations.
Approach:
To address the challenge, Confero leveraged its expertise in phone mystery shopping and competitive intelligence gathering. The team developed a thorough approach for conducting phone assessments from 2019-2024. Shoppers called competitors, asking detailed questions about specific services (such as assisted living, skilled nursing, or memory care). Additionally, they requested that informational materials be sent by email or mail to confirm the details provided over the phone.
Solution:
Confero developed a tailored program to ensure that the appropriate local competitors were assessed across each of the company’s regions. The team carefully selected top-rated phone shoppers from its network of independent contractors. Then, provided them with detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to gather information about competitors’ retirement services. The instructions outlined the exact questions to ask during the calls and included guidance on how to probe for more details when necessary. Shoppers were given a scenario to follow, such as pretending to be the adult child of an aging parent. To help them understand the process, Confero included a sample recorded call for reference. After the data was collected, a Confero client services manager was available to address any additional client questions. Also, we were able to conduct follow-up calls to communities if required.
Results:
Confero’s proven phone mystery shopping process provided a consistent approach across all calls, delivering accurate and reliable data on competitor offerings. This enabled the company to effectively compare competitors’ services and make informed adjustments to their pricing and selling strategies.
To learn more about competitive analysis via phone shops and onsite mystery shops – Shop the Competition! or 25 Reasons for Companies to Gather Intelligence.
