The pressure is on ? no question about it. Marketing directors are under the gun like they haven't been in years ? from a leadership that needs to combat frightening declines in vacancies at senior communities. Traffic is at an all-time low, new residents aren't moving in and some existing residents are moving back in with their adult children, who are suddenly strapped for cash ? and can neither afford to cash in stocks that are trading at incredibly low prices nor sell their homes, which now have historically low values.

So, frankly, I'm seeing a lot of panic. This is an industry that has enjoyed amazing growth until the recession hit ? so it's also an industry that's just not trained to go out and get business in a difficult climate.

This is where doing a well-executed Outreach program can literally work miracles for your community. The main problem when it comes to Outreach is marketing people just don't want to put in the effort ? 90% of the people we train resist doing it. And the crazy thing is, once you get an Outreach program in place, it generates a constant stream of quality referrals ? which is a must in these difficult economic times.

To begin an Outreach program that works, you must first create a ?Circle of Influence?? ? and you do that by first drawing a circle around your community with a radius of 15 to 20 miles. You may need to go wider than that if you live in a more rural area.

Within that circle, you need to identify 10 ? not 5, 7 or 8 ? but 10 - influential people who can refer a consistent quality and quantity of traffic (roughly 2 to 3 referrals a week) to your community. This is the biggest challenge in setting up your Outreach ? determining who has both the volume and the influence to make your ?Top Ten? list.

Is it a Skilled Nursing Facility? A local Geriatric Physician? The Director at a Rehab Center? You're the only one who can identify these key figures. But the faster you do, the sooner you'll be getting a steady stream of referrals. The one thing you do NOT want to do is make a building your referral ? you want a person, not a slab of concrete!

One thing you might want to do, however, is find multiple referral sources inside one building. Say a hospital in your ?circle? has four floors ? there might be one person on each of those floors with different patients who can give you different referrals. In that case, you could get four out of your ten just out of one building ? that's almost half of your goal right there!

When you initially talk to them on the phone, work at making a strong personal connection.

Once you have identified your Top Ten, you must make a point of visiting them at least once every single week! This should be in person and preferably first thing in the morning. These are usually very busy people ? and if you can make contact before their day gets hurried and hectic, you have a better chance of making a genuine connection and having their full attention.

Don't go in cold ? be prepared. Bring in a Weekly Update of what's going on in your community ? what units are available ? what special promotions or events are going on ? and maybe even include a fun puzzle in the update.

Whatever else you do, make the visit personal and build up the relationship! Don't just drop by to leave generic brochures or marketing giveaways like pens with your name on them ? bring them their favorite latte from Starbucks instead!

If you think these people aren't going to want to see you or deal with your referral requests, let me share a big secret ? they, in fact, do.

Growing your ?Top Ten? is like growing a garden. If you tend it regularly and do the necessary work, it will grow and produce like gangbusters. If you don't stay on top of it, you'll find yourself growing more weeds than flowers. A referral has twice the chance of converting to a sale than a walk-in ? and the sale itself is usually a faster, easier process. ?Outreach? is a big part of my ?Work Smart, Not Hard? philosophy ? and it can really pay off for you.

Copyright (c) 2009 Traci Bild