Grow Your Occupancy

In this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast, Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder, is joined by Austin Blilie, COO, and Tommy Tyler, Director of Sales, Marketing & Development at American Baptist Homes of the Midwest—an organization with nearly a century of service in senior living.

Austin and Tommy unpack how a mission-driven, nonprofit provider is successfully navigating today’s rapidly evolving senior living landscape.

From shifting prospect behaviors and rising acuity levels to the lasting impact of COVID-19, they share what today’s residents and families expect—and how communities must adapt to meet them where they are.

You’ll learn:

- How digital transformation has reshaped the buyer journey (and why prospects are more informed than ever)

- Why speed to the lead is now a non-negotiable competitive advantage

- The shift from traditional tours to needs-based, consultative selling

- How occupancy gains in 2025 were achieved through intentional sales training and process improvements

- The evolving role of technology, home care, and aging-in-place strategies

- How nonprofit, faith-based organizations can differentiate through mission, reinvestment, and trust

This episode is packed with practical insights for sales directors, executive directors, and marketing leaders looking to increase occupancy, improve conversion, and stay competitive in a changing market.

If you’re still relying on outdated sales approaches—or responding to leads “when you get to it”—this conversation is your wake-up call.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, and Lori Vernier, Senior Sales Strategist, continue their conversation about the real-world sales behaviors that drive occupancy growth in senior living communities.

Building on insights from the previous episode, Julie and Lori explore the common gaps they see when analyzing sales data across communities—from follow-up timelines that stretch too long, to missed opportunities to invite prospects to tour. Lori shares practical coaching insights from her work with sales directors, including a recent case where small adjustments in the sales process and and database management helped a community dramatically increase move-ins.

They also discuss how sales teams can better analyze lead sources, protect their “selling zone” time, and turn their CRM database into their most valuable asset. Along the way, Lori shares simple but powerful habits that every sales professional can implement immediately—like asking more questions, closing to the next step, and tightening the timeline between prospect interactions.

If you’re a senior living sales director, executive director, or regional sales leader, this episode offers practical strategies you can implement right away to increase tours, strengthen relationships, and convert more prospects into residents.

In this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast, host Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, sits down with Lori Vernier, Senior Sales Strategist at Grow Your Occupancy, for an in-depth conversation about what the data inside your CRM is really telling you about your senior living sales process.

Lori is a master of strategy based on data analytics. She spends time in all areas of senior living sales and brings a unique perspective into the common gaps and how best to fill them. She works closely with communities across the country through market analyses, mystery shops, coaching, and sales strategy development. Drawing from her experience evaluating hundreds of sales teams and databases, she shares how to identify the most important indicators of sales performance—and where many communities unknowingly lose opportunities.

Together, Julie and Lori unpack the key metrics that tell the story of your sales funnel, including connections, tours, and conversions. Lori explains why tours are the backbone of the senior living sales process, how weak connection rates can stall momentum before it even begins, and why the tour experience itself is often the biggest missed opportunity.

They also discuss common CRM pitfalls, including gaps in follow-up, failure to close to the next step, and missed discovery insights that can derail the customer journey. Lori shares real examples from recent community visits and mystery shops, highlighting how small changes in engagement, planning, and team communication can dramatically improve outcomes.

This episode is packed with practical insights for sales leaders and operators who want to better understand their data, strengthen their sales process, and ultimately create more opportunities for move-ins.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where Julie and Lori continue the conversation and dive deeper into what mystery shops reveal about competitive positioning, sales skills, and market opportunities.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Tiffany Cooey, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at QSL Management, about the strong focus on the customer experience at their senior living communities.

From the moment a prospect walks into one of their communities, the emphasis is on not only a luxury senior living experience, but also on creating a feeling of home.

Listen to find out how, through training and reinforcement, the entire team at each QSLM community delivers on the resident experience.

In this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast, Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, welcomes Tiffany Cobern, President of Paragon Senior Living, for an insightful conversation about launching a senior living management company rooted in authenticity, relationships, and operational excellence.

Tiffany shares the story behind Paragon Senior Living, crediting building trust with residents, team members, and the local market for Paragon’s early wins, and how the organization is positioning itself for strategic growth across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states.

Julie and Tiffany explore the non-negotiables of successful senior living sales, including authentic human connection, leadership-driven outreach, and the critical role every department plays in supporting occupancy and revenue. Tiffany also discusses why sales directors must think like business leaders—not just tacticians—and how technology and AI are reshaping the future of senior living sales.

This episode is a must-listen for senior living operators, sales leaders, and executives who want to build a culture where relationships come first, leadership is visible, and growth is built on trust, authenticity, and operational alignment.

Grow Your Occupancy is privy to a lot of data focused on senior living sales. After close analysis, we have some insights and conclusions that you'll find enlightening and helpful.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, shares her conclusions about the senior living sales stats and data collected throughout the course of 2025.

In a special "sales intervention" episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast, Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, shares 4 senior living sales DON'Ts!

These simple best practices and practical tips from the sales specialists at Grow Your Occupancycan lead to much better outcomes.

Thanks Lori Vernier, Senior Sales Strategist, for compiling this helpful list.

In the latest in our popular Senior Living Sales Speak! series, Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with some of the top performing sales directors from Primrose Retirement Communities.

Robert Brown, Megan Frazer, Samantha Marshall, and Stephanie Walton share their secrets to achieving and exceeding sales and occupancy goals, best practices, what they're doing that gets results (hint: they're spending a large portion of their time doing outreach), and more.

Grow Your Occupancy is pleased to welcome Nick Begane to our team as Director of Business Development!

Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder, talks with Nick about his senior living industry journey from sales director up through regional sales director, what he's learned in his career, and what led him to join the Grow team.

In this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast, Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, dives more deeply into the topic of closing from her book "(Re)Solving the Occupancy Puzzle: A Senior Living Regional, Sales & Executive Director Playbook."

Closing is a skill set that requires frequent review and practice. Whether you're working on your own closing skills or coaching others on closing, Julie covers questions to ask prospects for better discussions, addressing objections, and responding to those not ready yet.

Thank you Yardi for generously sponsoring this episode.