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.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, recently talked with Jesse Tillman Pitts.

Jesse is not only a Regional Director at Angels Senior Living, but is also Founder of Aravine Consulting, author of "Living With Purpose: The TILLMAN Framework for Activities in Senior Living", and a two-time Latin Grammy nominated drummer and producer.

Jesse talks about the impact of resident engagement programs on occupancy, and shares some data about this area of opportunity in senior living.

You can find Jesse's book in paperback on Amazon: https://a.co/d/8VlVXMi

Thank you Yardi for sponsoring this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Russ Papia, President of Prosper Life Care.

Russ shares his passion for making a positive impact on the lives of his residents and team members and what he did to support a new sales director and leadership team to grow occupancy more than 20 basis points in a year!

Thank you Yardi for sponsoring this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast.