Grow Your Occupancy

Hosted by Julie Podewitz

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100

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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About the show

Don‘t sell yourself short. Find ways to optimize sales, improve customer experience, differentiate yourself in a competitive senior living, active adult, 55+ living market. Hear what your prospects, residents, influencers have to say. Learn from sales experts both in and out of the senior living business. Elevate sales processes, shorten sales cycle, become one of the top 10% in a growing industry. With staffing becoming as much of a concern as occupancy, guests who specialize in attracting talent, identifying talent, hiring, onboarding and retention will also be featured. Grow Your Occupancy podcast offers everything from sales coaching, the psychology of sales, the buying cycle, the complexity of the emotional sale, informative discussions, and casual, fun conversations. The senior living and active adult markets continue to explode. Are you ready to GROW?

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60 recent

October 9, 2026Episode 17723 min

Finish 2026 Strong by Building Trust & Strengthening Pipelines: Julie Talks With Allison Matthews

What does it take to build and maintain a senior living sales pipeline that produces results today while creating momentum for the future? In this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast, host Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, welcomes Allison Matthews, Vice President of Strategic Growth at Grow Your Occupancy, for a conversation about relationships, nurturing, outreach, and sustainable sales growth. With more than two decades of experience in senior living, Allison has served in a variety of community, regional, and business development roles. She shares why one of the biggest opportunities for sales teams is learning how to effectively nurture prospects who may not be ready to make a decision today. Julie and Allison discuss the balance between achieving short-term sales goals and staying committed to families throughout their individual journeys. They explore why curiosity, patience, personalization, and consistent follow-up are essential for building the trust that ultimately drives decisions. They also look ahead to Q4 and the holiday season, including the importance of planning for sales coverage, maintaining activity when team members are away, and continuing to nurture prospects so communities enter the new year with momentum. The conversation then turns to outreach and business development, where Allison shares an important principle: bring value before you ask for anything. Successful referral relationships require research, personalization, consistency, and a genuine understanding of what matters to the person or organization you hope to partner with. In this episode, you’ll learn more about: Building a long-term prospect nurturing strategy Balancing immediate sales goals with relationship development Preparing your sales team for Q4 and holiday coverage Creating momentum heading into the new year Developing stronger referral-source relationships Personalizing business development outreach Building trust through consistent, value-driven communication Whether you lead a senior living sales team, work directly with prospects and families, or are responsible for business development and referral relationships, this episode offers practical ideas for creating stronger relationships and a stronger pipeline.

October 1, 2026Episode 17632 min

How Primrose Retirement Communities Built a Sustainable Lead Referral Pipeline

Professional referral sources are one of the most fruitful sources of senior living leads. When things get busy at the community, though, external business development often gets pushed down the list of priorities. In this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast, host Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, welcomes Jessi Weldon, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Primrose Retirement Communities, and Amanda Daughters, Executive Vice President of Operations at Primrose Retirement Communities, for a candid conversation about building an outreach culture that produces measurable results. Jessi and Amanda share how Primrose transformed external business development from an “if I have time” activity into a non-negotiable part of its sales strategy, and why alignment between sales, operations, executive directors, and regional leadership is essential to making it work. Their conversation explores how Primrose establishes outreach expectations, measures face-to-face appointments and referred leads, coaches teams weekly, identifies the right referral partners for individual markets, and helps sales leaders build relationships beyond traditional hospital and healthcare sources. They also discuss why successful outreach can do much more than generate leads, it can strengthen programming, create community partnerships, support current residents, and connect senior living communities more deeply with the markets they serve. The results speak for themselves: referred leads represented about a quarter of Primrose’s leads last year, while nearly half of its move-ins came from referred sources. Julie and Jessi will continue the conversation at the 2026 SMASH Conference in Las Vegas in October during their educational session, “Beyond the Hospital: Diversifying Referral Sources for Sustainable Growth.” For senior living sales leaders, executive directors, operators, and regional teams looking to generate more organic referrals and create a sustainable outreach strategy, this episode offers practical lessons from an organization that has made business development part of its culture.

September 2, 2026Episode 17532 min

The Coaching Mindset That Helps Senior Living Salespeople Grow: Julie Talks With Jeff Gronemeyer

What does great sales coaching really look like, and why is it so different from simply telling someone what to do? In this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast, Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Jeff Gronemeyer, a Regional Director of Sales & Marketing with Charter Senior Living, for a candid conversation about coaching, continuous learning, discovery, and the human side of senior living sales. Jeff shares insights from nearly two decades in senior living, including why coaching should never feel punitive, how leaders can create a culture where learning and improvement are expected, and why the best coaches guide people toward finding answers rather than simply giving them instructions. Julie and Jeff also explore one of the most important—and often misunderstood—sales skills: discovery. Great discovery isn't an interrogation or a checklist of questions to complete. It's an ongoing conversation built on curiosity, listening, connection, and a genuine desire to understand the person behind the prospect. And if Jeff could wave a magic wand and eliminate one common senior living sales misstep? It would be ending an interaction without establishing a legitimate, meaningful next step. From building trust to navigating difficult conversations, this episode is a reminder that becoming great at senior living sales isn't about reaching a finish line. It's about continuing to learn, practice, improve, and show up for the people we serve.

August 26, 2026Episode 17424 min

The Human Side of Senior Living: Sales, Technology & Helping Residents Stay Independent

In this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast, host Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, sits down with Matt Kelley, Regional Vice President of Operations and Business Development with Personic Health, for a wide-ranging conversation about senior living, sales fundamentals, innovation and helping older adults maintain their independence. Matt shares lessons from a career that began in senior living and eventually expanded into home health and mobile wound care. He also recounts a recent eye-opening experience helping a friend’s mother search for an independent living community. She was qualified, ready to move and motivated, yet getting someone to answer the phone, return calls, provide information and consistently follow up proved surprisingly difficult. Julie and Matt discuss why the fundamentals still matter: answering the phone, having backup systems in place, responding quickly, providing useful information and making prospective residents and families feel seen, heard and valued. In a competitive senior living market, great customer service can be one of a community’s most powerful differentiators. The conversation also explores Matt’s work with Elevion Health and an innovative approach to medication adherence and wellness support. Through brief telehealth visits delivered through a resident’s television, clinicians can provide medication reminders, check in on residents, identify potential changes in condition and offer families an additional layer of reassurance and human connection. For independent living operators, solutions like these may also provide another way to differentiate their communities, support residents who need a little extra help and potentially allow some residents to remain independent longer before transitioning to assisted living. Whether you’re a senior living sales professional, executive director, operator or industry leader, this conversation is a reminder that innovation matters, but so do the basics. Like, subscribe and share The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast for more conversations about senior living sales, marketing, operations and occupancy growth.

July 24, 2026Episode 17332 min

Senior Living Sales Specialists Speak! Part 9: Actionable Takeaways You Can Do Now to Get Results

We're back with a new episode of Senior Living Sales Specialists Speak! – our most popular series in The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast. In this practical, idea-packed episode, Julie Podewitz is joined by three accomplished senior living sales professionals: Sharon LaGaipa and Susan Eakin, Sales Specialists with Grow Your Occupancy, and Dan Covert, Sales Specialist at Mustang Creek Estates, for an engaging discussion on the sales strategies that are delivering measurable results right now. Rather than focusing on theory, this episode is packed with actionable techniques that listeners can immediately implement to improve tours, conversions, and move-ins. The panel shares real-world success stories, including generating 20 qualified tours from an existing database of fewer than 200 prospects, leasing a new expansion from 40% to 70% in just a few months, and achieving an impressive 38 move-ins in only 90 days. Along the way, they discuss why meaningful discovery conversations outperform transactional selling, how responsive listening builds trust, why picking up the phone still beats relying on texts and email, and how thoughtful CRM notes and consistent follow-up can unlock hidden opportunities within your existing database. Whether you're a senior living sales counselor, sales director, regional leader, or executive looking to improve occupancy, this episode delivers proven, immediately applicable ideas from professionals who are achieving outstanding results every day. If you're looking for practical takeaways that can help you convert more leads into move-ins, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

July 20, 2026Episode 17213 min

6 Sizzling Summer Sales Strategies to Keep Senior Living Occupancy Strong

Summer doesn't have to mean slower sales. In this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast, Julie Podewitz shares practical, field-tested strategies to help senior living sales teams maintain momentum throughout the busiest vacation season of the year. Julie discusses why consistent sales processes create stability, how purposeful home visits can strengthen relationships with prospective residents, and why now is the perfect time to re-engage cold leads hiding in your CRM. She also explores the power of storytelling in marketing and outreach, offers ideas for creating seasonal outreach campaigns that referral partners will remember, and explains how adding temporary sales support can help communities maintain occupancy while team members are away. Whether you're a sales director, executive director, regional sales leader, or marketing professional, you'll walk away with actionable ideas you can implement immediately to keep your pipeline active, your team focused, and your occupancy goals on track all summer long.

July 6, 2026Episode 17129 min

Breaking Free from Paid Aggregators: How QSL Management Built Sustainable Occupancy Growth

What happens when a senior living operator decides to stop relying on paid aggregators and instead invests in its own sales team, referral relationships, and outreach strategy? In this episode of the Grow Your Occupancy Podcast, Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, sits down with Tiffany Cooey, Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing at QSL Management, to discuss how QSL has dramatically reduced its dependence on paid referral sources while growing occupancy across its expanding portfolio of communities. Tiffany shares the business case behind the initiative and explains how QSL shifted its sales culture from waiting for leads to actively creating them. She outlines the company's 30-60-90-day outreach planning process, how sales teams identify and cultivate high-value referral partners, and why focusing on quality leads consistently outperforms chasing volume. Whether you're a sales leader, executive director, or regional sales executive, this episode offers practical strategies for building a more profitable, sustainable occupancy pipeline, one that your team owns rather than rents.

June 30, 2026Episode 17029 min

Stop Winging It! Why Sales Processes Consistently Drive Senior Living Occupancy

What separates high-performing senior living sales teams from everyone else? According to Cole Boysen, Director of Sales at Senior Services of America, it's not luck, it's process. In this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast, Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, sits down with Cole to discuss how implementing consistent, measurable sales processes creates better coaching, stronger accountability, and more predictable occupancy results. Rather than focusing solely on move-ins, Cole explains why successful sales leaders coach to the behaviors and leading indicators that produce them. Learn how to identify gaps in the sales funnel, improve tour conversion rates, create a culture of lateral accountability across departments, and use data to coach more effectively without creating unnecessary pressure. Whether you're a community Sales Director, Executive Director, or corporate sales leader, this conversation is packed with practical strategies for building a repeatable sales system that delivers long-term success. If you're ready to stop reacting and start leading with intention, this episode offers a roadmap for transforming your sales culture and your occupancy results.

June 26, 2026Episode 16926 min

Words Matter: Reframing Senior Living Through Positive Person-Centered Language Choices

What if one of the most powerful ways to improve senior living isn't a new technology or sales strategy—but simply changing the words we use? In this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast, Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, is joined by Jessi Weldon, Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Primrose Retirement Communities, for an insightful discussion on why words matter. Together, they explore how language influences public perception, resident dignity, organizational culture, and even occupancy. Jessi shares practical examples of outdated industry terminology that should be retired, explains the concept of "reassurance language," and discusses how Primrose is reviewing everything from marketing materials to everyday conversations to ensure their messaging reflects the vibrant lifestyles they provide, not outdated stereotypes about aging. You'll also hear actionable ideas for helping your team embrace person-centered language, building accountability through leadership, engaging staff as culture champions, and creating meaningful habits that improve both the resident and employee experience. Whether you're a sales professional, executive director, marketer, or senior living leader, this conversation offers simple yet impactful strategies that can transform how your organization communicates, and how the public perceives senior living.

April 24, 2026Episode 16828 min

Unlock Health's Larry Williams Shares What's Actually Working in Senior Living Marketing Today

In this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast, Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, chats with Larry Williams, Senior Director of Market Strategy & Growth at Unlock Health, for a candid and highly practical conversation about what’s actually working in senior living marketing today. From the very first search a prospect makes to the final move-in decision, Larry breaks down how communities can better understand and influence the modern customer journey, including how search behavior differs between prospects and their adult children, why industry jargon often misses the mark with prospects, and how local data should drive every marketing decision. The conversation goes deeper than tactics. Larry shares how to prioritize marketing investments when budgets are tight, why paid media (search, social, and programmatic) often delivers the fastest impact, and how communities can avoid the “shotgun approach” by focusing on what truly drives results. Julie and Larry also tackle one of the biggest challenges in senior living today: aligning marketing and sales. They emphasize that leads alone don’t drive occupancy; conversion, follow-up, and a seamless handoff between teams are what ultimately create success. And perhaps most importantly, they highlight a powerful shift happening across the industry: authenticity is winning. Today’s prospects aren’t looking for perfectly polished messaging, they want real stories, real residents, and a genuine sense of community. If you’re looking to sharpen your marketing strategy, improve lead quality, and ultimately drive more move-ins, this episode delivers actionable insights you can put into practice immediately.