The importance of image

Choosing a retirement village ranks as one of the most serious and concerning decisions a senior Australian can make in their lifetime. Their decision hinges on a number of factors – and one of the most important is the public reputation of the village.

The majority of seniors look to enter a Retirement Village within a 10 kilometre radius of their existing residence. The reason for this is simple, they want to make life easier without moving away from everything that they love to call home.

This gives retirement village operators a distinct advantage, as a significant number of their future residents are in-built in their existing locale.

That is, unless they have a public image problem. People love to talk and the first person that a potential resident is going to seek advice from regarding their local retirement village is a friend whom is already living there.

Should a retirement village be mismanaged or not up to the satisfaction standards required or desired by residents, that negative ‘word of mouth’ is likely to spread like ‘wild fire’ through the local senior community.

Reputation management is crucial and can be handled in a number of ways. Primarily, the smooth day-to-day management of a village is one of the most critical aspects of a good village reputation as it is a sure fire way to foster positivity, resident satisfaction and assist in increasing the number of resident referrals for the village.

An effective reputation management strategy will help to build a strong public image for your retirement village within its local community.