Recipe for Success: Japanese Sweet Potatoes – Interdisciplinary Strategies

This recipe is a blend of Asian and Mediterranean cultures, and the combination is delicious, bringing out the best flavors. The same is true when you combine disciplines in your community. I find when we get too siloed in sales and marketing, we miss some of the notes from our fellow department heads. When was the last time your team met with other department heads to strategize on sales? Getting your department team together can be a great way to round out your marketing plan and help everyone feel part of the solution to drive occupancy.

This process must start with your executive leadership. Spending 90 minutes together each quarter will help your team gain a holistic understanding of what efforts are being made to drive occupancy and build the waiting list. Your team will also get a better view of any obstacles getting in the way.

Your fellow team members will also have the chance to support you with ideas of their own, or ideas that may have worked in other competitors. During one of these meetings for our team, we found one of the best marketing ideas came from our Maintenance Team. 

The Maintenance Manager mentioned that the team already has to drive to the major grocery stores and pharmacies in town – why not make sure we take the bus and be more visible out and about in the community. That sparked a discussion of how we might better get residents involved in community activities.

Your Director of Nursing might be a member of the church you have been trying to get into, your Dining Director probably knows someone at the local chamber. These connections make your job easier and strengthen your team so that everyone is truly part of driving occupancy.

Like combining Japanese sweet potatoes and a Mediterranean sauce – you never know what flavors and benefits could come from this strategy session.