Facility tours take place all across America on a daily basis. Adult children trying to find the best place for their parents, and are looking for that one place that will be the best fit for their loved ones. When you conduct a facility tour, you are generally trying to put your best foot forward. You are trying to fill the needs and address the concerns that are mentioned to you, as you should. But what happens after the tour?

Do you just hope that they will come back happy to be there? Do you wait on a phone call from them? If you really want to get the most out of a tour, you will call those individuals. Obviously, you are not going to call them to ask “are you going to come here?” Start by calling and thanking them for their interest and simply ask if there are any unanswered questions. If they have a question, you then have an idea that they are interested. In the event they do not, ask them how they felt about your facility. If you really want feedback, ask if there was anything that they felt you could have done to provide a more informative tour.

Now let’s suppose that they tell you that they are no longer considering your facility. End of the earth, right? Well, it is if you don’t want to get any better. This is the perfect opportunity to learn and improve. When you hear the bad news, don’t let your feelings get in the way of growth. The best thing you can do is ask why they did not choose your facility, because you are trying to be the best provider you can and you are genuinely interested in their feedback. This is invaluable information. The opposite can be true as well. If you consistently hear the same positive feedback, you can safely assume that is a strength you should emphasize in future tours.

Getting this information is only helpful if you take it to the Administrator and actually put it to good use. I say the Administrator because they are the person who has to power to promote change. I am not advocating that you should change based on every opinion you hear, but an open and honest discussion of the feedback can lead to some positive changes for your building.