From “Talking the Talk”

“Not understanding the psychology—when you just look for the gimmicks, the angles, one-liners and cliches—it’s a terrible start in this business. You can go slow, but you need to be a student of the psychology of aging, not the marketing of aging, but the psychology of aging, to start having an understanding.

From that, in your engagement with your clients, you start to see some of the things you’re reading about. Then you know “oh, that’s what’s going on in that situation. Oh, there’s where all that ambivalence is coming from,” and then be able to start to track it as opposed to learning just pure sales technique, [you] start to understand the psychology of the people you’re trying to provide a service for, and how that understanding can help you create more value for that client.

Even more important, that teaches you the art of relationships, because at the end of the day, that’s what this whole business is about. Whether you’re seen as a health care provider, a senior housing professional or as a financial advisor, the whole structure of that is built on effective relationships. To do that, you really need to have some insight into who [older adults] are psychologically.”