Microsoft Word 2007 ichrie conference Proceedings Final-Final 06-06-07. doc

 
2007 Annual International CHRIE Conference & Exposition 
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Community location. The location of the retirement community was understandably important to residents 
and was discussed in a number of ways including proximity to family, proximity to local shopping, proximity to 
one’s previous home, and fitting in with the greater community or surroundings. 
The Financial Environment
. Aspects that dealt specifically with financial matters were an important 
element of customer satisfaction to all four focus groups. At least five different aspects of the financial environment 
that were key satisfiers/dissatisfiers were identified: financial satisfaction at the point of entry, ongoing financial 
satisfaction, financial satisfaction at departure, overall value for money, and the ability/inability to engage in 
forward planning.
Financial satisfaction at entry. This facet of customer satisfaction is very straightforward: it deals solely 
with whether or not the resident felt that the entry price was fair at the time that they moved in to the community. 
Ongoing financial satisfaction. This facet of customer satisfaction is so labeled because it deals with the 
shared ongoing or recurring costs (i.e. costs for heat, light, power, maintenance, staff, etc.) that it takes to run the 
community (outside of any personal costs such as telephone that are specific to one’s own residence). Discussion 
was focused primarily on both the level of recurrent (i.e. monthly) charges as well as rate of annual increase in the 
recurrent charges (“I’m not happy that my monthly fees go up each year. But as long as they go up in accordance 
with the CPI [i.e. the Consumer Price Index], I’m not going to get upset about it either.”), but there were also 
mentions of miscellaneous costs and as well as benefits.
Financial satisfaction at departure. While the focus groups were made up of current residents of retirement 
communities, there was a fair bit of attention placed on what the costs would be when the resident moved out. This 
was labeled financial satisfaction at departure. It focused mainly on how much capital gain was going to be realized 
upon the re-sale (or re-lease) of the unit, as well as the dollar amount of the deferred management fee (which is 
typically calculated on a set percentage of the selling price times [x] the number of years in residence in the 
community). While both of these aspects were discussed individually, they were also discussed in an interactive 
sense as the net amount available to the resident (or their estate) upon re-sale (or re-lease) is typically based on a 
combination of these factors. 
Overall value for money. While financial satisfaction was discussed at different points in time (as described 
above), a number of residents viewed their financial satisfaction in its totality, which was termed overall value for 
money (“Well, I did my costings before I came in here – electricity, telephone, security, maintenance, gardening, the 
whole bit, and I’m well in front.”). 
Forward planning. Finally, a related but separate aspect of the financial environment was satisfaction 
derived from an ability to forward plan their financial matters. Because residents typically had a good idea of what 
their recurrent charges were going to be, as well as their departure charges, they took comfort in knowing what their 
forecast budget was and that they could live within it.