So I am kinda the defacto IT guy around the firm I work for. Pretty much means I am the one that is supposed to keep the "network" up and runnin. This entitlement also allows me to be the guy that sees most of the e-mail before anyone else and the one that sets the filters to keep the gawdamn spam at bay. Whilst being sick to death of the indidious spam one day, I hit a wall. I got one that just made me mad. So, instead of simply blocking and and filtering, I replied. The subsequent transmissions are posted below. I know, I know, you've read it all here before, but let's file this under "be careful who you might be offending, they could have something to teach you" file.
Hello-
I would like to personally invite you and your entire sales team to my latest seminar, Advanced Funeral Selling Skills: Understanding Buyer Behavior being held Tuesday, September 20, 2005, at Flanner & Buchanan’s world-famous Community Life Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The Advanced Funeral Selling Skills seminar is a culmination of my many years as a professional sales trainer and organization development consultant working with various types of sales and customer service organizations….large and small. It has helped thousands of salespeople around the world increase their income and reach their greatest potential! Now, I have custom-tailored the seminar to funeral service based on my recent years working with funeral service professionals from around the globe as leader of the FCS Worldwide organization. In many years of selling, this system has had an incredibly dramatic effect on my own sales performance…that’s why I now want to teach it to you and your sales team!
By attending Advanced Funeral Selling Skills, you will learn:
- How to truly understand what makes buyers actually make decisions to buy
- How to determine who within a family will be the decision-maker
- How to tailor your presentation to the buying style of the buyer
- The secrets to dealing with difficult family members
- How to increase your close rate to 70%+ (7 out of 10 buyers)
- How to boost your average revenue per sale
- How to deliver top-notch service for the families you serve leading to referrals and future sales
Plus, you’ll get to tour Flanner & Buchanan’s showcase funeral home/cemetery combo property, The Community Life Center, and also get an opportunity to network and share knowledge with funeral sales professionals from around the U.S. - and the world.
Advanced Funeral Selling Skills will be the best investment you have ever made in yourself and your sales team’s performance…I guarantee it! In fact, I’ll put my money where my mouth is and offer you a 100% money-back guarantee. If you don’t agree after attending, I’ll give you 100% of your money back…no questions asked!
REGISTER TODAY- and get a special early-bird discount price that’s $100 USD off the regular admission price. Call 1-800-260-1545 inside the U.S., 301-287-2684 outside the U.S., or visit www.fcsworldwide.com/events.html to download a registration form.
I sincerely look forward to seeing you in Indianapolis for this fun, educational event!
Jeffrey L. Kraft
maybe someday you will realize that funerals are not about selling. at that point, you might begin to understand something. stop sending us e-mail you troll.
I appreciate your feedback. I certainly don't intend to be offensive. I am well aware that funeral service is not about sales in general...especially in the at-need setting...but when you get right down to it every funeral home must sell to survive in today's marketplace...especially on the pre-need side. The latter is purely the intent of this program. I hope you understand the distinction. Maybe you have a better suggestion on how I might present this program? Should I change the name to something more pre-need-oriented? I would welcome your thoughts and additional feedback. P.S. I'm 6'2" thus have never been called a "troll" before. LOL
Jeffrey
All that we have to "sell", at any time - preneed or at-need, is our service and our compassion, the rest is incidental and a matter of convenience. The "things" we sell are the last thing anyone would want to buy and the last thing I would ever want to sell. You talk about "close rates" and how to "boost your average revenue per sale" - these things are, in my mind, CRIMINAL! we are talking about people in their most vulnerable state of mind. They will purchase from us what they need at the time, based on professional,compassionate guidance. You sound like you are trying to sell them a car. And maybe you are, your program might be ALL about sellling pre-need insurance to people, that's fine if you think that will help. In this state, you must be a licensed mortician to sell funeral insurance, ( no that that stops non-mortician insurance agents from selling these pre-need plans illegally).
I wonder, are you a mortician? Have you been in someone's home at 3:30 in the morning when their loved one has just died in the night? Have you placed the body of two-year old into a casket while the parents hold on to each other and know deeply that their lives will never be "ok" again? Neither of these scenarios will be made any better with brilliant sales techniques before the death occurs or when the death occurs, or after the death occurs.
I apologize for calling you a troll, but understand, what I think you are doing is detrimental to the true necessity of today's funeral director. We need people that understand what we are doing on a level WAY past how to sell. We need people to understand that it is much bigger and much more important than that. We need people that know love and compassion for our fellow human being, not how to sell caskets, (or insurance, or burial plots, or limosines, etc.).
-A. Mortician
I agree with much of what you have said on your points and have taken a couple of immediate actions based on your feedback. 1) I changed the name of the seminar to Advanced Preneed Selling Skills and 2) I took out the language about boosting average revenue per sale. You're right, we're not selling cars and again, in the at-need setting, we're truly NOT selling. You're right...that would border on criminal and most certainly is distasteful if nothing else. But, on the other hand, pre-need sales will determine the survival of many firms in the years to come...regardless of whether we all like it or not. Who knows...maybe this particular seminar is ahead of it's time and some funeral home owners aren't able to get their heads around that idea yet, but I'd rather be ahead of the curve as a businessman than behind it...wouldn't you? I find that interest in the concept truly depends on the market one is in and how much competition they face on a daily basis on the preneed side. On the at-need side, I find the vast majority of firms advertise price. If that's not trying to SELL, I don't know what is! Don't car sales organizations advertise PRICE??? No, I am not a mortician though I have many well-respected expert mortician's that advise me on the strategy for our educational programs. They all agree that funeral home owners MUST begin changing their headset on many of the traditional ways we look at the business, including sales of preneed for business survival. I must tell you that I reviewed your web site in detail and feel the need to compliment you on the way you present your firm...very professional. Again, I also sincerely appreciate your opinions, thoughts and feedback. Your blog is interesting too. I would love for you to write some of your thoughts about funeral service and the funeral service profession for American Funeral Director magazine...would you consider contributing an article? Meanwhile, you are only one of two funeral home owners that emailed me with comments about this particular seminar out of 16,000 that the message went to so I've taken your feedback into consideration and made the changes I mentioned so it's more clear what the content contains and now we'll see how it goes. Thanks again for your feedback and for being an upstanding profession citizen. Please keep sharing your thoughts and ideas with me. P.S. Apology accepted on the "troll" innuendo :-)
All the best,
Jeffrey
Needles to say, I was intrigued. Who was this guy to ask me to write for American Funeral Director? I subsequently went to the magazine rack here at work and picked up the latest issue. Jeffrey "the troll" Kraft is the publisher. Oops. I told him I would love to write and atricle for him. He has not gotten back to me yet.
