September 2020

Page A6 SEPTEMBER 2020 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A By Christopher Kuhnen There’s More To It... Advance Funeral Planning My telephone started ringing off the hook the first week of June. Pre-need sales agents were calling me complaining and in a panic about having to work remotely with their clients. The COVID-19 pandemic had really thrown them for a loop. They were having an extremely difficult and challeng- ing time adjusting to the “new normal” of how to consum- mate sales these days. Sales made via a teleconference, e-mail, telephone or whatever the newest on-line sales platform being hawked these days is, are how pre-need contract business will be conducted for the foreseeable future. No use complaining about it. It is time to make the necessary adjustments and get our mindset right. Mindset being the key ingredient! There is one quality every successful pre-need agent shares. It is their overall mindset for success. I have not met one yet who spends their time focusing on what they do not have… but rather on what they do have. As hard as you work to see results, you should be working equally as hard to stay posi- tive and focused on the task at hand. That task is “making pre-need sales”. Here are a few tips to help you. Stay Away from Negative People and Negative Thoughts It is difficult to be positive and stay focused on what you should, when you are surrounded by those who constant- ly preach the “glass if half empty and falling”. Complain- ers and energy drainers have no place in your life right now. Stay away from them or cut them out of your daily presence altogether. Surround yourself with “CAN DO” people with “CAN DO” attitudes. Stop Talking and “Just Do It” Too many pre-need sales agents constantly talk about what they are going to do instead of doing it. Stop talking and get started doing something meaningful, proactive, and posi- tive. When you begin to succeed, you will not have to tell anyone about it. People tend to hear about your success from others when you begin to achieve it. Change your Surroundings Find the hot spots (not COVID-19 related!) where suc- cesses are taking place and begin to make yourself present in those places. Success will gravitate to you because of your encouraging surroundings. Turn Off your Email, Social Media and Text Notifications By turning off your email completely you can give your full fo- cus and attention to your sales success. You can check your email twice a day if you want to, but do not be a slave to your e-mail. You can live without the serotonin drip of being mentioned on Twitter or tagged on Facebook. All those things will be waiting for you later, after you have attended to your work. Get Them to Tell Their Stories Your first objective in any pre-need sales call (in person or work- ing remotely) should not be to tell any of your stories or jump right into your sales presentation. It should be to get your sales prospect to tell you their stories. If you do not hear their stories first, how will you know how you can best meet their needs? Getting your sales prospect to talk is easy. Getting them to tell you their unique and personal stories requires a little more finesse. And you should want them to tell you stories not just talk, and for many of the same reasons why you should be tell- ing stories to them: • It will help you relax and listen better • It will help you build a better relationship with them • It will help you better remember what they say, plus • When the story they tell is about the fear they are facing in purchasing a pre-need plan from you, you have a better idea of the best way to allay their fears and help them buy what they desire with ease, confidence and trust. Here are five tactics to get your sales prospects to really “open up” and tell their stories: 1. Shut up and listen! That is probably the most obvious but under- utilized tactic to get stories out of prospects. Human beings ab- hor silence in a conversation like nature abhors a vacuum. We are desperate to fill the void with something. So, if you can resist the temptation for that something to be your voice, you have a near certain chance of that something being the prospects voice. 2. Ask open-ended questions instead of closed-ended questions. When attempting to get someone to truly open up and talk with you, please do not ask any question that requires just a few words response or that is just what you will get. 3. Ask about specific events in time. For example, “Tell me all about the last funeral service you attended.” You see how it would be impossible to answer this question without telling a story? 4. Use “problem prompts”. That means, ask about specific things your prospect does not like concerning the overall funeral ser- vice process. For instance, “Have you ever noticed that most funeral services all seem to be the same? Why is that? Listen as your prospect is likely to launch into a story about the last sev- eral services they attended and how everyone and everything was the same. Now they have told you what they do not like. What’s left is likely what they do want for their final remem- brance service. Pick it up from there and head them down the sales closing road they just laid out for you to follow. 5. If all else fails, tell your stories first. If you want to get prospects to tell personal stories about where they grew up, you tell a personal story about where you grew up. If you want them to tell a story about the last family member or friend of theirs that died, you tell a story about the last time someone you loved or knew passed away and how it made you feel. You know this works because it works on you. When people tell you a story, the most likely thing that is running through your head is “Hey, something like that happened to me once,” and now you can’t wait to tell them about it. Just remember, when the prospect interrupts and starts tell- ing you their story, refer to tactic #1 - Shut up and listen. All your sales prospects (100%) will tell you exactly how and what they want to purchase from you. You must know how to ask the right questions, in the right manner, to get them to un- consciously release this vital information to you. Once released, you simply restate back to them, what they just shared with you, and be prepared to close the deal and walk out with a check. It is not hard, and it is not a trick, sneaky or underhand- ed. Remember, people love to buy, they just hate to be sold. Allow them to buy in the manner that is most comfortable for them. If you ask them, they will tell you. By taking these steps you can shift (and improve) your mindset. You will often find a positive, refreshed mindset will lead to increased energy, productivity, and sales success! Christopher Kuhnen of Edgewood, Kentucky has been actively en- gaged in funeral service for over 34 years. As an insider into excel- lence, he is a trustworthy advisor to many funeral home and industry professionals. Kuhnen provides regular comprehensive consultation and support and additionally trains and bolsters leading death care professionals concerning profitability, management, pre-need sales and marketing, family service follow-up, and much more. Over the course of his professional career, he has presented nu- merous continuing educational seminars and workshops (on sales, marketing, pre-need, public relations, etc.) to a variety of national, state, and regional funeral associations. He is on the forefront of the industry and enjoys sharing his knowledge with others. Kuh- nen is a Kentucky Licensed Funeral Director, Life Insurance Agent, and member in good standing with the Funeral Directors Associa- tion of Kentucky. Additionally, he is a Certified Marketing Special- ist, as bestowed by the National Marketing Academy and a Certi- fied Funeral Celebrant as bestowed by the distinguished Insight Institute. He can be reached at cpkuhnen@gmail.com. FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS www.nomispublications.com Monthly Columns online at Get Your Mind Right! mymortuarycooler.com Are you state compliant? Amish Urn Shop Human Pet Large Animal amishurnshop.com 314-308-3205 Handmade by Skilled Amish Craftsmen DOVER,DE— In response to families’ need for time- ly information and acces- sible service during the COVID-19 health crisis, Delaware-based Evan W. Smith Funeral Services has unveiled a new website that is loaded with free resourc- es. The family-owned com- pany, which was founded in 2009 and serves clients from its Dover and Wilmington locations, has also added several new capabilities to its long list of services. More than just a new web- site, www.ewsmithfs.com is loaded with free resources and takes the CDC’s rec- ommendations for tech- nology to connect virtual- ly with family and friends during the grieving process to a whole new level with their online Tribute Wall and more. New features and capabili- ties of the site include: Vir- tual Funeral & Cremation Evan W. Smith Funeral Services responds to Community Needs amid COVID-19 with New Website Planning & Selections; Live Streaming/Webcasting & Recordings; Drive-by View- ing Window (Wilmington location); Personalization Products&LifeTributeVid- eos; Veteran Salute Program; Employee Benefit/Commu- nity Partner Discounts; Free Resource Guides (grief sup- port, selections guide, survi- vor’s guide); Video Library; Tribute Wall (share a mem- ory online, send condolenc- es to the family, light a can- dle, send flowers); as well as a Blog containing articles of grief support, healing and inspiration. Evan W. Smith Funeral Services has decades of ex- perience in caring for fam- ilies throughout Delaware and from all cultural back- grounds and diverse walks of life. The company pos- sesses specialized expertise in serving the African Amer- ican, Latino, and veteran communities. “We are pleased to offer these expanded services dur- ing this challenging time and we hope families gain comfort from them,” stated company founder and own- er Evan W. Smith. “We’re here for every member of the community and our staff remains focused on fol- lowing superior safety prac- tices while providing the same dignified service for which we are renowned.”