As a pre-need sales representative, what time did you make your first sales call today? How about yesterday? Remember, your sales day begins with the first call you make to a prospect. Preparation activity, paperwork, and water cooler talk don't kick off a productive sales day.

  Consider a telephone calling schedule that commits you to making contact with prospects at the first possible moment of the day and carries until your first appointment or a full calendar of future appointments.

  Here are some tips to make you a better, more effective telephone communicator:

1.      Smile and relax. If you’re uptight, nervous or having a bad day it comes through in your tone of voice. Get and keep yourself in a positive, relaxed, casual frame of mind before placing all telephone calls.

2.      Call at optimum times. Don’t make calls before 8:30am. Don’t make calls after 8:00pm unless there is absolutely no other way. Saturday mornings are good calling time between the hours of 8:00am and 1:00pm. Sunday afternoon from 1:00pm to 5:00pm can also be a good time to catch people at home.

3.      Have a good reason for calling. Only call on prospects when you are confident of the line of questioning. The aged line of telling a prospect you’re going to be in their neighborhood later today, visiting someone else that wanted pre-need information, and wanted to drop by is often overused. Nobody “just drops by” these days.

  Stay away from using the outdated script about how you have immediate vital information they need to receive right away. If the information were “that vital” the owner of the funeral home would have already called long before now. In the minds of consumers, unless there was an immediate death in their family, there is no information about funerals that is all that important. They additionally know this: what is a “great deal” or “price offer today” will still be available next week or next month. Savvy consumers know and are on the lookout for anything that sounds like its insincere and disingenuous.

4.      Engage the prospect in a warm-up and directed dialogue. Do a little probing by asking open ended questions that require more than a simple “yes” or “no” answer. The majority of those making phone calls typically don’t do a warm-up and they fail miserably.

5.      If the person you wanted to reach does not answer the telephone, speak with the person who did answer. Everyone is a prospect. Warm-up with them a little before asking to speak with the person you initially attempted to reach.

6.      Keep it simple. After saying “Hello”, plainly state your name and who you represent. Let them know up front there is no emergency (no one has died) and that you want to speak with them for just a few short minutes. Begin your thoughtful line of questioning. Ask them up front, if now is a good time for them to talk. If not, tell them you will call them back later. They will expect you to go away and never call again. If you told them you would call them back, be true to your word. Use short sentences. You don’t need to be longwinded and give the prospect everything they ever wanted to know about pre-need during your conversation. Give them enough to justify them setting an appointment with you.

7.      If the prospect says, “Thank you, I’m not interested,” find out why. This is often a conditioned, knee jerk reaction. Ask them if they have ever inquired about funeral pre-planning before. Do they already have a prearrangement plan on file elsewhere? If Yes, with whom and when was the plan made? Have they experienced a recent death in the family and just can’t discuss pre-planning at this time? Do they think their children will take care of everything? Are they afraid to discuss the subject of their own mortality? Express a genuine interest in learning the prospects real reason(s) for not wanting to receive the information you can provide to them.

8.      Listen carefully. As long as the prospect is talking they will give you insights into what it is they “really” desire to know. Pick up on these subtle clues. Repeatedly remind them that through a face-to-face appointment they can obtain the information they desire. Stress the fact that you are simply sharing information.