Written by Thomas M. Folkert
There are scores of successful career professionals that work in the funeral pre-planning field. In my opinion, one of the most successful, highly creative and industry renowned individuals is Mr. Thomas M. Folkert. Tom has been Vice President of Advance Planning at Horan & McConaty Funeral Service in Denver, CO since 2013. Tom has built a winning team of advance planning professionals who have more than doubled their sales production during this time. Previously, he was a consultant in advance planning with various national marketing organizations. Tom can be reached at 303-745-1771 x230 or tfolkert@horancares.com.
A successful pre-need program is built on finding the right people; however, what does the right person look like? Your goal is to hire people who can sell and will stay with you.
Look for qualified people. Qualified people are people who will be able to sell. Having lost a spouse, a child, or another loved one doesn’t automatically qualify them to sell. I subject all applicants to a personality profile which gauges their ability to be successful. There are several of these assessments available.
Look for people who are honest. If there is a red flag in the person’s past, please be careful. Past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior. Be sure to ask for and speak to references on everyone hired, regardless of how well you think you know them.
Look for people who are trainable. I tend not to poach my competitors for pre-need sales people. I find it preferable to hire people who don’t have preconceived ideas of what sales programs should look like, and who are willing to learn to do things “our way.”
Look for people who practice good habits. Good habits are indicators of what work habits will be like. If they are late for the interview or have the time wrong, scratch them off your list. If they come in smelling of cigarette smoke, scratch them off your list.
Look for people who are connected. People who have community connections will better be able to cultivate their own leads and help build your business. I am interested in people who have a faith connection, are active in veteran’s groups, or are in civic clubs and organizations.
Look for people who are ready to work. The politically incorrect way to say this is, look for people who are hungry. People who desire to make money are much more willing to get after it, work nights and weekends, do their prospecting, spend time on the phone, and are willing to ask for the sale.
Look for happy people. If people aren’t happy before you hire them, they won’t be happy after you hire them. Positive attitudes mean a lot.
These all sound like obvious things to consider, but often we fall into the trap of hiring someone’s brother-in-law, or our pastor’s wife who needs a job, or another funeral home employee who is failing in their current assignment. Stick with hiring ideals like these and you will build a winning team. Looking for more ideas? Feel free to contact me any time!