as seen in:

Creating the Preneed Experience

The following article was first published in the December 2016 issue of the American Funeral Director magazine, and is reprinted with permission.

Reprinted from American Funeral Director Magazine, December 2016, with permission of Kates-Boylston Publications.To subscribe to American Funeral Director visit www.americanfuneraldirector.com.

Reprinted from American Funeral Director Magazine, December 2016, with permission of Kates-Boylston Publications.To subscribe to American Funeral Director visit www.americanfuneraldirector.com.

I could almost hear the passengersaround me as they contemplatedtheir impending deaths. Thoughtsand questions streaming throughtheir minds, like:

• This sucks. I’m too young to die.• I almost made it to Sicily – I

truly hate flying.• I hope my kids know where I

stashed my cash.• Who will make my funeral

arrangements?• Does my family even have a clue

what I want for my funeral?• I love my family and this is going

to be so hard on them.• Why me? Why not my ex?• I wish I could hug my kids one

last time.And my personal favorite: This is

better than any roller coaster I haveever been on!

If anything, this type of experienceputs most people in the frame ofmind where they are thinking aboutdeath. We want the consumer to

think this way when discussing pre-arranging one’s funeral. Intelligent,competent, truthful funeral directorsuse psychology smartly and respect-fully to engage consumers in what wefuneral directors like to call, “thetalk.”

In researching the psychology ofthe consumer, I came across an on-line “Marketing for Dummies CheatSheet” from the popular “For Dum-mies – Wiley Brand” series, and Ihave modified it to suit our industry.

On a recent nine-hour flight I was writing down a few ideas for futurearticles when the plane hit some major turbulence, triggering people toscream, curse and say a few prayers. Strangely, I giggled and thought,“Wow, what a great premise for another preneed article.”

Seven Ways to Create PerfectPreneed Sales Experiences.

1. Never miss an opportunity totalk about the inevitable. It doesn’tmatter where you are, finding an op-portunity to talk about taking care ofone’s final wishes is essential. Createthese opportunities in all that you do.Possibly, after a plane full of peoplehave had the crap scared out ofthem. Is it inappropriate to lean tothe person by the window and casu-ally say, “Wow that really makes methink about making sure my finalarrangements are complete.” No itisn’t inappropriate. You should neverbe afraid to bring up the topic. It isfar more easy to talk about it beforerather than after.

2. Spend at least 10 minutes a day

talking/listening to people about tak-ing care of their final arrangements.So many funeral directors don’t dothis routinely and then complain thatthey don’t have enough familieswanting to prearrange their funerals.Selling is 60 percent listening and 40percent talking. Your goal is to figureout how you can help these families,which is truly hard to do when yourmouth is open.

3. Know what you want to get outof discussing preneed before you actu-ally sit down with the family to makea prearrangement. It is easy to losefocus and forget the purpose of whyyou are sitting down with these fami-lies. It isn’t about you. It is about cre-ating an environment that is safe totalk about one’s death. Remember tokeep the conversations simple, clearand always on point. It is OK to allowfamilies to share memories, just re-member to bring them back to thepurpose of your meeting.

4. Know what makes you specialto consumers, so that you can remindthem of your strengths in every pre-need marketing communication.Families come to you specifically be-cause they know they can trust you.Find that one (or several) specificthing(s) that make you a step abovethe rest. Sometimes it is helpful tosend out a questionnaire as a followup to the families that you serve tofind out exactly what brought themto your funeral home instead of thecompetition down the street. It is important to know what you haveover your competition to make sureyou stay that extra step ahead.

5. Experiment. Great businessesare built on finding what works bestfor them and their consumers. Theseconclusions are arrived at throughtrial and error. In our industry, itpays to be unique. More than any-thing, families that we meet knowthat death is a depressing experience.They want to avoid the stress it im-parts on their loved ones. It is impor-tant to create comfort for ourconsumers when prearranging theirfinal arrangement by presenting themwith unique options that are asunique as they are. The key is to de-sign a funeral that everyone is com-

fortable with. Too often those mak-ing the arrangements forget that theyare making these arrangements tosave those left behind from the bur-den of making hard decisions. A sim-ple reminder that it “may not beabout them” but rather their familymay be helpful.

6. Sort out the people you knowwouldn’t want to talk about prear-ranging their funeral. You know, theones that are convinced they will liveforever. These individuals also thinkthat their families know what to doand honestly feel they just want to bewrapped in a blanket and dropped ina hole in the backyard. I really hadsomeone say that to me. Rule ofthumb: These people may not beyour target audience, however, withcertain outreach programs, they maybe reached. Remember Rule 5 wherewe talked about experimenting.

7. Keep it simple – do not makeyour prearrangement marketing plantoo complicated. How many timeshave you heard, “the simpler the bet-ter?” Now you have heard it again.You want to aim for a single-pagepreneed marketing plan. This way,you may actually implement it. Youdon’t need to hit people over the headwith fancy mailers telling them abouthow you are the world’s greatest pre-need guru. Instead, offer communityoutreach programs where the discus-sion of prearranging one’s funeral ispart of that program. Above all, sharea part of yourself that will make thoseattending want to reach out to you.

Now I wouldn’t suggest flying morefrequently hoping for turbulence toget people in the mood to talk aboutprearranging their funerals. I wouldsuggest finding what works best foryou. As funeral directors, I find ourhearts are always in the right placewhen it comes to discussing pre-arrangements. We see the benefits dayin and day out along with the addedstress to those families that are lostwhen trying to make arrangements,especially for someone who never feltthe need to talk about them. The fu-ture of our industry and its impor-tance to our society as a whole may insome ways depend on the future pre-need experiences we create. •

PreneedBy Ann Marie St. George

ExperienceCreating

the PreneedCreating

the Preneed

Experience

Reprinted from American Funeral Director Magazine, December 2016, with permission of Kates-Boylston Publications.To subscribe to American Funeral Director visit www.americanfuneraldirector.com.

Reprinted from American Funeral Director Magazine, December 2016, with permission of Kates-Boylston Publications.To subscribe to American Funeral Director visit www.americanfuneraldirector.com.

I could almost hear the passengersaround me as they contemplatedtheir impending deaths. Thoughtsand questions streaming throughtheir minds, like:

• This sucks. I’m too young to die.• I almost made it to Sicily – I

truly hate flying.• I hope my kids know where I

stashed my cash.• Who will make my funeral

arrangements?• Does my family even have a clue

what I want for my funeral?• I love my family and this is going

to be so hard on them.• Why me? Why not my ex?• I wish I could hug my kids one

last time.And my personal favorite: This is

better than any roller coaster I haveever been on!

If anything, this type of experienceputs most people in the frame ofmind where they are thinking aboutdeath. We want the consumer to

think this way when discussing pre-arranging one’s funeral. Intelligent,competent, truthful funeral directorsuse psychology smartly and respect-fully to engage consumers in what wefuneral directors like to call, “thetalk.”

In researching the psychology ofthe consumer, I came across an on-line “Marketing for Dummies CheatSheet” from the popular “For Dum-mies – Wiley Brand” series, and Ihave modified it to suit our industry.

On a recent nine-hour flight I was writing down a few ideas for futurearticles when the plane hit some major turbulence, triggering people toscream, curse and say a few prayers. Strangely, I giggled and thought,“Wow, what a great premise for another preneed article.”

Seven Ways to Create PerfectPreneed Sales Experiences.

1. Never miss an opportunity totalk about the inevitable. It doesn’tmatter where you are, finding an op-portunity to talk about taking care ofone’s final wishes is essential. Createthese opportunities in all that you do.Possibly, after a plane full of peoplehave had the crap scared out ofthem. Is it inappropriate to lean tothe person by the window and casu-ally say, “Wow that really makes methink about making sure my finalarrangements are complete.” No itisn’t inappropriate. You should neverbe afraid to bring up the topic. It isfar more easy to talk about it beforerather than after.

2. Spend at least 10 minutes a day

talking/listening to people about tak-ing care of their final arrangements.So many funeral directors don’t dothis routinely and then complain thatthey don’t have enough familieswanting to prearrange their funerals.Selling is 60 percent listening and 40percent talking. Your goal is to figureout how you can help these families,which is truly hard to do when yourmouth is open.

3. Know what you want to get outof discussing preneed before you actu-ally sit down with the family to makea prearrangement. It is easy to losefocus and forget the purpose of whyyou are sitting down with these fami-lies. It isn’t about you. It is about cre-ating an environment that is safe totalk about one’s death. Remember tokeep the conversations simple, clearand always on point. It is OK to allowfamilies to share memories, just re-member to bring them back to thepurpose of your meeting.

4. Know what makes you specialto consumers, so that you can remindthem of your strengths in every pre-need marketing communication.Families come to you specifically be-cause they know they can trust you.Find that one (or several) specificthing(s) that make you a step abovethe rest. Sometimes it is helpful tosend out a questionnaire as a followup to the families that you serve tofind out exactly what brought themto your funeral home instead of thecompetition down the street. It is important to know what you haveover your competition to make sureyou stay that extra step ahead.

5. Experiment. Great businessesare built on finding what works bestfor them and their consumers. Theseconclusions are arrived at throughtrial and error. In our industry, itpays to be unique. More than any-thing, families that we meet knowthat death is a depressing experience.They want to avoid the stress it im-parts on their loved ones. It is impor-tant to create comfort for ourconsumers when prearranging theirfinal arrangement by presenting themwith unique options that are asunique as they are. The key is to de-sign a funeral that everyone is com-

fortable with. Too often those mak-ing the arrangements forget that theyare making these arrangements tosave those left behind from the bur-den of making hard decisions. A sim-ple reminder that it “may not beabout them” but rather their familymay be helpful.

6. Sort out the people you knowwouldn’t want to talk about prear-ranging their funeral. You know, theones that are convinced they will liveforever. These individuals also thinkthat their families know what to doand honestly feel they just want to bewrapped in a blanket and dropped ina hole in the backyard. I really hadsomeone say that to me. Rule ofthumb: These people may not beyour target audience, however, withcertain outreach programs, they maybe reached. Remember Rule 5 wherewe talked about experimenting.

7. Keep it simple – do not makeyour prearrangement marketing plantoo complicated. How many timeshave you heard, “the simpler the bet-ter?” Now you have heard it again.You want to aim for a single-pagepreneed marketing plan. This way,you may actually implement it. Youdon’t need to hit people over the headwith fancy mailers telling them abouthow you are the world’s greatest pre-need guru. Instead, offer communityoutreach programs where the discus-sion of prearranging one’s funeral ispart of that program. Above all, sharea part of yourself that will make thoseattending want to reach out to you.

Now I wouldn’t suggest flying morefrequently hoping for turbulence toget people in the mood to talk aboutprearranging their funerals. I wouldsuggest finding what works best foryou. As funeral directors, I find ourhearts are always in the right placewhen it comes to discussing pre-arrangements. We see the benefits dayin and day out along with the addedstress to those families that are lostwhen trying to make arrangements,especially for someone who never feltthe need to talk about them. The fu-ture of our industry and its impor-tance to our society as a whole may insome ways depend on the future pre-need experiences we create. •

PreneedBy Ann Marie St. George

ExperienceCreating

the PreneedCreating

the Preneed

Experience