We’re talking about Time and the Pre-Need Seller.

Recently I received several emails with the same topic asking about “systems”.  “I need systems, I need to systematize.  How do I systematize?”

First, we all have a system.  Yes, you have a system.  It might be a crappy system but you have a system. 

Heck, many of us reinvent our system every day and spend lots and lots of time starting from scratch.

Think about this for a moment.  How many times do you look at the same leads?  Let me give you an analogy.

Recently the Admin Department gave me a hard time because I didn’t follow the “system” they had in place for moving paper.

This really got me thinking.

Let’s imagine for a moment that you turn in an agreement.  It doesn’t matter what’s on the agreement just pick something.  The agreement can be a new funeral or cemetery contract.

Once that contract is turned into Admin what happens?  Perhaps the Admin folks make the appropriate copy, log in the agreement, input into the computer software system, pass the paper down the line to another individual who pulls files or makes up files for the new agreement. 

As the contract works its way further down the Admin line someone else handles the agreement and new folder housing it and new block cards/index cards.

Next, someone checks the entire paperwork to make sure the thing is correct and the computer software program is finalized and your contract is now in the system.

The above Admin description is a system. Now for the analogy.

What do you do with your new leads?

Let me tell you what a fellow pre-need seller does with his leads.  The reason I know this is I asked him.  This particular individual seller has been around for 15 plus years.  I asked him about his system for tracking leads.

Actually, he doesn’t really have much of a system however he does have the same pattern he uses to deal with a lead.

He calls them to follow-up for an appointment and based on what they say either calls again later or moves on to the next lead.  He sort of gets a “feeling” of whether the lead is a sale or not.

The reason I mention him is because most pre-need sellers have a similar system.  Very short term and usually give up after a day or two or week or two or month or two.  He’ll generally keep a note taped to his shelf above the desk.

By the way, once he gets over that feeling of purchasing or not he tosses the note in the trash.

This is his system.

I believe it is a crappy system but it is a system.

I’d also argue his system is time inefficient and not well thought out.  It relies on the “porcupine” theory of they’re ready to buy now.

Does this system sound familiar to you?

Do you have a similar system of keeping up (or not) with your leads?

Next time we’ll talk about Time in a different way.

We’re going to go through a sample system you can use or tweak to your liking.

We’re going to talk about how to “systematize” your leads so you spend little time looking at notes taped to your desk and everything becomes “automated” like my Admin story.

The real goal is to put a lead in your “system” and let the “system” take over.

Once you do this you can “time-block” your schedule and become more efficient with your time because without an efficient “system” you’re wasting more time and creating frustration for you.

Happy Selling!

David…

P.S. The follow-up snail-mail package was sent Monday to all the folks requesting the newsletter. I’ve also made the information available through a special page for my friends outside the U.S.

P.P.S. One challenge I have for all of you is to be observant of what other industries do to prospect, advertise, sales process, sales letters, newsletter, and on.

Don’t be bashful about requesting information from other companies to study how they follow-up and their techniques.

All the biggest ideas come from outside the industry you work in. If you continually look at what every body else does inside your industry you’ll continue to get the same results they are getting.

If we get lousy results and everyone else gets lousy results we seem to feel better. If you want so-so results this website isn’t for you.

And to all the nice folks emailing me to tell me that we’ve never done it this way I say; So?

We seem to have this aversion to change. We’d rather look at what every body else does for the answers.

The truth about it is hardly anyone in the industry has the answers. They’ll tell you the same thing. Do this and Do that just like everyone else. Why is this? Well, they tell you, “that’s the way we’ve always done it.”

All I can tell you is to start running away from those industry norm mediocre people. Once you’re convinced that the industry norm is the only way to do it you’re finished.

Kaput!

So, for Pete’s sake, or somebody’s sake invest in your SELF TODAY!

Quit fiddle farting around and just do it.

There are no excuses.

You determine your SUCCESS! You!

Get off the pot and dive into this material.

Get a package from “my latest offerings” go cheap if you need to.

Get going!

Go on.

You can subscribe at the top right of the page and you can invest in yourself by clicking here. …

If you’re new and need some help with scripts & presentation materials click here

If you’d like to learn more about sales letters manual click here

If you’re cheap, broke, poor, or just want to get started you can get my “starter Package” designed to help you tap into your spheres of influences and still keep them as friends. It is an outstanding way to launch your sales, get referrals, learn your presentation, all while in front of the friendliest crowd on the planet. Click here for the starter package.

There are two or three Enchilada Packages still available. Click here to get everything I’ve got including the kitchen sink.

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All you can do is utilize what time you have.

Rich or poor, smart or dumb, we’re all blessed with the same amount of time each and every day.

No more and no less.

The question isn’t managing but doing. What are you doing with your time?

Though there are 10 Principles to Time Management and we’re going to dive into those principles I thought we’d look at time a little different than the average seller of pre-arrangements.

The Bible is made up of 66 individual books.

Did you know you can read the entire bible in one year investing only 15 – 20 minutes a day?

What if you utilized an hour a day to improve your SELF?

Who knows what might happen.

I’m not talking about sound-bytes. I’m talking about a solid hour a day, every day, including weekends and holidays.

Dedicate one hour a day to your improvement and before you know it a year will have passed and you could have read the bible 4 times.

The more you read the more you get the concepts down.

The more you listen while reading the deeper you’ll get the concepts down.

We learn through repetition.

Forget about the sound-bytes and ABL (always be learning).

Doctors never stop learning and you probably would not want them to stop. Why should you stop learning?

When it comes to time we all seem to view our project as HUGE!  A HUGE time consuming event but it’s not if you’ll re-think how you view time from management to utilization.

We’ll be discussing time from a “discipline” and “utilization” point of view.

One final note:

Although this site is dedicated to the individual “Pre-Need Seller” the same principles will apply to any business. There are Realtors, Car Sellers, Self-Employed, Funeral Home Owners, Cemetery Owners, Supervisors, General Mangers, and a whole bunch more who keep up with this site.

The goal of the site has always been to equip the seller of pre-arrangements to be successful doubling sales in the next 6 months. That is, to sell more in the next 6 months than previous 12.

So, you can certainly extrapolate the information and use it in your industry but the focus and dedication of the site will stay the same.

Feel free to share this website with a friend.

Happy Selling!

David…

P.S. The follow-up snail-mail package was sent yesterday to all the folks requesting the newsletter. I’ve also made the information available through a special page for my friends outside the U.S.

P.P.S.  One challenge I have for all of you is to be observant of what other industries do to prospect, advertise, sales process, sales letters, newsletter, and on.

Don’t be bashful about requesting information from other companies to study how they follow-up and their techniques.

All the biggest ideas come from outside the industry you work in. If you continually look at what every body else does inside your industry you’ll continue to get the same results they are getting.

If we get lousy results and everyone else gets lousy results we seem to feel better. If you want so-so results this website isn’t for you.

And to all the nice folks emailing me to tell me that we’ve never done it this way I say; So?

We seem to have this aversion to change.  We’d rather look at what every body else does for the answers.

The truth about it is hardly anyone in the industry has the answers.  They’ll tell you the same thing.  Do this and Do that just like everyone else.  Why is this?  Well, they tell you, “that’s the way we’ve always done it.”

All I can tell you is to start running away from those industry norm mediocre people.  Once you’re convinced that the industry norm is the only way to do it you’re finished.

Kaput!

So, for Pete’s sake, or somebody’s sake invest in your SELF TODAY! 

Quit fiddle farting around and just do it.

There are no excuses.

You determine your SUCCESS! You!

Get off the pot and dive into this material.

Get a package from “my latest offerings” go cheap if you need to.

Get going!

Go on.

You can subscribe at the top right of the page and you can invest in yourself by clicking here. …

If you’re new and need some help with scripts & presentation materials click here

If you’d like to learn more about sales letters manual click here

If you’re cheap, broke, poor, or just want to get started you can get my “starter Package” designed to help you tap into your spheres of influences and still keep them as friends.  It is an outstanding way to launch your sales, get referrals, learn your presentation, all while in front of the friendliest crowd on the planet.  Click here for the starter package.

There are two or three Enchilada Packages still available.  Click here to get everything I’ve got including the kitchen sink.

….

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We’ve got 24 hours to work with…nothing more, nothing less.

You can get more done by 8 am if you’ll do a few things no one else will do.

I can’t remember who did the time study on CEOs in the U.S. I believe the finding was the average CEO achieved about 20 minutes productive time a day.

20 minutes!

How much of your time is spent on productive things in one day?

Let me define “productive” time for the pre-need seller.

Prospecting and Presenting is productive time.

Anything else done is un-productive.

The other day I turned in a bunch of business and spent at least an hour working on all of the paperwork.

Guess what. I consider that time un-productive.

The productive time was spent in front of my Prospects and getting the sale.

The question for you; how much time are you spending on productive time?

If you were to make one presentation per day what would happen if you were to make two presentations a day?

Two presentations would equal a doubling of your productive time.

If you spend one hour a day prospecting what would happen if you doubled it?

Well, here’s today’s tip:

Double the time you spend
Prospecting and Presenting
and you’ll increase your
sales a bunch!

It’s that simple

If you do nothing else just a little more time focused on productivity will increase your sales and trips to the bank. 

It’s that simple.

Now, all you have to do is tweak your schedule accordingly to double your sales in the next six months.

Happy Selling!

David…

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 How to Get 12 Hours Out of An 8 Hour Day!

     But first I’ll cover a couple of principles you should be shooting for in your sales career.  The first principle is to work smarter, not harder.  The smarter you work the less you work and the less time you’ll spend at the office wasting time and energy on unproductive things.

There’s never enough time to do it right the first time but
there always seem to be enough time to do it right the second time!

     The second principle is to kill two birds with one stone.  Anytime you make a Presentation and Prospect at the same time you are killing two birds with one stone and saving precious time. 

     Time is an interesting topic.  In our society today, we seem to always tell everyone that we have no time.  We are so busy we barely have time to get things done let alone setting aside time to relax, think, plan, and enjoy the good things in life.

     The third principle is the concept of working to live, not living to work.  It’s imperative to have balance in you life.  If you are spending 80 hours a week at work all the time pay special attention to my time management for memorial counselors’ tips. 

How to work less and make more money with a time management machine

     There are three basic techniques to time management:

• Time blocking
• Working smarter
• Discipline

  Time blocking is a very powerful technique that will create a lot of down time for you, consistency in your scheduling, and force you to be even more productive.

  When I first started in the cemetery business I set aside two hours for prospecting via phone every work day, same time, same phone, same office, with a cup of coffee.

  Once I began to ask for referrals during my presentation I virtually saved two hours a day as it was no longer necessary to cold call again.  That’s the power of mining your natural market!

Work smart save time, work less & play with more time

  Another example of blocking time is to always schedule your presentations during the same block of time daily.  If you need to work during the evening, schedule a block of time one evening weekly, same times, to make your evening presentations.

  I knew a guy that worked in family service and followed up with his families’ one of two evenings during the week.  It was either Tuesday or Thursday evening.  He would block a four hour time frame, four in the afternoon to eight at night every week.  He never deviated from that schedule.

  The result is he trained his customers to expect those times and days.

  It is similar to a Doctor who blocks out certain afternoons for patients.

  The example to copy is a Doctor.  Almost any Doctor blocks time to meet patients.  He/She never deviates from the schedule.  Blocking time saves enormous amounts of time for you and makes you even more efficient.  Doctors typically block different days and different times for new patients verse current patients.

  We’ve learned to expect time blocking at the Doctor’s office.  Most people think of a Doctor as having little time.  We’ve been trained well to believe this.  You are no different then a Doctor.

  A side benefit to blocking time is people appreciate it.  If people know you have a set schedule and do not deviate from it they will respect you even more.  The opposite is also true.  The more available you are the less you will be appreciated.

Play a little hard to get…

  Availability turns you into a commodity; a very bad thing to do.  Commodity products are thought of, in the mind of customers, as cheap and price is the major issue.  Never ever turn you or your product into a commodity.  Add value when ever you can, block your schedule and don’t be very assessable.

  Discipline is critical.  You can drag a horse to water but you can’t make the dumb horse drink the water!  You’ve got to dig deep down inside to find that spark of what makes you tick.  Take what makes you tick and turn it into discipline to do what needs to be done to be successful.  The tips in this course will guide your direction and help you achieve the outcome you are after.

  In other words, I can drag you to the watering hole but I can’t make you drink the water!  It requires discipline.  I can’t make you do it.  You have to figure out what makes you “do it”. 

Use a checklist to block time

  I remember a former Sales Associate I worked with who had a checklist of 5 things he did every day no matter how late he stayed in the office to accomplish his list.

  He followed up with three at-need families every day, sent a handful of letters to referred prospects, phoned for an hour, and walked the cemetery grounds (he would write down a few names of markers that didn’t have the spouses name.  He’d look up the information in the vault and contact the spouse about completing the cemetery portion and or pre-need funeral).

  Block your time like a Doctor, work smarter and more efficiently, and find the discipline necessary to get it done.

Happy Selling!

David…

P.S.  Invest in your SELF.  If you  don’t no one else will.  They can’t take your education and experience.  Those are the two things that make you marketable and in demand.  Get on over to the catalog page and invest in your SELF today!

The Catalog Page

P.P.S.  If you aren’t a subscriber yet, why the heck not?  Cruise over to the top right side of this page and punch in your name and email.  I’ll send you some specific strategies to launch you to the top and best of all it’s FREE…

Random Thoughts On Increasing Pre-Need Sales

These are little things that may not seem like much but add up quickly to huge results.

Here’s an interesting ditty on time I haven’t spoken about much and I’m just as guilty as you are by not using this strategy.

A study done years ago looked at how much “productive” time CEO(s) accomplished per day working.

I’m going by memory but I believe it was less than 30 minutes a day of productive time.

One thing I know for certain, for the Pre-Need Seller, there are numerous time wasting things occurring every single day.  Before long YOU begin to wonder why your sales suck!

My Number One Strategy is:

LIMIT ACCESS TO YOU

To really appreciate this strategy you’ve got to take a long hard look at how much of your time (by the minute) is being stolen through little things. 

For example: 

1. If you are going to go to lunch make your lunch partner come to you.  You’ll be able to continue working and won’t waste 10 – 30 minutes in the restaurant waiting on your lunch partner.
2. Quit checking your email every 5-minutes.  Check it once, twice, three times a day at predetermined times.
3. Forget the impromptu meetings.  Meetings are out.  Meetings are the most unproductive time wasters on the planet.
4. Don’t wast lots of time with Prospects who are less than a 6 on a scale of 1 – 10.  Spend time with the 7 – 10’s on the scale.  Use your assistant (if you have one) or marketing to warm them up before you spend lots of wasted time on the phone or in-person meetings.
5. People need to complain about how hard it is to get to you.  Make it tough.  Quit wasting time by focusing on the little things that steal your time away.  Eliminating just a couple of these time wasters will add to your productive time and SALES.  By the way, sales is where it’s at.  These time wasting things take away from your presentation/close, follow-up, stay-in-touch, and other productive endeavors that ultimately make you money.  Stay focused! 

Finally, I’d say to use TIME BLOCKING to help you create a schedule you can keep.  Also, use your TO DO LIST and make sure you’re crossing off things you’ve got to do daily.  I like to use a simple yellow legal sized pad.  Without organization there is chaos (as my former teacher used to say).  I’ve added: 

Without organization there is chaos

and TIME WASTED

and NO SALES!

Top Producers are way more productive with time.  Just adding 30 minutes to an hour of productive time will increase your sales dramatically.

My Number Two Strategy to Increase sales:

The COPY STRATEGY

We’ll talk more about this one next time.

Happy Selling!

David

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For most of us selling pre-need this time of year poses plenty of problems.  If you’ve already hit your goals for the year and heading off to a warm spot for the next couple of weeks disregard this post.

For everyone else working at the cemetery you’ll soon discover plenty of folks visiting graves of loved ones.

This poses a unique opportunity.

Work the grounds. 

Some call it fishing the grounds.

With lots and lots of people on the property you can easily strike up conversations.  As you do be ready for complaints ‘cause you’ll get plenty.  BUT, complaints are a good thing.  I’ve been working on the cemetery grounds for just over a week and have had huge success.

If I can do it, you can do it.

Roughly One in Three will want to do something.  Maybe another grave space, maybe a bench, a new marker….Something.  That something can be pre-need funeral.

Whatever it is…IT’S BUSINESS!

For the next two weeks it will be difficult to prospect because everyone (including you) will be thinking HOLIDAYS!

So, if you aren’t where you want to be get out onto the grounds and start talking to people.  You’ll soon discover fishing in a lake full of interested people will go along way to catching some fish (sales).

Happy Selling!

David

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