This Month…

IS BEING SUCCESSFUL CONTAGIOUS?

I’ve had plenty of emails concerning the newsletter and I’ve been preaching how you can use it as a tool for more sales.

BUT, I realize there are company rules you must abide by so remember these words of wisdom…

THERE IS A WAY

Don’t give up and say you can’t do it, you most certainly can do it…even if you’ve got to let the boss review the newsletter before it goes out.

THERE IS A WAY

I play the guitar. I used to get annoyed when follow guitar players would ask me about the technique used.

Well, no one noticed except my fellow expertly trained guitar players, and as you can imagine, it bothered me a little.

But, it didn’t slow me down.

I began telling new guitar players interested in learning to play to remember my technique isn’t considered “proper”.

You see, I found “a way” of playing.

The same applies to you. There is an industry way of doing things. That industry way is considered the “proper” way of doing everything from A to Z.

This industry norm is endorsed by the “gurus” and repeated by the Monkeys all the way down the food chain.

I say the same thing to those folks who tell me I’m not doing it the “proper” way.

You have a choice to make. You can go thru life doing things the industry “proper” way producing the same mediocre results everyone else is getting….or you can find “a way” of doing things that produces results above the rest.

It’s really YOU and YOUr mindset.

So, to the emailer who said it can’t be done I say it can be done.

THERE IS A WAY

To everyone else I say to start learning “a way” of doing things.

Go through every page of this website, re-read, re-listen, and execute the strategies I recommend NOW.

Massive Action NOW will net you results far above the rest of the mediocre pack.

Remember, the Monkey see, Monkey do is a sure fire way to mediocre results.

Get out of your comfort zone and don’t worry about what everyone else thinks.  They’re jealous.  And believe me the more successful you become the more jealous everyone becomes.

They’ll see what you’re doing but refuse to go outside the industry norms because they don’t believe…

THERE IS A WAY

Before you send me an email whining are you spending 5 minutes on your goals and 1 hour a day improving you?

We learn through repetition.

So get moving and start learning because….

THERE IS A WAY

Happy Selling!

David…

P.S. For Pete’s sake if you aren’t investing in your SELF what the heck’s the problem?  Jeez!  Get moving and start doing something for your SELF.  If you don’t NO ONE will do it for you.   Invest in YOU.

Check out MY LATEST OFFERINGS or get the WHOLE ENCHILADA package of everything I’ve got including the kitchen sink.

There’s a few copies left if you are a subscriber. If you aren’t subscribing opt-in on the top right of this page and I’ll send you the WHOLE ENCHILADA link in the “welcome” email.

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“I hear he has true grit.”
–Kim Darby, from the movie True Grit.

There’s no other way to describe the pre-need seller than fortitude and determination…grit.

You gotta dig deep down inside to discover the YOU that’s wanting to succeed.

The YOU that’s this close to breaking out and selling like there’s no tomorrow.

I received an email from a new seller of pre-arrangements.  He was telling me about recent weather and how he was hampered with his canvassing of neighborhoods.

Here’s my reply:

Incorporate more than one main prospecting strategy.  Do several things because you never know when one strategy quits working.  When you are depending on ONE THING you risk a lot.  It is similar to putting all your eggs in one basket.  Drop the basket and you’ve lost it all.  But, if you’ve got 12 baskets you cut your losses and can continue to sell.

Don’t just door-knock or wait for walk-in business or work the files or mailings.  Don’t depend on any one thing.  Do several things.  Do several things at the same time.

Massive action

“Never let your head hang down. 
Never give up and sit down and grieve. 

Find another way.  And don’t pray when it
rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.” 
–Leroy “Satchel” Paige

Don’t stair-step.  Do several things at the same time.  There is no ladder to success.  Make it a one step jump to the top.

And always be appreciative of what you have.

“Never give up… and never surrender.” 
–Jason Nesmith, from the movie, Galaxy Quest

Now, go out there and just do it!

Happy Selling

David…

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I often say many industry norms are difficult to change.  Industry innovation comes from outside the industry.

For years surgeons continued to operate on stomach ulcers even though medications had been developed to stop the bleeding.

We all resist change.

For the most part we prefer routine and comfort over blazing new trails.

Pioneers have the arrows in their backs.

I’m not an advocator of blazing new trails.  I’d much rather find a formula that exists or duplicate a successful system.

“When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.”  –Benjamin Franklin

“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”  –Benjamin Franklin

“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else”  –Benjamin Franklin

“It’s a heck-of-a-lot easier to tweak an existing system than to start from scratch.”  –David Dassow

I had a conversation with a fellow pre-need seller the other day, as he was in awe of the number one producer in his category.

I remember saying to him, “he doesn’t know what he can’t do.”

It’s difficult to un-learn things.

For the most part it’s holding on to what doesn’t work that holds us back.

A tennis pro friend of mine used to teach.  I worked with him for 20 minutes one time and improved my game ten fold.

I asked him why people would take lessons.

He told me that when he teaches tennis he doesn’t really teach people how to play because they already know how to play.

His goal is to eliminate one or two bad habits. 

For me it was a slight change in my grip.  A very slight change. 

The bottom line is change is a good thing but tweaking small changes is a better thing.

I once heard someone, I think it was General Schwarzkpf say; he’d much rather make a hundred decisions quickly and be wrong 80% of the time but change quickly than make a hand full of decisions slowly and be right 80% of the time.  You’ve got to be able to adapt quickly.

If you’ve been planning that postcard mailing, door-knocking, letters, phoning, follow-up, do it all quickly.  Implement massive action NOW!

Don’t stair-step-it.  Implement several things at the same time.

Better to be wrong on a handful of things quickly than to be right on one or two that takes you forever to implement.  Implement a bunch of things and keep the stuff that works and dump the stuff that doesn’t work.  But, do it quickly.

“Plans are nothing; planning is everything.”  –Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.”  –Dwight D. Eisenhower

“If a problem cannot be solved, enlarge it.”  –Dwight D. Eisenhower

Make lots of little changes and don’t worry about what anyone tells you. 

“If you don’t know what you can’t do there’s nothing you can’t do.”

Happy Selling!

David…

P.S.  There’s a few packages left “Whole Enchilada” of everything I’ve got including the kitchen sink.  It’s available to all subscribers at a One-time-Offer.

If you aren’t a subscriber head to the top right of the page and subscribe now.

If you are a subscriber check my latest email with the special top secret “whole enchilada” link.

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“You can’t show up for practice and neglect the little things, like taping yourself, watching the film, or having your mind on some other business. 

“You’ve got to come in here and get your work done, focusing on what you have to do.

“It’s hard to succeed in this league without having a passion for it.”

From the book;

Winning the NFL Way
Leadership Lessons from Football’s Top  Head Coaches
by Bob LaMonte

Sellers of pre-arrangements must produce.  If you don’t produce you’ll either starve or be out of work. 

So, how do you produce?

It starts with a passion for what you do.  This is why I tell you to share your story of why you got into the business. 

Telling your Prospects why you got into the business is powerful and inspires passion.

You can learn a lot from different sources of materials.  Obviously, the catalog page on this website has specific strategies for you to succeed developed by someone who actually sells pre-arrangements.

In addition you can discover new ideas and strategies from outside the industry that you can adapt.

I’ve been recommending the above book all this week because the pre-need seller and NFL football coaches have a lot in common.

Your challenge is to get the book and read it.  As you read it apply the strategies to what you do.  Incorporate the strategy of 5/60 and spend 5 minutes a day on your goals and 60 minutes improving yourself.

Happy Selling!

David

P.S.  If you aren’t a subscriber yet, well, why not?  Go to the top of the page and subcribe today.  I’ll send you a “welcome” email with the latest FREE subscriber newsletter and a link to the Whole Enchilada (everything I’ve got including the kitchen sink).

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This question came in. 

If you preach two-step prospecting why are you dropping by people’s house unannounced?

Good question…

First, if you’ve been a reader of this site for any length of time you know I encourage you to do a two-step-approach to prospecting.

The prospects I’ve been dropping in on have already done business with the cemetery.   Also, I sent a postcard mailing to reintroduce me and the cemetery before I dropped in.

It is a two-step approach using in-person and a mailing strategy.  We’ve already done business with these prospects and have a connection.

Which, by the way, is the best way to do business.  Most pre-need sellers completely forget about doing business with existing customers.  This is by far the easiest way to do business because your customer has already made a commitment and has a connection with your company.

But, of all the last century style prospecting out there I happen to like door-knocking.

Mind you, I don’t love it, but I do like it.

Nothing beats meeting a prospect face to face to determine if they are a lead.

A lead is someone who doesn’t own arrangements but open to discussing it.

See my starter package for more on tapping into your warm market of leads.

Getting rejected at the door from a prospect who isn’t interested is not near as frustrating as it is on the phone.

Most people have a door-mat that says “welcome” and most will be nice to you at the front door even if they are not interested.

But, another reason why I like door-knocking is ‘birds of a feather flock together’.

When you combine strategies you develop a synergy that makes your prospecting even more powerful.

Let’s take our current series on “drop-bys”.

Check out part one here

Check out part two here

Remember the idea of combining strategies?  I had researched people we’ve done business with but forgot about some 15 – 45 years later.

I further went through those files to locate likely traditional casket burials.

I used the on-line white pages to match the prospects who were still living in the same homes years later (stability) and made sure the ages were within my range.

I then map-qwested those individuals and grouped them together to make it easier and efficient to drop-by.

I even sent those prospects a postcard mailing a week before I began my drop-by test.

Now, I could incorporate another strategy of door-knocking the neighborhood where the drop-bys are grouped and the odds are those people would be interested in traditional burial.

Of course, the above statement may or may not be true.  The only way to find out is to test it.

However, if true, I have a new lead source that is within my target market.

The point is; I’ve now combined yet another prospecting strategy with the previous ones.

And, I could also send a postcard mailing to the three or four block radius of my drop-bys before I begin the experiment.

This is how we intertwine strategies of prospecting.

For some of you this might be a little higher level for others you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

So, if you’re brand new to this site check out the catalog page for starter stuff.

If you’ve been around awhile look for my combined packages of more in depth prospecting strategies.

Finally, if you are in-house sales think about how you can incorporate some of these strategies to what you already do.

It’s a heck-of-a-lot easier to add something to an existing strategy than to start from scratch.

Let’s say you’re in-house sales and will be following up on an at-need family in their home.

Why not send a postcard mailing to a three block radius of your family’s home and door-knock those houses when you go to meet your family?

Further, why not research a three block radius of homes (near your at-need follow-up home) that your cemetery/funeral home has already done business with and include those folks for drop-bys when you go to meet your at-need family?

The more you combine these prospecting strategies the more likely you are to create a snowball effect and bring in even more business in the next 6 months than the last 12.

Happy Selling!

David…

P.S.  Remember, YOU and only YOU make things happen.  No one else will do it for you.  So, why not arm your self with the latest in proven strategies and techniques designed to make you a very successful 6-figure-income-pre-need-seller?

Click here for the catalog page

P.P.S.  If you haven’t already become a subscriber why the heck not?  It’s FREE and I’ll send you a series of emails designed to equip you with the latest high level pre-need selling on the planet.

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            There once was a Memorial Pre-Need Sales Counselor who had managed to secure 4 appointments for presentations in one day and none of the prospects owned cemetery property or a pre-need funeral and all seemed interested in meeting with him.

            Our Pre-Need Memorial Sales Counselor’s name is Ralph.  Ralph felt like he was on a roll.  He had several more appointments for the coming week.

There’s a problem

            Ralph knew he should probably take a look at his presentation but he decided against it because he figured he’d wing-it.

            Ralph did not want to appear push-ie and he figured if he had a conversation with his prospects he could go-with-the-flow and get the sale.

Here’s the analogy:

            The car is packed, you know where you’re going, and you’re ready to go.  You’re taking a trip from __________ to Phoenix Arizona.

            It’s your first cross-country trip and you’re really excited.  The scenery will be lovely and you’re going to enjoy every minute of it.

            A few hours into the trip you need to check the map because you’ve reached your first decision and cannot remember the highway number you’re taking.

            You panic for several moments as you realize you left your map on the kitchen table next to a stack of bills you were going to mail out before you left the house.

            But, you say to your self, the heck with it because I know where I’m going and I don’t need, NO STINKIN’ MAP!

For many of us

            The way we determine our goals is through a Hap hazard, wing-it approach.

            Eventually you determine your hopelessly lost and wondering why you didn’t achieve your goals.

7 Secret Steps to Achieving Your Goals

1.  Is your goal something you really want, or does it just sound good?

            Years ago (when determining my goals) I used to write down how much money I wanted to make.  From that point I’d break it down into average dollars I make from each sale and divide that number to figure how many sales I would need to achieve my goal.

            To make matters worse I spent so little time actually thinking about my goals that the piece of paper I wrote them on went into my desk and was forgotten about.

            Once or twice a year I’d see the goals sheet when I cleaned out my desk.  Occasionally, I’d even glance at the goal sheet just before I buried it in my desk.

How to figure out what you want

            Turn your goal setting into wants, not dreams.  Spend a little extra time and shift your paradigm on setting goals.  For example, instead of figuring out how much money you want to make figure out what it is you want.  Maybe it’s a new car you want? 

            Take out a fresh sheet of paper and describe the perfect car, from the color, to the look, to the smell on the inside. 

To the feel of the…

leather seat, to the speed, comfort, and design, and sound of your car

            The more detailed you make it, the more you’ll be able to visualize yourself owning, operating, and enjoying your new vehicle. 

            Take the same concept of what you want and apply it to a new goal by detailing it, specifically describing your goal on paper.  Once done, read your description of your goal once in the morning and once in the evening.

Tomorrow, part two.

Happy Selling!

David…

P.S.  Get over to the catalog page and invest in your SELF.  No one can tak away your education or experience.  Click here

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