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. …

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….

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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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To accomplish great things, we must not only act,
but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.
–Anatole France

We all live with the objective of being happy;
our lives are all different and yet the same
–Anne Frank

It isn’t where you come from,
it’s where you’re going that counts
–Ella Fitzgerald

If you don’t know where you are going,
you can never get lost.
–Herb Cohen

Some give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; while others,
on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment,
more vigorous efforts than ever before
–Herodotus

Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I’ll give you a man who will make history.
Give me a man with no goals and I’ll give you a stock clerk.
–J. C. Penney

 If you don’t have a goal you’ll never really know if you succeeded.  If you don’t have a goal you’ll live in the moment (and probably the past).  You’ll wonder about here and there. 

Of course, if you don’t have a goal you’ll never worry about missing the mark.  In fact, you won’t need any excuses.  Without goals you live in “today” and pretty soon a  whole lot of todays go by and before you know it TIME has passed you by.

It is the TOP PRODUCERS, the folks that really sell lots of pre-need, that get the job done, who lead, who grow and make an impact….TOP PRODUCERS have GOALS.

OK, so how to start?

Grab a piece of paper and pen and think for several minutes.  After some thought write down 10 things you’d like to happen.  A new home.  The Top Producer in your office.  A new car.  10 Books read.  Write down ten things you’d like to happen.

Now, add a page for each of the ten things you’ve written down.

For each thing you’ve written down write a detailed description.  For example, if it is a new home describe the home in detail.  How many bedrooms, the color of the rooms, the furniture, driveway, backyard, front yard, and neighborhood.

Do the same thing for each goal.  When you’re done you’ll have ten descriptive pages for your goals.

Spend some time studying your goals and prioritize 1 - 10.

Spend 5 minute each and every day on your goals.  Eventually you’ll eternalize and they’ll become part of you.

The entire exercise will take several hours and you may change the priority as the weeks and months go by and maybe even add or tweak your description.  But, no matter, once you’ve written down and described those goals spend 5 minutes each and every day on those goals.

Happy Selling!

David…

…

Time

Many people go through life waiting for circumstances to change before taking action.  Others are waiting for a change to give them enough time.  The reality is there is never enough money or time.  If you will not aggressively pursue your goals now with everything you have (your resources, your energy) you will not achieve success.

I’ve seen sellers of pre-need work less time and make more money than people who work all the time.  I’ve heard more complaining from “in-house” sales people about having bad luck than I’d care to ever hear again.

It really is aggravating to listen to sales people whine because they were unlucky one month while someone else was lucky because a slam-dunk, lay down, sale came walking in the door.

This thinking will hold you back!

In the end if you are in some kind of rotation the luck will even itself out over the course of the year.

YOU make things happen.  It’s all up to you.  This is why your goals and your game plan and execution are so important.

If you’ll spend an hour a day working on your improvement and 5 minutes on your goals you’ll achieve success.

It is that simple.

Use what you have.  Cavett Robert had a talk called: 

“How To Get What Ya Want With What Ya Got.”

It isn’t what you’ve got that determines what you’ll get it is realizing how you use what you’ve got that will get you what you want.

Here’s how to accelerate your progress toward your goals and securing more sales. 

Ask yourself two questions.

Is this use of my time moving me toward a sale (achieving my goals)?

Is the use of my money moving me closer to achieving my goals (toward a sale).

If you’re wasting time you’re wasting money.

Increase the percentage of the time that moves you closer to a sale and decrease the time you spend on things that won’t get you a sale.

I guarantee you’ll move faster and faster toward your sale(s).

Happy Selling!

David…

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