Pre-need sales Prospecting vs. Presenting

Pre-need Sales Prospecting vs. Presenting. It's a constant balancing act that every Advance Funeral Planning Professionals must master in order to survive and flourish in the funeral pre-planning profession. Spend too much time in one area and ultimately your income suffers. Every day it's a continuous struggle, pulling you in two diverse directions. What can you do to keep your sales prospecting and sales presenting activities in harmony and balance? Here are some constructive suggestions that will help you.

• Set aside a minimum of two hours each day for pre-need sales prospecting. Preferably in the morning from 8:00am to 10:00am. Do not do and/or be distracted by anything or anyone during this time. Turn off e-mail and your "personal cell phone". They will inevitably be a source of interruption and cause you to not be fully focused and be successful in your sales prospecting efforts.
• Stay focused on reaching and talking with prospects that are likely to grant you a pre-need sales presentation appointment. Use the time wisely, don't waste it by idle chitchat with co-workers, reading the newspaper, surfing the internet, drinking coffee or anything else that keeps you from making telephone calls (where permissible under FTC- Do Not Call regulations) or contact go by's to see your client's in person This specific prospecting time should not be used for written correspondence. There is ample time for all of those activities at a later time.
• All written pre-need correspondence, including any written prospecting letter, follow-up correspondence, thank you notes and/or brochure/pamphlet mailing with reply card should be fulfilled before 8:00am or after 5:00pm. Do not use the 8:00am to 5:00pm time corridor for anything other than. 1. Seeing client's face to face. 2. Attempting to talk with client's (via telephone or through a go by.) in order to set a sales appointment. 3. Returning urgent telephone calls from client's or prospects. 4. Other lead prospecting activities, such as working a booth at a community event, giving speaking engagements, networking, etc.
• Set your first pre-need sales appointment for around 9:30am, when possible. Then schedule additional appointments throughout the day up to 8:00pm in the evening. There is no good reason you should not be able to conduct a minimum of 4 sales presentation appointments between 9:30am and 8:00pm Schedule your sales presentation appointments so you have ample time between appointments to: 1. Drive to your next appointment and arrive on time. 2. Collect your thoughts and be mentally fresh for the next sales presentation 3. Straighten up your presentation materials and get fresh paperwork together. 4. Return any urgent telephone calls and or sales inquiries that need immediate attention.
• Get and stay organized... big stacks and/or shopping bags full of names of people to call can both promote a false sense of abundance and make prospecting seem an overwhelming task. Next weekend, or one evening while you are watching television, spread those pre-need leads out on the floor and get organized. Divide leads by type (where they came from) and time (when you will call and/or contact them again). Organize your leads into a file box and or computer sales lead tracking system and keep organized.
• When calling to set appointments have the times that work best in your schedule at your finger tips. Offer those times first. When you leave the time wide open to the client you may end up running in frenzy all over town and be totally out of control. This is not a situation you want to find yourself in. You need to guard and be protective of your time. Don't allow others (or yourself) to steal precious time away. Time is the most valuable asset you have. Use it wisely. Saturday mornings from 9:00am till 12:00pm are also another highly productive time to telephone prospects to set sales presentation appointments and find them at home, ready and able to speak with you.
• Set up a portable "current lead file" - a small plastic accordion file available at most office supply stores is a fine tool. Use it to organize current week or month leads. Keep it with you at all times. That way you can make a few calls when an appointment concludes sooner than you expected or at home on weekends or evenings.

Christopher Kuhnen, LFD, CPC, CMS
The Outlook Group, Inc.
121 East Second Street
Franklin, OH 45005
Tel: 937.743.8912 ext. 103
Toll Free: 800.331.6270
Fax: 937.743.8918
www.theoutlookgroup.com