The Ten Commandments of Pre-Need Sales
(and good, clean living too…)
- Speak to People. There is nothing so nice as a cheerful word of greeting.
- Smile at People. It takes 72 muscles to frown, only 14 to smile.
- Call People by Name. The sweetest music to anyone’s ears is the sound of their own name. Growing up in the funeral business, my grandfather used to remind me how important a simple philosophy like this is. He’d always remind me, “How you expect to bury someone if you don’t know their name.”
- Be Friendly and Helpful. If you would have friends, be a friend.
- Be Cordial. Speak and act as if everything you do is a genuine pleasure.
- Be Genuinely Interested in People. You can like almost everybody if you try.
- Be Generous with Praise. Be cautious with criticism.
- Be Considerate with the feelings of others. There are usually three sides to a controversy: Your side, their side and the right side.
- Be Alert to Give Service. What counts most in life is what we do for others.
- Add to this a Good Sense of Humor and a BIG Dose of Patience.
Some years ago I sent a list similar to this to my customer base and got back a not-so-friendly letter that I keep with me to this day. This letter reminded me that some times what we intend to do doesn’t always mirror what we actually do. We get caught in the process and don’t pay attention to the details – we forget the human side. I am ashamed to say that the customer was right – I had fallen into a trap of treating that client as a number instead of a person. I had fallen into the trap of trying to call on more customers rather than making sure that one was taken care of and satisfied. Dave Ramsay calls this life lesson “Stupid Tax.” Please learn from mine so you don’t have to pay your own. Read the Commandments. Learn them. Live them. “Helping you help your family…” it’s what we do best.
I Need Your Help and Want to Hear from You!
My goal through these series of blogs is to give you some subtle suggestions to help yourself both personally and professionally. In addition, we would like some feedback from you to give us some direction as this process evolves and takes shape. Please email me with suggestions of what you would like to read. Guy.Winstead@SecurityNational.com
You can also contact me on the web at
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT GOALS IS HAVING ONE.
