You didn’t wake-up one morning and “be” a funeral director or pre-need counselor...we were all trained to be those. That training came from someone providing us information on the “how to” portion of the vocation and we took that and cultured it into the value of our profession. That profession is based on relationships that put us in the role of an educator - we provide our families with solutions to their problems with the knowledge and information we have been trained. Too many times a family is shorted, unintentionally, by the pre-need sales process because they are only told how much it will cost or what the family will pay in monthly premium.
I realize that most families make decisions based on their finances, but I also firmly believe that families don’t (or won’t) pre-arrange their funeral until they are shown or reminded what will be faced with the loss of a loved one or friend. Why would they consider waiting until this difficult time in life? I believe it is Lack of Information. We are charged with the challenge of showing a family the true value of a pre-arrangement – why it’s important, what the benefits are and ultimately how it will take care of their family. We have to help them help their family. Just because we know the advantages of our product and how it helps families, please don’t ever assume your families do. Many of them have a loose working knowledge of what a pre-arrangement is but might not realize that it can be insured to where the family could have little or NO balance to pay if death should occur and that insurance is avail- able even if they are not in perfect health. Most of all, a pre-arrangement will prevent their surviving family members from making difficult decisions on one of the worst days of their lives.
These days, a lot of families have unusual family structures; children from a previous marriage, raising grand-children, small or grown children in other areas or states, disabled family members or no other family members. Some will have a lot of insurance, some will not have anything or think their military benefits will pay for their funeral – some are going to nursing homes and need to pre-arrange with an irrevocable agreement. No matter their circumstance, they can benefit from a pre-arrangement and you need to be prepared to help them. Talk with your SNL Field Manager each time you see them about different situations that have or might happen. I firmly believe the more information you have to help your families, the less you have to “sell” your families and more often than not you will recognize that you have earned a friend during the process because they realize how much you care. I had a friend that once said – “My families know I care because they can see my heart in my eyes when I talk to them” about helping them help their family.
When you really help someone there is a feeling of accomplishment that you won’t get just by making a sale. I won’t say work smarter or harder...just always be that friendly, helpful person from the funeral home...it is truly a “worthy purpose.”
To find a way to help others help their family go to www.securitynational.com/PNrecruit
