The Ten Commandments of Preneed Sales

Ten Commandments (by John Taylor)

(and good, clean living too…)

1. Speak to People.
   There is nothing so nice as a cheerful greeting.
2. Smile at People.
   It takes 72 muscles to frown, only 14 to smile.
3. 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 do you expect to bury someone if you don’t know their name.”
4. Be Friendly and Helpful.
   If you would have friends, be a friend.
5. Be Cordial.
   Speak and act as if everything you do is a genuine pleasure.
6. Be Genuinely Interested in People.
   You can like everybody if you try.
7. Be Generous with Praise.
   Be cautious with criticism.
8. Be Considerate
   …with the feelings of others. There are usually three sides to a controversy: Your side, their side and the right side.
9. Be Alert to Give Service.
   What counts most in life is what we do for others.
10. 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 sometimes 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 Ramsey calls this life lesson “Stupid Tax.” Please learn from mine so you don’t have to pay your own.

Read these commandments.
Learn them.
Live them.

This post was originally published two years ago here.
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