Greetings! Here's hoping that you all are having a great week!
Here's some quick thoughts on your funeral firm's "primal" appeal...
Joe & Jane Consumer are literally pounded by hundreds or thousands of ad messages every single day...your commercial on the radio, TV or newspaper ad will likely fall into their mental recycle bin unless you happen to have something truly mentally sticky or unusual in your ad visuals or copy.
We're all jaded...in fact, even I, as somewhat of a marketing geek, love to hear some cloying advertising syrup on the radio and scream "CRAP!!!" at its conclusion. I can do this with just about any product, even those charity commercials that are designed to tug the heart strings all the way down to your wallet. Nowadays, there are a lot more defenses that marketing messages must traverse in order to hit home.
BUT...shhh...don't tell anyone....there IS a secret backdoor you can use that slices through those defenses - like a cruise missile launched at a bunch of hooting cavemen...
The secret is to trigger strong primal (almost animal) instincts in the consumer. It hits dead on in some subconscious subatomic particle area in the brain which has no defense.
There, my friend, is where you want to be.
Consider the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain. They have this technique NAILED. Here's how it goes:
You walk in on a cold winter day. After your seated, you notice a real wood burning fireplace and BAM...instant positive association. Fire signifies warmth, food, safety and light. This instant visual primally connects you to the source of the fire, (ie the restaurant). The smell of the wood burning and the tangible warmth reinforces the visual stimuli to confirm what the primal monkey is craving..."HERE ME FIND FOOD, FIRE WARMS ME" etc. etc. You get the idea.
Intermingling with the trigger scent of woodsmoke is the savory fragrance of food. Hearty food dishes that fill you up and are specially created (I assume) to be comfort-food based and BAM...another primal instinct trigger! Comforting foods usually bring forth memories of childhood, long lost relatives and past holidays...two positive primal associations made with one meal. The satisfaction of a large hearty dinner and memories of Christmas at Grandma's house + a roaring fire and you've got some serious primal connections with this place.
"Hey Dan," you say, "what's this got to do with me?"
You can use these same type of tactics not only on your client families, but on the visitors to their visitation/funeral/memorial services.
Using fireplaces (real wood are the most effective) at the right times, pleasantly scented air (food based scents are strongly attractive to the primal human), temperature modification
or a water feature inside (the sound of falling water and the action of waterfalls creates positive ions in the air-both will act as primal triggers) can create the sort of primal connection with a consumer that can sway in your direction the next time they have a need...and these primal connections often surpass other obstacles, such as physical distance.
Utilizing primal attraction factors in your firm could be just the boost you need to cut through the clutter and help more people find their way to you.
Keep cool to those of you (like me) that are "enjoying" this August weather!
Best,
Dan Heaman, CFSP
The Guerrilla Director
www.guerrilladirector.com
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Picking Up A Competitor's Fumble
If you ever want to make the easiest money of your life AND build a customer relationship that will stand the test of time, dedicate every bit of energy you have into recovering your competitor's fumble.
Let's say a family comes to you after a miserable experience with one of your competitors...do you treat them just like every other family? You should only answer yes to this if you give your all to every family, every time. If you already do that, you should have no time or inclination to be reading up on business improvement because you'll already have more business than you can handle. But let's say that you answer no...what next?
First, find out everything possible about their prior experience with the competitor. What happened, and why? Sometimes problems originate with a family, and knowing that in advance will help you adjust your strategy accordingly. You can head those problems off in advance. If the problem was a result of your competitor's incompetence, lack of caring/listening/attention, you can plan your service to specifically address those issues as well.
Here's a bit of gold with this...if you know of a problem with one of your families-what have you done to address it in the best possible fashion? Are you making sure a competitor doesn't recover YOUR fumble? Case in point-I recently conducted a funeral service for a family that had a problem the last time they used our firm, and they weren't shy about refreshing our memory! The incident involved a burial vault not showing up, and the family left the cemetery with the uneasy feeling of an incomplete funeral. Now, I had investigated the incident and was told that the funeral director had waited until vault showed up and supervised the interment personally...but that didn't help an upset family feel any better. This time, I attended to *ALL* of the details not once, not twice but three times over (especially the vault!).
In the end, I made sure that their experience this time was smooth and error-free. The result was a delighted family who wrote a glowing letter of praise to express their gratitude and renewed their faith in our firm.
Recovering a competitior's fumble is a serious touchpoint opportunity to market your firm, build a relationship with a new family AND IT COSTS YOU NOTHING! Don't let these literally golden opportunities pass you by...and DON'T let a competitor recover yours, either! For more information about recovering your families goodwill after a fumble, check out my coaching courses available for a limited time...*4 Sessions only $199!* Space is limited, so don't wait!
Best,
Dan Heaman
The Guerrilla Director
www.guerrilladirector.com
Let's say a family comes to you after a miserable experience with one of your competitors...do you treat them just like every other family? You should only answer yes to this if you give your all to every family, every time. If you already do that, you should have no time or inclination to be reading up on business improvement because you'll already have more business than you can handle. But let's say that you answer no...what next?
First, find out everything possible about their prior experience with the competitor. What happened, and why? Sometimes problems originate with a family, and knowing that in advance will help you adjust your strategy accordingly. You can head those problems off in advance. If the problem was a result of your competitor's incompetence, lack of caring/listening/attention, you can plan your service to specifically address those issues as well.
Here's a bit of gold with this...if you know of a problem with one of your families-what have you done to address it in the best possible fashion? Are you making sure a competitor doesn't recover YOUR fumble? Case in point-I recently conducted a funeral service for a family that had a problem the last time they used our firm, and they weren't shy about refreshing our memory! The incident involved a burial vault not showing up, and the family left the cemetery with the uneasy feeling of an incomplete funeral. Now, I had investigated the incident and was told that the funeral director had waited until vault showed up and supervised the interment personally...but that didn't help an upset family feel any better. This time, I attended to *ALL* of the details not once, not twice but three times over (especially the vault!).
In the end, I made sure that their experience this time was smooth and error-free. The result was a delighted family who wrote a glowing letter of praise to express their gratitude and renewed their faith in our firm.
Recovering a competitior's fumble is a serious touchpoint opportunity to market your firm, build a relationship with a new family AND IT COSTS YOU NOTHING! Don't let these literally golden opportunities pass you by...and DON'T let a competitor recover yours, either! For more information about recovering your families goodwill after a fumble, check out my coaching courses available for a limited time...*4 Sessions only $199!* Space is limited, so don't wait!
Best,
Dan Heaman
The Guerrilla Director
www.guerrilladirector.com
Friday, August 10, 2007
The Magic of $100
I knew an old fellow who used to carry a neatly folded $100 bill tucked away in his wallet.
"$100 will get you through just about anything," he'd say. He meant that you could fix minor trouble with your car, buy a new tire, put up in a hotel or buy yourself a meal with that money when you found yourself waylaid on your travels in life.
As I progress along in this crazy business known as funerals, I found that $100 can work a lot of magic for your funeral home as well.
I'm going to turn this into a much larger article, because there's too much that you can do with $100 to help your business to write it all here. But here's a taste:
*Last month the local Knights of Columbus was holding a fundraiser barbecue. I had ordered lunch for the weekend staff and went over to pick it up.
"That'll be $85," said the friendly gent manning the cash box. I was going to write the check out for $100 even, giving them a nice $15 bonus...which they would have appreciated. But I had a flash of inspiration, and I wrote the check out for $185...giving them a $100 bonus.
The friendly gent's jaw dropped and he stammered an apology. He thought he had told me the wrong amount. I quickly assured him that the overage was intentional and that I hoped it help them have a successful fundraiser. In his disbelief, he began telling everyone around him about the extra $100 the funeral home had given them.
Instead of $15, which would have been appreciated, but forgotten soon, I gave them $100 which they appreciated...and probably talked about for the rest of the afternoon and probably still remember.
Spend your marketing money wisely...a $100 ad in the fundraiser's newsletter doesn't mean as much as the same $100 given face to face in a completely unexpected manner.
PS- the bonus for anyone who does this - a happier staff that believes you care about them when you bring them back lunch.
The next time you see a fundraiser barbecue/car wash/bake sale/etc. remember the magic effect that $100 could have. Your generosity (and business acumen) will be rewarded handsomely.
Have a great week!
Dan
"$100 will get you through just about anything," he'd say. He meant that you could fix minor trouble with your car, buy a new tire, put up in a hotel or buy yourself a meal with that money when you found yourself waylaid on your travels in life.
As I progress along in this crazy business known as funerals, I found that $100 can work a lot of magic for your funeral home as well.
I'm going to turn this into a much larger article, because there's too much that you can do with $100 to help your business to write it all here. But here's a taste:
*Last month the local Knights of Columbus was holding a fundraiser barbecue. I had ordered lunch for the weekend staff and went over to pick it up.
"That'll be $85," said the friendly gent manning the cash box. I was going to write the check out for $100 even, giving them a nice $15 bonus...which they would have appreciated. But I had a flash of inspiration, and I wrote the check out for $185...giving them a $100 bonus.
The friendly gent's jaw dropped and he stammered an apology. He thought he had told me the wrong amount. I quickly assured him that the overage was intentional and that I hoped it help them have a successful fundraiser. In his disbelief, he began telling everyone around him about the extra $100 the funeral home had given them.
Instead of $15, which would have been appreciated, but forgotten soon, I gave them $100 which they appreciated...and probably talked about for the rest of the afternoon and probably still remember.
Spend your marketing money wisely...a $100 ad in the fundraiser's newsletter doesn't mean as much as the same $100 given face to face in a completely unexpected manner.
PS- the bonus for anyone who does this - a happier staff that believes you care about them when you bring them back lunch.
The next time you see a fundraiser barbecue/car wash/bake sale/etc. remember the magic effect that $100 could have. Your generosity (and business acumen) will be rewarded handsomely.
Have a great week!
Dan
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Next Generation Funeral Service Marketing
There's a lot of marketing companies out there that are more than happy to take a funeral director's hard earned money in exchange for "AMAZING, FANTASTIC AND MAGICAL OR INSTANT RESULTS..."
blah, blah and blah.
The truth is that it's damned hard to market a funeral home properly. And it's easier to waste the few marketing dollars you do have to stroke someone's ego on some obnoxiously large ad in the Yellow Pages...Here's a tip that will save you thousands of dollars next year. Are you ready?
Lean in close. I'll whisper it to you...
(by the time someone has the phone book in their hands, they probably already know which funeral home they are going to call...and a big pretty ad by some other firm in another part of town isn't going to sway them in your direction. the people who are using the phone book are very likely price shopping and will want you to bend over backwards for them and pay you very little in return.)
Here's another tip:
*LET THEM GO BE A PAIN IN SOMEONE ELSE"S BUTT!!*
There. I just saved you thousands of dollars AND immeasurable stress with those two morsels.
You're welcome.
For more money-saving, profit boosting and stress reducing funeral management tactics, schlep on over to www.guerrilladirector.com or shoot me an email at dan@guerrilladirector.com and I'll send you a free report on how I made over $75000 in preneed sales without a spending a penny on ads or cold-calling. This is a super easy technique you can use too. You'll have more money in the bank by the end of the year. Guaranteed.
blah, blah and blah.
The truth is that it's damned hard to market a funeral home properly. And it's easier to waste the few marketing dollars you do have to stroke someone's ego on some obnoxiously large ad in the Yellow Pages...Here's a tip that will save you thousands of dollars next year. Are you ready?
Lean in close. I'll whisper it to you...
(by the time someone has the phone book in their hands, they probably already know which funeral home they are going to call...and a big pretty ad by some other firm in another part of town isn't going to sway them in your direction. the people who are using the phone book are very likely price shopping and will want you to bend over backwards for them and pay you very little in return.)
Here's another tip:
*LET THEM GO BE A PAIN IN SOMEONE ELSE"S BUTT!!*
There. I just saved you thousands of dollars AND immeasurable stress with those two morsels.
You're welcome.
For more money-saving, profit boosting and stress reducing funeral management tactics, schlep on over to www.guerrilladirector.com or shoot me an email at dan@guerrilladirector.com and I'll send you a free report on how I made over $75000 in preneed sales without a spending a penny on ads or cold-calling. This is a super easy technique you can use too. You'll have more money in the bank by the end of the year. Guaranteed.
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