The Guerrilla Leader

"One who commands an army but does not know the techniques...will not be able to control men." - Sun Tzu THE ART OF WAR

"We have met the enemy and it is us."-From some comic strip whose name I can't recall.

Whether you are a location manager for one of the corporate chains or the owner of a small family firm you can and should heed the advice of our dear friend Mr. Tzu up there.

You see, we can be our own worst enemy.

Many managers or owners fail to live up to or acknowledge one shampoo simple strategy for major business success.

Treat your employees BETTER than your clients.

I see the dumbfounded looks of disbelief already!

Client families come and go, but your employees are there forever...at least you hope the good ones are, anyway.

"But Dan," you protest, "clients pay our bills."

"No" say I. "Your employees that serve them, make them happy and wow them so that they tell all of their friends. THEY pay your bills."

Without good employees, chances are, you're nothing.

I've seen the absolute destruction of one of the most talented staffs a funeral home could possibly want (by the owner's own words!) by incompetence and indifference to their employees.

Case in point - the firm in question used to have two employee appreciation parties a year. One in the summer and one around Christmastime. As of this writing, they've had none since 2003.
This is something the staff is keenly aware of, and has been brought to management's attention, and yet absolutely nothing has been done. No company appreciation for 4 years, despite record-breaking business growth.

Does that seem like wise or competent management to you?

I'll add something else...this same group thinks nothing of letting a few years go by without raises and then making small token raise amounts when they do get around to it.

How do you think those employees feel? Loved? Appreciated? Or taken advantage of?

As I watch this destruction as an observer from the sidelines, I cannot help but think of something that one of the employees told me. One of those rare quiet days, the funeral directors were sitting around enjoying the respite and shooting the breeze when the owner sashayed in the door. With exaggerated finger-pointing he called out gaily "overhead, overhead, overhead" as he motioned to each director.

I was told that the response to this "joke" was stunned silence from the staff. He might as well have slapped each of them in the face. For only a day or two before, when the staff was backed up against the wall handling more services and arrangements than they should have been able to, he didn't walk in and say "thank you, thank you, thank you" or "profit, profit, profit!"

He is his own worst enemy. Don't be yours.

Thanks for staying tuned...I've got lots of ideas for low cost and easy ways to reward your staff and help keep them motivated. Just send me an email with "employee rewards" in the subject line and I'll send you a copy!

Best,

Dan Heaman, CFSP
The Guerrilla Director
www.guerrilladirector.com

Bling bling has no place in funeral business!

Here's one of my least favorite attributes of some of our esteemed colleagues... Bling, bling. Overdressing. No matter how successful you are (or want to appear to be) you should give serious consideration to the amount/style/visibility of the jewelry you choose to wear. The same goes for designer clothes and luxury cars. It's very hard to argue that funeral costs are not out of whack when the funeral home owner drives a Rolls-Royce, wears giant flashy rings/necklaces/earrings and brags about what was paid for his/her suit, etc.

Plain and simple-it's UNPROFESSIONAL.

Before too many of you get fired up, let me state that I have no argument with anyone enjoying the fruits of their successful business. You work hard, and you deserve it. However, the families you serve should not have their noses rubbed in the obvious fact that you are wealthy and they may not be.

Lest any of you think I'm exaggerating-come on, we all know of one (and probably more) funeral associate or colleague that fits this mold.

If you think that this sort of thing is acceptable, just try and place yourself in the families position. Your mom has just died, you're worried about whether or not the small life insurance policy is going to cover her funeral costs, and all of the sudden a swaggering character dripping in jewelry and wearing clothes that cost more than your last mortgage payment is trying to feed you a line about "just being here to help you."

And you're thinking, "Bull crap. This guy's going to try and take me to the cleaners."

An immediate sense of distrust is forming in your mind, and will color your opinion of the firm
that will simply be reinforced each time you see this person over the next few days. Even if the funeral director is the most honest and trustworthy person, their lack of judgement on professional attire torpedoes that image every time.

So the next time you're dressing for work, think about what message you want to send to your clients. Are you here to help them? Or is your manner of dress telling them that you really here to help yourself to their money?

Thanks for stopping by. You stay classy, funeral service!

Best,

Dan Heaman, CFSP
The Guerrilla Director
www.guerrilladirector.com

How I turned $500 into $75,000+ (and you can, too!)

One of the delightful marketing reps I've dealt with (for more than ten years now) once had gotten on my nerves so bad...I just didn't know how to tell her to take a hike.

You see, she was trying to rope me into signing up for a booth at "Bavarianfest," which was a local event sponsored by the Business Association (of which I was a member). The event would feature German food (and beer!), rides, polka bands, games and lots of booths from local businesses trying to huckster a few bucks from the locals.

Not exactly the funeral marketing sweet spot...or so I thought.

So I pondered this rotten dilemma, and came up with a half-hearted PR plan that I really didn't put much stock in. I would rent a booth ($50) and man it myself (in khakis and a polo shirt with the company logo on it-I always believe funeral folks are much more approachable in garments outside the realm of the suit). I would hand out left over giveaways items from previous events (pens, matches, scratch pads, calendars, etc.) and chocolate chip cookies (about $70 worth from the local bakery). I also requested the purchase of a 20" color TV ($200) to raffle off. To justify this expense to my superior, I showed him a raffle ticket I had designed for each entrant to complete, with one single but very important line at the bottom..."Are you interested in funeral prearranging? YES/NO." Those that circled YES would be contacted by our preneed counselor du jour and those that circled NO wouldn't be contacted. With a skeptical gleam in his eye, he agreed.

That evening, as I stood there sweating and mentally composing my resignation letter (which would surely be warranted after this dismal flop), I sipped a cold one and waited for the crowds to fly past me and crowd like vultures amongst the Avon and Shaklee Vitamin offerings to my left.

I never got to finish that resignation letter.

When people saw that I had nothing to sell, only freebies to snag and cookies to snarf, they came, they saw, they stayed. I got to hear all about how we buried Aunt Mabel back in '58 and everything was SOOOO beautiful. I got to hear about the late owner's generosity and college hijinks (I'm sure they had him confused with someone else...) and most were more than happy to enter in the drawing for the TV. At the end of the evening, I got up on stage to announce the winner of the drawing and was carrying the TV to the lady's car when she curtly informed me that she had her arrangements already made (at our competitor)...

ME-(forced phony smile)-"All that matters is that you've had the foresight to help you family like that."

I tried not to drop the TV too hard into her trunk.

The end result of that night was about 20 people indicating that they were interested in prearranging, and the preneed books swelled by more than $75000 from those interested folks.

An investment of less than $500, with advertising included and valuable PR opportunities to connect with people and a tidy sum in the old preneed bank. Hmmm, I think we could all use some "dismal flops" like that, eh?

I'd like to here of some brave things you all have tried...long shots that may or may not have worked. You never know when a little tweak might send that idea right to the bank!

Thank goodness fall is coming soon!

Best,

Dan Heaman, CFSP
The Guerrilla Director
www.guerrilladirector.com

Enhancing Your Firm's Primal Appeal

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

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

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

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.