Sales Conversions in a Digital World
BY Kevin Bitnoff
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN MEMENTO MORI: AN ICCFA MAGAZINE
Think back to the last time you got a software update notification on your phone or encountered a QR code menu at a restaurant.
Typically, your reaction will fall into one of two camps. On the one hand, you might shrug, scan the code, and place your order. On the other hand, you might shut down, get frustrated, or maybe even turn around and walk out.
The point here is that embracing the digital world can be difficult. All change is hard, and consumers always have a choice about whether or not they want to engage. But for today's salespeople, it's a much different story.
You can probably remember the early days of preneed internet leads. Back around 2012, preneed marketing providers were starting to test the waters online, and a lot of folks doubted it would gain traction.
Obviously, this was not the case. Digital ad spend is expected to top $1 trillion by 2027, and the current target demographic for preneed—Boomers (1946-1964)—is increasingly comfortable researching and purchasing online.
Like most of today's consumers, they have come to expect these experiences to be seamless. 90% of customers expect consistent interactions across all channels, and Boomers are not only online, but they're also among the 93% of consumers who read online reviews before choosing a business.
Consumers everywhere are experiencing brands on their own terms and in their own ways, and today's preneed sales professionals need to consistently provide value and be capable of responding quickly.
Families are more knowledgeable and tech-savvy than ever before, and when you look ahead 10 or 20 years, this trend only stands to continue.
This is why it's critical to build value at every touchpoint. In the very earliest stages of the preneed journey, a lot of consumers are simply curious about learning more. They're not ready to take the next step, but they are looking for resources that can answer their questions.
The best strategy is to develop a variety of lead generation programs that provide the kind of in-depth, authoritative content that consumers find helpful. Ebooks, community education events, and educational videos are all examples of effective ways to create value at this stage.
Remember, just because families are not ready for a face-to-face conversation, they don't deserve a subpar experience. The digital experience should be educational, meaningful, and capable of building value.
Study after study reveals that the fastest sales pro wins.
Following up within 1 hour makes you 60x more likely to qualify a lead than if you waited a full day, according to a statistic cited in Harvard Business Review. And in another finding by SalesForce, it was reported that 35-50% of sales go to the vendor who responds first.
Having a system to manage and track every touchpoint is essential for preneed salespeople to keep up. A process for quality follow-ups is also important. When a family raises their hand to learn more, you can't afford to wait.
Yet it's also important to know that the preneed journey takes time. Everyone is going at their own pace, and reaching out too soon can scare some people off.
It's a careful balance between speed and quality, and I've outlined four strategies below to connect with today's families and continue building value until they are sales-ready.
The first step in creating an experience that consistently leads to conversions is to respect the hand raise.
If someone raises their hand by clicking on a digital ad, they might not be ready to talk. Earlier generations were typically willing to sit down for an hour with an expert to learn about a product or service that interests them.
Tech-savvy consumers are not. They're doing their own research, and their journeys are self-paced. It's our responsibility to get them the things they need and deliver some value—and then to leave them alone.
This is not to say that we shouldn't be there the second they are ready to take the next step, but first we need to earn their time.
Next, we need to be strategic with our follow-ups and with the channels we're using. When someone fills out a direct mail survey, it may be a month before they get a call back, and that has traditionally been fine.
Online, there is a lot less brand loyalty. When someone is in education mode and has the ability to buy online, we need to be quick to respond.
Imagine for a moment how this plays out. A prospect—let's call her Maria—is online looking at three funeral homes. She fills out a form, and within minutes she gets a response. Before, she had no connection to the funeral home. Now she does. The first responder becomes her first choice.
But the type of response is just as important. Where is Maria in her journey? You can preplan more families if you have multiple lines in the water for your full range of prospects, from the mildly curious to the ready-to-act-now.
If Maria only wanted to learn a little more about preplanning and cremation, you build loyalty by responding quickly and providing value, but what happens next? To keep her progressing on her journey, everything has to connect.
Because we have a more sophisticated buyer, we have to be more sophisticated too.
From the moment someone clicks an ad to the day they preplan, we have to manage and track every touchpoint. To do this, every part of the preneed pipeline needs to talk to each other.
When someone raises their hand in response to marketing, there needs to be a framework in place for a personalized nurture path. Every lead should have a clear next step as they continue to move through their journey.
In other words, today's preneed salesperson becomes more effective when leads are receiving a steady stream of follow-up emails, phone calls, texts, and all the information needed to drive further action.
The last step is the easiest one for any seasoned preneed salesperson: connect and close.
Like I mentioned earlier, every family is on their own journey. I remember one individual who scheduled an appointment and never showed up. We rescheduled, and she did not show up again. Finally, we had the opportunity to meet on our fourth try.
I'll never forget the moment she walked in. Puffy-eyed, she told me how the last three times she had parked around the corner but could not bring herself to come into the funeral home. The last time she had been there was after her husband had passed, and it was just too hard.
Moments like these are what we're all really here for. All the technology and sophistication can bring us to the experience of meeting with a family, but at the end of the day, it's that connection that counts.
Every preneed salesperson is guiding individuals through a very difficult and emotional subject. The path to an appointment may continue to change, but we always have to lead with kindness and remember what we're doing and, more importantly, why we're doing it.
If there's one key takeaway I'd like to leave you with, it's this: a decade from now, over ⅓ of the individuals you preplan will not be meeting with you in person. To continue providing quality preneed experiences, we'll also need to be capable of building value and seamlessly moving a prospect from lead to sale, even if it's entirely online. Families will come to expect immersive digital preneed experiences that use a blend of omnichannel touchpoints and may even include advancements like AI or spatial computing. If you haven't already, the time to start building this future is now.
Kevin Bitnoff has always had a passion for sales, from his earliest days as a school-age entrepreneur to his experience as a multi-year million-dollar producer for both funeral homes and cemeteries. Today, as Director of West Coast Sales for Precoa, Kevin works side by side with over 100 leading funeral homes where he has mentored and managed over 100 million-dollar producers. When he's not training some of the very best in the profession, Kevin is a compelling public speaker and a devoted family man whose four daughters help keep him humble while inspiring him to never stop progressing.