During two decades as a professional speaker, I have spoken before an
amazing number of industries. One of the arenas in which I enjoy a significant
amount of popularity is the "death-care" world. Joe Dispenza, Vice President
and Director of Sales and Marketing for Forest Lawn Cemetery and Garden
Mausoleums of Buffalo, New York, is perhaps one of the most dynamic and
resourceful individuals I've had the pleasure to know. Joe embodies the kind
of thinking we all need to do to excel in sales and marketing.
The cemetery business, (death care), focuses on pre-need sales-making
burial arrangements, and selling plots today instead of trying to make
decisions during a sorrowful time. Today, 92% of Forest Lawn's business is
pre-need sales. This high percentage is unheard of in the cemetery business.
In fact, I'm certain many in that industry would say it's impossible to
achieve such a high level. But Joe Dispenza is largely responsible for Forest
Lawn's success.
Straight out of college, Joe read an ad in the classifieds for a
commissioned salesman at a local cemetery. He interviewed with them three
times, but they didn't want to hire him because he lacked experience, he had
no car, and he hadn't been in the area.
"Let me get this right," Joe said. "You are giving me absolutely no
money, just commission, and you don't want to give me a chance? Let me try
for a month. What do you have to lose? If I'm not your top salesperson by
then, I'll happily leave." Joe kept his promise, and Forest Lawn has him to
thank for helping to create their unprecedented level of pre-need sales.
"Summer in the Cemetery"
In the summer of 1995, Joe heard me speak. I said what I know from
experience: "People do business with people they know, with people their
friends talk about, with people who do business with them, or with people they
read about." I also talked about using "event strategy," doing something that
brings potential clients to you and builds word-of-mouth advertising.
My comments made an impression on Joe, and, the following summer, he put my
philosophy to work.
At that time, Forest Lawn was spending $120,000 a year on direct mail,
radio, and print, but sales were static. Business remained the same year after
year. Joe already knew that potential customers shared three misconceptions
about Forest Lawn. First, they thought it was only for rich Protestants.
Second, they thought was in an unsafe part of town. Third, they assumed it was
full, with no room for new plots. Joe wanted to dispel these inaccuracies and
personally acquaint potential customers with Forest Lawn because "people do
business with people they know. . ."
Hold on to your hats. Joe organized trolley car tours of Forest Lawn,
running every Sunday from June through August. He rented a cable car to bring
customers to see and walk around Forest Lawn. He hired actors to impersonate
famous dead residents. The trolley held thirty people, and the tours were
scheduled for noon, 1 PM and 2 PM. "The first Sunday," Joe says, "there were
five people on the first tour, seven on the second, and four on the last
trolley."
Don't worry. Joe is no novice. He invited a reporter from a local
newspaper to cover "Summer in the Cemetery." The reporter wrote a small piece
about the event and, the following Sunday, more than 300 were waiting in line
for the first trolley car tour.
"By the end of June I had six trolley tours with two trolley cars running
on the hour," Joe says. "We also added three nature walking tours and one two-
hour historical walking tour. And they kept coming!"
Potential customers saw for themselves that Forest Lawn had plenty of
room for new plots, that it was in a beautiful part of town, and that it was
not at all scary. The actors portrayed current "residents" from all walks of
life and from varied religions, proving that burial was not limited to rich
Protestants. And Joe's brief sales presentation showed prospective customers
that costs were not prohibitive.
Joe's twelve-week promotion was extended through October. The cost of the
entire promotion-actors, extra staff for crowd control, trolley cars and sales
materials- was $48,000. "Total direct pre-need sales from people on the tours
who asked to buy was $80,000-plus," says Joe. There was another $20,000 in
sales from people who initially said that Forest Lawn was not the most
convenient to them. After taking the "love" tour, they changed their minds and
wanted their loved ones there. By the end of October, 4,222 people had toured
the cemetery.
It was Joe's innovative thinking that took Forest Lawn to the rarefied
air of 92% pre-need sales. "This program did more than I could have ever hoped
for," says Joe. "It put this big old cemetery in the minds of the community.
It gave us synergy with our other advertising efforts, and, most important, it
got the people talking and thinking about us. . . and it's working!"
I always suggest doing an "After-action Analysis" after any promotion or
event. Go over each area, and, while recent experiences are fresh in your
mind, ask yourself if you could do it bigger or better or have more impact.
The next summer, Joe's fertile mind created even more success. The tours were
still free, but you needed a ticket in advance. To apply for the ticket,
people filled in a questionnaire providing contact information and indicating
whether a cemetery plot had already been purchased. Joe then knew his hottest
prospects.
Is what you're selling any tougher than pre-need cemetery plots? Put your
brain in its creative mode. Study what your competition is doing, and come up
with an innovative way to reach your target markets, to demystify your product
or service, to educate potential customers about your business, and to make a
sale as you opening a long-term relationship with a new customer.
(995 words)
