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Keynote Speakers

Colleen Francis
In Pursuit of More
Face-to-face sales expert will share
how to build trust and loyalty

As a sales trainer and consultant, Colleen Francis has studied the habits of the top 10 percent of sales performers from organizations of all sizes, from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses, and has developed specific criteria for success. Find out how to:
• Hone your presentations so that you discount less
• Reduce sales cycles by up to 30 percent
• Use your “uncomfort zone” to increase sales
• Find out what your customers really think of you
• Achieve an instant increase in call-back ratios

Francis offers a practical approach to sales based on her personal selling experience and years of research. She rejects overly aggressive, insincere or “polished” tactics that may have worked in the past but now serve only to alienate prospects. Rather, she focuses on building rapport, trust and loyalty. Find out more about Francis at www.engageselling.com.



Wendy Weiss
Turning Cold Calls Into Hot Prospects
The “Queen of Cold Calling” will teach you how to turn cold calls into hot prospects

It’s never been more difficult to get in the door to see prospects. Your customers are busier than ever, and their budgets are tighter then ever. What’s a hard-working sales counselor to do? In this session, Wendy Weiss, the “Queen of Cold Calling,” will show you how to:

• Find the prospects who are most likely to buy
• Identify hot leads so you don’t waste your time
• Create scripts that make prospects want to see you
• Handle the voice-mail barrier
• Answer objections and nail the appointment
• Eliminate “Telephone Terror” & “Call Reluctance”
• Double your number of face-to-face appointments

Weiss is a leading authority on lead generation, cold calling and business development. She helps clients speed up their sales cycle, reach more prospects directly and generate more sales revenue. Her clients include Avon, ADP, Sprint and entrepreneurs throughout the country.  Learn more about Weiss at www.wendyweiss.com.



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General Sessions

Gary O’Sullivan, CCFE, & David Shipper
What Actually Works?
One Sales & Marketing Committee member, after reviewing the system developed by  Gary O’Sullivan, CCFE, and David Shipper, said that “In all my years in the business, this is the best sales system I’ve ever seen.” You don’t want to miss this session!

Haven’t you always asked: “Isn’t there a better way?”  “Can’t someone just tell me what to do and how to do it?”  “Why isn’t there a complete ‘how-to’ system for selling preneed in our profession?”

These are questions O’Sullivan and Shipper have asked themselves for years. Then, in 2005, they made the decision to create a system, test it, revise it and come up with a system that works. To date, their work has produced 300+ pages of what to do, when to do and how to do it.

In this session, they will share with you their experiences and what they’ve learned. They will explore in detail three of the things they’ve found that really work:
• Recruiting—Why is it that in the interview almost every candidate says, “Yes, I can do this!,” but then after three days, they quit? Learn the number one reason and how you can prevent this phenomenon by improving your selection process.
• Training—There is so much to teach people, what must they know first? Sometimes by the time people are “fully” trained and get in selling mode, they forget what to say. O’Sullivan and Shipper have developed a new Fast Start program and an ongoing development process to ensure a new counselor’s success.
• Prospecting—Failure in prospecting is probably the number one reason people fail in the preneed profession. Most salespeople view prospecting as a project, something to do when they have no one to see. O’Sullivan and Shipper will show you how to make prospecting a process. Because if your people don’t have people to see, nothing else really matters.

Gary O’Sullivan, CCE, is president of the Gary O’Sullivan Company, a consulting firm specializing in strategic planning, development, management and leadership of operations in sales & marketing. He previously was a sales executive with Carriage Services. He was recognized as the Speaker of the Decade by the ICCFA in 2000.

David Shipper, past president of ICCFA, is the President and CEO of companies that own and operate 42 cemetery and funeral home locations serving more than 12,000 families per year. Previously, he served as a vice president and director of corporate development with Loewen Group International Inc. 


Doug Gober
The Rearrangement Conference: Undoing the Damage Preneed Has Done
When the dead have prearranged their own funerals, the results sometimes leave the living wanting more. This workshop takes a practical look at the challenges of minimal pre-arranged services and offers some practical strategies for offering families a distinctive alternative. Create more meaningful services in spite of the limitations imposed by prearrangements. You will:
• Understand the inherent limitations in having a tribute designed by the person being honored
• Learn to help surviving family members separate the prearranged “necessities” from their own desires to say farewell
• Recognize the opportunities created by limiting the scope of pre-arrangements and increasing the scope of the at-need process
• Develop effective strategies to capitalize on these opportunities

Doug Gober is executive vice president of The York Group in Kenner, Louisiana. He formerly was executive vice president for The Doody Group, where he successfully directed the European operations for that company. He has been instrumental in planning and implementing a range of innovative merchandising products created by The Doody Group and York Casket, now a part of Matthews International. He has been a pioneer in developing the York Merchandising Systems implemented in more than 1,000 funeral homes in the United States and Canada. He has presented marketing and merchandising seminars to industry professionals throughout the United States and Europe.


Mark Russell
Multicultural Marketing: A How-To Guide for Impacting Sales & Service
From Birmingham to Seattle and all points in between, you’ll learn how to find out your market demographics and how to engage those ethnic groups as potential employees and prospects. We’ll take a look at different cultural customs and beliefs and how your cemetery or funeral home can tie in community service programs to better relate to those populations. Additional highlights will include:
• Specifics on recruiting
• Multicultural advertising (To translate or not to translate? That is the question!)
• Multicultural etiquette
• Multicultural beliefs in regards to cremation
• How to better set a selection room to make it more culturally friendly.

Mark A. Russell is director of sales & operations at Resthaven Gardens of Memory Cemetery & Funeral Home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He has an extensive background in funeral home and cemetery sales, marketing and operations. He is a guest lecturer for Delgado Community College School of Mortuary Science (New Orleans campus) and has given many presentations to boards of directors, sales conferences, college classes and at American Marketing Association events.


Todd Carlson
Generating More Leads Through Referrals
We all know and recognize the value of getting referrals, and most salespeople can even tell you exactly how to go about asking for them. So why do most salespeople fail at getting any referrals?  Todd Carlson will discuss the #1 reason that stops agents from popping the referral question, and he’ll provide some practical solutions that will change the way you think about asking for referrals.

Todd Carlson is vice president of sales for Funeral Directors Life Insurance Company. Before joining FDLIC, he was the preneed services director for the Minnesota Funeral Directors Association, where he oversaw the Minnesota Funeral Plan. Prior to that, he was a regional sales director for Assurant Preneed, where he received “Sales Person of the Year” honors in 2000. He received his mortuary science degree from the University of Minnesota and was a funeral director for five years before focusing his career on preneed funeral sales.


Tom Holland
The KASH Formula
Do you have KASH?  Do you want more CASH? KASH stands for:
    Knowledge
    Attitude
    Skills
    Habits

If you make the KASH formula part of your sales development, you will increase not only your activity but your results. It is a fact that this proven system works for those who make it part of every sales presentation. Practice makes perfect. Attitude is everything!

Tom Holland is vice president of sales for Assurant Life of Canada/FamilySide, where he is responsible for sales development and implementation of marketing & training programs. He is a frequent speaker at industry conventions and conferences, talking with sales people on how to increase their sales results.


Elisa Krcilek
Maximizing Your Cremation Sales and Service
This session will take you step-by-step through a process for presenting to families all of the options available with cremation. You’ll learn how to look past what you think a family can afford and comments such as, “We only want a direct cremation.” Discover how to make a more effective presentation that ultimately raises your bottom line and produces happier families, which in turn creates more referrals. Exceed your customers’ cremation expectations.

Elisa C. Krcilek is cremation product manager for Matthews International Corporation. She joined Matthews’ bronze division as the regional manager for Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. Previously, Krcilek was vice president of the Cremation Society of Illinois. She has been a licensed funeral director for 18 years and is a certified crematory operator. Her career focus has been on marketing and community awareness. In 2005, she was elected vice president of the International Cremation Federation. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and an associate degree in mortuary management from Southern Illinois University.




Counselor Breakouts
Counselors will break out into small groups and “run the bases,” rotating among these three half-hour interactive training sessions. Be prepared, because these coaches will give you a real workout!

Nectar Ramirez
Using Listening Skills to Enhance Your Cremation Presentation
How often does the arrangement process for cremation become an order-taking exercise? You’ll be surprised at what a difference listening can make to your bottom line and to your clients’ satisfaction. This session will offer exercises on how to better target the cremation arrangement process toward the needs of your client families and how to clearly identify those needs early in the meeting. You’ll take back a list of exploratory questions and agenda topics you can use during the arrangement process to ensure you leave no stone unturned.

Nectar L. Ramirez is the newly appointed general manager for Options, the cremation products section of Batesville Casket Company in, Batesville, Indiana. Previously, she served as Batesville’s director of market research and as sales director for the metro New York/New Jersey/Connecticut region. Prior to joining Batesville, Ramirez worked for Corporate Executive Board as a consultant identifying and teaching best practices to Fortune 500 companies in sales, marketing and human resources, with clients such as Hewlett Packard, Ford, 3M, Lockheed Martin and GE. She holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.  


Stephane Hayes
Discover Your Prospecting Style
Prospecting is not the same as lead generation. It’s more active and allows you to control your destiny. In this session, we’ll brainstorm on prospecting activities that will allow you to walk away with a clear, more definitive idea of how to accomplish your goals.

Learn how to play to your strengths and talents. Don’t waste time concentrating on something you hate to do, but dive deep into the activities that get you up in the morning. Your weaknesses can (and should) be improved upon to achieve competence, but finding ways to build on your strengths will increase your financial success exponentially! Bring your pen, paper and positive attitude as this session will be highly interactive and practical.

Stephane Hayes is director of sales training for the Forethought Financial Group, with a primary focus on creating course curricula and sales effectiveness training modules for members of the Forethought Funeral Planning Network. Hayes joined Forethought 20 years ago and has worked extensively with agents and sales managers across the country, field-testing new programs with consumers across the kitchen table. Previously, she worked in marketing at Cincinnati advertising agencies. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications.



James Ruggerio
Referrals: The Key to Friendly Sales
No question about it: Word-of-mouth is the most effective way to advertise and attract business, but the process of generating new prospects from past clients can seem too difficult and mystifying. Ruggerio will show you how to cultivate a network of endless referrals and develop profitable, win/win relationships.

James Ruggerio is a regional sales director with Keystone Advance Planning, assisting locations in 15 states. A licensed funeral director, he previously worked at Reynolds Hamrick Funeral Homes and Crematory in central Virginia, where he was instrumental in developing the company’s Advance Planning Service as well as many other innovative community programs that continue to be unique to Reynolds Hamrick.  Ruggerio previously worked as a group leader for Blue Bird Bus Company and as an assistant manager in the retail industry. He earned his degree in funeral service education from John Tyler Community College.



Manager Breakouts
While your counselors receive training on prospecting and presentation skills, you’ll learn ways to increase your company’s profitability through proven marketing, merchandising and PR strategies.


Dan Isard
Cremation Sales for the Cemetery and Funeral Home
In this session, you’ll learn how to better understand today’s cremation consumer and best practices for establishing prices and selling cremation merchandise and services. Discover new ways to:
• Market directly to the cremation consumer
• Present cremation to the preneed consumer
• Increase the average revenue per call per cremation preneed
• Target your cemetery inventory to the cremation consumer
• Get more revenue per cremation interment
• Increase the existing funeral and cemetery preneed contract

Dan Isard is president of The Foresight Companies Inc. in Phoenix, Arizona. He is author of “What Every Funeral Director and Cemeterian Should Know About Cremation” and was editor and publisher of Preneed Perspective. He has had more than 250 articles published in all major death care industry media and has presented more than 500 speeches to groups large and small.  He has appraised over 60 preneed insurance companies and 250 prefunded trusts.


Dean Lambert & Pam Kleese
Public Relations and Events
Public relations activities can serve as a relatively inexpensive yet effective method for promoting your cemetery or funeral home in the community. In this session, Dean Lambert and Pam Kleese will explain what PR is (and isn’t) and discuss how to maximize your efforts to ensure the greatest opportunity for success. You’ll walk away with insights on the barriers to prearranging, as well as tips and techniques for optimizing PR efforts, including press release development, event coordination and performance tracking.

Dean Lambert is vice president of marketing for Homesteaders Life Company based in Des Moines, Iowa. He has 15 years of experience in funeral service marketing and communications. Previously, he worked in broadcasting as a radio personality and creative services director, and as the regional television spokesperson for MetroVision (now Time Warner Cable).

Pam Kleese is manager of market research at Homesteaders Life Company, responsible for coordinating strategic consumer and customer research initiatives, leading the business intelligence function and providing custom research services to Homesteaders customers. She began her career at Gateway and most recently worked as a senior marketing research analyst at Maytag Corporation. She has previously presented at the ICCFA, Ohio Funeral Directors Association and National Funeral Directors Association conventions.

Jeff Gould
Sales & Marketing for Long-Term Success
Do you have a long-term sales strategy, or are you only interested in “this month”?

Jeff Gould has spent more than 20 years helping companies develop detailed, focused marketing strategies proven to increase calling, appointment and closing percentages—the last five years specifically in the cemetery and funeral business.

Find out:
• The three biggest mistakes cemeteries and funeral homes make with their sales force
• Strategies to increase call-in leads
• Effective ways to get at-need on your team and working for you.
• A five-minute plan for growth that works.

Jeff Gould is the sales manager and marketing director of the Care Group, which handles the pre-planning and pre-funding of funerals for George Boom Funeral Home and Miller Funeral Home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He also is author of a book on the history of the cemetery where he works. Gould is the host of a regional radio program that runs on 10 stations in a four-state area. He also participates in the Sioux Empire Community Theatre and is a writer and publisher for six newsletters. He is a past South Dakota Broadcaster of the Year, Distinguished Sales and Marketing Award winner, Staples Invention Quest finalist and Addy Award winner for creative advertising.



Lunch with Gary O'Sullivan
Due to popular demand, Gary O’Sullivan, CCFE, is back once again to impart valuable sales training to sales counselors. Wednesday’s lunch (for counselors only!) will give your top-performers a chance to network with fellow counselors and learn from one of the best trainers and speakers in the preneed sales profession. O’Sullivan is known for his passion and dedication to sales and prearrangement and his incredible ability to teach and inspire. At this lunch, he will share his secrets for increasing sales volume through higher productivity and improved service. Counselors are sure to leave this luncheon inspired and ready to take on new challenges. So give your top sellers the recognition they deserve by sending them to this exciting and rewarding event.