At the end of our meeting a wonderful family going through a very trying time spontaneously gave me hugs for all I had done for them. Wow. They were dealing with the imminent death of their dad and husband. An emotional time to say the least. The reality of making pre-need plans had hit them hard and I helped to take this confusing burden off their plate. I have been in sales for many years and had never experienced getting a hug before. After that meeting I thought… “what could I do to make sure all my families felt the way these folks felt?”

As many of you that follow my articles, and career, know that I have recently changed from high tech solutions selling to a more low tech counseling position. I now run a team of counselors for a funeral home and boy has that been a change for me.

It’s much more of a learning curve than I had anticipated with studying (passing the first time I might add) to become a life insurance producer topping the list. Years ago the funeral industry had asked for the insurance industry to help with pre-need services. Going from traditional trusts (holding monies until the need) to policies. Thus the license now needed. There are also many checks and balances (paperwork, forms and laws) to make sure things are done properly for love ones once someone passes on. A good thing of course but can be demanding of time and thoughts.

Mired in the details.

What I have experienced is it’s easy to get mired in the details of my offerings and goals and forget what is really important, the client. I have paperwork, certifications, software, contracts, licenses, training, quotas, etc. like any other industry. Which can be pretty overwhelming and mind numbing to be quite frank. It is so easy to come off as a non-caring “company person” instead of a caring counselor because of this.

On top of that… potential clients can be fairly emotionally charged as you can imagine. To talk about pre-need arrangements or dealing with funeral needs of a recent death of a loved one is hard for most. Simple misunderstandings can escalate quickly. In making sure all the T’s are crossed and I’s dotted as well as truly empathizing with their plight can be a very fine line to walk. But it is one that I will need to walk and conquer. It’s how I will continue to get the ultimate compliment. A hug.

How can you get hugs?

I have written previously about clients becoming evangelists and how to make someone a raving fan. Getting a hug, I believe, is similar. Simply… to get a hug is to be a credible, caring resource and all that entails.

You have to constantly remind yourself of who you are dealing with and where they are at in their life at that moment. Put yourself “in their shoes” so to speak. You will need to find that balance of what is desired and what is best for the client. Guide them with solutions and make the technical needs as simple and as easy as possible. I recently experienced a counselor that forgot this and what his real role was.

From lemon to lemonade.

My mother-in-law passed away recently. While she was in hospice care my wife called her funeral home where she had made pre-need arrangements many years ago. It didn’t go well. The counselor was “just doing his job” and the information he was giving, or couldn’t find, was confusing and seemed underhanded to my wife and her family. There was no “caring” or trying to understand the situation.

Luckily, they were part of our company and our location manager intervened on my wife’s behalf. Things got better quickly. He offered help and truly cared about her situation. My wife’s whole family are now so appreciative on how the location manager handled the situation and took it off their plate during a very emotional situation. I received the hug on his behalf.

It would have been so easy for the original counselor to accomplish what ultimately happened if he had just simply took the time to understand the circumstances and proceeded with getting a hug in mind. He would have not added to their grief.

My goal, going forward, is to always try and achieve a “hug status” with my clients. Of course, I won’t achieve this every time, but I will do all I can. A career where I can be so richly rewarded? It just doesn’t get any better.

When’s the last time you received a hug from your clients?

Chris Lott

Chris has over 15 year’s Sales Management experience including Business Ownership, Product Management and Web Design/Marketing. He’s a national sales team strategist and trainer. Chris is the designer of the popular totallysales™ sales playbook with thousands of copies downloaded. He’s a nationally syndicated author with his articles on SalesBlog! rated as a “top must-read” on consultative selling.