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	"Tuning In To Sales Success" ICFA's 2004 Sales Management & Marketing Conference January 15-16, 2004 Treasure Island Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, Nevada Program Chairs: Pat Downey, CCE, and Nicole Wiedeman Download registration form Download hotel reservation form Please note: The ICFA room block at Treasure Island has almost sold out. Call (888) 503-8999 for availability. If you are unable to reserve a room at TI, please check out this list of nearby alternate hotels. Unable to download the forms? Try installing Adobe Acrobat Reader. Who Should Attend? Program Overview Program Schedule Prices Continuing Education Credits Cancellation Policy Who Should Attend? Sales Manager: Learn how to take your sales and marketing programs to new levels of productivity and success! Top Sales Counselor: If you are thinking about the next step in your career or want to improve your revenue-generating skills even further, it's time for you to Tune In. (Owners and managers, what better incentive to reward sales staff than with a trip to Vegas and the opportunity to learn from the industry's top producers?) Family Service Counselor: These sales and marketing topics - and of course our double-header on family service programs - will improve your abilities in this difficult, yet increasingly important, area of preneed sales. Owner or manager: Learn the latest ideas for growing and improving all aspects of your company's preneed sales program. Funeral Director: Learn innovative ways to better serve both at-need and pre-need clients and earn up to 12 CE credits. Supplier: Every year, more and more suppliers are learning that the Sales Management and Marketing Conference is one of your best venues to network with the sellers who promote your product. Many of these sales and marketing ideas will apply to your operations as well. Program Overview 2 Days 20+ Educational Sessions 2 Keynote Speakers 20+ Industry Experts Binder with Handouts and How-To Instruction Roundtable Luncheon Networking Reception Earn up tp 12 CE Credits Check out the LOW $79 room rate at Treasure Island for the first two nights! Program Schedule WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14 4:00 - 7:30 p.m. Registration 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Welcome Reception Network with prearrangement sales and marketing colleagues while enjoying complimentary food and beverage service. THURSDAY, JANUARY 15 8:00 a.m. Registration and Coffee 8:15 - 8:40 a.m. Welcome and Introduction ICFA President Carol Caunter, ICFA Sales & Marketing Committee Chairman Gregg Williamson, CCE, and 2004 Conference Program Chairs Pat Downey, CCE, and Nicole Wiedeman 8:40 - 9:40 a.m. KEYNOTE ADDRESS Light the Fire Within: Coaching to Achieve Success Chick Waddell Sponsored by Forethought Financial Services Corporate coach Chick Waddell will provide you with a game plan for business growth success. Join him for this special two-hour coaching "chalk talk" to learn: The 5 secrets to business growth success The reasons managers fail The new meaning of leadership How to light fires -- not under people, but within them How to transform your beliefs into reality The difference between successful and unsuccessful people Chick Waddell is a business growth specialist and has worked in sales, management and motivation for more than 14 years. He has served as a master trainer and account executive for the Fortune Group International and Zig Ziglar Corporation. He has authored several articles and books, including "Sales Coaching Playbook," "Play by Play Selling," "Coaching to Win," "Light the Fire Within" and the Business Development Tool Kit. Visit his Web site at www.chickwaddell.com and take a free CAT scan (Coaching Assessment Tool) to evaluate your management skills and discover your coaching strengths and weaknesses. 9:40 - 10:00 a.m. Break 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. Light the Fire Within (Continued) 11:00 - 11:30 a.m. Sowing the Seeds: How to Recruit the Right Team Barry Bamford, CCE Few things are more important to the success of your sales program than recruiting. Recruiting is to your organization what the sowing of seeds is to the farmer, and it does not stop once you have made the hire. Learn how to recruit the very best candidate for the job and then how to recruit the very best performance from the candidate you've hired. Barry Bamford is director of sales at Rolling Hills Memorial Park in Richmond, California. He has worked for more than 16 years in preneed sales and marketing at numerous cemeteries, funeral homes, and combination properties. 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Lunch (on your own) 1:00 - 1:20 p.m. Get on Up: A Team Building Exercise Nicole Wiedeman It's time to get on your feet and get involved with your team! In this interactive "after lunch" session, Nicole will lead you in a team-building exercise you can take back to your troops. Keep your team on their toes and get them working together with this fun activity! Nicole Wiedeman is an account manager with Forethought Financial Services, currently working to provide strategic and tactical guidance to two large national funeral firms. She has partnered with many funeral homes to help them build active preneed programs. 1:20 - 1:50 p.m. Contests and Incentives Dave Wharmby, CCE Day-to-day selling is challenging work. One way to build excitement and increase motivation among sales teams is to provide a variety of contests and incentive programs. Join industry great Dave Wharmby to discover proven programs that salespeople love and that generate results to the bottom line. You'll learn: Philosophies of motivating counselors Concepts for contests Solid techniques for building morale and unity within your sales force How to get results! Dave Wharmby is senior vice president for Inglewood Park Cemetery and its affiliate, Park Lawn Memorial Park. He is also director of marketing for Western Memorial Service Corporation and Western Sequoia Corporation, a leading provider of marketing services to Catholic Cemeteries. 1:50 - 2:10 p.m. Keeping Score Vinnie Faccinto, CCFE What game is your sales organization playing, and how are you scoring it? Are you giving six points for a basket and two points for a touchdown? Do your salespeople approach their careers as amateurs or professionals? In this session, Vinnie will discuss in detail how professional athletes and businessmen approach their careers, and provide a take-home "temperature test" for your organization. This session will provide a clear challenge to every sales organization, and most important, a positive platform for training, accountability and goal setting. Vinnie Faccinto is owner of Crest Lawn Funeral Home and Memorial Cemetery in Cookeville, Tennessee. He is a former assistant vice president of sales with Service Corporation International and the former senior vice president of sales for SCI's Southeast Region. In January 2002, he struck out on his own, purchasing two cemeteries and starting a new funeral home in Tennessee. In addition, he became president of Generations Management, a consulting firm that provides management and sales leadership services to cemeteries and funeral homes. 2:10 - 2:30 p.m. Performance Management Mike Hays Don't just train your staff ... develop them. Preneed sales manager and operations trainer Mike Hays will show you how to: Learn to clearly establish performance standards Grasp the importance of weekly measures and weekly accountability Comprehend the uniqueness of performance evaluations in a sales context Mike Hays is vice president for advance planning with Keystone Group Holdings Inc. in Tampa, Florida. He is a licensed funeral director who has personally served hundreds of bereaved families. He is an experienced salesperson and sales manager, having worked directly with more than 200 funeral homes and 40 cemeteries to install or improve preneed systems. In addition to his advance planning role, Mike serves the Keystone Operations Team in the areas of training and performance management. 2:30 - 2:50 p.m. Assessing and Training Your Team Joseph A. Stith Your success as a manager or owner is determined by your ability to coach a winning team. Using Joe Stith's "Team Compass," you will learn how to quickly assess the strengths and liabilities of your team and how that knowledge can impact your decisions in training. Learn what your greatest resources are as a manager and how you can effectively use those resources in growth and development. Expand your coaching skills by learning when it's appropriate to "praise" or "reprimand" as well as other important tools for building strong morale and dedication in the work place. Joe Stith is a professional growth and development coach based in Salt Lake City, Utah. His leadership experience began as a drill instructor in the U.S. Marine Corp. Since the early 1980s, he has been a pioneer in the professional coaching industry and is a founding member of the International Association of Coaches. Joe has conducted more than 4,000 on-site training workshops for businesses, executives and youth groups throughout the United States, and much of his time is now dedicated to coaching executives in the funeral industry. His teaching methods and unique ideas have generated millions of dollars in increased revenue by accelerating the growth and development of people. 2:50 - 3:10 p.m. Develop a Talent Strategy ... and Improve Your Results J. Christopher Burke In this session, Chris Burke will discuss how to develop a "Talent Strategy" for hiring salespeople. When recruiting sales staff, most of us look for prior experience, sales training, and industry or product knowledge. Those qualities can be important; however, top recruiters are finding that high-performing salespeople are more often the result of a great match of individual talents, or core strengths, and the sales job itself, combined with proper training and motivation. Learn the answers to these important questions: What do we mean by "talent" or core strength? Is there a common theme among the talents your top producers have? How can you use Gallup's tool to identify the core talent themes of top sellers? What are the known typical talent themes found among insurance salespeople, and how can we relate this to preneed salespeople? What are some practical next steps and applications of the Talent Strategy? Chris Burke is vice president of sales, marketing and operations for Forethought Financial Services Inc. Since joining Forethought in 1988, he has been instrumental in refining customer segments and closely aligning products, field support, skills and services with customer needs. His current responsibilities include: field sales operations, marketing, staff training and development, sales administration, business unit finance, call center and life company operations. 3:10 - 3:30 p.m. Break 3:30 - 3:50 p.m. Maximize Your Sales Meetings Patrick Downey, CCE In this session, you'll identify topics you need to incorporate into effective sales meetings, as well as techniques for maximizing the motivational impact of your meetings on staff. You'll learn: How to create useful agendas Elements of meeting content Effective frequency and duration of meetings And more! Pat Downey is vice president of sales and marketing for Palm Mortuaries, Cemeteries and Crematories in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is ICFA president-elect. He began his career in 1979 as a preneed counselor at Wisconsin Memorial Park in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Since then, he has directed the efforts of successful sales teams throughout the country. Patrick served as vice president of sales for Memorial Park Inc. of Memphis, Tennessee, and vice president of marketing for Carriage Services. 3:50 - 4:10 p.m. Coaching with Clear Expectations Josiah Everly You have expended energy, time and money to recruit, hire and train your team. Now it's time for them to produce and make your plan. Are you prepared to keep them focused and motivated? During this session, you'll learn some basic concepts on how to set achievable expectations and get counselor "buy-in," monitor performance, use performance data to enhance results and build a successful team that achieves your goals year after year. Joe Everly is vice president of preneed funeral sales for the Sales & Marketing Division of Stewart Enterprises, New Orleans, Louisiana. In this position, he is responsible for developing preneed sales organizations, recruiting and managing third-party marketers, developing marketing strategies, budgeting, creating tracking systems and managing insurance vendor relationships. A licensed funeral director, Joe has worked in various management positions with Stewart since 1990. Prior to joining the company, he was a preneed sales manager for Everly Funeral Homes in Northern Virginia. 4:10 - 4:30 p.m. The Right Culture Builds People and Sales Linda Darby-Sempsrott Learn how to create a cohesive environment between preneed and at-need, management and staff. Linda Darby-Sempsrott will offer proven methods for creating and maintaining a cohesive environment and keeping your staff motivated. Linda Darby-Sempsrott is CEO of Trigard Inc. She has been involved in the family business since graduating from Illinois State University in 1984. She is responsible for marketing at Trigard and is instrumental in the development of new products. Linda is actively involved in assisting vault dealers across the country by helping them achieve sustainable, profitable growth through proactive marketing. FRIDAY, JANUARY 16 8:00 a.m. Registration and Coffee 8:15 - 10:15 a.m. KEYNOTE ADDRESS Magnetic Marketing: How to Advertise and Generate Leads Far More Successfully Dan Kennedy Sponsored by Automated Marketing Solutions With more than 50 million Americans signed up for the federal Do Not Call registry, it's time for cemeteries and funeral homes to get creative with their marketing strategies. In this can't-miss session, "Millionaire Maker" Dan Kennedy will share his Magnetic Marketing Systems, which transform the way sales professionals advertise, prospect and secure new customers. Marketing solutions you will learn in this session include: How to capture customer data and involve customers in a non-threatening way Turnkey lead generation systems that work Effective direct-response programs Consumer buying motives Techniques to "multiple step" prospects Secrets to successful sales kits Automated marketing systems And more! Dan Kennedy is one of the nation's top marketing consultants, with clients ranging from sole entrepreneurs to huge corporations. Among his success stories is the well-known Guthy-Renker Corporation, one of the world's largest direct-response television companies with annual sales in excess of $800 million. He has been a key member of the company's brain trust since its very first infomercial. Dan's client's full-page ads have appeared in magazines such as Inc., Success, Entrepreneur, USA TODAY and The Wall Street Journal. In addition to consulting, he has produced numerous direct marketing products and kits, including his Copywriting Seminar In-A-Box, a training program on creating "killer" copy for ads, sales letters and brochures; his Magnetic Marketing System, with successful users in hundreds of different business categories; and his new Customer Appreciation Seminar Tapes. For more information, visit www.dankennedy.com. 10:15 - 10:35 a.m. Break 10:35 - 10:55 a.m. Put Your Marketing Program on Autopilot Ron Romano In the past year, Arbor Memorial Canada Ltd. has seen a terrific boost in sales since adding specific technology solutions to its lead generation efforts. Ron Romano will share how Arbor is able to reach its target market and capture valuable consumer information through Web sites, toll-free numbers, voice and fax broadcasts and other methods. Ron Romano has owned businesses in the retail, import and distribution and telecommunications sectors. Six years ago, he started Automated Marketing Solutions, which has become a North American industry leader in turnkey lead generation and client retention systems. AMS has provided these systems to 10,000+ business owners covering 50 different market niches. Currently, AMS works with more than 20 of the top marketers in North America, including Dan Kennedy. In addition to running AMS, Ron is a regular speaker at marketing conferences and Internet marketing seminars on automating and systematizing lead generation, improving client retention, and increasing customer value. 10:55-11:15 a.m. Using Group Presentations to Double Your Sales Volume Doug Oliver For 50 years now, we have presented our programs to families one-on-one across their kitchen tables in their homes. It's time for a change! How about a new idea? How would you like a minister or priest to give a three-minute blurb every Sunday on your behalf to 150-450 people? How long would it take you to present your program to these people individually? Doug Oliver has proved the future growth of cemetery and funeral sales can be guaranteed! Through churches, groups and professionals within your community, you can perpetuate your company's heritage. In this session, you will learn how to: Approach churches Approach business owners and CEOs in your area Walk your way through committees Meet prospective clients on a weekly basis Sell the bigger package Implement step-by-step procedures for your counselors Generate an extra $1 million a year! Doug Oliver is regional director, Eastern Ontario, for Arbor Memorial Services Inc. Doug began his career at the age of 21 and has 28 years of experience in the cemetery profession. Throughout the course of his career, he has served as a national trainer for sales counselors, managers and at-need specialists; introduced trade shows and mall shows to the company; trained in historical records; worked as a government liaison on representative licensing; and managed several locations. 11:15 - 11:35 a.m. Managing Your Leads Suzanne T. Elkins Are your sales soaring or sinking? Is your database just a database, or are you using it to gain market share and increase sales? For a customer relationship management initiative to succeed, sales managers and sales professionals need to buy in to the concept, effort and overall goal. Join Suzanne Elkins for a practical guide to making CRM work. Identify key considerations when starting a new CRM program or key improvements to make your current program more effective. Suzanne Elkins is owner of Pre-Smart, LLC. Pre-Smart is a sales management-consulting firm that teaches organizations how to implement process management, sales process design and customer relationship management. Her customized cemetery and funeral CRM management software is used throughout the United States and in Europe. Suzanne is a licensed funeral director with more than 14 years of experience as a field sales representative, a preneed sales counselor, a preneed sales manager, a process design facilitator and a sales analyst. She currently serves as interim advance planning manager at Anderson McQueen Funeral Homes in St. Petersburg, Florida, while her reservist husband serves in Afghanistan. 11:35 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Luncheon Roundtables Sponsored by Homesteaders Life Company Join conference speakers, ICFA Sales & Marketing Committee members and your fellow colleagues for a roundtable luncheon to discuss your challenges and solutions to current sales management and marketing issues. Specific topics and leaders will be announced on site. 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. Affinity Marketing for a Small Independent Company Ernie Heffner So you think you may want to do affinity marketing? How can you accomplish this without the support of a national network? What can you do to develop and institute an affinity marketing program? Ernie Heffner's small, independent chain of funeral homes has just instituted a successful affinity marketing program. Join him as he shares lessons learned, including: Plan approach -- deciding the purpose The offer -- what your program will include and who it will cover The fulfillment -- the tangibles participants will receive Promotion -- outlining the specific materials needed Documentation -- the seven pieces you must have in place Hiring and training staff -- developing people who will champion your program Affinity coordinator -- developing a task description Results -- a timetable of progress Challenges -- the conflicts between integrity and flexibility Ernie Heffner is president of Heffner Funeral Homes, based in York, Pennsylvania. He is a second-generation funeral director who operates 15 funeral home facilities and a crematory, including 12 locations in Pennsylvania and three in New York. His firm currently employs approximately 120 full- and part-time associates and annually serves more than 1,200 families. Ernie has owned and operated other related industry businesses, including a monument company and two memorial parks. 1:30 - 1:50 p.m. CSI: Cremation Dave Jones Assume nothing. In this revealing session, Dave Jones will open up the case files on cremation, based on Matthews International's most recent consumer focus group study. His investigative report will provide clues to questions such as: Who do families call for cremation products and services? What is the best setting for making arrangements? What are the true benefits of preneed selling? Are cremation gardens here to stay? The answers may surprise you! Stay tuned.... Dave Jones is vice president of sales and marketing for the Bronze Division of Matthews International Corporation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is in charge of sales, marketing, customer satisfaction and product design and development. Prior to joining Matthews in 1993, he served in the chemical industry for 13 years. 1:50 - 2:10 p.m. Break 2:10 - 2:30 p.m. Successful Family Service Programming: Part 1 Greg Simard In this session, Greg Simard will share some of the most successful Catholic-cemetery family service programs, gathered from several archdioceses across the country. In addition, he will present an action-packed distillation of the 10 "Best Practices," compiled from family service programs at several non-sectarian/commercial cemeteries. Greg Simard is the sales team leader for the Catholic Cemeteries in Seattle, Washington. He has been involved in prearrangement family service sales for the past 18 years and a sales team leader for the past nine years. He represents the fourth generation of his family involved in the memorialization business. 2:30 - 2:50 p.m. Successful Family Service Programming: Part 2 Mike Burke In this session, Mike Burke will hand you the keys to "Unlocking Preneed Potential Through A Partnership Approach to Family Service" as practiced at Palm Mortuaries, Cemeteries & Crematories in Las Vegas. In this working model, funeral directors and family service directors work side by side with at-need families to deliver exceptional service during the funeral and burial and to form relationships with survivors that are cultivated into preneed sales. Mike will explain the working details of this service model -- including job descriptions, steps in the service cycle with each family and compensation models -- which all work together to produce service excellence and sales results. Mike Burke is director of planning at Palm Mortuaries, Cemeteries & Crematories in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has more than 20 years of experience in cemetery and funeral operations. Before joining Palm, he served as a regional manager with Carriage Services Inc., overseeing operations in the Eastern United States. He is dean of the ICFA University College of Land Management & Grounds Operations. 2:50 - 3:20 p.m. Teaching People to Sell -- On Purpose Gary O'Sullivan, CCE Sponsored by Palm Mortuaries, Cemeteries & Crematories Today more than ever, people want more out of their careers than just pay -- they want meaning. Sales managers are always looking for ways to keep their staffs motivated. Teaching people to "Sell On Purpose" accomplishes both. Discover how this philosophy can help you give your sales team a stronger sense of "why" and how the "why" helps a salesperson deal more effectively with rejection and stay more focused on accomplishing goals. In this session, Gary O'Sullivan will explain the three reasons most people want to get into sales, the three reasons most people leave, and what just may be the one reason they stay and succeed. Gary O'Sullivan is president of the Gary O'Sullivan Company, a consulting firm providing sales and marketing services to the cemetery and funeral industry. Prior to forming this company, he was senior vice president of marketing for Carriage Services in Houston, Texas. He has produced several preneed sales training tapes, including "Service$elling" and "The Basic Approach to Preneed Selling." 3:20 - 3:40 p.m. 20 Ideas in 20 Minutes Dean Lambert and Patrick Downey, CCE, moderators Don't touch that dial! We've saved the best for last! What better way to wrap up this two-day idea-packed conference than with a "Golden Oldie"? This final session will bring in cemetery and funeral sales and marketing experts to offer a rapid-fire bonanza of 20 proven techniques to boost your bottom line. General Conference Support Provided by Sponsorship of the ICFA Sales & Marketing Committee Prices Registration fees are as follows: ICFA Member: $375 before December 8 ICFA Member: $420 after December 8 $340 each for 2-4 attendees $320 each for 5 or more attendees Non-Member: $475 Continuing Education Credits Funeral directors may earn up to 12 continuing education credits at the conference, pending state credit awards. CE Attendance Certificates will be available at the ICFA on-site registration desk. Cancellation Policy Registrants who cancel their registration by December 8, 2003, will receive refunds. All cancellations must be in writing and will be subject to a $50 per peson processing fee. Cancellations made after December 8, 2003, will not be refunded. For more information, call the ICFA Meetings Department at 1-800-645-7700 *********************************************************************************************   back to top