Summarised from an article entitled 'Have a nice death' by Peter Godwin and Sarah Boseley in the Guardian (Feb 27th '96)
Service Corporation International (SCI) is the biggest funeral company in the world, with a big stake in Canada, Australia, France - and it has now captured 15 per cent of the UK market.
The BBC TV Public Eye documentary programme (broadcast on Feb 27th '96) obtained some internal documents revealing SCI's corporate strategy for the UK: to increase the average spend on funerals, acquire more funeral homes, promote more aggressive selling and expand their market share. SCI's Funeral directors are offered a strategy to overcome their "difficulty combining their helping role with that of a business role". When selling a coffin:
- Present the coffin range to its advantage.
- Direct the attention of the family to the highest quality item on display
(perhaps the Regal).
- Next present the Crown.
- Then present the Classic Royal, and so on in descending price order.
- Do not judge the ability of a family to afford a particular coffin or
casket by their appearance. Prejudging could mean you talk yourself out
of a higher priced item and your selling technique will reflect this.
The memo suggests the salesman should remain in the selection room unless the family ask for privacy allowing him to stay in control of the selection procedure. It continues :
- Know how to respond to objections: respond with empathy not defensiveness or aggression or impatience. For example, "I can understand your concern about the price but let me explain the difference in design and manufacture, again." Or, for example, "Yes, I can see your point about them just going into the ground, but we need to provide an extensive range like this in order to suit everyone's taste.
SCI talks of offering new options to customers. In practice, this means selling a more expensive range of coffins and memorabilia than has been customary.
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