The Problem with Sales

The Counselor's Study — The Family Service Counselor

Welcome to The Counselor's Study — the chamber where craft meets compassion. Take a seat by the lamp. This is where we talk honestly about a subject that makes most funeral professionals uncomfortable: sales.

Not because sales is inherently wrong. But because the way it's been done in this industry has caused real damage — to teams, to families, and to the reputations of homes that have been serving communities for generations.

In most funeral homes, there's a tension that nobody talks about directly. Directors and embalmers — the people on the ground, the ones with the relationships — don't trust salespeople. And the salespeople, brought in with quotas and commission structures borrowed from car dealerships, don't understand why.

The result? A revolving door. High turnover. Broken pipelines. And families who fall through the cracks.

If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. It's one of the most common pain points we hear from independent funeral home owners and directors. They know they need help with pre-need outreach. They know the business requires it. But every time they bring in a "sales hire," the same cycle repeats — initial energy, growing friction with the care team, missed expectations, and eventually a resignation letter or a quiet firing.

Spectrum

Visualize scales and ranges from "The Problem with Sales" with interactive spectrum

The New Hire

Collaborative

the director

Something fundamental is broken. And it isn't the people. It's the model.

A Flame Worth Tending

This module isn't about learning to sell. It's about understanding a different kind of role — one that lives at the intersection of relationship and revenue. By the time you leave this study, the word "sales" will mean something different to you.

The Core Tension

What is the primary source of tension between funeral directors and traditional sales hires?

Directors feel that salespeople with quota-driven approaches don't understand or respect the relationships they've built with families Salespeople are paid more than funeral directors, creating salary resentment Directors want to handle pre-need outreach themselves and don't want help Sales hires refuse to attend community events or learn about funeral services

The Revolving Door

What does the 'revolving door' pattern refer to in the context of funeral home sales?

Families switching between different funeral homes in the same area Directors rotating between at-need and pre-need responsibilities The repeated cycle of hiring salespeople who create friction with the care team and eventually leave, resulting in high turnover and broken pipelines The seasonal fluctuation in pre-need inquiries throughout the year

Where the Problem Lies

According to this lesson, what is fundamentally broken when traditional sales approaches fail in funeral homes?

The funeral directors who resist change The salespeople who lack dedication The families who aren't interested in pre-need planning The model itself — applying commodity-sales tactics to a sacred-trust profession