We often hear this from merchandisers and pre-need sales consultants:  make sure you offer good, better, best.

But what does it mean exactly?

Consumers are used to the concept of levels of value and quality.  Better cellphone packages include cameras and more minutes.  Cars come in several different trim levels.  Fast food value meals are available upsized for an extra charge.

While many consumers are looking for the basic version of an item (because they have a fixed budget, only want entry level, etc.), many others will choose the next step up, or the next “best version” because they can afford it and don’t want to buy “the cheapest” or appear to be anything but affluent.

This idea helps sell not only register books, but also caskets, cremation plans and cemetery lots.

To implement the “good, better, best” (G-B-B) pricing model, first decide which item you’d like to sell most often.  This should be considered your “better” option. 

Let’s take caskets.  If you’d like to sell a stainless steel casket (for giggles, let’s say you charge $4000 for it) you’d make it your middle item, or “better” item.

Then, you must pick out a good and a best.  Obviously, you can choose a $7000 bronze or even a $9000 cherry.  Just make sure your “best” is one with LOTS of bells and whistles.

Your “good” needs to be good, not crappy.  You might be required (or want) to show a non-gasketed 20-gauge green monstrosity, but few would argue that it’s a “good.”  You’ll have those available, because you need to have something to offer even the least affluent price shopper, but make your “good” a solid 20-gauge casket with a gasket.  Batesville Earthtone or Ebonytone are two nice examples.  York has a model called the Camry.  All feature simple trims and basic colors. 

If you want to increase sales of your most elaborate printed items, package them in good, better, best assortments.  Make a standard selection (book, cards or folders, acknowledgements) the “good” selection.  Your better would include things you’d really like to sell, such as high-profit color memorial folders or a specialty register book.  Be sure to leave a decent-sized gap between the prices.  Your “best” would include all the stuff you never sell, but always want to, like memorial videos and custom laser engraved acknowledgement cards. 

G-B-B Example:  One funeral home I visited prices their memorial packages starting at $125 for a plain brown (white’s too pretty to be a basic choice) register book, 100 simple memorial folders (simple religious symbol on the outside) and 25 basic acknowledgement cards. 

Their “better” offers a selection of several beautiful register books with Kinkade paintings on their cover (from Messenger), 100 matching folders or prayer cards with a b/w picture of the deceased inside, matching acknowledgement cards and five matching obituary bookmarks.  Price:  $200.

The “best” is truly the best, as it includes custom color memorial folders or prayer cards, choice of many different register books with extra pages (some even include plastic sleeves for pictures and color photos from the funeral), custom acknowledgement cards and 20 color obituary bookmarks.  It sells for $300.

They used to sell a la carte, but their average per call memorial package sale was less than $125.  Their most popular package now is the “better” and at $200, it represents at least $75 in additional revenue per call.  Imagine 100 calls per year.  That’s an increase of $7500 per year, all from changing your consumers’ perceptions.

Now, let’s not go crazy thinking that we can “good, better, best” our way to millions of dollars in unrealized profit.  Many things you currently sell are already structured in this way.  When you describe options to a cremation family, I hope you’re offering good (direct cremation with memorial service), better (cremation with I.D. or shortened viewing and memorial services, memorial package, urn, etc.) and best (full-on traditional cremation).  Remember, direct cremation by itself is not “good”, it’s merely the very least that can be done.

So take a look at your sales tactics.  Identify the areas where you currently use the G-B-B method and the areas where you do not.  It’s also important to periodically re-evaluate your G-B-B offerings to make sure they’re still meeting expectations and providing the expected results.