As so often happens in my world I’ve had some real life and/or businesses experiences or discussions in the last week or ten days that has made me think about Death Care.  And, specifically to today’s article, about how the acquisition solicitation of client families to choose your specific Death Care operation for their services has both changed . . . and in some cases stayed the same.

Here’s three items that I experienced in this short period of time that has caused me to make these reflections:

1. Heard a sermon at church titled “The Price of your Device“.  The sermon dealt with how often and for how long we use our mobile devices in today’s world.  As you might expect, the sermon encouraged us to use our devices less and enjoy the world around us more.  In a nutshell, however, the sermon also told me that if you are looking for clients — they are spending a lot of time online so that is a good place to prospect for future families.
2. I visited, as I do from time to time, with two CEO’s of technology companies working to help funeral homes and other Death Care providers in many aspects of the work they do.  These discussions really drove home the point to me that as we move into the future technology companies may become retail Death Care providers best friends and alllies.  I learned of lots of places where they are hoping to help your business in ways that you probably have not even thought of yet.
3. I received a text from a mentor of mine, Danny Jefferson, about the value of a handshake.  It reminded me that the “old-style” of acquiring customers is still alive and well and that personal interaction is still one of the best and well-received customer acquisition tools.

My experience has taught me that all one does at his business, whether it is how the facility or funeral coach looks or staff friendliness, or how the company conducts a service has some bearing on future client acquisition.  And, I believe that customer acquisition should be top of mind at all times and conducted not only with an all hands on board policy but a philosophy that customer acquisition should be welcomed as is the name of the old Clint Eastwood movie in an “Any which way you Can” strategy.

However, I think I am correct when I say that teaching the value of preneed and letting future Death Care consumers know and learn about those values might be the the most efficient way to build one’s future business thereby increasing its value.  A retail Death Care business needs to pursue any, and all, avenues of lead generation to find those with preneed interest.

Technology is here to help in that realm.  To that end I’ve recently learned of streaming company OneRoom and their preneed pathways through the live streaming of your existing services.  OneRoom has the ability to prompt those who may be watching a livestream of one of the services your funeral homes is conducting about their interest in preneed.

Here’s what Deacon Marc Nestorick, with the Catholic Funeral & Cemetery Services of the Archdiocese of Denver says about OneRoom’s program according to a quote on the OneRoom website:

“When individuals watch a service and experience the reality of loss, they often realize the importance of pre-planning their own arrangements.  OneRoom allows guests to say, ‘hey, I’m interested in pre-planning’, that provides us with the avenue to follow up with them and help them.”

According to statistics on the OneRoom website, the average livestream is watched by 30 guests of which about 1/3 of them are in the local market and possible potential preneed clients.  OneRoom further notes that about 2% of this number click on the preneed options during the livestream.

 

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

2% doesn’t seem like a large number until you do the math and realize what it could do for building the case volume at your funeral home.  Here’s the math for a 150-call firm that streams all of its services.  That 2% totals 30 inquries from local consumers and my experience as a preneed agent for over 15 years tells me that the overwhelming majority of preneed appointments deal with the preneed plans of two lives (husband and wife).  That brings the number to 60 potential lives.

 

And, if you can follow through and write those 60 lives into preneeds that is not only 60 commissions that come to your funeral home annually but an additional 60 services in the future.  Continuing to do that year in and year out will add 60 annual services to a 150 call funeral home and turn that 2% rate into an annual increase of 40% over the 150 calls you were doing.

 

Now, not every inquiry will be a 2-policy client (husband and wife) and not all inquiries will purchase a preneed policy.  But, in a world where you are looking to increase business “Any which way you Can“, can you afford not to pursue these leads?

 

I’m “Old-School” and understand that service, friendship, being kind, and a warm handshake all add up to building the volume of one’s Death Care business over time.  But, I’m also “New-School” enough to understand that bringing my information to where people are at, such as on mobile phones, will reach people with whom I don’t have the opportunity to give that “handshake” and help in building my business “Any which way I Can”

 

To learn more about OneRoom and their streaming services click here.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

Last week it seemed that every time I turned around I heard a news story about debt. . . . Here’s one that’s titled “Over nine million student loan borrowers could see their credit scores tank as delinquencies are poised to hit record highs“.  Or this one from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York titled “Household debt balances continue steady increase; Delinquency transition rates remain elevated for auto and credit cards”. 

Even our nation’s financial well being is in the news — here’s a story about that titled “U.S. could run short of money to pay its bills by August without a debt limit deal, CBO says.”

Any way that you look at it I think you will find a certain portion of our society living in a world where one missed paycheck or one bad incident could spiral their financial well-being down.  And, according to this article from Great Britain, it’s a problem in Death Care there — that is families not having enough resources to fully pay a loved one’s funeral bill.

If you are operating a funeral home there are times when compassion reigns and you have to make the decision to provide services without a guarantee of payment.  It may not be the best business practice but it just is the way that most Death Care practitioners are wired.

However, if you are not getting paid what you deserve for conducting funeral services the long-term consequences over time are not good.  Here’s an article titled “Is continuous accounts receivable a problem?”  I suggest you read it just for a little reminder that growing accounts receivables can sink a great business.

So, I think it behooves every funeral home and cemetery to have many tools in their toolbox for helping clients pay for the services that they are provided.  Those tools should include pre-arrangments with financial arrangements tied to them, down-payments, the use of credit cards, the acceptance of insurance funding, and more.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

And, in the world we live in today, one option for families to pay their obligations may be through community funding — most often referred to as “crowdfunding”.  When you think about it, online community funding today is not so much different than what happened for decades when friends, relatives, and acquaintances stuffed cash or checks into memorial cards to be used by the family.

For sure, many of these donations were for “memorials” and expected to be used “in memorium” of the deceased.  But, I conducted enough funerals over the years where friends and relatives hoped that the money they put forward would go towards the family paying a funeral bill that might have been out of their current reach without help.

I recently became aware of a community funding product that can be used for this purpose.  Take a look at what Treasured Memories Community Funding has been able to do for people by clicking here.  They can help families collect funding for “Memorial” projects or other uses.

As a matter of fact, Treasured Memories Community Funding can be used by funeral homes and aligned with others in their communities to raise funds for a variety of uses — memorials, family help, charitable events, community fundraisers, and more.

Take a look at this page on their website and you will see some stories where Treasured Memories Community Funding helped children whose mother passed away, helped start an education fund for children whose father passed away, and, yes, even helped families raise money to pay for funeral costs.  You will also find a “Memorial Fund” music foundation started to raise money in memory of a person who loved the arts.

I’m in the Baby Boomer generation and our generation has grown philanthropical giving.  Generally, we give to organized causes, especially those we can get a tax deduction from.  It’s how we grew up.

However, if we look to the Millenial generation (born between 1980 and 1999) who are between 25 and 45 years of age at this time, we see that they are already making their mark in charitable giving.  According to this article from Foundation Source over 85% of Millenials give charitably.  In addition, they are tech savvy and probably more likely to give to causes through social media campaigns, such as those that can be offered by Treasured Memories Community Funding, than other generations.

If I still ran my funeral home I would look into how Treasured Memories Community Funding could become a part of it. . .not only to help my client families but my community as well.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

Customer service and client family support are the pillars of your funeral business. 

(And if you need the  science and research to prove it here ya go).

If you don’t already know that, this blog offers a great opportunity to learn more about what makes great customer service.

Below we’re going to cover some of the most important skills of customer service at your funeral home, and how you can put them to practice. We hope these skills inspire your level of customer service at your funeral home!

Check them out below:

#1: Epic communication skills

If you think being a “good” communicator is good enough, think again. Client families are in their most vulnerable, tender state during the times you work with them, so it’s important to have absolutely impeccable communication skills. 

We recommend taking a course on communication, or reading the book on Non Violent Communication (NVC) which helps you navigate tough moments & conflict like a champ.

Below is a breakdown of the NVC model, check it out for yourself:

#2: Emotional Intelligence

It’s one thing to fix a client family’s issue. It’s another thing to go the extra mile for them, because you put your feet in their shoes. One of our favorite examples is with the brand Chewy, a dog food brand. Although they aren’t a funeral business, this example sure is inspiring, and addresses the topic of death. 

In this example, one of their customer’s dog passed away, and they had an unopened bag of dog food left. What Chewy did in response left us speechless… (find out how they responded in the image below).

We love this example because it shows that a little more effort towards serving families goes a long way. This level of customer service is what creates a lifetime loyal customer base.

#3: Deep breaths

You’ll never underestimate the power of a deep breath until you’re in a moment where a deep breath saves the day. Tensions can be high when families are planning funeral arrangements. If you notice tension or stress, one of the best things you can do is take an audible deep breath, and invite them to do the same and pause before saying anything else. 

A deep breath not only helps to regulate your nervous system, but it also gives everyone a moment to take in what’s happening and find more presence. You can even invite your client families to take 1 or 3 deep breaths in a row, to regulate them. You’ll thank us later for this one!!!!

#4: The art of reflection

One of the greatest tools in the toolbelt: reflection. If a client family brings something to you, especially in a conflict, this tool is very helpful! Reflection is essentially repeating back to your client family or customer what you heard them say. It sounds stupidly simple, and it is, but who ever said simple wasn’t powerful? 

When you reflect back to your client families, it ensures you understood what they said correctly. And,  it helps them to clarify in themselves what they meant, too. And, sometimes, simply reflection can help resolve the issue on its own!

Here’s an example of reflection offering resolution on its own:

Client family: (visibly anxious & upset) I have no idea how I’ll manage to pay for my father’s funeral!?!?! 

Funeral director: (takes a deep breath) Thanks for letting me know that. So you’re saying that you are feeling uncertain about whether you’ll be able to pay for your dad’s funeral? 

Client family: That’s right. Well, actually, I do have some money in savings I could start with. Do you offer payment plans?

Funeral director: Yes we do! Let’s chat about them.

In this example, a simple reflection helped the client family realize that they didn’t actually have “no idea” how they were going to pay for the funeral. Instead, they realized they did have a little savings they could use, and the reflection helped them get inspired to ask about payment plans. These types of conversations are very common when you use reflection. Try for yourself and see.

#5: Responsibility (rather than deflection)

As we just discussed reflection above, it’s important to consider deflection, too. An example of deflection is that when a client family brings an issue they have with your funeral home or services, and you deflect it by:

• Ignoring it
• Invalidating it
• Avoiding it
• Telling them it’s their fault
• Saying it’s not your fault
• Avoiding responsibility for it

When it comes to customer service, anything other than a sincere apology or at least validating their experience is considered deflection. It’s very important to take responsibility for what is yours to take responsibility for in your funeral business. If something didn’t go well or right, own up to it, and try not to shame yourself for it. 

If you don’t feel it’s your responsibility for what has happened, offering a reflection (as mentioned above) and asking what you can do to assist them is a great place to start.

A great way to take responsibility is using NVC (mentioned in the beginning of this blog) saying:

• The observation (what you heard them say)
• Repeating back the request they made or the need they have
• Offering an apology
• Saying what you can offer them/how you can support them

Try this format and let us know how you go!

#6: Lastly, the willingness to adapt and learn

Who likes talking to a stubborn know-it-all? Not us, that’s for sure! That’s why it’s so important to avoid phrases like “Ma’am, this is how we’ve always done XYZ” or “Sorry, that’s our company policy”. We think adaptability and flexibility is crucial to great customer service. Otherwise, you can potentially lose a client family for good. 

When it comes to flexibility, one thing I always ask myself is: would I rather be right, or helpful? Hopefully the latter, and if so, flexibility and willingness to learn from your mistakes are foundational to being helpful.

What other skills do you feel are important to customer service at your funeral home? Let us know below!