Nicole Vullo
on
A Crisis of Misunderstood Purpose: Why Funeral Homes Must Innovate to be Relevant and Attract Talent
Written by Diann Anderson, formerly of Anderson Funeral & Cremation Services
Is Your Website’s “About US” Tab Serving a Purpose?
The funeral profession and most funeral home businesses are steeped in a rich history. If you take the time to click on the “About Us” tab on most funeral home websites, you will be able to read all about the history of that funeral home business. What you will be told is who started the business and how it has been handed over to the succeeding generations or how the business progressed with adding to the facilities and purchasing other funeral homes. You will read of the longevity of the business, conveying the message of stability; however, a history lesson doesn’t tell a potential customer or potential employee anything of substance about the business. A history lesson does not give a compelling reason to choose one funeral home over another. It doesn’t paint the picture of how that funeral home will solve the client’s problem.
When the phone rings at your funeral home with a “first call” or an inquiry about making preneed funeral arrangements, there is an external and internal problem the potential client needs you to solve. Do you know what problem your client families are looking for you to solve? There is a real ongoing problem in our profession due to the lack of understanding of the client family’s needs. The funeral profession continues to operate from an outdated model. Not only does it struggle with communicating and providing true value to client families, but the funeral profession has also lost its compass and struggles to provide a compelling reason for professionals to choose this vocation. This disconnect is reflected in how the profession presents itself, starting with the “About Us” sections on their websites, which are often an indication of how out of touch the industry is with the real needs of families and prospective employees.
The Disconnect in the Funeral Profession
“You can lose with a great team, but you cannot win without them.”- John Maxwell
The shortage of funeral directors is not merely a result of demographic shifts or changes in societal attitudes towards death and dying. Rather, it stems from a deeper issue: the funeral profession has become out of touch with what it provides to its customers and why it matters. The focus on preserving history and tradition has overshadowed the need to adapt and clearly communicate the value Funeral Directors offer today.
Our world is changing at a breakneck speed and because many people no longer belong to a church, our client families are experiencing an emotional, physical, cognitive, and spiritual tsunami brought on by the death of their loved one and they have no one to turn to for help.
In the funeral profession, there’s a significant gap in addressing the profound role we can play in helping grievers navigate loss with hope. Facing the loss of a loved one or one’s own death is earth shattering and requires more than the superficial answers our profession has been accustomed to providing. There is no trinket, party, or substance that will provide the healing balm needed to dress the grief wound.
The families you serve are trying to figure out how they will re-engage in life without their loved one physically with them. They are trying to figure out what their life is going to look like now that their loved one has died. They are struggling with their own mortality because now death has touched them. Yes, they want to feel better, but not in the way culture prescribes.
For the Loved One of the Decedent There’s Two Different Problems
- External Problem – Something must be done with the decedent’s body.
- Internal Problem – Emotional, Physical, Cognitive, and Spiritual – Mostly spiritual – “What’s the meaning of this?” “What’s going to happen to me?”
It’s the internal problem that causes the greatest distress for the families you are serving. Research shows that every time the consumer purchases something or engages in hiring a service provider, they are trying to solve an external and internal problem. Research shows that the internal problem the consumer is trying to solve is usually the driving force behind their decision to make the purchase or hire a service provider. The interesting thing about this is the consumer usually doesn’t know that.
Solving the Consumers Internal Problem– Consumer research scientists have determined that when a consumer’s internal problem is solved by their purchase, they are happy and feel satisfied with their purchase. Research has also shown that when both the external and internal problem of the consumer is addressed with the purchase, they are extremely satisfied with their purchase.
The Funeral Profession Often Addresses Only a Fraction of What Consumers Truly Require – As a whole, our profession tends to primarily focus on solving the external problem for families with the focus being on the disposition of the body. Very few funeral providers focus on the internal problem which is grief.
Obituaries Tell the Story
If you are wondering if your funeral home is doing a good job caring for your client families, take a deep dive and analyze what kind of ceremonies your Funeral Directors are arranging. If I had to make a bet, I would bet that your team is not hitting it out of the park in the arrangement conference. This is a problem across our whole profession. Most Funeral Directors do not know how to holistically conduct a funeral arrangement. One of the most surprising aspects of our profession is how little emphasis is placed on the funeral ceremony. You may be thinking this is a strange statement, but I ask you to look at the state of our profession. Look at the statistics of the different categories of ceremonies i.e. cremations and burials without a service. Why do you suppose the trend is going toward more and more cremations and burials without a service? I can tell you it is not because the consumer doesn’t want a ceremony. It is directly related to what the Funeral Directors are arranging with families.
Maybe It’s Time You do Some Sleuthing
Years ago, my husband Steve and I saw this trend creeping into our funeral home. It was alarming and it took some sleuthing to figure out what was happening. After digging in and looking at case after case, we determined that we had an educational issue with our Funeral Directors. We had to re-educate and train them in what, why, and how to guide families.
The role of a funeral director is so much more than the custodial care of the decedent. Properly caring for the decedent is extremely important, but it is just as important to care for the grieving family. Your funeral home is a grief triage center, and your Funeral Directors are the first responders helping a family navigate their journey of grief.
Funeral homes need to highlight these aspects in their communication and marketing efforts, demonstrating how they solve the real problems clients face during one of the most challenging times in their lives.
Why the Profession Struggles to Attract New Talent
You Have Been Created for a Purpose
You have been created for a purpose and so has every human being. So, it should not surprise you that most people are looking for careers that offer more than just stability; they seek purpose and impact. The funeral profession fails to communicate the profound difference Funeral Directors can make in people’s lives. Without a compelling narrative about the rewarding nature of helping people navigate their grief journey, the profession struggles to attract individuals who are driven by a desire to help others and make a meaningful contribution to their community.
Stagnant Professional Image – Our Image Should be the Image of Grief Triage Specialists
The image of the funeral profession remains largely unchanged and is often perceived as outdated or unappealing to job seekers. To attract talent, the profession needs to rebrand itself, showcasing the diverse skills, emotional intelligence, and innovation involved in funeral directing.
Professional Development and Support
“Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” – Sir Richad Branson
One of the stakes Steve and I planted in the ground was our dedication to training our care team. We were committed to continually training and bringing in outside specialists to help us achieve our goals. This is a highly regarded value proposition for Funeral Directors no matter what stage they are at in their career. We never received negative feedback about providing career enrichment opportunities for our Funeral Directors.
Revamping Marketing and Communication
Your funeral home must go beyond telling your history and communicate your unique value propositions clearly on your website. Your website should clearly communicate your unique value propositions and give your clients a compelling reason to choose your services over all the other providers. Testimonials and clear descriptions of your services are very important as well. Your site’s “About Us” section should not only tell your funeral home’s history but also highlight the mission, values, and the unique support your funeral home offers.
Free Isn’t Always Better
Your website is your biggest asset and can be your largest liability depending on how it looks, how well it technically performs, and how well it communicates your mission. Our profession has many vendors offering free canned websites, but free isn’t always a good choice. You should ask yourself “Why is it free?” and “Does that provider have my best interest or their best interest?”.
A Truly Custom Website is a Differentiation Tool
The price of having a custom website can give you sticker shock but it will pay you back in more ways than you can anticipate. Here are just a few ways a custom website is valuable.
- Differentiation and Creative Control
- Clear Communication of Your Mission
- Helps Attract Like Minded Mission Focused Employees
- Search Engine Optimization
Steve and I went through our share of websites and different website developers because every few years we totally changed our website to keep it fresh and updated. I became extremely frustrated with the website developers that focused on the funeral profession because I discovered that the websites they advertised as custom websites were not truly custom, but a template-based structure. I sought out a young creative team that had never worked in the funeral segment to help us with our last website. My main goal with that website was to have the capability for me to be able to regularly add information to it without having to pay the website designer to add information. I encountered time delays and a lot of added cost to have previous websites adjusted once they went live. Having the ability in-house to add notifications about special events happening at or through our funeral home was a big benefit. We were also able to have a visually engaging obituary platform that didn’t look like any other funeral website in our demographic. I was tired of seeing the same stock depressing funeral artwork that most of the funeral industry website developers used because none of them visually communicated our mission. I wanted creative control of all the graphics so that I could make sure they communicated accurately our mission through pictures as well as words. Having that capability was also extremely important to me to help our website’s search engine optimization. It was a truly energizing and creative experience, and we were able to achieve what we were looking for with the budget we had to work with.
Fostering a Positive Work Environment
Creating a supportive and inclusive work culture is essential. This includes offering flexible working conditions, recognizing the emotional toll of the job, and providing resources for personal and professional growth. By demonstrating a commitment to the well-being of their staff, funeral homes can attract and retain dedicated professionals.
Practical Ways You Can Implement Changes
Update the “About Us” section in your website to include :
- Testimonials from families about how the funeral home helped them.
- Highlight stories of the funeral home staff going above and beyond in service.
- Detail the mission and values that drive the business, focusing on compassion and support.
Invest in Professional Development:
- Provide ongoing training opportunities, including workshops on the latest industry practices.
- Offer courses on emotional intelligence and grief counseling.
- Implement a mentorship program where experienced directors guide new hires.
Enhance Community Engagement:
- Host community events such as memorial services, grief support groups, or informational seminars on end-of-life planning.
- Partner with local organizations and charities to demonstrate community involvement and support.
Improve Workplace Culture:
- Foster a supportive environment that values open communication and employee well-being.
- Recognize and reward staff for their hard work and dedication.
- Provide resources for mental health support and stress management.
Revamp Marketing Strategies:
- Use social media to share stories of the positive impact the funeral home has on families.
- Create video content that highlights the compassionate services offered.
- Ensure all marketing materials convey a clear and compelling value proposition.
Gather and Act on Feedback:
- Regularly survey employees and clients to gather feedback on services and workplace culture.
- Act on the feedback to make continuous improvements.
- Show appreciation for the input by acknowledging and implementing changes based on suggestions.
- Detailed Implementation Steps
Thank you for reading my article and I hope that you have found something to implement that will help you move forward enriching your business and the lives you touch. I am looking forward to continuing this journey with you and sharing more insights and expertise in our next exploration. You have but one life to live and you have been placed in this timeline of history for a purpose. What you do each day matters and has the potential to make a positive difference in the lives you touch. If you have a question or need a boost in moving forward, please call me at 815-299-0100 because I would love to help you achieve your goals.
With warm regards,
Diann Anderson