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Chris Cruger
November 23, 2020
Published by 
Chris Cruger on November 23, 2020
Chris Cruger on November 23, 2020One of the greatest mistakes that funeral home and cemetery owners and management make when putting together a strategic plan is confusing it with other types of planning. A strategic plan is a tool that provides a framework to accomplish a mission with efficiency and impact. If it is to be effective and useful, it must clearly define the goals, the action steps, and the resources to accomplish them. Typically, the Strategic Plan covers a timeframe of three to five years but must be constantly monitored and adjusted into clear annual operating plans. No matter what you call it, the key is that you have a plan. What is an operations plan? In short, it lays out who, what, when and how of your daily operations for the next year. It is meant to define how human, financial, and physical […]
October 26, 2020
Published by Chris Cruger on October 26, 2020
Chris Cruger on October 26, 2020Introduction It is fundamentally accepted that new technologies have transformed the way we do business in almost every sector over the past 25 years. It is equally true that the pandemic has opened the floodgates in terms of how consumers look at, look for, and consume information at the convenience and touch of their fingertips. This has especially increased the competition among service-based businesses and companies. For example, large grocery chains have been offering curbside services for several years. However, a consumer now has the ability to hire a personal shopper via a mobile app to accomplish this task of grocery shopping for him/her and have the groceries delivered right to his/her door. Or in our case for the funeral and cemetery profession, the pandemic has forever changed how the presentation, communication, and consumption of information is shared and experienced […]
October 26, 2020
Published by Chris Cruger on October 26, 2020
Chris Cruger on October 26, 2020 Introduction Our recently published 2020 Foresight Funeral and Cemetery Consumer Behavior Study (FCCBS) outlined how Covid-19 has driven technology to forever alter the funeral and cemetery profession. The impact of this change has affected not only how funeral homes and cemeteries present their services and offerings to the general public, but has also influenced how mourners actually participate in the burial and grieving processes. There are three main ways in which technology is changing our profession. The first is the clear consumer preference for the availability of pricing information online. 75% of consumers now state they want access to pricing online, and over half (52%) say they will only do business in the future with companies that provide online pricing, per 2020 FCCBS. The second is the use of virtual meetings, fundamentally changing both the Pre-Need and At-Need sales processes […]
April 28, 2020
Published by Chris Cruger on April 28, 2020
Chris Cruger on April 28, 2020In these totally uncharted waters we are all facing, it is imperative that we all plan for our future. It essentially boils down to three simple rules – Accept the things we cannot change Change the things we can Create a plan that maximizes your opportunity for success Accept the things we cannot change As we are all adjusting to the “new normal”, it is absolutely beyond our control what restrictions the federal, state or local governments are going to impose around our ability to serve families. Social distancing and other restrictions being imposed are having everything from minimal to extreme impact on our business. Recently the Governor of New Jersey imposed a mandate that all deceased be handled as a direct burial or direct cremation. Now, we don’t have to totally accept that lying down but it does have […]
April 24, 2020
Published by Chris Cruger on April 24, 2020
Chris Cruger on April 24, 2020$370 billion to replenish SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program Congress moved quickly to pass legislation that appropriates an additional $484 million to continue to finance the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL), along with several other initiatives aimed to mitigate the economic hardships caused by Covid-19. Following the Senate’s approval Tuesday, the House passed the bill last night and President Trump is expected to sign it into law today. The new legislation provides an additional $310 billion in new funding for the PPP and $60 billion for the EIDL. It also allocates $75 billion for hospitals and health care providers, and $25 billion for the development and expansion of coronavirus testing, The $310 billion for the PPP includes $30 billion reserved for community-based lenders, small […]
