November 2, 2018
Published by 
Dan Isard on November 2, 2018
Dan Isard on November 2, 2018Relationships and reputation are the keys to convincing undecided consumers to choose your funeral home. Make sure your marketing is based on that fact. Funeral service professionals continue to face challenges as consumers shift away from “traditional funerals.” In fact, “traditional funeral” is jargon specific to funeral directors which often evokes misty eyes and wistful thoughts of yesteryear. The reality is that a “traditional funeral” is becoming as extinct as those who continue to use the jargon. Positioning a funeral home in today’s market and educating consumers requires a multifaceted marketing approach. Like it or not, services and products are for sale; there is a price for each and a consumer must choose to make a purchase. Creating the message to attract “buyers” is more important now than ever before. Even though most consumers understand that funeral homes care for […]
November 2, 2018
Published by Dan Isard on November 2, 2018
Dan Isard on November 2, 2018If you’re buying a cemetery that has funded its merchandise trust through surety bonds, you need to understand what that means and how it affects what that cemetery is worth. Dear Dan, I want to buy a neighboring cemetery. I was doing my due diligence and learned that all of their merchandise trust is funded by surety bonds. Why would someone do this? What can I do now if I want to buy this business? Not Surety in Bondville Dear NSB, I have had the privilege of standing in this profession for four decades with one foot in the funeral world and one in the cemetery. I love the balance and perspective. I also get to see the problems. The funeral world became cursed when it invented something called “cash advances.” The cemetery world suffered the same curse when […]
November 2, 2018
Published by Dan Isard on November 2, 2018
Dan Isard on November 2, 2018Consumers are shifting away from burial toward cremation, so what does that mean for the future of caskets? The answer depends on the lens from which you are viewing the funeral world. As a funeral home owner, the future looks dim for your casket merchandising. The same number of caskets are sold in the U.S. today as compared to 20 years ago, even though we have almost 700,000 more deaths. Today, the mix of caskets is weighted on the 20- and 18-gauge caskets and less expensive woods. Years ago, more expensive metals (bronze, copper and stainless steel) were being sold. If your casket selection for consumers is priced appropriately and your service fees are the emphasis of your pricing, you will have families choose caskets for burial and cremation services. The key is to train your funeral directors to present […]
November 2, 2018
Published by Dan Isard on November 2, 2018
Dan Isard on November 2, 2018A funeral home must evolve and serve consumers where they are or risk losing calls to the competition and perhaps even a slow demise. Note to Readers: This particular letter was delivered to my office rather than coming via email. Upon examination and based on the imprint on the back of the paper, the letter was typed. And based on the different levels of imprinting, I surmise it was typed using a manual typewriter. I am not conveying this to embarrass the writer, but I do think it tells you something about the answer seeker. Dear Dan, I have read your articles for almost 40 years and have a question that you may or may not be able to answer. My business was a 300-call traditional business when I took it over. Today, we only do about 150 total calls, and […]
November 2, 2018
Published by Dan Isard on November 2, 2018
Dan Isard on November 2, 2018Financial and operational plans aren’t the only aspects of strategic business planning. Astute owners will also consider marketing. My fear in composing an article on strategic planning is repeating myself. Funny that I don’t have that same fear when telling jokes to an audience, but to an audience of readers, I am concerned about this. Strategic planning brings out this fear because every year for the 44 years I have been doing management and financial consulting, I write on this topic. Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, I return to this subject. I’ll take a different approach this year. I won’t talk about financial or operational aspects of advanced planning, but marketing. Funeral home owners/managers are terrible marketers, and the reason is simple: To market, you must first understand why families come to you. But the fact is, most firms […]