Articles

Neglecting Your Cemetery Grounds Could Ruin Your Reputation It was like a scene from a Hollywood movie. Coffins were dangling on the side of a building containing burial niches from four stories up. Coffins containing people’s loved ones exposed and in danger of severe damage after the wall of the building known as The Resurrection collapsed on the grounds of the oldest cemetery in Naples, Italy. Pictures certainly are worth more than words when the press grabs a candid shot of such a horrific scene. No one was physically injured in the collapse. But the families of those who dangled were emotionally injured and even held a protest to hold the city officials accountable for their alleged poor management of the public cemetery. Unfortunately, this was the second incident occurring this year at the cemetery. In January, about 300 burial […]

So 2023 is here. The question is what do we do now? The last few years have seen changes in our profession like never before. What used to take years to change, now takes months or weeks. The process of planning for the future is more important now than ever. We have seen incredible challenges in staffing, rising costs, and rapidly changing consumer attitudes. If there is anything to be learned over the past few years, it’s that the business is different today than it was three years ago. You all have seen it; the way we conduct business has simply changed. The pandemic ushered in a new era of funeral service that requires us to plan and adjust quicker than ever before. Some leaders in our profession have been resistant to change; but operating “the way it’s always been” […]

…and How to Beat Them at Their Own Game “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana It was in the early 1980s the Federal Trade Commission started to investigate the way funeral homes charged for their services. Back then – more than two generations ago – when a death occurred, the consumer purchased the casket and vault and received all the other services of the funeral home. This included the removal of the body, arrangement planning, preparation of the body, livery of the deceased body and the family as well as the use of the funeral home for a gathering or the funeral home would bring the body to the place of worship for a visitation and/or service. Ultimately, the funeral home brought the casketed body to the cemetery for interment. You got […]

The Hatfields vs. The McCoys; the Cattle Grazers vs. The Sheep Ranchers; David vs. Goliath; North vs. South; Funeral Homes vs. Cemeteries. All of these Polar opposites are competing forces, but none is the equal of the constant battle for dominance or avoidance of fear as the funeral versus cemetery forces. Of the almost 20,000 funeral homes and about 8,000 cemeteries, less than 5% represent a marriage of the Two forces, which we call a “combo.” Over time, the funeral directors were afraid of the cemeteries out competing them, so in some states they passed laws outlawing the combined ownership of funeral homes by cemeteries. In some states, it was never a spoken issue but whispered as a point of concern. In all reality, over my lifetime witnessing the operations of marketing efforts nationwide, the Combo is the high ground […]