Articles

Cemeteries are not Funeral Homes. Their mission is very different from their sibling within the deathcare business. A cemetery is a long-term provider of care versus a funeral home, which is short term. The funeral home may have an intense relationship with a family, going from stranger to intimate member of the family within two to five days. The cemetery may start out as a stranger, but the relationship will go on for generations (a generation is measured as a term of 20 years). But both funeral home and cemetery are important providers to survivors in the event of death. Yet, many funeral homes spend a lot of time, money, and effort promoting their “independent” or “family ownership.” Cemeteries do not. And for good reason. Cemetery Ownership If we look at the history of cemetery ownership, there are a few […]

How can you make a positive difference in your community as society trends toward a meaningless tomorrow filled with simple cremation? Most scientists and archaeologists agree that Homosapiens, or modern humans, came into existence between 200,000 and 300,000 years ago. The first known communities, however, did not exist until around 14,000 years ago. But it’s the 9,500-year old Neolithic settlement known as Catalhoyuk, located in south-central Turkey, where nearly 8,000 people gathered, that may hold the key to the rise in major communities. Prior to the discovery of Catalhoyuk, humans were mostly known as nomadic people, hunters and gathers wandering in search of food. Although still up for some debate, archaeologists believe these early settlers came together through shared spirituality and artistic expression, giving way to shared farming and other social customs. There is no doubt that the Neolithic Revolution […]

EI, the biggest workplace performance predictor and strongest driver of leadership and personal excellence, begins with you. “Let us all be the leaders we wish we had.”– Simon Sinek, Author and Inspirational Speaker While there is no “I” in TEAM, the winning team you build (or currently have) must start somewhere, and that somewhere begins with you, Mr./Ms. Owner-Operator. By default, and regardless of whether you wanted to be a leader or not, your team looks to you to be captain of your ship. Throughout my career, I have worked for others and found myself wishing that this leader was more “this way” and that leader more “that way.” However, none of us is ever complete and perfect. I have always found myself learning what I should do under past managers and leaders, but just as importantly, I have learned […]

Spoiler alert! There is no Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and please don’t make me talk about Sasquatch. I am the person who has been saying for four decades, preneed is not an asset. I am not reversing my stance on this. You can’t argue against the existence of gravity and that pre-need is a liability. You can put cushions on the ground so when gravity takes your body from the tree limb you have a chance to walk away. By the same token, you can make good decisions in the administration of your preneed program to protect this liability from being too large of a liability. I will explain in this article. However, the theme of this article is that pre-need can add value to your business. I will explain that as well. Math Doesn’t Lie In the worlds of […]