Market Research
January 14, 2017
Published by 
Dan Isard on January 14, 2017
Dan Isard on January 14, 2017Dear Cemetery Impossible, I own four funeral homes and two cemeteries. The cemeteries are each in the same town as one of my funeral homes. In those towns, I have made the funeral home manager the cemetery manager.Every cemeterian I speak to tells me that having this“combo” is great, but I get very few advance sales at the cemeteries. Most of my cemetery sales are at need. What am I doing wrong? Sincerely, Confused Combo Dear Confused Combo, In the eyes of the public, a funeral business and a cemetery are aligned. They both deal with providing solutions when a death occurs. One large brokerage firm in the 1980’s even gave an all-inclusive name to the two businesses, referring to it as the “death-care”profession. While the public and Wall Street think funeral homes and cemeteries are related, in reality they […]
November 14, 2016
Published by Dan Isard on November 14, 2016
Dan Isard on November 14, 2016Dear Cemetery Impossible, My cemetery is almost 80 years old. We use a well for our groundwater source. The wellis starting to dry up. My city has told methat if the well dries up, I will be requiredto use a low-lying area for a retaining pond.The alternative is to buy water from the city,which is very expensive.The retaining pond idea scares me,because I have not developed that area yetand the local land architect estimates it wouldcost about $250,000 for a quarter-acre lakesite. What can I do? Sincerely, High and Dry Dear High and Dry, Frankly, based upon today’s interment market, you are lucky that you need to create a lake. I say this from the perspective of cost, features and revising your masterplan. The city water could cos t$20,000 a year in perpetuity. Alternatively, you can finance the cost of […]
October 5, 2016
Published by Dan Isard on October 5, 2016
Dan Isard on October 5, 2016Selling memorialization to cremation families involves not only implementing a “good, better, best” pricing strategy but also learning how to reach people who, unlike traditional burial families, do not automatically choose final disposition as part of the process. How to increase yourniche and inurnment sales If you have not updated your cemetery master plan in the last 10 years, you are making a grave mistake (pun intended). The cemetery of the 19th century was a simple land-use master plan. You had an acre of land with between 1,000 and 1,200 graves. Each grave equaled one interment. However the master plan of today should focus on inurnment rather than interment. If you want to increase your number of urn placements you have to change your master plan. We have learned so much about the mind of the cremation-choosing consumer in the […]
September 1, 2016
Published by Dan Isard on September 1, 2016
Dan Isard on September 1, 2016Dear Dan, I have an iPhone, an iPad and a Facebook page for my funeral home and myself. I’ve even read a tweet or two. Today, however, I’m feeling old and out of touch. I am in service to a family that asked me to set up a crowdfunding account. They said this fund will pay all of the funeral expenses. The death was of a teen, so they asked that I cash-advance the cemetery. They bought a nice casket and vault, but I have no idea what I am doing with crowdfunding. Signed, I Am Definitely Not Hep Dear Definitely Not Hep, Let’s start with an explanation of crowdfunding. Then, if you decide to move forward with this fundraising arrangement, I will move for your commitment and the removal of all power to make independent financial decisions. Crowdfunding is […]