Market Research

I am going to provide you with specific ideas about how to create a simple but effective marketing plan. No, not a cookie-cutter step-by-step guide you could find anywhere on the internet, but insights that are funeral-business specific. Despite offering such insight, I realize this is an exercise in futility, and for the most part a waste of energy and ink. Why? Because sharing this information is very similar to a funeral director telling a family how to conduct their own funeral, from removal/transfer to interment. Most likely the family will not have the discipline to follow the plan as instructed. They will waste time trying to figure everything out, and end up having to spend more than expected for “DIY.” The same thing is true for funeral directors developing their own marketing plan. Most will fail to follow the plan, […]

In the funeral business, change happens slower than snails traveling though peanut butter. In fact, many of our colleagues still operate in 20th century mode as they refuse to use technology, still employ arcane operating practices and even still advertise in the Yellow Pages. Is it that the deathcare environment is not conducive to creativity and there is no talent for innovation? Or are we simply just stubborn and resistant to change? Not much has changed in the funeral profession and supporting industry. There are new gadgets, upgraded buildings and vehicles and such, but the basic functionality of the business remains. Funeral directors care for the dead, with a final disposition of either burial or cremation. What does it take to be innovative and creative enough to come up with new ideas? I suppose there are people among our ranks […]

Considerations to help you prepare for a family seeking discounted pricing. Dear Dan, My funeral home is on the Cape. That means I deal with Yankees every day. I don’t mean the baseball team; we love our Sox here. I’m talking about stubborn, frugal people. I get requests all the time to match my competitor’s price. How would you recommend I handle this? That Guy From Nantucket Dear That Guy, I love the Cape, having just discovered it last year. I wish I had received your letter sooner so I could have expensed my vacation. As I sat at a crab shack with some of those slimy things you guys eat, I would have said to the waitress, “Hey, Red Lobster sells these gross, gooey globs for half of what you sell them for so I would like you to […]

Why is it that consumers don’t revere caskets and urns like the vast majority in the funeral profession? Undoubtedly, caskets and urns are elements of a funeral. But, unless there is some form of spectacular customization, both are containers for human remains. Marketing by the big casket companies shifted focus away from services to their manufactured products, thus attempting to make caskets and urns the centerpiece of a funeral. Unfortunately, while this brilliant marketing was taking place, the price of caskets skyrocketed and prices for services stagnated. The tragedy is many professionals drank the Kool-Aid. Their own service charges lagged, thus contributing to the now-lackluster funeral home profit margin of around 7 percent. For those that do not know, there was a time I worked for a big casket company. Thus, I have firsthand knowledge regarding products, contracts, marketing and […]

Cemetery Impossible How can you tell if a cemetery is priced right? by Daniel M. Isard, MSFS Dear Cemetery Impossible, I own a small cemetery in a two-cemetery town. The other cemetery is larger, and I am very familiar with it. About a decade ago, it was bought by someone and then acquired by another company, then was acquired by another company, and so on. I asked the current manager of the property to let me know if his company ever wants to sell it. Well, I recently received an offering memo, with financial data, from the company. It turns out that they own hundreds of cemeteries and funeral homes. I thought the asking price looked reasonable, so I took it to my accountant and lawyer. They both agreed that it was a great deal. I then took it to […]

Most do not know the history of cremation. If we don’t understand the history, we are ill-equipped to deal with the results of the past. While the roots of cremation go back more than 5,000 years, we began the modern age of cremation in the 1870s. Before the modern world of cremation, bodies were cremated in outdoor pyres or within outdoor cremation pits. Cremation became “modern” in the 1870s, when an Italian professor named Ludovico Brunetti invented the first commercial cremation chamber. Brunetti demonstrated his cremation “furnace” at the Vienna Exposition in 1873. An improved commercial retort was demonstrated at the World’s Fair in 1876 in Philadelphia. Cremation had been a part of the culture of many eastern religions as well as other Christian religions that were starting anew in the 1600s. In Great Britain, the modern cremation movement was […]

Let’s face it funeral friends: Technology in the funeral profession is here to stay. It’s not a fad that people simply use to play games or catch up with each other. It has become woven into the fabric of our lives, both professionally and privately. In preparing to write this article, I considered different facets of a funeral, cremation and burial, and where technology has created a better experience for families while boosting the productivity of funeral directors. Before a call ever takes place, a funeral home must promote itself in such a manner that prompts a consumer to make contact regarding an impending death or a death that has occurred. In days gone by, marketing for funeral homes was simple. We are in a relationship business, so visibility in operative communities was a must, and frankly, is still an […]

When you take a long-term view, green burial is not new. It’s just the way burial used to be. But that was a long time ago, and some cemetery professionals and families need to be educated about what it means today and what it offers. Cemetery Impossible What exactly is green burial and why should a cemetery consider offering it?   Dear Cemetery Impossible, I hear a lot of people talking about green or natural burial.  Frankly, I don’t get it.  Can you explain it so that a country undertaker can understand why I should consider it?             Country Undertaker   Dear Country Undertaker, Green or natural burial is not new. From a religious perspective, this is the burial requirement of Jews and Moslems. Biblically, it is established as “dust to dust.” This is what all burial was, regardless of […]

The fine line between donations and advertising.   Dear Dan, I am embarrassed to write this letter and will be even more embarrassed if you publish it. Now I know why you have fake names at the end of each letter. I am a 120-call business in a small town, and my competitor, who is the same size, is two blocks away. Neither of us are making much of a living, but we continue to fight for each call like our fathers and grandfathers did. Every week, I get at least five requests from churches, local organizations, religious groups and schools for “advertising.” These are nominal and generally amount to between $25 and $200. Little League wants new T-shirts, the high school yearbook wants ads, the senior center needs donations, etc. While each request is not a lot, last year, […]

My objective for this article is to challenge readers to consider refreshing stale practices developed over the last few years. In addition, I challenge you to take a new view of what has become “passé” (for my fellow preppy rednecks, that means the same old thing) in many funeral home and cemetery operations. Offering keepsakes and personalization has become a staple in our business, but in some cases, the way we’re going about it is making us lazy and failing the families we serve. I wonder whether keepsakes and personalized products have the same value to the families you serve as they do to you. From a historical perspective, keepsakes to remember the dead have been around a long time. Just for reference, the Webster’s Dictionary definition of keepsake: “(noun) something given or kept as a memento.” It is interesting […]

The Right Fit Placing personnel where they will flourish and training them for success.   By Jeff Harbeson   The funeral profession is facing a crisis, and it’s not cremation, it’s not foreign caskets, it’s not even online funeral providers, it’s ­people! Right now, there are more funeral directors leaving the business, either by retirement or simply quitting, than are entering. In my lifetime, I have been bombed, shot at and cut, so if readers get their starched boxers in a twist, so be it – I ain’t scared. The truth is that we (in the profession) are our own biggest enemy. That’s right – the king is butt-naked. In this country, each state has individual requirements to enter this profession. The regulations range from zero licensing to dual licensure with a four-year bachelor of science degree. I’ve been around […]