Articles
November 21, 2022
Published by 
Dan Isard on November 21, 2022
Dan Isard on November 21, 2022I entered this business when your grandparents were running it. Back then, it was easy to market a funeral home: go to Rotary meetings (or other social organizations) weekly, attend church services each weekend, park your cars in the parking lot each day after washing them, and wait for the phone to ring. Ah, the good old days. There was really very little to call acrimonious about your marketing efforts then (other than that stupid competitor down the road) because the issues that mattered to families were their religion, where their family was buried and which firm had served them in the past. I remember a study we conducted on funeral market share in the late 1980s. We found that a town’s “churched percentage” was the same as the number of people who knew which funeral home they would use. […]
November 21, 2022
Published by 
John McQueen on November 21, 2022
John McQueen on November 21, 2022Ask the Right Questions, Get the Right Answers Most of us might be familiar with this verse from the Bible: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Matthew 7:7 (KJV). The passage suggests that God will give whatever is needed to those who have the faith to ask for it. The same often holds true when it comes to helping cremation families. If you desire more than just a direct cremation, you must ask. The ask comes in the form of questions. You also must seek the answers you are looking for from your client. Only through exploration with conversation starters can you obtain the necessary knowledge to enlighten the family to additional offerings. Finally, you must knock if you want the door to be opened. In […]
October 24, 2022
Published by John McQueen on October 24, 2022
John McQueen on October 24, 2022The best thing I’m doing right now is evangelizing the value of the funeral, and not just to the outside world but to those in our profession as well. Granted, evangelism is typically used in terms of spreading the Christian Gospel, but it can also mean “a zealous advocacy for a cause” or “to talk about how good you think something is.” I believe now is a great time to be in funeral service. In fact, the services we provide are needed more today than ever before. We often hear individuals in funeral service refer to their chosen profession as a calling, much like someone’s calling into the ministry. In fact, many directors say they “minister” to the families they serve. Therefore, if the work of a funeral director is a calling, then I am proud to be a “‘funeral […]
October 24, 2022
Published by 
Curtis Rostad on October 24, 2022
Curtis Rostad on October 24, 2022One of the most basic and widely held employment practices in the country is called “at-will” employment. At-will employment simply means that the relationship between employer and employee can be terminated at any time, by either party, for any reason. An employer can fire an employee without giving a reason and, likewise, the employee can quit for any reason or no reason at all. In addition, the employer is free to change any terms of employment, including pay, benefits, and working hours. While many believe this to be arbitrary and unfair, no employees would want to be in a position where they must work at a firm they do not like or cannot accept another job offer because they are obligated to continue to work where they are for some period of weeks or months. The opposite of an “at-will” […]
October 24, 2022
Published by Dan Isard on October 24, 2022
Dan Isard on October 24, 2022For most cemeteries that are reliant on cash flow, there is no bigger issue than hiring a salesperson. This is a constant and recurring problem. Salespeople turn over constantly. It seems the only ones who don’t turnover are the bad ones. Hiring, training, compensating, and keeping them productive is a most difficult part of the job for any owner or general manager. While much of this article will be the same for funeral home advance sales sellers, I do not want to try and cover the two different fields of funeral and cemetery. The DNA of the sale itself is different. In a funeral home you are selling a service (albeit there may be some merchandise, but the service of the funeral is what you are selling). In a cemetery you are selling a product (albeit the service is getting […]