May 14, 2014
Published by 
Dan Isard on May 14, 2014
Dan Isard on May 14, 2014In 2014, I’m taking readers through a business re-engineering plan, where profitability is looked at on a minute scale. So far, we’ve established the true overhead and itemized pricing. Now let’s take a look at the concept of service packages. Everyone, that is, except New York, which is restricted from using packages. If you‘ve studied funeral service, you know that the concept of packages is not new. In fact, it is very old. Prior to the establishment of the…
May 14, 2014
Published by Dan Isard on May 14, 2014
Dan Isard on May 14, 2014Every now and then a public official does something stupid. When President Obama was captured by his press photographer at the funeral of Nelson Mandela posing for a picture with the Danish prime minister, that was stupid. However, “stupid,” when applied to celebrities and our leaders has a different definition than “ignorant or uninformed.” No, “stupid,” when applied to the actions of a celebrity or politician usually means, “just like a common person.” What exactly did President Obama do, other than something that probably occurs in funeral homes throughout the United States hundreds…
May 14, 2014
Published by Dan Isard on May 14, 2014
Dan Isard on May 14, 2014If you were to secretly strap electrodes to the frontal lobes of funeral directors, you would be surprised at the brain wave changes when you say words like, “cremation” or “urn.” Funeral directors have learned not to change their facial muscles when hearing those words but the electroencephalograph cannot be repressed. Cremation is a problem for the funeral side of the world. Yet cemeterians have not yet figured out if cremation is good or bad for business. Let me assure you, it is good! I am going to explain why cremation is good for the cemetery business – however, we must modify our business The good news is that the modern-day cemeterian realizes that their master plan is a work in progress. Cremation has made it necessary to revisit master plans to change them from rolling lawns with 27-square-foot interment areas to […]
May 14, 2014
Published by Dan Isard on May 14, 2014
Dan Isard on May 14, 2014Many cemeteries operate with the same business plan they had hundreds of years ago: Someone dies, and he or she gets buried. But the progressive cemetery has enhanced the business plan: Someone dies, he or she gets cremated, and then he or she gets inurned. Cemeteries are businesses, and they need data to run at their maximum efficiency. We need to be able to use the electronic world to capture the data. The problem is that most cemeterians do not know what data to capture. The data capture is simple when you realize that more than 75 percent of all cemetery sales (interment or inurnment is immaterial) come from people…
May 14, 2014
Published by Dan Isard on May 14, 2014
Dan Isard on May 14, 20147 ways technology can enhance your business I have never consciously done this before in my life. I have ripped off the title of this article from another writer. Not the content of the article, just the title. John Naisbitt used this title as one of his 10 trends he identified in his 1982 book “Megatrends.” If you still have a copy of the book, the words are the same, but I added the slash. It always bothered me that Naisbitt omitted it. Now that you have heard my confession, what does this have to do with technology and cemeteries? In a word: everything. When you first think of technology and cemeteries, what comes to mind? OnStar in the graves? Video headstones? E-mail addresses that end in @heaven? Timesharing mausoleums in vacation resort cities? No, these sensational or wisecrack technology […]