July 22, 2020
Published by 
Gabriel Ngo on July 22, 2020
Gabriel Ngo on July 22, 2020One of the hottest topics coming out of the Foresight Funeral and Cemetery Consumer Behavior Study has been Pricing. Gabe Ngo, Director of Business Development, provides some insights on how to be more transparent with pricing. Question #1: How do we best address price transparency, given the complex design of the GPL? Question #2: How do I put my complicated FTC mandated pricing online in a way the consumer will understand and not drive the consumer away? Gabe Ngo: These are two great questions that I would like to attempt to tackle in answering them together. Yes, General Price List (GPL) requirements are complex and complicated—most notably for the lay person and consumer to follow and understand. On the surface, it is actually quite easy to just have your GPL scanned and posted on your website in the name of […]
July 17, 2020
Published by 
Dan Isard on July 17, 2020
Dan Isard on July 17, 2020Editor’s Note: This is the first article in a two-part series on the results of a survey The Foresight Companies commissioned on the effect COVID-19 has had on how consumers think of funeral service. On Jan. 1st, we all thought Corona was a beer. Now, it is the virus that has killed so many, sickened so many more and indelibly struck at all aspects of our lives and livelihoods. It is a moment in our history more impactful than the Battle of Concord, the attack on Pearl Harbor and the multiple attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, all rolled up together. Funeral service stood tall during the initial outbreak. Many went into the hot zones to help the living care for their dead. Many worked long days for numerous weeks under conditions that were a risk to their own safety. This […]
July 17, 2020
Published by 
Stephanie Ramsey on July 17, 2020
Stephanie Ramsey on July 17, 2020Scenario: James and Martha Smitherton own a funeral and crematory business in the northwestern United States, Smitherton Family Funerals and Cremations. Smitherton’s serve 240 families a year with a staff of three full-time licensed funeral directors/embalmers (James, Todd and Kimberly) and a part-time apprentice. They also employ a full-time office support person to assist Martha in the office. The rest of their staff consists of 18 part-time employees who are scheduled as needed and based on their availability. Both Todd and Kim have worked for the funeral home for several years, and while both have children, they are in high school and college. The recent pandemic has stretched the funeral home staffing resources rather thin as nonessential employees are sheltering at home per their state mandate. As a designated essential business, the funeral home continues to operate and provide services […]
July 17, 2020
Published by Dan Isard on July 17, 2020
Dan Isard on July 17, 2020COVID-19 has significantly impacted existing preneed agreements. The editor of The Director, bless his heart, wanted 2020 to be a time of vision and planning, a year during which this magazine might help lay out the future of funeral service. Given that we’re neck deep in a pandemic, this year’s goal must be scrapped because of COVID-19 – and because Henny Penny has risen. In case you’re not familiar with her, Henny Penny is a chicken featured in a European folktale who believes the world is coming to an end and runs around saying, “The sky is falling!” (In the United States, you might know this story as Chicken Little.) Feeling a bit like Henny Penny as I write this, I’m slightly uncertain that I will live to see it published; people go from being alive and feeling fine to […]
July 16, 2020
Published by Dan Isard on July 16, 2020
Dan Isard on July 16, 2020Some big decisions must be made on these major capital assets. To remind you, the goal of this year’s series of columns is to give you a new vision on every aspect of the management of your business. This month, I want to address the major capital assets – building and vehicles – used in the business. So, in light of our new forward thinking, allow me to pose four questions. Simply answer them in your mind as I’m working with a new AI software to tally these results. (After all, the financial decisions of many owners managing their businesses are made on artificial intelligence, aren’t they? I’m just on the cutting edge.) After answering the questions, you might either write the rest of this column for me or feel like you’ve read it without actually reading it. Here we […]