Thought Leadership

Many facets of your business are confidential, including credit card and Social Security numbers of the deceased, the names of families served and all prearrangement business relationships. Dear Dan, The craziest thing has been happening. I own a 180 call business with two rooftops. I run one location and my manager of 10 years runs our second location that is 15 miles away. Two weeks ago he tendered his resignation. He did not give me a reason for his departure. He did not answer any questions about what he was going to do or if he was leaving funeral service. Last week, I heard at a Rotary meeting that he bought a building and is working to open a funeral home. Yesterday, I started receiving calls from several of my Preneed families who have received a letter from him announcing […]

T here are a wide array of guidelines, articles, books, and workshops on ways to effectively train employees. In fact, there are some very common catch phrases found in reference to training such as: Identify resources for your training Develop a training program Evaluate the effectiveness of training materials Strive for continuous improvement What these catch phrases really mean is open to interpretation. Rather than define these terms, it is more productive to approach training from the “who”, “what”, “when” and “how” perspective. Stop and consider the main intent of providing training to anyone for any position. Are you not sure what that is? Training intends to pass knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) from one individual to another. The real key to success for training employees is the sharing of these elements. There are many reasons for sharing KSAs among […]

I have learned that many of the 300 articles I have written over the past three decades have required the reader to have a dictionary, a computer with Microsoft Excel, and an abacus or calculator nearby. Well, if you typically will not read past the opening paragraph since you do not possess these tools, you are in luck. This article does not require any math. Yep, my challenge is to explain a difficult financial concept using no math. Experience has taught me that if I cannot use math to explain a concept, I should rely upon logic to make the conclusion convincing. Logic requires all parties to have an open mind. When dealing with the logic of business, the biggest obstacle is the logic-blocking mechanism called fear. Funeral management operates with a great deal of fear. Today, rather than trying […]

A Lowdown on Lending Why the choice of bank controls the means of financing. Dear Dan, It was time to sell my business. I was approached by a nice person who actually lives in my town and works for a nearby business. We quickly reached an agreement on price and terms for my funeral home business and the real estate. It was simple. That is, until the bank got involved. The bank said that I had to take more money as a carryback and defer the amount for two years! Who are they to tell me what the terms of the sale are going to be? Mad at the Bankers in Bennington Dear Mad, Life is simple: If you have the money, you make the rules. Please remember to get that as a tattoo following your closing. Bankers are easy […]