Thought Leadership

Dear Dan, I have been an owner for 20 years. As an owner, I have hired and fired employees. Part of my job at the end of each year is to decide what bonus, if any, to give to my staff and how much of a raise to give them as well. Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, I now provide benefits for my staff as well. These benefits are not cheap. When employees question their salary, bonus or raise, I am tempted to show them their full compensation, including benefits. What can I include in the compensation figures to relay to them our investment in them as employees? Guilty Employer in Glitter Gulch Dear Guilty, This is a great question. We already know that, as a service business, funeral firms need people to provide the many services […]

When separate businesses share the same employees, how should overtime pay be handled?  Stephanie Ramsey discusses the rules and options in this recent article for American Funeral Director.

Whether you sell to a family member, key person, outside individual or large company, the decision should be made with personal self-interest in mind. Dear Dan, I am 64 years old and the fifth generation of my family to own this business. We go back more than 125 years of family ownership. I have three children and it’s clear to me that none of them wants to continue the family ownership. One tried working in the business but did not like it. I myself, after a 20-year career outside of funeral service, came back into the business when my father got old. I am glad I did for many reasons. However, it disappoints me that this business may cease to be within my family. Frankly, I feel guilty and distraught. What last-ditch effort can I try to get my children […]

I am certain that no one has written more about preneed in their lifetime than me. I am not bragging. I am trying to help. To me, selling preneed is easy. The tough part is finding the people that will talk to you about buying a preneed contract. Let me give you three simple steps to increase your preneed production by 100 percent within one year. Before I get you to start selling, I need to make sure you understand how to recognize if you have a good program. I will not bore you with charts and graphs about insurers or trust companies. Frankly, I will save that discussion for another day. I want to start with some basics. First, write down how many families you serve per year in total (go ahead write in this magazine). Now, write down […]

A few days ago while assisting Mrs. Commander at the grocery store, there was a shortage of “baggers” that normally place our purchases into bags at checkout. Of course being the man of action that I am (Mrs. Commander issued a command), I jumped into position and began performing the bagging myself. As you read this post, here is where you insert “well, you have finally found something that matches your talent” comments. I’m old enough to remember when all the groceries were placed in paper bags which meant if something leaked or if it was raining, the bags disintegrated and the contents would spill out. As our society changed, someone invented the plastic shopping bag that eliminated the leaking/disintegrating problems. Additionally, the plastic bag also was less expensive to manufacture and I recall something about saving trees making the […]