November 15, 2017
Published by 
Stephanie Ramsey on November 15, 2017
Stephanie Ramsey on November 15, 2017The last year and a half presented a series of ups and downs for funeral service owners and managers dealing with employee compensation costs. The on-again, off-again saga of the revised Department of Labor (DOL) overtime rules which were supposed to be implemented on December 1st, 2016 has confused and frustrated business owners in every industry. However, the funeral industry is particularly impacted by any proposed change to the overtime rules or the reclassification of the exempt categories due to the nature of services provided. Frequently, first-calls occur outside the normal business hours of 8 AM – 5 PM, as do visitation hours. Let’s not forget the families who want to hold chapel or memorial services on weekends to accommodate more family participation. The Trump administration proposed rewriting the overtime rules in court on June 30, 2017. The U.S Department […]
October 20, 2017
Published by 
Dan Isard on October 20, 2017
Dan Isard on October 20, 2017Considerations to help you prepare for a family seeking discounted pricing. Dear Dan, My funeral home is on the Cape. That means I deal with Yankees every day. I don’t mean the baseball team; we love our Sox here. I’m talking about stubborn, frugal people. I get requests all the time to match my competitor’s price. How would you recommend I handle this? That Guy From Nantucket Dear That Guy, I love the Cape, having just discovered it last year. I wish I had received your letter sooner so I could have expensed my vacation. As I sat at a crab shack with some of those slimy things you guys eat, I would have said to the waitress, “Hey, Red Lobster sells these gross, gooey globs for half of what you sell them for so I would like you to […]
October 20, 2017
Published by Dan Isard on October 20, 2017
Dan Isard on October 20, 2017Price Shoppers and Payment Issues Dealing with shoppers is a matter of training, and the easiest way to make certain families have the assets at the time of death is to provide the assets for them with prefunding. Dear Dan, I run a 200-call, two-location business. I follow your column and read every article. However, I don’t think you know my market. I don’t know what happens in your market, but here in Lake Country, we get one price shopper per day. Our community has a large population of retirees and many people of limited means. Please tell me how to handle price shoppers. Signed, Mistake on the Lake Dear MOTL, Today, there are so many societal changes that impact the operations of funeral providers. You do not have to be a funeral home owner/manager in a retirement community […]
October 13, 2017
Published by Dan Isard on October 13, 2017
Dan Isard on October 13, 2017