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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 […]

Dear Dan, I took over my father’s business four years ago, and every day I am more and more aware of how unlike my father I am. One such revelation provoked me to write to you. I remember as a teen being with my father at conventions. In the evenings, his buddies – competitors, colleagues from around the state and, of course, casket salesmen – would meet for cocktails. During the evening after the casket salesman who had bought dinner had left, the game of liar’s poker began. First, one guy bragged about how many bronze caskets he sold last year. Soon the gang would explore another fabrication, stating how low their cremation rate was. Finally, the lies reached their climactic ending with what I call the “straight flush of lies” – they bragged about what a great discount they […]

After much time and effort, you’ve added a new employee. Awesome! Now what? 10 simple steps to creating an in-house training program. Getting a new employee through the front door is just the first step in your journey of creating a quality employee. The next step, training, is thought to be the most important in the employment process. Effective training maximizes the value a new employee adds to your business and establishes the necessary foundation for a long-term, positive employment relationship. Job satisfaction is one of the key factors that leads to an employee’s choice to remain with an employer, and creating a basic training program can reap significant benefits in terms of employee retention and job satisfaction. Unfortunately, many funeral home owners are overwhelmed by the thought of training a new employee, let alone developing a formal training process. […]

A cemetery is a special place, not only to families but also to accountants. It’s not a typical business, and decisions about how to record the business of a cemetery need to be made with an eye to consistency.  Read Dan’s latest CI column in the May issue of the ICCFA Magazine or click here. CI May 2016