January 28, 2025
Published by 
Nicole Vullo on January 28, 2025
Nicole Vullo on January 28, 2025Written by Taylor Weber As we step into 2025, funeral home owners should focus on proactive adaptation rather than just market monitoring. Last year, we emphasized the importance of tracking market share to understand where your business stands. This year, it’s about using that data to make strategic moves. Here’s a focused checklist to help position your funeral home for success. Your 2025 Readiness Checklist Strengthen Financial Health Optimize your budget by going beyond a basic budget—review your cash flow plan, pricing strategy, and cost structure that align with rising expenses and market shifts. Strategic pricing adjustments ensure your pricing aligns with market trends and your profitability goals, especially if service costs are increasing. Strengthen your cash flow by actively reviewing outstanding balances and enforcing clear payment policies to reduce receivables. Enhance Family Experience & Service Personalization Families expect more […]
January 28, 2025
Published by Nicole Vullo on January 28, 2025
Nicole Vullo on January 28, 2025Written by the Team at Family Shield Credit As many funeral home owners and directors would agree, sometimes it can be hard to talk about payment with families during an arrangement. Because of this, funeral homes often times will perform a service and then look to collect payment afterwards. Next things next, your accounts receivables start to pile up and now you are spending more time on collections than you are focused on running your business and meeting with families. If this sounds like a familiar problem, it might be time to look for another solution to help. Family Shield Credit has made strides to address this very problem, and while they have only been around for just 3 years, they have already helped over 500 funeral homes across 24 states. By offering affordable loan options to families ranging from […]
January 28, 2025
Published by Nicole Vullo on January 28, 2025
Nicole Vullo on January 28, 2025Written by Wendy Russell Wiener, Managing Member, WRW Legal, PLLC During December, my law practice assisted clients with seven difference instances of “We _____ed the wrong body!” In some of those cases, the blank was filled with “cremated”, in others with “interred”, in another with “delivered”. And, yes, I said SEVEN in one month. You might be thinking, “Wendy, just what type of clients do you have?!” But, I assure you my clients are the best in our industry and profession. What did every single one of the incidents have in common? Simple failure to pay attention. That’s it. In every case, a human failed to properly identify the decedent that they were retrieving from refrigeration and took the decedent they retrieved, which was the wrong decedent, to their final disposition or in one case to the wrong destination. So, […]
January 28, 2025
Published by 
Chris Cruger on January 28, 2025
Chris Cruger on January 28, 2025As Foresight’s annual Funeral and Cemetery Consumer Behavior Study has revealed for the past five consecutive years, competition is intensifying and technology is reshaping how funeral and cemetery professionals connect with clients as consumer preferences and expectations evolve. To not just survive but to thrive in this dynamic environment, funeral homes need a robust strategy built on three fundamental pillars: self-awareness, a proactive business plan and a strong, supportive culture. These elements are inextricably linked; together, they create a synergistic approach to success. The Power of Self-awareness Success begins with a multifaceted understanding. In the funeral home context, this requires a keen awareness of three critical areas: yourself, your business and your community. Self-Awareness: The capacity to understand your own emotions, thoughts and behaviors is paramount for effective leadership. For funeral home owners and managers, this translates into a realistic […]
December 23, 2024
Published by 
Gabriel Ngo on December 23, 2024
Gabriel Ngo on December 23, 2024“So to the best we can, what we do is focus on creating value for others, and how do we do that? We do it by trying to produce products and services that our customers will value more than their alternatives, and not just their alternatives today, but what the alternatives will be in the future.” – Charles Koch, Chairman & CEO of Koch Industries Creating value for others involves producing products and services that the customer will value more than their alternatives—not just alternatives of today, but what alternatives there will be tomorrow. There, I summarized the pithy quote with some inherent wisdom built into it. The end, right? Regardless of how you might personally feel about oil companies, billionaires, Koch Industries, or the Koch brothers in general, I believe this quote applies to this profession now more than […]