Nicole Vullo
on
Written by Danielle Burmeister, Homesteaders Marketing Communications Manager
A few years ago, I met a woman who had buried two husbands. The first died unexpectedly at a tragically young age, the second after a long, hard and well-fought battle with cancer. Kate bore the unmistakable signs of grief – strength and perseverance coupled with the quiet certainty that life is very, very precious.
As you might imagine, her first husband passed away without making any plans for his funeral arrangements. At his age, there was no reason to think he needed to talk with his wife about how he wanted to be remembered, where he wanted to be laid to rest or even where he kept their important documents and financial information. When he died, Kate was left with a mountain of decisions to make, a funeral to arrange and a life to stitch back together without any guidance from her husband.
Some months later, Kate began to talk to her children about her own final wishes – never wanting to leave them with the pain and uncertainty of burying a loved one without knowing exactly what she would have wanted.
By the time she met and married her second husband, talking about end-of-life plans and final wishes was a natural part of her family relationships. When he was diagnosed with cancer a few years later, they were able to focus their energy on treatment plans and recovery goals, knowing that if the worst should happen, she would know what to do.
When he passed away, Kate knew which church he wanted to use for his funeral, which pastor would officiate, which type of disposition he wanted and where he wanted his ashes scattered. She knew where he was born, his mother’s maiden name and his parents’ and grandparents’ birthplaces. She knew where he kept his life insurance policy and bank information and which funeral home he had used to make his final arrangements. She knew enough to be able to spend the days following his death focusing on family, not funeral arrangements.
Though no one is every truly prepared to cope with the loss of a loved one, Kate felt some relief from knowing exactly what her husband wanted. Her story – like so many others – speaks to the benefits of planning ahead. And, like Kate, many who choose to prearrange do so to protect their family from stress, uncertainty and hardship.
Why Consumers Prearrange
At Homesteaders, we want to understand why consumers like Kate decide to plan and fund their funerals in advance. To that end, we routinely survey our policy owners to learn more about their preferences, motivations, behaviors and attitudes toward prearranging. The data we have received since our first survey in 2008 has been tremendously valuable in identifying why consumers decide to plan and fund their funerals in advance.
The most encouraging metric is that our policy owners continue to express high levels of satisfaction with their experience. In fact, 100% of respondents to our latest survey were satisfied with their decision to prearrange. Ninety-six percent would consider recommending it to someone else, and 42% of respondents had already recommended prearranging within two months of finalizing their own plans.
This is good news. Prearranging is a smart choice for consumers and a valuable offering for funeral homes, and it’s also a service client families really want and need. Unfortunately, many consumers do not take steps to finalize their own arrangements – even though they believe it is a good thing to do.
There’s a wealth of opportunity for funeral professionals to educate consumers on the benefits of prearranging, and what better way to do that than by sharing the reasons people like them have already chosen to finalize their funeral plans?
Their Spouses
The vast majority of Homesteaders policy owners – 82% – are married or widowed when they finalize their arrangements. These two demographics are represented at a higher percentage among policy owners than the population at large, indicating that individuals who are or have been married are more likely to prearrange their funerals.
This is not surprising. When asked to rate the importance of common pre-need motivators, 83% of respondents rated eliminating the emotional burden from a spouse as extremely important. Eliminating the financial burden was assigned the same importance by 79% of respondents. Making decisions with a spouse was another top motivator, with 79% of respondents rating it as extremely important.
These metrics make a lot of sense. The average age for a Homesteaders policy owner is 73, and those who are married have likely spent the majority of their lives sharing decisions and burdens with their spouses. It’s sensible for them to want to care for them after they are gone by taking care of the arrangements and expense in advance, and even more understandable that they want to make those decisions together.
Their Children
Among the most common pre-need motivators, the two rated extremely important by the largest percentage of respondents had to do with children. Nine out of 10 respondents marked eliminating the emotional and financial burdens from their descendants as extremely important motivators to prearranging.
Those motivations are often linked to another common reason consumers decide to prearrange – fulfilling personal responsibility. When we’ve asked past survey respondents to describe their satisfaction with prearranging, they often cite positive feelings that emerge from having taken on responsibility for an important task:
- “I think everyone should do it so it doesn’t fall on someone else.”
- “I’m just so happy that I got it done.”
- “I feel very good about it. I have no regrets.”
Prearranging is seen by many policy owners as the final gift they leave behind for surviving loved ones – and this is especially true for those with spouses and children who would otherwise be responsible for making decisions and covering the cost of funeral services.
Their Friends
We know that nearly all consumers who prearrange would consider recommending it to someone they know. It’s logical, then, that 56% of respondents cited a close friend or family member as the first person to tell them about advance funeral planning. Fewer than one in five respondents reported first hearing about prearranging from a funeral professional.
More and more purchase decisions rely on recommendations from a consumer’s social network – trusted friends, relatives and advisors. In fact, marketing experts estimate that word-of-mouth recommendations influence up to 50% of all purchases. Friends and relatives can have a tremendous impact on a consumer’s decision to prearrange.
The recent loss of a friend or family member is also a common reason policy owners decide to finalize their arrangements. Nearly one in five respondents to Homesteaders’ latest survey cited a recent loss as the catalyst for making their own advance funeral plans.
Their Preferences
Personal preference also plays a significant role in a consumer’s decision to prearrange. A number of respondents – 83% – cited selecting their own arrangements as an extremely important motivation to prearrange. These consumers want to have control over the choices that are made after they pass away, and prearranging offers an opportunity to finalize those decisions in advance.
Many consumers are also motivated by the potential cost savings associated with some advance funeral plans. Locking in prices was an extremely important motivator to 81% of respondents, which indicates that consumers who prearrange also want to feel like they are making a smart financial decision.
One respondent to a previous survey compared her experience prearranging to the satisfaction she felt when she purchased discounted goods and services: “It’s like when you buy a dress on sale. You feel good. You’re saving money. You’re pleased with yourself. You say, ‘I’m smart.’”
These are all powerful motivators for consumers who choose to prearrange, and it’s likely the same things will impact many of your client families’ decisions to finalize their own arrangements.
Keep in mind that many consumers – like Kate – take several weeks or months to finalize their own arrangements, even after they first consider doing so. In fact, more than one in four respondents reported two or more years elapsing between their initial consideration and the completion of paperwork. It’s a process for these client families – one that you can make easier by educating them on all their options and offering them space to make decisions in an environment that feels safe and comfortable.