The other day, I dove into some research for a blog I was putting together titled “X Firms Who Are Rocking Funeral Social Media.”

During my research, I saw the good, the bad and the (really) ugly. Unfortunately, I saw so much of the “ugly” that I decided to change the entire topic of my blog post. And that’s where this post comes in.

So, whether your funeral home is just getting started with social media or if you’re just not sure why it isn’t working out like you expected, we’ve got you covered.

Let’s take a look at 13 common funeral social media mistakes, and how to fix them.

1. Assuming your community is not on social media.

We hear it all the time at  trade shows – we’ll talk to our clients about the importance of using social media, and they’ll simply say “sorry, but I’m from a small town and no one here uses social media, plus everyone already knows who we are!” I can assure you that both of those statements are far from the truth.

As of March 2013, there are 1.1 billion active Facebook users. That’s one out of every seven people in the world! With that said,  there’s a pretty  good chance that your community is on Facebook. And if that doesn’t motivate you, think about the fact that 43% of funeral firms are using Facebook. That means your community AND your competitors are ten steps ahead of you if you’re not using social media.

How to fix this: This one’s pretty obvious. Do yourself, your business, and your families a favor and get on social media already!

2. Banning your employees from using social media.

Sure, social media has the potential to offer a lot of distractions to your employees. But I know you’ve heard the saying “if you can’t beat em’, join em!”

How to fix this: Tap into the time your funeral home employees are already spending on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks and allow them to use social media in a professional way. By including your employees in your social strategy, you’ll create a truly humanized brand with a unique voice in your community.

3. Using social media the same way you would use traditional media.

Traditional media – brochures, business cards, commercials, etc. – have one thing in common: they’re all a one-way message that doesn’t allow people to respond to or take part in. Social media is all about having a two-way conversation with your audience, so don’t treat it the same way you do traditional media.

In the example below, this funeral home decided to use their Facebook account as a portal to post all of their traditional media… which is probably the worst thing you can do when it comes to social strategy. As you can tell by the absence of likes or comments on this post, their audience really didn’t appreciate it either.

How to fix this: Don’t ruin your social presence by turning it into a one-way conversation… embrace the two-way communication by asking questions and posting quotes, pictures and articles that truly interest your audience.

4. Not creating a funeral social media strategy.

Not incorporating strategy into your social media is like deciding to build a house without a blueprint. If you don’t know what you want to achieve on social media, it will be hard to figure out if you are achieving it, right? That’s where social strategy comes in.

How to fix this: First, define your goals for your social strategy. Do you want to increase brand awareness? Generate leads? Promote your content? Answer common questions? Once you’ve defined your goals, delegate a person at your funeral home to manage your social media. Then, decide what types of content you want to post and create a social media plan or schedule that will help you stay on track. Once you’ve done all that, you will be well on your way to a successful social media marketing campaign!

5. Using social media to just post obituaries.

Want to get members of your local community involved on your Facebook page? Then stop posting just obituaries. Unless your fans happen to know the person, they will not be encouraged to engage with your updates. As you can see in the example below, a Twitter or Facebook page that’s just oozing with obituaries is not only dull and depressing, but also makes your social strategy seem automated and non-human.

How to fix this: Instead of posting obituaries, post things like memorials to lost loved ones, articles about how to deal with grief, and other valuable content. These are the kinds of things that move people and illicit a response.

6. Expecting social media to generate a lot of direct leads.

The easiest way to fail with your social media efforts is to create a Facebook page and expect business to come flying in. Although 67% of businesses say they have acquired a customer through Facebook, social media is more of a big “piece of the puzzle” for your funeral home’s marketing efforts.

How to fix this: Don’t rely on social to generate leads alone. Instead, combine it with other content marketing tactics such as a blog, newsletter, and your website. For example, if you were to post a blog on coping with grief on your Facebook page, someone could click on it and subscribe to your blog.

That person might then forward your blog to a friend who just experienced a loss, and before you know it, that person is calling your funeral home for their service needs. Just remember, when it comes to social media, word-of-mouth is your number one lead generation tool!

7. Leaving spam unmoderated.

If you do a quick search for funeral homes on Facebook, you’ll find a lot of them are hit pretty hard with spam. The problem with leaving that spam unmonitored creates a sense of mistrust with your audience, but it also makes your funeral home look very unprofessional.

How to fix this: Set up email notifications for your social accounts so every time you receive a message or comment, you’ll get notified immediately. That will help you monitor and remove spam messages as they happen. Just like you would clean your funeral home’s lawn if vandals came in overnight to make a mess of things, you should clean your blog and Facebook comments as well.

8. Posting too many times a day, or not enough.

Don’t you just hate when you follow a company on Facebook or Twitter and they post a new status update a bajillion times a day? Not only is it annoying, but it also makes you want to quickly “unlike” or “unfollow” that company so you’re not pestered with their posts anymore. On the opposite side of the spectrum is visiting a company’s page and seeing that they haven’t updated it since 2011. In either of these situations, the outcome isn’t good.

How to fix this: There is a sweet spot for posting frequency, and this varies based on the network and the community you have built on that network. Use a social media monitoring tool such as Sprout Social or Hootsuite that can provide you with data on what days and times your funeral home can get the most engagement with your posts.

9. Automating all of your posts.

As previously mentioned, funeral social media is all about interaction. It is not a “set it and forget it” marketing strategy. Recent studies have found that status updates that are automatically posted receive an average of 70% fewer Likes and comments on their posts per fan.

It’s not just in the numbers… it’s just common sense. If you look below at this funeral home’s Facebook page, do you see anything engaging about their automatically generated messages welcoming every family they serve? Not at all, right? Avoid scaring your families away with robotic messages and think of social media as a conversation instead!

How to fix this: Sure, you can use social media management tools to schedule some of your updates, but be sure that your social profiles also have live interaction and engagement with your community. Not only will you see more engagement, but you’ll also be able to truly connect with your audience.

10. Using unprofessional photos.

The funeral profession is one of the few profession’s that requires extra attention to our families emotional needs. That means you have to be especially careful when posting photos on your Facebook page.

For example, it’s usually not a good idea to allow your funeral home employees to post pictures of their bar hopping escapades. What if one of your families lost their  loved one to a drunk driver? Any social media account you are using for business, even if it is personal, should be maintained at a professional level.

How to fix this: Don’t waste your time building out a social media policy that no one will read. Instead, hold a quick 15 minute meeting with all of your funeral home employees and set standards as to what you see as appropriate and not appropriate to post on your personal and company social profiles. Let them know that you’re putting your trust in them to use good judgement, and that their social media activity ultimately affects your funeral home’s reputation.

11. Disabling comments in fear of negative feedback.

This is a common mistake that many businesses make. They are so afraid of receiving negative feedback, so they shut off as many feedback receptacles as possible, including their blog comments and Facebook wall posts. The reality is that if someone wants to leave bad feedback about your funeral home and you keep them from doing it, they will find a way to do it elsewhere.

How to fix this: People who really want a resolution to their problem will likely come to your website, blog, or social media accounts first. Make it easy for them to submit that feedback and give them a polite, public response. This shows that your goal is satisfaction, and that will impress many more families than not. In fact, 18% of people who left a negative review about a company and received a response became a loyal customer as a result!

12. Forgetting the spell checker.

Even though we said social media is not traditional media, there is one thing that should be applied to both mediums, and that is a spell checker. If you’re careless in your marketing, potential families may equate that to being careless in other areas of your funeral home as well.

Not only could this misspelling offend the family, but it makes your funeral home appear unprofessional as well.

How to fix this: Before your key “social media manager” posts social updates, have one member of your funeral home double check the updates before they go live. As you can see below, a second set of eyes is never a bad thing!

13. Forgetting about social media for customer service.

Did you know: 56% of customer tweets to companies are completely ignored? That’s pretty bad, since nearly half of social media users expect to receive some sort of customer service through a company’s social channels.

While the most ideal goal for your social media efforts would be to generate leads, you can’t lose sight on the main focus: your families’ experience. Sure, you might not offer the typical customer service other industries offer, but you can still answer questions your families have through social channels.

How to fix this: Use your social accounts to tell families about your newest offerings, funeral home renovations, community events, etc. Below, Moloney Funeral Home used their Facebook page to let their community know they’re doing some work on their exterior, and as you can see by their likes and comments, their fans appreciated it.

Are you making any of these mistakes?

In order to truly understand how your community views your funeral home’s social presence, ask a friend to look at your page for a few minutes. Did they find anything inappropriate? Did they think you seemed too impersonal? Did they find any of your updates interesting or of value? If not, what content would they find valuable? Sometimes, hearing an outsider’s point-of-view is exactly what you need to get jump started on the right social strategy!

What other mistakes have you seen funeral homes making on social media? Please share in the comments below!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joe Joachim is the CEO and Founder of funeralOne, the first global solutions firm leading a movement of change for the funeral profession. For the past 11 years, he’s developed game-changing solutions that help funeral professionals increase the value of their service offerings, connect with the families of today, and become more profitable. funeralOne’s solutions include: website design, aftercare, funeral eCommerce, and personalization software.

The post 13 Huge Mistakes Your Funeral Home Is Making On Social Media appeared first on Funeral Blog. The official blog for the funeral & cemetery professions..

Chances are pretty good that if you’re reading this you’re dissatisfied with your current website provider, or, maybe  you’re just now deciding to get on the Web.

Either way, we’re glad you’re here, because it’s the first step you’re taking towards getting the funeral home website you’ve always wanted.

With that said, it can be overwhelming trying to figure out what makes a good website provider. And if you’re not a Web expert, it’s hard to understand what’s wrong with your current website in the first place.

If you need a little help along the way, here are 20 reasons you should absolutely say goodbye to your current website provider:

1. Your website provider’s expertise isn’t web design.

Just like you’ve seen in those H & R Block commercials, would you hire a plumber to do your taxes? The same goes for your funeral home’s website. Even if your website provider is in the funeral profession, if they don’t know web design like the back of their hand, you shouldn’t trust them to design your firm’s most important business asset: your website. This one is a no-brainer, but is too often overlooked.

2. They offer crappy tech support.

Let’s pretend it’s 8 pm and you want to add a new product to your website. So, you call technical support just to be greeted by a cheesy recording telling you that tech support is not available after normal business hours. Your business is available 24 hours/day to your customers… shouldn’t your website provider be available too?

3. You’re not ranking on search engines.

If you Google “funeral homes in [your city]” and your funeral home’s website doesn’t rank on the top of the search results page, you’re letting competitors in your area snag your potential families. No matter how beautiful your website provider makes your website, if it doesn’t rank on search engines, it’s simply a billboard in the middle of a digital forest.

4. They don’t offer grief support resources.

If you ask what grief support resources are included with your website and all your website provider gives you is a number to a grief support hotline to put on your site, consider that a red flag. Your website should  help you extend your relationship with families after the service, so make sure your website provider will help you do just that by offering comprehensive grief support resources that won’t cost a dime for families to use.

5. Your website’s design doesn’t match your firm’s brand.

When you pick a web design company, you should find one that can match your website to your business personality. Whether the personality of your firm is conservative or forward thinking, your website should represent that 100 percent. How will families be able to choose your firm if your website doesn’t effectively communicate who you are?

6. Your website contains auto-play elements.

If your website contains anything auto-play, including that annoying customer service rep who starts talking to you the minute you arrive on your site, please come to your senses and say goodbye to your website provider (or at least have it turned off)! These elements will not only annoy your website visitors, but it may even lead them to click “x” and move to another, less-annoying website.

7. You aren’t generating more pre-need leads.

You want your site to help you generate leads, 24/7. More and more people are choosing to plan their funerals ahead of time – in fact 66% of people say they would pre-plan their funeral if they knew of the available options. Does your website provider offer an optimized way for you to capture those pre-need leads? If not, find a website provider who will. By switching to the right website provider, you could  generate up to 20x more pre-need leads every month!

8. Editing your website requires a call to tech support.

Waiting for(and paying for) tech support to update your site is a thing of the past. So, embrace the future. Make your site yours by choosing a provider who allows you to edit your site for free, and in just a few clicks. The best website platforms have a drag-n-drop website editor of sorts, so anyone at your funeral home should be able to make changes easily.

9. You’re responsible for writing your website’s content.

Does your website provider offer pre-written content that’s customizable to your community? If not, there are providers in this profession who offer this feature, free of charge.

10. Your website provider only offers the static obit and guestbook.

The days of the static obit and guestbook are gone (as learned here, here and here). Families want much more than the average online obit – they want to share memories, add pictures, videos and more. They want to have a conversation about the life lived – not just sign their name in an online guestbook. Make sure your website provider not only understands the value in that, but offers a way for you to facilitate that conversation as well.

Here’s an example of f1Connect’s social media-powered, interactive social memorial website.

11. Your website provider sends your visitors away.

It’s a lot easier to simply send your visitors to third-party resources (ie.  online guest books, eCommerce stores) than it is for your website provider to create the resources themselves. But when your families are looking for something online and all you offer them is a link to someone else’s site, how does that makes your funeral home memorable?

The best website providers won’t take shortcuts. They will already have done the research to find out what your families want, and created those resources to put on your website, not someone elses. For example, if your families want to sign an online guestbook, they will create a system for them to do just that on your website, without sending families away to a third-party site.

12. The only reason you chose that provider was for the price.

Most of us find it hard to resist a bargain. But just because something is cheap doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s good value. Most website providers out there offer free or low-cost solutions, so just make sure you do your research and figure out which companies offer the most value before you pull the trigger when you hear the word “free”.

13. Your website isn’t built for client families.

Your site shouldn’t be about you as much as it should be about them, their problems and their needs. If your website doesn’t address those, it’s time to get a website that does.

14. You have to commit to a contract.

If you have to commit to a contract with your website provider, run. Far and fast. Hiring a website provider shouldn’t feel like going to jail.

15. Your website provider isn’t an expert in the funeral profession.

Whether you own a full-service funeral home or a pet services provider, your website should be designed specifically for your audience – with images and content that resonate with their needs and the problems they currently face. After all, you can’t turn apples into oranges; a generic website provider just doesn’t know your business well enough to do the job right.

16. They don’t offer an eCommerce solution

If you ask your website provider about opening up an eCommerce store on your website, and they try to tell you that eCommerce isn’t what your website visitors are looking for, run!  I assure you, people are looking to purchase gifts and flowers on your website – in fact, just last year, $240 million was spent on sympathy gifts and flowers online. Don’t let your provider fool you into thinking eCommerce isn’t the future… because it is.

Here is an example of f1Connect’s eCommerce solution. It allows visitors to purchase sympathy gifts and flowers right from the loved one’s social memorial website.

18. You don’t have access to your website’s analytics

If your website provider doesn’t offer you monthly analytics reports, you won’t have a way to measure how your website is performing. Not only should your provider offer those reports, but they should also offer advice and assistance if you don’t like the numbers you’re seeing.

19. Your website is hard to navigate

Your website’s navigation should be so intuitive, a 90-year-old can easily find what they need. In fact, 50% of online leads are lost because visitors can’t find what they’re looking for. If you get calls from your website visitors asking where certain pages on your website are, that’s not a good sign.

20. Your website doesn’t load in less than 2 seconds

Do you have time for a cat nap while your website loads? If so, spend the time you have waiting for your website to load and call up your website provider to let them know you’ll be finding a new one.

A slow site is frustrating, one that fails to load is obnoxious, and both (without a doubt) will cause your prospects to turn and run in the direction of one of your competitors’ websites. But beyond frustrating your users and increasing your bounce rate, poor hosting can also affect your rank in search engines, since many search engine algorithms detect webpage loading speed.

Finding the right website provider

If your website provider has committed any of these website hosting sins, it’s time to find a new one! Here are some questions you can ask your potential website provider to make sure you make the right choice:

• - Do they use a client questionnaire, or creative brief as part of the development process?
  - Who is responsible for writing the website content?
  - Is there flexibility in the site design?
  - How long will it take for the site to go “live”?
  - Have they been around for more than five years?
  - Are they just website designers or are they a company that is focused on online strategy: SEO, marketing, social media?
  - Are they committed to serving the funeral service profession?
  - Do they offer 24/7 tech support?
  - Do they have social media integration as a standard feature of their websites?
  - Are their websites mobile media compatible?
  - Do they give you easy access to site analytics?
  - Can they provide you with customer success stories or case studies?

After selecting a company to work with, become fully engaged in the website’s go-live process. Complete the creative brief or client questionnaire quickly, and thoughtfully. Give your account manager as much assistance as they need – take the time to speak with them when they call, and provide the requested information in a timely manner. Last but not least…always be willing to listen to (and heed) their expert advice.

Want to take a peak at funeralOne’s all-in-one website platform, f1Connect? Get a free demo by clicking here or calling us at (313) 437-8460 ext. 5!

What else frustrates you about your website provider? Share your stories in the comments below!

The post 20 Reasons to Say Goodbye to Your Website Provider appeared first on Funeral Blog. The official blog for the funeral & cemetery professions..

About 15 years ago, I had the privilege of being involved with a Batesville research project called the “Funeral of the Future.”

One of the most important findings that came out that project was that less than 5% of all funerals were personalized in any meaningful way. We reached that insight by asking funeral homes from around the country to come in and to share their experiences with personalized funerals.

When asked about personalized funerals, they indicated that a majority of their services were personalized – in fact, well over 50%.  We then asked them to describe a personalized funeral, and they typically identified some variation of the “motorcycle escort” theme.

When asked for a second example (something that should have been easy to do with a 50% rate) our participants would begin to stutter and stammer. Only one or two of them were able to come up with another example.

After asking a few more probing questions, we realized that the 5% of personalized services we found in our research was actually an extremely generous number.

We also found that of that 5%, the personalization did not originate with the funeral director. Instead, it came from the family.  The funeral director, more often than not, allowed the personalization to happen rather than creating or encouraging it.

My Non-Funeral Director Encounter with Personalization

Keeping this story in mind,  I want to share a recent experience I had supporting a friend and her family as they planned the funeral services for someone they lost.

During the arrangement meeting, the funeral director was very effective at taking down vital information.  She pulled data from a previous service and meticulously updated it.  She knew the details of the community and was completely familiar with the logistics necessary for the service.

Her contribution to personalization was putting together a tribute video with the pictures the family pulled from scrap books the night before. She also asked them to pick out a theme and verse for the memorial folders as well as the music to be played prior to the service.  I was truly interested in her recommendations on how the life of their loved one would be reflected in the service. She captured the ideas of the family for the obituary, but again, this was in a passive mode.

If left up to this logistically competent funeral director, this would have been a fairly vanilla funeral service and part of the 95%!

How the family saved the day

Not to worry. The family brought in Pittsburgh memorabilia that was placed in and around the casket.  They brought small plastic Steeler tokens that were placed in the flowers at the request of the family.  They brought in a couple of craft projects that were placed at the base of the casket bier, along with a recently purchased beta fish affectionately named “Finney.”

Awards and other larger photos were scattered throughout the facility.  And the service itself was rescued by an aunt who delivered a magnificent eulogy that perfectly captured the essence of the life lived.

Why aren’t we proactively personalizing?

My general point is that after 15 years of talking about Baby Boomers, their desire for personalized everything, and their impact on our industry, we, as an industry, are still doing an inadequate job in proactively reflecting the lives that were lived.

There are many reasons for this passive approach to personalization. Some funeral directors don’t want to introduce emotional elements, some don’t have enough time, and some are not trained to personalize.

Many funeral directors will claim that they meaningfully personalize through paper product themes or verses and this is a great start, but that’s just the first step in creating a ceremony that truly reflects the life lived.

We MUST play a proactive role in developing ceremonies that truly have meaning and help families reflect the life lived. Through our contribution to that life’s tribute, we can help our families begin their journey of grief.

How does your funeral home provide meaning in your services? Share the ways you do in the comments below!

Want to take the first step towards offering personalized services? Get a 30-day free trial of Life Tributes All-In-One Personalization Software by clicking here or calling  (313) 437-8460 ext. 5.

The post Why Everything You Know About Funeral Personalization Is Wrong appeared first on Funeral Blog. The official blog for the funeral & cemetery professions..

I’ve had a chance to meet a lot of funeral directors throughout the country and even around the world. So when I was asked to write a blog about what makes funeral directors likeable, I really had to stop and think.

It’s not that you’re not likeable. In fact, having the chance to meet and get to know many of you in a way that the average funeral consumer doesn’t, I actually like funeral directors a lot.

I had to take a step back and reflect on my personal encounters with funeral directors outside of my professional life with NFDA.

What is it that separated the funeral directors people really liked – the ones who made funerals, as difficult as they may be, as bearable as possible – from the ones they did not like?

The more I thought about it, being likeable boils down to a Latin phrase I learned in college (if you were educated by Jesuit priests like I was at Marquette University, you’ll understand this): cura personalis, which translates roughly to “care for the entire person.”

The philosophy of cura personalis, as it is applied by educators in Jesuit institutions, means that each student is treated as a unique individual. Teachers are called to provide individualized attention to the needs of each student, while respecting his or her unique circumstances and concerns, and appreciating his or her particular gifts and insights.

Jesuits are liked and respected the world over for their approach to education and I believe that cura personalis plays a key role in that. So how does this all apply to funeral service? Perhaps if funeral directors put cura personalis into practice in their work, they may become even more likeable.

How can you become a remarkably likeable funeral director among your families and community? It’s easy!

Just incorporate these 4 easy habits when working with your families, and before you know it, you’ll be the friendliest funeral director in town!

1. Get to know me and my loved one.

When my family has experienced the death of a loved one, we’ve been deeply grateful – and have really liked – the funeral directors who showed they care by making time to get to know us and our loved one.

When you sit down for the arrangement conference, there is basic information you have to obtain for the death certificate, obituary and other paperwork. It’s something that has to be done; there’s no way to avoid it.

The thing is, my loved one means more to me than their date and place of birth, the names of his or her parents and their occupation.

I know you’ve heard this a million times from people who have far more expertise in this profession than I, but ask me about my loved one, who he or she was and why they mattered to me. Ask me what I won’t forget about him or her and how I want to remember them. Let me tell you about my loved one in a way that doesn’t involve facts and figures and vital statistics. Let me talk and share their story.

2. Give me time.

The time in between the arrangement conference and the visitation or funeral is quite short. It’s enough to make any event planner’s head spin. I know you want decisions to be made as soon as possible so that you can begin the long list of tasks that you need to accomplish.

Following the death of a loved, some people become incredibly efficient. They can make decisions about the type of service they want quickly and easily because, in the midst of the chaos, planning a funeral is one thing they can control.

On the other side of the coin, some people become so overwhelmed by their grief and the enormity of the choices that lie before them that making decisions becomes difficult. Have patience with those people.

I know it’s sometimes difficult to have a family waffle on whether they want the Tapestry Rose or Renaissance Rose casket. It’s challenging to have to explain things two, three, even four times. It’s not easy to think that all of the decisions have been made only for a relative to have a change of heart about the scripture verse they want printed on the memorial folder.

Allow the family the space they need to make sure they’re planning the service that will be most meaningful. Don’t make them feel rushed or pressured to make a decision. Don’t allow them to walk away unless they’re completely happy and comfortable with their choices.

3. Be wholly present.

You know those days in the funeral home when things are really, really slow and you have only one family to serve in a given week? You reach down to the very bottom of your being and give that family the works. You’re there with tissues or a glass of water. You offer a kind word or an encouraging smile that helps a widow endure a long line of people waiting to offer condolences. The wastebaskets in the bathroom never get more than half-full. You deftly navigate complicated family dynamics. You’re standing at attention near the back of the room, ready to spring into action whenever you might need to be of assistance.

Your business isn’t always like that – focusing on only one family at a time. There are weeks when you’re quite busy. It can be challenging to make one family feel special when you’re worrying about tomorrow evening’s visitation.

But you have to dig deep. It’s not impossible to be wholly present to every family you serve, so make them feel like they are the only family you’re serving all month.

4. Be passionate.

Have you ever been to a retail store in which the clerk seemed bothered that you asked for help finding the size you need? Has a waitress ever sighed when you asked for more coffee? You know it’s more than just a bad day. You know it’s more than them being very busy. They really don’t want to be there. They are unhappy in their job and it shows.

People who truly enjoy what they do – and have a passion for their career – can put on a smile and provide great customer service even on the toughest days.There’s no doubt that you work in a challenging business. It’s unpredictable and stressful. The needs and wants of families are evolving rapidly. You often wear multiple hats and aren’t just a funeral director (especially if you work in a small mom-and-pop firm). You’re expected to be on call 24/7.

Working with the dying, the dead and the bereaved requires 100 percent commitment at all times. These families need you to be their port in the storm. If you aren’t ready to step up to the plate every single moment of the day, you’re in the wrong business.

They like me, they really, really like me!

I don’t know that I’ve offered any earth-shattering insights about what makes a funeral director likeable, but I really do think that there’s something to this cura personalis philosophy.

In my time with NFDA, I’ve read a lot of articles and heard a lot of people talk about ways funeral directors can inspire loyalty among the families they serve. It’s not rocket science; it’s common sense. It’s adhering to the “Golden Rule” of treating others as you want to be treated.

The advice seems to boil down to cura personalis – taking time to care for each family as a unique group of people, distinct from the one you served yesterday… and the one you’re going to serve tomorrow.

Take your community engagement to the next level with the first all-in-one website platform built for the families you serve. Click here or call (313) 437-8460 ext. 5 to learn more about our free website platform, f1Connect.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jessica Koth is NFDA’s public relations manager and has been on staff for more than six years; her career in public relations spans nearly 15 years. In addition to managing NFDA’s media relations efforts she serves as the staff liaison to the Pursuit of Excellence program, manages NFDA’s social media presence, edits the NFDA Bulletin, assists members with communication issues and coordinates many other communication projects for behalf of NFDA.

The post 4 Habits of Remarkably Likeable Funeral Directors appeared first on Funeral Blog. The official blog for the funeral & cemetery professions..

Mother’s Day prompts us to think about the women in our lives who are constantly taking care of others and balancing work, family and life in general.

As you think about how you are going to honor the special women in your life on Mother’s Day, take a moment to consider the women who play a significant role in making final arrangements with their families.

Many times, the women you know and love share the very same needs and concerns as the women who are involved in making decisions during a funeral arrangement conference. Women everywhere are looking for services and products that make their life easier and solve real problems.

In the book “Why She Buys” by Bridget Brennan, gender differences in the way women make purchasing decisions are clearly outlined – as well as effective strategies to better communicate and market to women. Bridget puts it best by simply stating, “Women are females first and consumers second.”

So, in honor of Mother’s day, let’s take a look at some powerful insights on how to market to your most powerful demographic: women!

Take a Lesson from Oprah

Oprah is the master at connecting with women. According to “Why She Buys,” Oprah connects with women in three ways – affirmation, self disclosure and compliments. Oprah is consistently communicating her vulnerabilities, struggles and desire to live her best life. And, above those things, she wants women everywhere to live their best life.

Women also want products and services that help them be more efficient and make their day to day life a little bit more simple. Additionally, they always want to help other people. Oprah appeals to both of those needs. Take a look at any cover of O Magazine and notice the headlines that clearly communicate help for women and how they can help others. The topics and the words emotionally draw women in by addressing those two wants that women have.

Ask yourself the question: “How do I share with families the different ways our funeral home is able to help them as well as how the services they have planned can help others ?”

Realize that the needs of others are a top concern…ALWAYS

When women are in charge, they are well aware that they’re not the only ones involved in making decisions. Women are constantly thinking about other people who may be directly or indirectly impacted. Whether their decision is about a new vehicle or what to have for dinner that night, everyone’s feelings and needs are taken into consideration.

That’s how women think. Bridget emphasizes that “it’s important to address absent influencers during the sales process by asking your prospect if there are other people who will be involved in some way.”

Ask yourself the question: “In what ways do I help families address the emotional needs of everyone who was touched by the life lived?”

Perfect your communication skills

Show families you understand them by thoughtfully communicating empathy. Bridget addresses the impact of empathy as a way to help women feel comfortable. She writes, “This is a reassuring style of communication that women use with each other in conversation. The technique is especially powerful when it comes to complex and expensive purchases.”

Empathy doesn’t have to start with “I understand what you are going through.” Empathy is simply taking a moment, putting yourself in the families’ shoes and seeing things from their perspective. Demonstrating your empathy is as easy as anticipating the needs and concerns the family member may have on their mind.

Communicate and confirm for families even more that you care by writing a thoughtful note of appreciation. Women want to do business with those who appreciate them. They will remember that you took time out of your day to handwrite them a sweet thank you note. Bridget suggests to “show your appreciation to women customers and clients early and often.”

Follow these simple guidelines for writing the perfect note of appreciation:

1. Use personalized notecards
2. Use the person’s formal name (unless given permission to address them differently)
3. Refer back to their loved one’s service
4. Be brief, genuine & friendly

Ask yourself the question: What am I doing to improve my communication skills with women?

Now that you know some ways you can effectively communicate with and market to women, put your knowledge to action! Try writing a thank you note to the next female you meet with in an arrangement conference.

Not only will the women you serve appreciate the time you took to go above and beyond, but they’ll recommend your funeral home thanks to the level of service you’ve provided them.

How does your funeral home market to women? Have any tips to add? Share them in the comments below!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lacy Robinson is a Kentucky licensed funeral director/embalmer and a certified member of the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice. As Senior Professional Development Trainer for Aurora Casket, Lacy specializes in helping funeral directors partner with families to create funerals that honor both their basic and personal needs at the time of loss. She presents continuing education programs on both the local, state and national level. Lacy is an active member of the Funeral Directors Association of Kentucky and Bluegrass Toastmasters Group. She is also a Certified Funeral Celebrant, certified Wilson Learning Facilitator and serves on the Advisory Board to the Association of Women Funeral Professionals.

The post Why Everyday Should Be Mother’s Day at Your Funeral Home appeared first on Funeral Blog. The official blog for the funeral & cemetery professions..

Did you notice anything different about this ad from any other advertisement?

First off, there was no dialogue or words used throughout the entire video.

Second, you might have noticed that the ad is for Google Search, but it really isn’t about Google search… so what is it about?

This isn’t a trick question – the ad is about a story. Through a few Google searches, we learn about a man who studies abroad and meets the love of his life. The beautiful thing about this ad is that it wasn’t selling the product, it was selling the “why” – or the emotion and meaning behind the product. Not sure what it means to “sell the why” of a product? Author Simon Sinek explains it best: “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

So how can you sell your client families on the “why” of what your funeral home offers? It’s easy – through the art of storytelling.

5 Steps To Telling Your Funeral Home’s Story

Everyone loves a good story – stories have been an integral part of humanity since the beginning of time. They’re captivating, memorable, relatable, and create an emotional connection with the reader.

The best marketers in the world use storytelling. In fact, marketing genius Seth Godin once said, “Marketing is storytelling.” That means that every part of your funeral business – your services, products and employees – make up a story, and it’s your job to tell it in a compelling manner.

Now, let’s think about the foundation of your funeral home’s marketing: your website.  Does your website tell a story? Or is it just an online brochure with facts and content that doesn’t do anything for anyone?

When it comes to your website, you have about 30 seconds to capture the attention of your visitors, and the best way to hook them in is by telling your funeral home’s story through content, images and videos.

If you need a little help telling a story with your funeral home’s website, follow these 5 simple steps:

1. Start with the headline

Advertising professionals estimate that 80% of people read just the headline of marketing materials, and your website is no different. Based on that math, the stronger your headline, the more likely people are to browse through your website.

It’s important to use your headline to communicate your value right off the bat. You can do this by communicating your firm’s unique selling proposition(USP), or  “what your business stands for.”

To understand this better, let’s look at these headlines. Which is more engaging to you?

You probably thought the second headline was much more engaging, right?

What Zion Memorial Chapel’s headline does well is it communicates their USP  to families immediately— “Westchester’s only independently-owned, all-Jewish funeral home.” This leaves their website visitors with no questions about why they’re different than their competitors, making it easier for them to choose (or not choose) their funeral home.

When you’re writing your headline, remember to convey something of value to visitors, while also communicating something that makes your funeral home unique or special. Only then will your website visitors feel compelled to keep browsing your website.

2. Show, don’t tell

Above all else, the number one goal of your funeral home’s website should be educating families on the value of your services. Instead of just telling your website visitors how valuable your services are, why not show them with the power of video?

When we talked about headlines (above), you may have noticed that Zion Memorial Chapel’s website header had a video player on it. Let’s take a moment and watch the video:

Pretty touching, right? In a matter of 30 seconds, Zion Memorial Chapel was able to explain why it’s important to remember the life lived through storytelling. And, they didn’t need pages and pages of content to do it.

The reason why video works so well because it helps to emotionally hook website visitors into the value that your funeral home can provide. In fact, according to research, visitors are FOUR times more likely to pay attention to your content when it’s presented in the form of video rather than simply reading it. Even more, adding  video to your website makes your site SIX times more likely to convert a casual “browser” into a paying client.

When creating videos for your website, think about the things you want to communicate to potential families, and ask yourself if any of those points might be more powerful in the form of a video rather than the written word. For example, you might create a video that show families the value of a ceremony(like the video above), a video that takes families on a virtual tour of your funeral home, a video about ways to celebrate life, etc. The possibilities are endless!

3. Use images that create a personal connection

Another alternative to engaging your website visitors with the written word is through images. Images help your website visitors get a peek into the services you offer, who you are, and the value you provide.

A great way to use images on your website is to include pictures of your staff members and facilities on your “About Us” page to create a personal connection with families before they walk into your doors.

O’Connor Mortuary does a great job with this – their “About Us” page includes pictures of their staff, locations, testimonials, community events and even an interactive timeline of their firm’s history. Their “About Us” page helps their visitors get to know them when they don’t otherwise have an opportunity to shake hands or see their staff’s smiling faces.

It’s important to note that while including pictures of you and your firm is important, you should keep this information on your “About Us” pages rather than the homepage. If you focus your website’s content too much on you right off the bat, your website visitors will be turned off.

4. Be personal and conversational

The next thing you’ll want to do is write your website’s content  in conversational language, which means to write like you speak. Instead of sounding like you’re writing an essay, you want your website to sound like a conversation. This puts people at ease and your firm will come off less stuffy.

5. Focus on the benefits

For every product or feature you write about on your website, pair it with a benefit. For example, if your latest webcasting software hosts an unlimited amount of viewers, explain that this allows more friends and family to take part in their loved one’s service.

In order to do this, use second person (you) much more than you use first person plural (we). When you do this, you’ll automatically be forced to write benefits for the readers instead of extolling the virtues of your firm. This is good because people respond better when you talk about them more than you talk about yourself.

Get started!

Now that you know how to tell your funeral home’s story through your website, put your knowledge to action! Start by removing all of the information about you on your homepage and replace it with content that tells families what you can do for them. Once you start focusing your website on client families and their needs, they’ll be more likely to choose your funeral home, every time.

How does your funeral home tell your story through your website? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Want to take a peek at funeralOne’s free website platform that combines the power of storytelling with value education? Click here to learn more.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Krystal Penrose is the Inbound Marketing Manager at funeralOne.  funeralOne’s solutions include:website design, aftercare, eCommerce, and personalization software. For more information about funeralOne, visit www.funeralOne.com. To connect with Krystal, visit her on Google+.

The post 5 Steps to Telling Your Funeral Home’s Story appeared first on Funeral Blog. The official blog for the funeral & cemetery professions..

It’s not an easy time to be a funeral director.

We’ve found ourselves in a snowball effect. The consumers of today aren’t interested in a traditional funeral anymore.

And unfortunately, if we aren’t leveraging the Internet to educate our value to consumers, we make it easy for them to choose a direct cremation. In turn, we see less merchandise being purchased, and revenues declining faster than we can keep up with.

So what’s the catch? How do we become valuable?

Fortunately, there is an opportunity for us to transform the way families see us, and increase our value as an industry as a whole. How? Start thinking like a wedding planner, rather than a traditional funeral director!

Before you dismiss the idea, take a look at the facts. It’s true that a funeral is a once in a lifetime affair, while people can and do have multiple weddings, but apart from that the two occasions have many similarities. Both occasions celebrate the lives of people –  and, both feature music, photos, videos, guest books and lots of tears.

And the similarities don’t end there. Weddings are the ultimate in personalized events – shouldn’t funeral services be the same? We all know that Baby boomers want more personalized funeral services that celebrate a life lived. To deliver that, maybe funeral professionals need to think less about funerals and more about event planning, like wedding planners do.

So without further ado, here are a few lessons we can learn from the wedding industry:

1. Wedding planners aren’t afraid to try new things

When it comes to wedding planning, being open to trying new things and thinking outside-the-box is key to impress clients. The same is true for funeral directors. Latimore-Schiavone Funeral Home thinks outside-the-box by offering their community the chance to host weddings in its chapel at a very reasonable rental rate. It’s a win for everyone. The funeral home is able to generate a new source of revenue, while the community gets a venue that combines a small budget with big style. The funeral directors even coordinate catering and the wedding cake.

Sure, some people will think it’s creepy to have weddings and funerals in the same place, but isn’t that exactly what happens in churches and chapels? Instead of having your viewing room sitting empty, offer your funeral home to the community to help them save money on their wedding or entertainment venue and they will remember the celebration you created for them for the rest of their life.

2. Wedding planners help their customers SAVE money

Hiring a wedding planner isn’t cheap, but anyone who hires one knows that wedding planners are worth their weight in gold. It’s all about their contact book and their industry knowledge, both of which guarantee that what seems an unnecessary expense can end up saving their clients money. Simply put, they get discounts for their clients – and their clients appreciate it.

Instead of keeping our unfortunate reputation as a profession who rips off our families, position yourself as the transparent go-to in your community. You can do that by putting together a package of services that meets both the needs and the budget of client families, rather than trying to sell them the most expensive items on your GPL. This will help you build trusted relationship with families and guarantees they will think of you again.

3. Wedding planners listen

The lifeblood of the wedding planning business, in my opinion, is the wedding planner’s ability to listen. Wedding planners take the time to understand what the bride and groom want through asking questions, then they use their knowledge to make it happen. Any funeral home that still wants to be in business in the next five years must do the same. Just as wedding planners bend over backwards to deliver new and exciting weddings to their clients, funeral homes must be similarly agile in finding new ways to do business.

The funeral directors at Cress Funeral Home & Cremation take pride in their ability to listen, and it shows.

The Vice President, Dan Fose, says “our funeral directors are wonderful listeners. A casual comment from a family member can spark some great ideas.”

They started by focusing more and more on personalization, and now they help families plan any event, especially weddings. This funeral home has learned the art of listening to find out what client families want, and now they’re known in their community for their ability to listen. Check out this testimonial from one of their families:

“Thank you for all your ideas and making our wants come true for George’s memorial service. I will be sure and let others know of the kindness of you & Cress Funeral Home.”

4. Wedding planners prove their value

Have you ever tried to show families the value of a funeral? Not that easy, is it? With personal budgets under strain because of the economy and Boomers looking for more from funeral services, it can be difficult. While consumers are having trouble finding value in the average cost of a funeral ($6,650), most couples spend an average of $25,656 on their wedding.

So why do client families balk at paying the price of a funeral service? Because unlike wedding planners, funeral directors aren’t great at showing the value of splashing out on a big occasion. Yet client families get exactly the same experience from well designed funeral services: they celebrate the life of someone special,they create shared memories and they reflect on the past and look to the future.

As funeral professionals your expertise is in celebrating life and overcoming grief – you need to show it. Your funeral home website is a key part of making this happen. Wedding planners show images of successful weddings and testimonials from happy customers – funeral directors can do exactly the same. And if your website is also a source of useful information for people thinking ahead to plan their funeral, then it’s another way to underline that value.

5. Wedding planners make planning enjoyable

Like planning a wedding, planning a funeral can be fraught with decision making – should client families choose burial or cremation, have a service or not, allow viewing, have flowers — the list goes on. And then there’s the cost – many people worry about it. People often go for cremation because they see it as simple and quick, with no difficult decisions.

But experienced funeral directors can take away the fear and make client families feel safe – all they have to do is listen and deliver. Just as wedding planners set out to make the wedding day a joy and are firmly in the bride’s corner, funeral directors can help families to celebrate a life lived and take the strain out of the planning process.

Here are some techniques for achieving this:

· Focus on celebration – it’s an emotional time for the family, but you can make it better by helping them think of the funeral service as a celebration to be enjoyed and not endured.

· Find out what families need before you bring out the GPL – you can say, “Let’s talk about some of the details of the funeral and go over the cost considerations.” This keeps the pressure off pricing.

· Ask open ended questions to find out what families want and listen to the answers.

· Provide creative ideas and a calming presence.

· Adopt a can-do approach to even the most unusual requests.

Just like wedding planners, you need to focus on client families’ needs – that’s how you’ll outshine your competition.

6. Wedding planners use social media to show off their work

Try a search for “Wedding planners” on Pinterest and you will find inspiration for every aspect of a wedding celebration. The best wedding planners have embraced the use of social media to showcase their work, because they know that’s where their potential clients are looking for information and inspiration. As this Sprout Social article points out, social media helps wedding planners to show that they are “busy, creative and relevant”.


Isn’t that exactly what client families need? As a funeral director, social media is one of the best available tools for showing client families exactly what you can do. Forget the depressing obituaries and share celebrations instead.

For example, you can:

· Show photos of tasteful, personalized funeral services that are ideal for Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook (and even Twitter).

· Make an ultra short video about an aspect of your business for Twitter’s Vine service.

· Shoot a “case study” video that has your client families talking about the services you provided for them, and post them to your funeral home’s Youtube channel.

· Tweet about news of interesting funeral services from around the country.

· Set up a Facebook event for the funeral service or help families send out digital invitations.

· Share the tribute videos you create for families on your Facebook and Twitter pages

You can also share inspirational quotes about life and death on your social media accounts – there’s no limit to what you can do. Think about the information potential client families need, and showcase it accordingly.

How can you get started thinking like a wedding planner?

So, how can funeral directors use inspiration from wedding planners to give families what they need?

Here are a few ideas:

· When hiring new staff, consider hiring event planners like Golden Gate Funeral Home did. Those hires also got a brand new name putting their function and value front and center – they are called “funeral planners” instead of the traditional funeral director.

· Help client families plan other parts of the celebration – like catering for the wake.

· Renovate your funeral home so it looks like a place where client families can celebrate. This could include letting some natural light in, having an outdoor area and including a chapel.

· Don’t just depend on outside certified celebrants to amp up your personalization – make everyone at your funeral home an expert in it.

· Perfect the art of listening and train all your staff to do the same – it’s the best way to really find out what families want.

· Instead of thinking about the merchandise you want to sell – a focus that will turn off potential client families – concentrate on the celebration you can create for them.

· Personalize, personalize, personalize – offer client families memorial websites, tribute videos on DVD, and provide webcasts for those who can’t be there.

See, weddings and funerals aren’t that different after all!

Is your funeral home ready to start thinking more like wedding planners? Offer families personalized funerals with Life Tributes All-In-One Personalization Software. Click here or call (313) 437-8460 ext. 5 to get a 30-day free trial!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joe Joachim is the CEO and Founder offuneralOne, the first global solutions firm leading a movement of change for the funeral profession. For the past 11 years, he’s developed game-changing solutions that help funeral professionals increase the value of their service offerings, connect with the families of today, and become more profitable. funeralOne’s solutions include:website design,aftercare,funeraleCommerce, andpersonalization software.

The post What Funeral Directors Can (And Should) Learn From Wedding Planners appeared first on Funeral Blog. The official blog for the funeral & cemetery professions..

If you’re in the funeral profession, it’s no secret that cremation and the lack of value of funeral services has made a pretty negative financial impact on most funeral homes.

However, there is one aspect of funeral service that’s experienced quite the opposite financial impact.

Can you guess which service that is? It’s the pet cremation business.

Over the course of the last eight years or so, the pet death care profession has become a very attractive business for funeral homes to get in to. There are many reasons, but the most notable one is that it’s a great way to increase your funeral home’s profit margins and “bottom line.”

Although there is no statistical data on the revenue of pet cremation, the pet care industry brought in an estimated $52.87 billion in 2011 alone.

If your funeral home is considering adding pet cremation services to your offerings, there are plenty of considerations involved. Check out these 5 steps to figure out if pet cremation is right for you:

1) Know your market inside and out

As any business plan would require, you need to know your market. That means understanding the needs of your consumers and veterinarians in your area.

First, start with the consumer. Understanding the demographics of your community is important when deciding whether or not pet cremation is relevant. So far, the most successful markets for pet cremation services are relatively urban markets with a substantial population. If you live in a rural market or farming community, you might want to consider that many families in these areas bury their pets in their backyard.

Next, think about the veterinarians located in your community. Many of them already have a relationship with a cremation service that can handle their equine and large animal cremations. That means they won’t consider switching to your service unless you can give them the same accommodations.

2) Create key veterinary relationships

Creating relationships with the veterinarians in your market is your key to being successful. You can spend a lot of money on marketing and different types of advertising to promote your business, but unless you get the blessing of the veterinarian, you may truly be wasting your money.

You may have a few families who use your service based on the advertising that you do, but chances are your revenue won’t outweigh the cost of expensive ads. People trust their veterinarians and they are most likely going to use the service that the veterinarian exclusively recommends.

3) Consider your facility options

Many funeral homes who offer pet cremation services use their unit right next to their human cremation unit, or put “Pet Crematory” on their funeral home signage for marketing purposes. While it sounds like a good idea to keep both services in one building, consider this: there may be families that actually choose to NOT use your funeral home for cremation or funeral services because they simply aren’t pet people.

Would you want a family to NOT choose your funeral home for this reason? A separate facility, be it a building on your current property or in close proximity, along with a separate name and signage might be the best option if you want to continue serving the non-pet families in your community.

4) Hire the right employees

A serious question to ask yourself is whether you’re going to have separate staff members handle the pet cremation business, or if you’re going to use your current staff of funeral directors. Can your staff handle the compassion it takes to console a grieving pet parent and not make a joke out of it later?

Picture this: A big burly guy with a leather jacket, bandana and sunglasses comes in with his his 5 lb Chihuahua named “Pumpkin”. It might sound silly to you, but it’s important that your staff has the right attitude – especially when it’s 2am and they need to go on a home removal for a 200 lb Mastiff that passed away unexpectedly.

5) Figure out your competitive advantage

If you decide to offer pet cremation, it’s your job to show veterinarians how you are different than their current provider, especially if your market is already saturated with pet cremation services. And being different doesn’t just mean being less expensive.

As funeral directors, we have been conditioned to think that less expensive is what the consumer is looking for. While there is always that market for “less expensive”, this is not necessarily the case with pet families. In fact, in recent years, pet cremation services have virtually become recession proof. But you’ll never know that if being less expensive is your only way to be “different.”

Making the decision to offer pet cremation services

With all of the hype around pet cremation services, it’s important to think about the good and the bad of offering these services. It may make sense for you to expand your service offerings to your families by providing pet cremation services. But the reality is, it also may not.

The pet cremation profession is not a novelty. It is not a joke. And it is just not a business that helps you “boost your bottom line.”

If after reading this article you decide that pet cremation is something that would fit your business profile, by all means, go into it full speed ahead! But remember, this extension of your business will become part of your funeral home legacy whether you succeed or fail. How hard can it be? It may be worth your time to find out.

Don’t believe me? Tom Flynn, president of Hillcrest-Flynn Pet Funeral Home and Crematory says “If you’re in this business right now, you’re just sailing with the wind right at your back.”

Is your funeral home looking to offer pet cremation services on your website? Click here or call (313) 437-8460 ext. 5 to learn more. To see an example of our solution, visit the Adored Pets Crematory website.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pat Fahrenkrug has been a licensed funeral director since 1994 and the owner of Forrest Run Pet Cemetery, Cremation and Memorial Tribute Center in Sherwood, Wisconsin since 2004. He also works part-time as the Community Outreach Director for Wieting Family Funeral Home in Chilton, Wisconsin.

The post Why Everyone’s Talking About Pet Cremation Services appeared first on Funeral Blog. The official blog for the funeral & cemetery professions..

“It’s not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Clarence Darrow

Thanks to the Internet, there has been a fundamental shift in the way today’s families research and make funeral service decisions.

This might not come as a surprise to you, but if your funeral firm’s marketing hasn’t changed in response, it should. If you don’t evolve to meet families’ needs, your funeral firm risks getting left behind.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s changing and how your firm can adapt.

The Old Client Family Journey: “The Good Old Days”

The traditional families of yesterday viewed funeral service as a respected, necessary ritual. These families already knew they would hold a funeral service for their loved one– they simply had to decide where. Their path to selecting a funeral service provider or the “old client family journey” was linear, predictable, and controlled.

The traditional families of the past put you on their short-list of options because they were familiar with your funeral home. They might have had a previous experience with your firm when you buried their grandfather, attended the same church as one of your employees or even noticed your ad in the local newspaper. If your funeral firm was located in their area, they would visit to plan their loved one’s funeral service.

These traditional behaviors associated with the old client family journey made attracting families simple. You could always count on loyal families, community outreach, and simple local advertisements to bring families in the door.

But, things have changed – the families of today are different.

The New Client Family Journey: Things are Changing

The families of the present and future aren’t as brand loyal and don’t depend on traditions like they used to. They won’t plan a funeral service with you just because their grandmother did. Today’s families are tech-savvy and rely on the Internet to seek information.

Their path to making funeral service decisions or “the new client family journey” has an increasing number of digital touch points, putting control in their hands.

Families take control of the new client family journey by actively “pulling” information helpful to them. In fact, an astonishing 97% of people now turn to the web to find information on products and services (BIA / Kelsey Group).

Families often compare several competing funeral firms online, educating themselves about the available options so they can make a well-informed decision. They learn about cremation, funeral service options, memorial product offerings, and check into pricing. Families even look to their social network to see what their peers recommend and read online reviews before visiting a funeral firm to plan their services.

Don’t worry – this new client family journey is actually good news. Believe it or not, people who research online before making their decision actually end up spending 20% more than those who don’t. Why? Because they’re more confident they’re getting exactly what they want from funeral home they trust.

Sure, there are still some traditional families out there. But that group is becoming smaller and smaller, while the families of today are increasing by the second.

So who do you want to focus your efforts on? The shrinking families of the past? Or the growing families of the present and future? I think the choice is pretty simple.

How to Adapt to This Change

While the journey of your families has changed over time, your goal as a funeral professional hasn’t. You still strive to attract families and help them create healing experiences through your services.

And it’s important to realize that the change in your families’ journey to selecting a funeral firm isn’t a loss of power over potential families. It’s simply an opportunity to be in the right place, at the right time, to give families the information they need to choose your firm.

Now that we know change is here to stay, here are some ways you can embrace it:

Don’t waste your time & money with traditional advertising.

Here are a few stats to prove why:

· People spend 52% of their time online and only 4% reading the newspaper.
· 200 million Americans are on the FTC’s “Do Not Call” list.
· Over 44% of direct mail pieces are never opened.
· The average person sees up to 5,000 ads per day!

If traditional advertising still accounts for the majority of your firm’s marketing initiatives, chances are, you’re no longer effectively reaching families.

Get your business online!

Cut through the clutter by focusing your marketing efforts to meet the needs of today’s families by fine-tuning your online presence. The phrase “funeral home” is now searched over 7 million times per month – on Google alone. Your website is now crucial to your success.

But it could hurt your business?

Simply being online doesn’t always mean more families will choose your funeral firm. In fact, 75% of families who visit funeral websites to don’t end up contacting the firm. If your website doesn’t engage prospective families, it could actually drive them away.

To learn more about getting your business online with funeralOne’s website platform, f1Connect, click here or call 800-298-2575.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joe Joachim is the CEO and Founder of funeralOne, the first global solutions firm leading a movement of change for the funeral profession. For the past 11 years, he’s developed game-changing solutions that help funeral professionals increase the value of their service offerings, connect with the families of today, and become more profitable. funeralOne’s solutions include: website design, aftercare, funeral eCommerce, and personalization software.

The post Adapt Or Die: The New Client Family Journey appeared first on Funeral Blog. The official blog for the funeral & cemetery professions..

The other day, a good friend of mine told me to try this new restaurant in downtown Detroit that has the BEST darn Cuban sandwiches… ever. And after reading some reviews on Yelp and Google my inner foodie began to yell “YES!! A cool, new restaurant!”

Excited to try this new Cuban restaurant, I gave them a ring to place a takeout order. After about six rings, I was greeted by a Cuban woman who yelled “HOLD ON PLEASE!” and hung up on me.

Not only was I offended by their rudeness, but I couldn’t believe that they literally chased me – someone who wanted to be a paying customer – away!

This whole ordeal got me thinking. Did those employees at the Cuban restaurant realize how rude they were being? In the same sense, do you know how potential families see you and your funeral home employees?

The prospect of losing customers is… well, scary. And sadly, it happens everyday – whether you realize it or not. Chances are, you probably don’t realize the little ways you might being scaring potential families away.

Not sure if your funeral home is scaring families away? Check out these warning signs and see if your funeral home’s committing any of them:

1. You underestimate the power of smiling.

Whether it’s on the phone or in person, every time a potential family comes your way, smile! It sounds stupid, but if you had to choose between a salesperson who was smiling and one who was not, you’d probably choose the smiling salesperson every time.

Sales and business author, Jeff Gitomer, says “[If you] give families a prepared, friendly, engaging, different, valuable, compelling, believable, self-confident, relatable, trustworthy salesperson and they’ll give you the sale… EVERY time.” Keep that in mind the next time a family in need walks through your doors.

2. You’re not passionate.

This one doesn’t require much of an explanation. If you’re not passionate about the products and services you offer, why should your families be? The second you start believing in yourself, your firm, and your offerings is the second your families will believe in you as well. Confidence and passion are key to keeping your families around, rather than headed for the doors.

3. You bad mouth your competition.

It puts a bad taste in my mouth when people talk negatively about others. It’s even worse if I’m in a professional setting. No matter what the situation is, don’t ever trash talk your competition . The only thing it will help you achieve is losing that potential customer.

4. Your website is as old as your funeral home.

Websites in the funeral profession have given themselves a bad name. Don’t believe me? Ask someone in the Internet or marketing biz what comes to mind when they think of funeral home websites. They’ll probably throw out words like “outdated,” “auto play music,” “depressing” or just downright “creepy.”

Don’t let your funeral home’s website reaffirm this bad stereotype. If you want to send your families running for the hills, keep your staff, history and fleet gallery on your homepage. But… if you’re looking to attract new families, use your website to educate families on the value of your services with a bright, easy-to-navigate website that inspires them rather than depresses them.

5. Your funeral home has that infamous “funeral home smell.”

Don’t you just hate when you visit somewhere that doesn’t smell pleasant? It’s enough to turn me off from visiting ever again. Make sure your families don’t go running in the other direction when they step foot into your funeral home by avoiding that infamous “funeral home smell.”

You can do this by using candles in rooms that get the highest foot traffic, or take it a step further by baking cookies in your kitchen right before a service or arrangement meeting.

6. You use the same-old sales pitch.

Speaking of smells, don’t be the classic funeral director who wastes his or her time by giving a cheesy sales pitch during the arrangement meeting. Author Jeff Gitomer says “it’s the responsibility of the salesperson to EARN the sale, not close it.”

Truthfully, there shouldn’t ever be a sales pitch used throughout your conversation with families, especially if it’s rehearsed. When you know the value of your products and services, and understand the family’s needs, its more of a conversation rather than a sales pitch. Once you stop giving families your “famous pitch,” they’ll stop treating you like a salesperson and feel trust and comfort when they’re around you.

7. You talk pricing right out of the gates.

Imagine you’re looking for a new house, and you visit a realtor. You tell the realtor what you’re looking for, and he responds by giving you a list of homes and their prices. That’s not very helpful or considerate to you, so keep that in mind during your next arrangement meeting.

Ask families what they want, how they want their loved one to be remembered, and LISTEN. Then you can  worry about “cost considerations.” This will make your families feel comfortable, and feel like you’re recommending a service that meets their needs, not filling your pocket.

8. You wear a suit and tie everyday.

I’m a fairly confident person, yet every time I walk into a room full of people in suits, I feel uncomfortable. Corporate-esque clothing is great for corporate companies, or business meetings. But what about for funeral homes? My opinion is… not so much. It’s respectful to dress professionally at your funeral home. But for funeral directors, it’s even more respectful to be real and down to earth, rather than stuffy and unapproachable in a suit.

You’re there to comfort families in their time of need. Does that really call for suits, ties and cufflinks? Try going against the grain and dressing in a more casual, relaxed way. You’ll notice a difference in the way families see you, and you’ll help them feel more comfortable and relaxed.

9. You’re impossible to find.

Say someone sent you a recommendation for a company, and when you turned to Google, they were nowhere to be found. You’d probably just give up and choose a similar business who did have a website that appeared on Google, right? I would.

The same goes for your funeral home – first of all, make sure you have a website. Once you’ve achieved that, make sure it’s easy to find on Google by using some of these SEO tips. Since 97% of consumers turn to the Internet before making a purchase, your funeral home is losing business if you’re not visible online.

10. You give families what YOU want.

It’s a classic case – funeral directors giving families what they think is good for them, instead of just giving them what they want. I know, I know – your funeral home has probably been serving families for decades. But guess what? The things that worked before may not work for the families of today.

The families of today are much different. By not listening to their unique needs, you’ll be offering them products and services they don’t see value in, causing them to turn and run for the door.

11. You’ve kept your funeral home’s interior design… for 30 years.

When I was a child, I experienced several deaths in my family. Everytime my family had to visit the funeral home, I was always terrified. To me, funeral homes were a scary place – they always smelled weird, looked old and spooky, and were full of death (which can terrify anyone, no matter how old they are).

Need help making your funeral home more comfortable? Check out these tips.

And now, for the grand finale…

Now that you’ve seen some of the “bad” things you can do to scare families away, here’s a peak of the ugly. This story was taken from a “funeral home horror stories” forum:

“I was at the calling hours of a person I went to highschool with,who had been killed in a horrific motorcycle accident. I assumed the casket would be closed due to the horrific nature of his death. Oh how wrong I was…..It was literally a head in a casket. No arms, no legs, just a pillow stuffed into a shirt and a head. That was all that was left of this person, and that was only because this person had been wearing a helmet. I think it was the worst funeral experience I’ve ever had.”

While looking through all of these funeral home horror stories, my first thought was that I was sad there were any such forums in the first place. It’s time for the funeral profession to shake off our bad reputation, and stop giving families reasons to run away.

Hopefully with the help of these tips, you can start having client families running to your funeral home, not away from you.

Want a funeral home website that doesn’t scare families away? Learn more about f1Connect, the first all-in-one website platform built for the families you serve by clicking here or calling (313) 437-8460 ext. 5.

Did we miss any ways you can scare away client families? Share your tips and stories in the comments below!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joe Joachim is the CEO and Founder of funeralOne, the first global solutions firm leading a movement of change for the funeral profession. For the past 11 years, he’s developed game-changing solutions that help funeral professionals increase the value of their service offerings, connect with the families of today, and become more profitable. funeralOne’s solutions include: website design, aftercare, funeral eCommerce, and personalization software.

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