Can you believe that we are nearly two months into the start of 2017?! It seems like just yesterday we were mapping out our New Year’s resolutions and creating a game plan for a happier, more successful year of funerals.

But now it’s mid-February and most of us have come face-to-face with what I like to call “the end of the honeymoon” period. The excitement and celebration of the holidays have faded, the initial fun of setting personal goals has worn off, and many of us are about ready to kick our resolutions to the curb once and for all.

If you are one of the many funeral professionals across the country who is starting to struggle or doubt your goal of becoming a better funeral professional in 2017, have no fear. To help put some pulse back into your New Year’s resolutions — or even kick-start a new goal of better serving your families this year — we have taken to our fellow funeral pros for a little inspiration.

We asked some of our followers on Facebook to share what they are doing to better serve their families in 2017. Here are some of our favorite responses, along with some advice on how you can incorporate these tips to make your funeral home more successful this year. Enjoy!

1. Show Off Your Unique Services

Do you have a new product or service that your funeral home is offering this year that you’re really excited about? Share that excitement with your families! For example, Phoenix Boatworks Canoe Caskets is showing off their service offerings by mailing out a brochure of their stunning, one-of-a-kind canoe caskets so that they can put what makes them unique right in front of the eyes of their community. If your funeral home isn’t doing the same with your unique services, how can you expect your families to know the value of coming to you over a competitor?

You don’t even have to send out a load of expensive flyers or brochures to capture your families’ attention. You could share your new 2017 offerings on your funeral home’s Facebook page, or even create an educational page on your website that walks families through just how much value your new services provide. (See Pray Funeral Home’s website below.)

Pray Funeral Home’s website, designed by funeralOne, is a great example of how funeral homes can inspire and excite families to explore more unique service options. Click here to read about some of their one-of-a-kind offerings, including a flying aviation send off or a theatrical stage celebration.

2. Take Your Services Global

Thanks to technology and the internet, you no longer have to be in the same town, same country or even the some continent as someone in order to share an experience with them. And the same goes for attending a funeral. As Tami Sue Reynolds commented, livestreaming funeral services online for a loved one’s friends and family is a great way to share your funeral services globally. This is a must-have option for many people who have family living in different states who can’t make it to the funeral in person, but don’t want to miss out on the healing and celebration that these events bring.

To test out the value of funeral webcasting for yourself, click here to try a 30-day FREE trial of our Life Tributes software, which includes webcasting, printing and memorial videos services specifically designed for funeral professionals.

3. Give Families A Glimpse Into Your World

It’s no secret that many families have a misunderstanding of what goes into being a funeral director, and just how much value a funeral can provide. (In fact, earlier this week we rounded-up five of our favorite funeral articles we wish families would read in order to uncover the truth about the funeral profession.)

But forming a better understanding about funerals isn’t solely up to your families either. It’s a two-way conversation. Funeral homes should give families a glimpse into everything that makes up their job… both the fun moments and the difficult moments. Share with them a new service option that you are excited about, and the powerful service moments that you witness that make you so thankful to be in this profession. Simply giving your community a more personal look into what you do is enough to make them more comfortable with funerals in general.

Jennifer at Dominick T. Adamo Funeral Home, for example, posts photos on her funeral home’s Facebook page that give families updates on the funeral home’s new facilities, along with educational information about their services. “We find that relating our family stories with our clients really helps to form a connection,” she said.

4. Give Families An Outlet For Their Memories

One of the very first things that happen when we lose someone close to us is a tidal wave of memories. You long to hear from that person again, you think back to the good times you shared, and you crave the idea of connecting one last time. But where do you go to do that if the funeral service is still a few days or weeks away?

Families crave an immediate and lasting place to share and hear stories and memories… whether it’s their own life stories they long to share, or a way to view their loved one’s photos and videos of their greatest life moments. And funeral homes need to give families an outlet to do just that.

Samaritan Funeral Home does this by sharing life stories through Be Remembered, a pre-planning service they promote on their f1Connect website where people can map out how they want to be remembered and even record stories of their life that are shared after they’re gone.

It’s also very important to give family and friends an outlet where they can share their own photos and memories, such as a memorial page for their loved one on your funeral home website. With f1Connect social memorial pages, friends can log on to a loved one’s memorial page, read about their life story, share photos and videos, leave a story or memory, and even share a symbolic gift… all on one page that lives on your funeral home website forever.

To learn more about how you can get your funeral home website set up with f1Connect’s social memorial pages, click here to talk to one of our website success specialists.

5. Listen To Your Families And Put Their Words To Action

Last but not least, one of the most simple, yet effective things that you can do for your families this year is to truly listen to them and deliver the funeral experience that they’re asking for. We’ve said it time and time again — today’s families don’t want the same cookie-cutter funeral service that their grandparents may have had. They want a service that is unique and personalized to their loved one, and will ultimately give them the value and experience that they need to heal.

The only way to deliver on this kind of experience is to “really listen” to their requests, as Kat Lane said above. Be a detective when it comes to discovering what they really need out of a funeral service, and do whatever it takes to deliver. Your families will thank you for it, and your businesses success will soar as a reward. It’s the ultimate win-win.

How are YOU better serving your families in 2017? Share your tips with us in the comments below and we may feature you in an upcoming blog!

Rochelle Rietow

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