I don’t know about you, but I’m constantly on the lookout for a magical, mind-blowing tool that will let me do all of the things on my wish list in one simple swoop. Answering emails, writing blog posts, updating social media… It’s not like I’m looking for the easy way out. I just have so many things I want to do to help families and funeral professionals, that there’s not enough time in the day. So if there’s a magic tool out there that makes my life easier (and other people’s life better at the same time), then here’s my credit card… and my first born child. Give me what ya’ got.

Now, I’m betting that you have a similar wish for a magic funeral home tool… if there was a program out there that could educate families on your service, gather pre-need leads, help people find and share service information, and help bring more business to your funeral home ﹘ all without you have to do any extra work ﹘ would you use it? It’s a no brainer, right? What if it was also affordable and built specifically for the needs of the families you serve?

Well, I’ve got some good news for you. That tool exists. You don’t even have to sign over your house, your car or your kids to reap its benefits. It’s called the f1Connect Website Platform, and here’s how it’s changing the way you help today’s families…

1. Help families understand the value of pre-planning. It’s this simple ﹘ if your families don’t understand the benefits, savings and efficiency that come along with advance funeral planning, they are never going to take the steps to do it. So you need to do your families’ homework for them.

Our Plan Ahead page on our f1Connect website is built with all of the educational resources that your families never knew they wanted… information on why they should plan ahead, a handy pre-planning checklist that will walk them through the process, and even a helpful Talk Of A Lifetime video that will help them express their pre-planning wishes to their loved ones.

When families click through your website and come across the page (whether they were seeking out this information or not), they will better understand the value of this service that you offer… and they can even pre-plan their funeral right on your website.

In fact, we’ve found that f1Connect users have seen their pre-planning leads grow by 400% or greater! Just think of what that could mean for your business…

2. Educate families about their service options. Similar to pre-planning, if families don’t understand the value that comes with memorial services, traditional burials, personalization options, etc., they will almost always opt for one of your more inexpensive options. But, what you may not realize is that families don’t want to just pick the easy option – they just want to be shown that the options you offer that will help them celebrate their loved one’s life.

For instance, the families walking in your funeral home may not necessarily opt for a funeral service because of religious reasons or tradition, but they will see the service as a way celebrate their loved one and create something as unique as the life lived. This is why it’s so valuable to put your funeral home’s service and personalization options on your website, so your families can be educated about your value before they even think about pricing.

f1Connect helps your families explore the possibilities of their service options through our interactive planning tool. They can be inspired by the options available to help honor life, look through permanent memorialization options, and even design a funeral that is as unique as their loved one’s life.

3. Help family and friends support their loved ones. Did you know that sympathy flowers and gifts have been proven to help people grieve and heal? It’s true! (Check out our post The Magic Healing Power of Sympathy Flowers and Gifts to learn more.) No wonder flowers have become such a traditional aspect of the funeral service…

As a funeral professional, it’s your job to make it easier than ever for family and friends to show support to their loved ones by sending sympathy gifts to the funeral service, or even to the family’s home in the days and weeks following the funeral. What you shouldn’t do is send them on an endless maze of pop-up windows and websites, searching for a local florist, trying to find your funeral home address, and calling the family asking for the service times.

Luckily, with f1Connect’s Sympathy Store integration, family and friends can order beautiful, meaningful sympathy gifts for your families… all without ever leaving your website. And because the service information and address is hosted right there on their loved one’s memorial page, people will never have to second-guess whether or not their gift will arrive for the service. Our smart-order form lets them know exactly when their flowers should be ordered to ensure that they arrive in time for the visitation or the funeral, or if it should be delivered to the family’s home.

4. Continuous Support After The Service. Sometimes the time in which your families need the most support and communication from you is once their funeral service has ended. It makes sense ﹘ they’re surrounded by loving family and friends throughout the service, they’re filled with words of encouragement and support through gifts and messages in the weeks that follow… but as more time goes on, the more the weight of their loss begins to sink in. That’s when they truly need the most support from you, their funeral director.

f1Connect allows you to be there for your families when they need it most (without actually having to be there in person). We do this through our 365 Days of Grief Support affirmations, which send email messages of encouragement to your families every single day for an entire year – ensuring that they get those messages of hope on their most difficult days ahead. We also offer interactive aftercare services that live right on your website – so families can seek out support from the comfort of their own home. These two small features can make all the difference when your grieving families need you the most.

If you’d like to learn more about the many features that an f1Connect website can bring both your funeral home and your family, click here to check out our free demo!

Rilee Chastain

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