What Your Families Want vs. What Funeral Service Offers Them

Paradigm Shifts Funeral Service

 

I recently wrote a blog about 5 paradigm shifts that would save funeral service.

In a nutshell the 5 paradigm shifts were:

 

1. Evaluate Your Value
2. Listen to Baby Boomers
3. Focus on Grief Support Needs
4. Embrace Technology
5. See Change as an Opportunity


In response to the blog, Alex asked a thoughtful question:

“These five concepts are exactly what the industry needs however, how would you bring about this new paradigm and how would this change public perception of the bereavement sector?”

I answered quickly on the blog post but I would like to take a little more time to address this great question.

A response to the public’s perception

The first and most important point is the underlying notion that the new paradigm implementation would change the public’s perception of the bereavement sector.

Currently, the public’s perception is that the funeral service industry is out-of-touch and unresponsive to their funeral service wants.

Funeral service has this benevolent belief that we know what the family needs (versus what they actually want). In turn,  we present and push products and services that families don’t understand or perceive value in.

Closing the gap

To address this disconnect between wants and needs, I have been a huge proponent of family education to close this gap.  However, the circumstance of the someone-has-died-and-I-need-to-make-funeral-decisions mode does not lend itself to this “instant education.”

More importantly, most funeral homes do not have the time or resources to mount such an effective educational campaign. Does this mean we should give up? Absolutely not!

It means recognizing the difference between wants and needs and our ability to close that gap. Serving wants will get you an immediate connection and serving needs requires extensive education and take a very long time to affect.

So what do we do? How do we change?

1. Let go of the past

We need to let go of everything we currently know, love and feel comfortable with.  Let go of your existing preconceptions of facilities, staff, offerings, financial pressures, contractual commitments, regulatory requirements, family needs/education. Then you can start with a clean slate… a fresh, unencumbered viewpoint.

2. Think about what your families want

After you figure out their wants, imagine what offerings would best meet them.  How would you meet those wants without a facility? How would you do it with half the staff you currently have? Twice the staff?  How would you make connections with families you might serve? Where are those families? How can you connect with them quickly? How can you allow them to make decisions quickly but ensure the personalization that is the hallmark of Baby Boomer purchases?

3. Explore new technologies

I believe that the use of technology will be the pivot point that will allow funeral directors to break through the barrier of a 5 mile service radius. It will allow them to not be held hostage by the funeral home facilities and the concentration of staffing that typically follows.

And more importantly, the technology of today will enable family connections and the testing of new offerings in ways that were previously impossible.

4. Once you have your goal, figure out ways to get it done

Hold the meeting of the family’s wants as the highest priority.  If you don’t get this accomplished nothing else really matters.  Figure out how to connect with families as far up stream in their decision making process.

Implementation and getting it done is the next step but, we can save that for another blog post.

 

How do you plan to make these changes? What new technologies or services have helped you implement them? Share your thoughts!

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lajos Szabo, a licensed funeral director in Ohio and Architect by training, has been involved in funeral service since 1988. His portfolio of work includes, Schoedinger Funeral & Cremation Service, PMP Rooms, Cut Caskets, Meaningful Memories, Funeral of the Future research and several US patents specific to our industry.[RR1] Currently, Lajos is the President of Funeral Operations at funeralOne. He uses his industry perspective to provide organizational leadership and develop several key projects in pursuit of his personal mission: changing funeral service to more effectively meet the needs of people touched by death. funeralOne’s solutions include: website designaftercareeCommerce, and personalization software. For more information about funeralOne, visit www.funeralOne.com.

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  1. alan

    Preach it brother

  2. FDLIC

    Excellent article! Couldn’t agree more.

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