How to be Remarkable: 4 Steps to Becoming a “Purple Cow”

“You’re either a Purple Cow or you’re not.  You’re either remarkable or invisible.  Make your choice.”

–        Seth Godin

Imagine you’re on a road trip in the middle of the country, and you spot some cows on a field.

Even though you’ve seen a MILLION cows before, I know you’re going to look at those darn cows, because they’re more exciting than the grass and pavement you’ve been staring at for hours.

You’ll watch those cows, but after a few minutes of seeing them – you’ll probably get bored. Once you see a million brown cows, they almost become invisible to you.

Why? Because eventually, boring stuff becomes invisible.

But what if you saw a purple cow? It would blow your mind, right? You might even want to stop your car to look at that cow and take pictures. Heck, I would.

Is your funeral home a purple cow?

According to best-selling author Seth Godin, your funeral home’s one chance to be successful is to be… remarkable.

It sounds simple, I know – but delivering a remarkable experience for your families can take your funeral home a long way…especially in these challenging times.

In Seth’s nationwide bestseller book, Purple Cow, he explains the importance of being remarkable.

Written almost ten years ago, Seth’s message still rings true today… “you’re either remarkable or invisible… make your choice”. 

So how can your funeral home become remarkable? It’s easy; just follow Seth’s 4 pieces of advice:

1. “The old rules don’t work so well anymore.”

The old rule was to create safe, ordinary products or services and combine them with great marketing. But, things have changed. Now, the idea is to “create remarkable products that the right people seek out.”

Think about it – do funeral homes who have managed to prosper only offer traditional options to their families? No. They’re going above and beyond to offer their families what they want, not what their funeral home feels like giving them.

A real world example: Bailey Love Mortuary was a new funeral home to the market in 2004, and they had a lot of fierce competition in their area. They wanted to be the “purple cow” of their county, so they decided to start offering tribute videos to their families in a “Remembrance Package” they created.

The result? Bailey Love was the first in their county to offer tribute videos. And, they’ve positioned themselves as the go-to for families looking for funeral personalization.

2. “The world has changed. There are far more choices, but there is less and less time to sort them out.”

Are you the only funeral home in your area? Unless you live in an extremely small town, chances are you probably have some competition. Now more than ever, families are overwhelmed with funeral services choices – whether they choose your funeral home, your competition, or decide to have a ceremony at all.

How can you be sure that they’re going to choose your funeral home? Unfortunately, these days, you can’t. Brand loyalty is lower than ever before. Instead of focusing on beating your competition, focus on delivering a remarkable experience your families, and I promise you, people will seek you out.

An activity: Take a look at how your funeral home presents itself. Is your website up to par? Does it engage families on the value you can provide them? If your website doesn’t do either of those things, it’s time for a face lift. Your online presence reflects your funeral home more than ever before, so make sure yours is top notch.

3. “Instead of investing in a dying product, take profits & reinvest them something new.”

It’s no secret that the future of the funeral profession is in question. The traditional offerings that worked before aren’t cutting it anymore. Albert Einstein once said the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.” So ask yourself, “What I am I doing that’s not working?” If it’s not working now, it probably won’t work again in the future.

Something to consider:  Stop investing in your services that aren’t working, and invest in something new. Do you offer personalization options or technology solutions such as webcasting? Consider looking into new services that will make your firm remarkable.

4. “The opposite of remarkable is very good.”

It can be easy to fall into the pattern of thinking your funeral home’s services are “good enough.” Resist that temptation! Don’t ever get too comfortable with the services you provide. Your families’ needs are changing at a rapid pace, so make sure you’re always finding ways to better serve them.

The hard truth: If you offer your families a professional, appropriate ceremony for their loved one, they’re not going to talk about it. But, if you offer your families a ceremony that is unique and tailored to them, everyone will be talking. People only remember products and services that are remarkable. Think about it… do you remember the last average meal you had?

 

Through talking to many funeral professionals, I’ve learned that there’s a general fear in embracing change. I get excuses like “my families won’t like that” or “this is the way we’ve been doing things for the last decade.”

If you want your funeral home to survive, you need to be remarkable. Don’t ask yourself why you should change your services to stand out… instead ask yourself “why not”? 

Today, I dare you to take a step towards being a purple cow. And, when you do, tell me about how it has helped you succeed, because I know it will.

 

What will your funeral home do to become remarkable? Share your thoughts!

Joe Joachim

funeralOne

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