We Need Repeat Families: Three Steps Funeral Businesses Can Take to Retain Families
July 11th, 2019
Retaining customers is key to having a thriving funeral business.
Yet all too often, funeral businesses pour time and resources into customer acquisition without considering what they’re doing to keep the customers that they’ve already served.
It’s not rocket science…but let’s get back to the basics.
Unsatisfied consumers decide not to do business with companies because their expectations go unmet. Unmet expectations are often linked to disproportionate value propositions, and the consumer coming away from the experience feeling like the company didn’t value their business.
What factors can we control that lead to unmet expectations? Well, here’s a stat to make you scoot up in your seat: 68% of consumers decide not to do business with a company again because they believe the company doesn’t care about them. This is one of the biggest reasons why families won’t use a funeral business again.
Luckily, Ellery Bowker has broken down 3 simple steps that funeral professionals can take to increase customer retention and not just meet but exceed families’ expectations:
1. Audit your families’ expectations
Understanding consumer trends and assessing families’ needs allows you to best assist them. In addition to surveying families you work with, take a different perspective and view your business as consumers may view it. Look at, for example, your pricing and resources online. I’m sure that you’ll agree – families are expecting price transparency, pre-planning resources online, and options for contacting your business. This is a quick and easy way to shift your focus from your perceived value, to your families’.
2. Provide talk trigger experiences
Not sure what “talk trigger experiences are?” Don’t worry, we weren’t either. Basically, talk trigger experiences are moments that leave an impact on customers and create word-of-mouth referrals to your business.
Families that are planning a funeral are dealing with many uncertainties. One way to offer a talk trigger experience is to remove some of these fears for them, and in turn, create a meaningful connection.
Providing value is another talk trigger experience, and it can be accomplished by treating every family like the VIP they are. Under promising and over delivering goes a long way. People will remember how you make them feel long after they forget the details of your encounter. Strive to treat each family as a special case.
3. Continue to serve and build the relationship
Change your thinking from focusing on customer service to focusing on customer success. Checking in on families and thanking them through different mediums – calls, texts, emails, handwritten notes – creates a special connection that lasts.
One way to do this is through a simple Aftercare program. You can start by simply remembering to check-in with families on certain meaningful days of the year. This fosters a bond that makes them more likely to choose your business again when the time comes.
Want to offer an epic Aftercare offering?
With f1Connect, the funeral profession’s leading website platform, you’ll serve your families long after the service with our 365 Days of Daily Email Affirmations. To learn more about f1Connect, Click here or give us a call at 1-800-798-2575 to talk to one of our Website Success Specialists today!
About Ellery Browker
Ellery Browker is the CEO of Directors Advantage and a speaker at funeral industry conferences such as ICCFA, which is where we met him! Give him a follow on Twitter here.
Following these simple steps will help grow your funeral business and take your customer success to the next level. Do you have any others to offer? Tell us about them in the comments below!
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