In life, unforgettable is almost always better than good or great. Would you rather have a good burger or an unforgettable burger? A great kiss or an unforgettable kiss? And when it comes to your funeral, would you rather have a send off that was good… or unforgettable?

That’s what we thought.

So when it comes to helping plan a funeral for the families in your community, why should the services you arrange be anything less than unforgettable?

To find out how some of the best in our profession are going out of their way to deliver an unforgettable experience to the families walking through their funeral home doors, we took to our social media page.

This week, we asked ourLinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook followers, “How do you host a ‪funeral‬ that people won’t stop talking about? Do you have any secrets for hosting an unforgettable service that your families will love?” We gathered some of our favorite responses and are sharing tips for how you can bring these unforgettable secrets into your own funeral services. Enjoy!

1. Spend Time With Everyone Entering Your Funeral Home

Funeral professionals are 100% committed to the families coming to them for help planning a funeral. However, while helping your families should definitely be your priority as their funeral director, they shouldn’t be the only people that you connect with during the service.

Many of the friends and family who are walking through your doors during a visitation or a service need just as much support as the arranging family does. And it’s your job as a funeral expert to be a source of comfort and help to anyone who needs you during their time of grief. So make sure that you are making your rounds during the funeral service, introducing yourself, and offering your support to those who many need it. This will not only be of great service to the family you are serving, but will give everyone else in the community an unforgettable, healing experience that they will remember the next time funeral services may be needed.

2. Make Communication A Priority

Funerals are a confusing time for everyone involved… apart from the funeral director. That’s why families are coming to you in the first place! The families and friends that are walking into your funeral home are looking to your staff for support, guidance and direction. And we’re not just talking about the arrangement conference – anyone can Google the steps that are involved in planning a funeral. But no one but funeral professionals have the experience, insights, and advice that turns a confusing, overwhelming experience into a celebratory and healing one. Therefore, it’s important that you communicate and educate your families through every step of the funeral process.

As Brandon Hulke shared on our LinkedIn page, “Communication and truly caring about what you do is the only way people will succeed as a funeral director, [be]cause if you don’t, families will know.”

Families don’t just remember the music that was played at their loved one’s funeral, or who showed up to pay their respects… they remember how their funeral director made them feel, and whether or not they made their time of grief better or worse. And the first step towards delivering a customer experience that your families will never forget is to be open, honest and make communication front and center.

3. Uncover And Share Stories

We all know that funerals are an essential part of the healing process… but few funeral professionals realize that this process starts with them. The second that a family comes and sits down for the arrangement process, you have the ability to kick-start their healing process with just one simple question: “Tell me about your loved one.”

Why is this so much more impactful than, “What was your loved one’s name” or, god forbid, “So whose funeral are we planning today?” Because you are giving the family a chance to open up and reflect on the life of their loved one, tell stories about them, and remember all of the amazing moments that made up their life. And this is how the healing process begins.

However, it’s also important to remember that stories don’t just come out of conversations in arrangement conferences. There are many other things that your funeral home can do to spark stories from your families, such as create a Memorial Video that is filled with photos, videos, and memories.

In our post about the amazing healing power of photos and videos, we shared the following vital information:

“One of the best ways for your families to discover just how big of an impact their loved one had made is through seeing images and hearing stories that they may not have known before.

“Playing a tribute video at the visitation is a great trigger for bringing out new memories from friends and family. The funny stories that can come out of a childhood photo or home movie can open up a whole new window of memories and can make people realize just how big of an influence their loved one’s life had on those around them.”

If you want to make funeral services even more unforgettable for your families, help them tell stories and begin healing with a 30-day free trial of our Life Tributes Memorial Video software! Click here to learn more.

How do you make sure that you deliver an unforgettable funeral service to your families? Share your tips in the comments below!

Rilee Chastain

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