Basic HTML Version
Page A6
JANUARY 2013
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS
S ec t i on A
Funeral Home Resource
represents Delta Funer-
al Home’s desire for a us-
er-friendly site to meet its
commitment to serving
the greater Cooper com-
munity.
Ted Alley
, owner of the
Delta Funeral Home, pre-
fers the attractiveness and
ease of use of the site. Al-
ley wanted a site that met
the needs of his close knit
community, providing in-
formation about funeral
services and cremation in
Cooper and Ladonia, and
offering online memorials
where friends and family
can support the bereaved.
With design input from
the Funeral Home Re-
source team, Ted Alley
created a funeral home
website that is serene, yet
bright; is easy to navigate;
informs visitors about
Cooper funeral planning;
and allows visitors to con-
tact the funeral home
without making a call.
A special feature of the
site is the online memori-
als. Delta Funeral Home’s
Cooper area clients now
have more options for
creating a unique online
obituary posted on this
funeral home website.
Clients enjoy a full-page
obituary with individual-
ized background and icon
elements as well as memo-
rial photos and messag-
es posted by family and
friends.
Mr. Alley is pleased the
website is complete and
ready to represent his
Cooper funeral home,
“Our website is one of the
many ways we reach out
to our community, edu-
cating them, and offering
support. The Delta Funer-
al Home looks forward to
serving our customers and
community with beauti-
ful online memorials, and
our site’s new blog feature
to share information.”
Funeral Home Resource,
the outsourced online
marketing
department
for funeral homes, grows
market share for funer-
al homes through on-line
marketing to families in
need of funeral home and
cremation services.
By Christopher Kuhnen
A Proactive
Approach
to Advance
Funeral
Planning
How to Enhance Customer Loyalty
A New Year is upon us and with it come fresh and exciting
opportunities for all funeral homes. 2012 was a fairly tough
year for many funeral home owners. Thanks in part to the usual
challenges and suspects, (high cremation rate, indifferent Baby
Boomers, escalating business costs) annual profit margins con-
tinue to remain listless or are in decline. It’s time to take positive
action steps to turn things around in 2013.
Every funeral home owner knows the foundation of their busi-
ness is loyal customers. Going the extra mile to provide out-
standing customer service is the first step to customer loyalty.
But there is so much more to it than this. Knowing the reason
why a family contacts your funeral home is arguably the single
most important piece of data you need to discover.
Customer satisfaction is not enough to ensure repeat business.
Satisfied customers jump ship every day, and the reasons are not
always what you might think. According to Michael LeBoeuf,
Ph.D., author of
How toWin Customers and Keep Them for Life
,
68% of customers are lost due to indifference. Indifferent cus-
tomers are a result of pure neglect. Don’t take your customer or
market position for granted. Don’t let your service capabilities
slide. Don’t coast on your reputation while allowing your brand
to deteriorate. Inevitably, it will catch up with you.
Ask yourself these self-discovery questions in order to better
understand what dealing with your funeral home is like – from
your customer’s perspective. What is your customer experience
like? Are you “wowing” key customers with genuinely personal-
ized service or a reasonable facsimile? How can you increase cus-
tomer retention? With so much business and customer research
occurring online; are you finding ways to build vibrant person-
al customer relationships using all your firms’ assets, including
your business website and social media sites?
Your brand is only as good as your concluding touch with the
last family you served. There are numerous locally owned funer-
al homes, which do not possess a major supply of marketing dol-
lars to help build their unique brand awareness. What they do
have is the ability to craft a brand in their target market by pro-
viding constant service excellence. That’s how you achieve supe-
rior top of mind awareness.
This list of suggestions will help you better focus on your cus-
tomers in 2013 and beyond. If your funeral home is like most, I
have no doubt you already practice some of these things some of
Phone calls, notecards or postcards, newsletters, and email
are only some ideas. Consider also opportunities for per-
sonal contact, a good idea in our high-tech, low-touch
world.
• Give the customer more than they expect. Anticipate needs
and fill them. Answer a question before they ask it. Deliver-
ing more than they expect is one of the most powerful ways
to gain customer loyalty.
• Pay attention to the obvious. Mind your manners. Use
please, thank you and you’re welcome. Promptly return
phone calls and e-mail messages.
• Make realistic promises—and be consistent. It is far better
to promise something in two to three days and deliver in
one than the other way around.
• Share information. Send pertinent articles or information,
that may be valuable or simply interesting, to people you
know might be interested. Always look for ways to help
customers learn.
• Explain how things work. Take the time to fully explain to
families the intrinsic and tangible value of the services you
offer and what they can do to maximize its value.
• Have fun! Sincerely relish those you serve and develop re-
lationships, look upon them as your extended family. On
occasion, treat a customer to something fun to show your
appreciation. Use your imagination!
None of these suggestions, in and of themselves, will get you
loyal customers, but a combination of such will make it ex-
tremely difficult for them to go anywhere else. Remember, a
little goes a long way. Any effort you make to keep your cus-
tomer happy is an improvement, and each extra effort will in-
crease your customer loyalty. Make it a habit to conscientiously
view your client as the most important asset you have.
The current business environment is difficult, however now
is the time to enhance your customer relationships. Provid-
ing great customer service is not expensive, in fact, it’s cheaper
since it spares you the labor of making corrections, mending
fences, etc. It’s one of the most profitable things you can do.
But, most importantly, you’ll keep your families coming back.
Information sources include: Christopher Puetz and Web Hosting
Resource Kit. Please visit
for
more detailed information. Strategic Edge, Winter 2000 issue, pub-
lished by American Business Advisors, Inc.
the time. The idea is to keep reminding yourself, and every member
of your staff, how important it is to do it all the time.
• Ensure you have the right people on your team. If you’ve been
tolerating an unenthusiastic, uncaring, sloppy or disgruntled
employee help them to find a job that would be more suitable
for their special talents. Obviously they are wasting their time
working for you. They’re hurting your business. In this econ-
omy, there is plenty of gifted talent to choose from at the right
price.
• Conduct a patron service refresher workshop with all your em-
ployees – full and part time. Get them singularly focused on pro-
viding genuine, heartfelt service, service and more service to all
your families. Put incentives in place and publicly recognize em-
ployees who deliver above-and-beyond service.
• Review your business workflow, procedures and staffing levels.
Look at your processes from your family’s point of view. Are you
inconveniencing them in any way? Are you doing everything
you can to offer the level of personal customer attention they
deserve? Can you do and/or offer more?
• Pay close attention to what your customers really want from you
and what they really are hoping to receive from you. They want
what they want, however, may not be able to adequately express
it to you. If you see a pattern - follow it and adjust accordingly.
• Display a positive attitude. Always be on time. Act professional-
ly. Dress professionally. Speak and conduct yourself profession-
ally. Think professionally!
• Don’t try to hide from; shun or skate over family complaints. I
know many funeral home owners who will not take the time to
meet with families, who are dissatisfied. They have someone else
attend to the situation. This is absolutely the wrong approach for
any owner to take. Meet with anyone who wants and needs to
speak with you. Honestly listen to them. Place yourself in their
situation and mindset. Fix problems fast and bend over back-
wards to make things right. Those you serve can do you a huge
favor when they offer valid, eye-opening feedback, even if it’s not
what you want to hear.
• Please don’t even think about being rude, pushy, condescend-
ing, or superior. Do not try to push and/or sweet talk anyone
into something they don’t want, they don’t need or they are not
100% sure about. Show options and be helpful and patient.
Your families need time to realize and feel they are making the
right decisions.
• Offer top-quality funeral merchandise. I know it’s tempting (from
a profit margin standpoint) to procure “off-brand merchandise”
because you can buy a shipping container of “good-enough” qual-
ity stock at ridiculously low prices. My advice is - think twice be-
fore you commit. It’s not always greener on the other side of the
fence. Each yard you play in has its own watchdog and unique
set of problems and challenges. Add a little more to each product
or service than necessary. Make it an objective to offer “one new
item” to families in 2013 that you have never offered before. Pro-
mote it; support it and watch what happens.
• Thank families and individuals for doing business with you. Use
a custom embossed, handwritten notecard. Place a First Class
stamp on the notecard. Don’t use a postage meter machine. Peo-
ple notice and feel the difference.
• Stay in contact with those you have served in the past on a con-
sistent basis. By not forgetting them, they won’t forget you.
Christopher Kuhnen of Edgewood, Kentucky is a 25 year veteran
of Funeral Service. He is perhaps best known, in the funeral pro-
fession, as a progressive, forward thinking Funeral Prearrangement
and Marketing services expert. As an insider into excellence, he is a
trusted advisor to those in the death care industry.
He has considerable experience in marketing, public relations,
training, consumer and business to business sales. Over the course
of his distinguished career, Chris has provided comprehensive con-
sultation, education and positive and meaningful support to funer-
al directors nationwide to help them coordinate, develop and im-
plement their business strategies.
Christopher is a Kentucky Licensed Funeral Director, Life Insurance
Agent, Certified Preplanning Consultant (CPC), Insight Institute
Certified Celebrant and Certified Marketing Specialist. He can be
reached at (859) 307-7223 or cpkuhnen@gmail.com.
Church Trucks
så%XTREMELYå$URABLEå
så%LEGANTå$ESIGN
så'OLD å3ILVERåORå"LACK
3-Year Warranty
$527
Funeral Supply,Inc.
Serving Our Clients
SINCE 1999
Satisfaction Guaranteed!
American
Made
Products
CALL FOR DETAILS: 561-602-3330
1200 LB
CAPACITY
1000 LB
CAPACITY
Prices shown do not include
shipping and handling.
All advertised prices
are subject to change.
650 LB
CAPACITY
New Mini
Oversized
Stretcher
$1,327
$1,637
Oversized
Stretcher
Superb Cemetery
Lowering Device
Self-Breaking
Lifetime Lubrication
5-Year Warranty
$1,697
OVERSIZED
100%
STAINLESS
STEEL
EMBALMING TABLE
with Hydraulic Assist
15-Year Warranty
$1,897
1500 LB
CAPACITY
850 LB
CAPACITY
Delta Funeral Home Launches a New
Website
COOPER,TX—
Delta Fu-
neral Home
, a family
owned and operated fu-
neral home with a long
history of serving Coo-
per and Ladonia, TX,
launched its new website
at
The redesign of the site by