April 2017

A16 A1-A40 B1-B28

Page A16 APRI L 2017 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A
Owner and CEO Mark Pennington is a 1973 Magna Cum Laude
graduate of Memphis State University and proudly served in the
Marine Corps. He was a member of the Honor Guard/Marine Bar-
racks Eighth & I Washington, DC during the presidency of LBJ. Well
known for his innovation and commitment to the funeral, ceme-
tery, and cremation industries, he earned the CCFE, CCrE and CSE
designations of the International Cemetery, Crematory and Funeral
Association. Mark served as Executive Vice President and COO for
Superior Funeral Supply for 27 years refining his management ex-
pertise before starting HALO over 17 years ago. From 1999-2000,
he served as President of the Casket & Funeral Supply Association.
Since founding HALO, Mark has built one of the most innovative
and unique product lines available today and his catalogs bring a
wealth of profitable marketing opportunities to his customers.
By Mark Pennington
sions and when you remain engaged in the purchasing
process, everyone benefits.
Maybe you’re shaking your head right now, “Hey,
that’s a lot of work.” But by taking the time to make
a list of your regular purchases in the fuzzy “E” area,
you take the first step in getting a handle on where
your money goes – and that’s exactly when you cre-
ate a path for greater success. Remember, you can ad-
vertise and work hard to increase your business, BUT
if you learn how to buy product more economically,
that decision costs you nothing AND the savings go
straight to the bottom line!
3 Cs and an E
Three “C”s and an “E”: Cars, Caskets, Chemicals
and Everything else – sort of a Chinese menu of pur-
chasing.
First, Cars. You know where you’ll buy this “C”,
where the salesman gives you the best deal. Then Cas-
kets, you also know where you get the best discount or
rebate. And your last “C” – Chemicals, that’s the easi-
est choice because your embalmer makes it for you.
What makes him happy works for you, right?
Then comes the “E” – everything else. This is what takes
the most time and can cost you a lot of money. While
you don’t spend the most money (or not often) in this
category, it can add up and be a significant line item over
the year. It’s also an area where you may feel the most
freedom to source suppliers, and maybe even experiment.
Let’s take a look at some usual buying scenarios:
Buying from a friend. It’s a habit, it’s easy, and you like
the visits. This seems like a slam dunk, but sometimes
you need to check out his/her pricing. It’s easy for your
friend too but so he/she may not know prices either.
While never intending to charge you a premium, it
may be that it’s become a habit for both of you. Neither
of you are focusing on business, more on the visit and the
friendship. If you’re not engaged in the buying process,
and examining the choices out there, you could be doing
yourself and your business a disservice.
Responding to a special sale. Good idea as long as you rec-
ognize the name of who is behind the sale. But, you need
to be sure the supplier is trustworthy, ships on time, and
doesn’t offer a “loss leader” to get you interested and then
practice the old bait and switch trick. Remember, you get
what you pay for.
Practice a hands-on approach. What I mean is “It’s your
money.” Make sure you are making the best decisions.
That “E” takes up a lot of time if you are constantly ques-
tioning, “Is this the best I can do?” One way to provide
some assistance is to have a resource directory for suppliers.
Every supplier has literature – so start a file. Bring the lit-
erature home that you pick up at conventions or meetings;
don’t leave it in your hotel room. I talked about resource
directories in January suggesting you start one to help you
in customizing funerals. It works for purchasing too. In ad-
dition to providing you information, a file can be essential
for your employees. We know you can’t do everything. You
have to delegate sometimes, but do it responsibly. If you’ve
created a culture where employees are accountable for the
way they spend your money, then you’ve established a firm
where your success is shared by those who work for you.
When you give them the resources to make informed deci-
Mark My
Words
936 square foot lobby with gas fireplace
Chapel with seating for up to 280 people
Hampton Funeral Homes opens
Third Location
ist with the ability to use local contractors
to construct the building.
Opened in October 2016, the funer-
al home has a spacious lobby with a
gas fireplace as a focal point. The cha-
pel can be divided into three separate
visitation rooms with an overall seat-
ing capacity of over 300. The commu-
nity room, with open kitchenette and
Send Us Your News!
PO Box 5159, Youngstown, OH 44514 • Fax 1-800-321-9040 • Email