May 2019

Page A27 MAY 2019 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A Custom Statues Life Size Bronze or Marble Presentation of Jesus Contact: Gregory Cave caveco33@aol.com 1-800-989-2283 www.caveco.us Delivery in 120 Days to the Temple Church Upper Saddle River, NJ Model contracts. Legal consultations. Sample forms. Discounts on multiple products and services such as performance surveys. ICCFA membership has its benefits. Reacquaint yourself with your association and see what benefits you can take advantage of by visiting www.iccfa.com. iccfa.com Membership That Matters. Managers, Producers and Owners Gear Up for Preneed Summit News Educational ContinueD Dean Lambert WALL,NJ— Whether you’re a funeral home owner, man- ager or producer, you’ll want to be at the Preneed Sum- mit in Atlanta. Kates-Boylston Publications, the publishers of American Funeral Director and American Cemetery & Cremation maga- zines and Funeral Service Insider, is teaming up with Home- steaders Life Compan y, a national leader in preneed funer- al funding, to hold the November 8, 2019, gathering at the Renaissance Concourse Atlanta Airport Hotel in Atlanta. At the Preneed Summit, experts from within and out- side the profession will help attendees: make positive con- nections with the recently bereaved; recognize symptoms of burnout and engage in self-care; learn to use social media and other resources to become an influencer; and leverage influencer status to generate referrals. “What makes our Preneed Summit so great is that it will in- clude separate roundtable tracks for managers and produc- ers,” said Dean Lambert, senior vice president of market- ing and communications for Homesteaders. “Managers will work together to face challenges in recruiting, hiring, man- aging, motivating, and, yes, even terminating members of a sales team. Producers will work together to overcome obsta- cles related to lead generation, appointment-setting, and the sales process – including the all-important close.” Thomas Parmalee, ex- ecutive director of Kates- Boylston Publications, said anyone who wants to start or advance a preneed pro- gram needs to attend. “This will be an intensive pro- gram,” Parmalee said. “At- tendees must come prepared to solve some of the profes- sion’s greatest challenges in earning referrals, developing staff and growing market share, but the payoff will be huge.” Allison Sullivan, publisher of Kates-Boylston Publications, added, “We are thrilled to be teaming up with Homesteaders Life Company on this event again. When we held the event last year, so many of the participants were asking up to sign again for next year before they even left. We are pleased that Homesteaders agreed with us that we could not disappoint them.” Attendees will hear from: Jason Troyer, Ph.D., earned his doctorate in counseling psychology at the University of Kansas. He is an author and found- er of Mt. Hope Grief Ser- vices,  which provides af- tercare products, training seminars and consulting ser- vices. Troyer also offers grief resources for the bereaved at GriefPlan.com. Most re- cently, he has partnered with Homesteaders Life Compa- ny to develop Finding Resil- ience , a career burnout and compassion fatigue preven- tion program for funeral professionals. Dean Lambert is senior vice president of marketing and communications for Homesteaders Life Com- pany, which he joined more than 20 years ago. He leads a team responsible for ana- lyzing business intelligence, branding and marketing strategy, corporate commu- nications, public relations and events; and providing marketing services/support for customers and third-par- ty marketing organizations. Wanda Sizemore served as a Homesteaders’ regional director for nearly 10 years and has been instrumental in managing field staff and of- fering customer support. In her current role, she manages Homesteaders’ training and continuing education efforts. Sizemore is a certified pre- planning consultant, a certi- fied celebrant and a recipient of the ICCFA’S 2015 Distin- guished Service Award. Angela Erickson began her sales career in the cemetery and funeral profession as a family service counselor for Stewart Enterprises at Lincoln Memorial Park & Fu- neral Home in Nebraska. She has held numerous sales and management positions, including sales manager, area sales manager and director of community and family services. Erickson has been an integral part of developing a success- ful preneed program at Forest Lawn Funeral Home & Cemetery in Omaha, where she is sales director. The event has been approved for 5 CEUs by the Acad- emy of Professional Funeral Service Practice. CEU ap- provals will be sought in most states that do not automat- ically accept Academy approval. Visit www.katesboylston.com/preneedsummit to learn more, call Thomas Parmalee at 732-746-0201 or email tparmalee@kbpublications.com for more details.

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