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Page A6 JUNE 2017 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A
ALLSTATE
BUSINESS SHIELD
for Funeral Homes
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business deserves, so you can
focus on what matters most...
the families you serve.
Alonzo Middleton
Serving 30+ Years
803-536-6185
®
“The Original Casket
& Vault Combo”
‡ Email:
PO Box 646, Bowling Green OH 43402
Independent & Family Owned
Since 1945
Order direct at:
1-800-782-8249
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1' $140
2' $290
3' $350
4' $460
By Christopher Kuhnen
There’s More
To It...
Advance
Funeral
Planning
The Future of Our Profession
Written by Dr. Joseph Marsaglia
curing potential future business, but are providing
the general public with the education and informa-
tion necessary to make such important decisions that
will not only impact their lives, but that of their fam-
ily. Today’s mortuary students are well educated and
possess the knowledge and skills to promote funeral
service and pre-planning. Let’s give them the oppor-
tunity to do that. The new generation of funeral pro-
fessionals can better serve their families by offering
them choices today to better serve them tomorrow.
for the ancient Romans, evidence does exist of written wills
where all Romans anticipated death and the afterlife.
Just the other day in class, the students and I were hav-
ing discussion on the benefits of pre-planning. It appears
that the younger a person is, the less interested they are in
pre-planning their funerals. Could this be confirmation
that we are a death denying culture? In an informal sur-
vey of the class on how many students have pre-planned
their funerals, not one raised their hand (the average age
of the class is 27). However, when asked if they knew of
someone who pre-planned a funeral, all but a few raised
their hand. Needless to say, the persons they knew who
pre-planned a funeral were 50 years of age and older.
With that said, it became apparent that when mar-
keting pre-need, funeral directors should focus on that
demographic market. As the future of this profession,
mortuary science students must be aware of who are pre-
planning and what the consumer needs and wants. Most
consumers may not be aware of their options in pre-plan-
ning and/or pre-paying their disposition. Whether it is a
direct cremation or burial with visitation and a service,
pre-paying for that service today guarantees the cost of
those services at today’s prices. More important, the val-
ue of pre-planning is that a person’s wishes are in writing
and spares the survivors the hardship of trying to decide
what mom would have wanted. It still amazes me how
many times I hear people “assume” that to be cremated,
you have to be embalmed – or, how many consumers still
believe that if they choose cremation, they cannot have a
visitation, mass in church, etc. Again, educating the con-
sumer through advertising and pre-planning can assist
them in making desirable choices.
There are also several benefits for funeral homes who
aggressively promote pre-planning. Not only are they se-
Christopher Kuhnen of Edgewood, Kentucky is a 29 year vet-
eran of funeral service. He is perhaps best known as an industry
go-getter and progressive leader. As an insider into excellence,
he is a trustworthy advisor to many funeral home and industry
professionals.
Kuhnen spent a good portion of his career working for a family
owned and operated funeral home and national pre-need sales
and marketing organization. He additionally was the architect and
founder of Funeral Profit Protectors, LLC. Currently he serves as
Vice President of Pre-Need Marketing for the Unity Financial Life
Insurance Company, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Chris is a Kentucky Licensed Funeral Director, Life Insurance
Agent, Certified Pre-Planning Consultant (CPC), Insight Institute
Certified Funeral Celebrant and Certified Marketing Specialist, as
bestowed by the former American Marketing Academy.
Chris can be reached at (859) 307-7223 or
Some time ago I asked Dr. Joseph Marsaglia, CFSP,
Dean and Chief Operating Officer of the Pittsburgh In-
stitute of Mortuary Science, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to
write a column. His column was so well received by my
readers that I again asked him to share his thoughts and
insights about the funeral pre-planning profession. I be-
lieve you will find this column very interesting. Have a
comment you’d like to share with Joe? He can be reached
at
It is safe to say that for thousands of years civiliza-
tions have pre-planned their disposition (burial or cre-
mation). Although no formal records exist to indicate
this, the mere fact is that memorialization provides evi-
dence that even the Egyptians anticipated their demise
and planned ahead – e.g., the great pyramids. However,
KINGSTON,ON— Obit-
Tree Inc, a company found-
ed with deep roots in fu-
neral service, has released a
comprehensive initiative de-
signed to help funeral pro-
fessionals take back control
of their obituaries, win back
their online profits, foster a
positive message about fu-
neral service and expand
their community reach, all
while protecting the future
of funeral service.
The National Obituary
Registry works with Obit-
Tree, Inc to provide a new
portal that funeral profes-
sionals desperately need now-
adays, which includes every
touch point a funeral home
needs to succeed in this new
age of online marketing.
Funeral Homes across
North America are increas-
ingly voicing concerns over
the buildup of third party
obituary posting schemes
that leverage funeral homes’
obituaries for their own self
gain. The National Obitu-
ary Registry’s comprehen-
sive strategy will allow fu-
neral professionals to take
back control, work with lo-
cal newspapers to rebuild
the trusting relationship
they once enjoyed togeth-
er and have both parties
achieve higher gains within
their communities.
“Given the stranglehold
that large online obituary
posting companies have cre-
ated through deals with lo-
cal newspapers, it is criti-
ObitTree, Inc. Unveils the New National Obituary
Registry
cal that all of funeral service
bands together if they are
going to win back con-
trol. If every funeral home
in North America registers
their obituaries through the
National Obituary Regis-
try, the change will be swift
and measurable, and funeral
professionals will finally be
in control of what belongs
to them” says Jason Trues-
dell CEO of ObitTree Inc.
The key to this initiative
is for funeral homes to sub-
mit their obituaries to the
National Obituary Registry
before sending them to the
newspaper, allowing the Na-
tional Obituary Registry to
position the funeral home as
the rightful creator, owner
and authority of the obitu-
ary and be the leader in all
major search engines for
their own obituaries. It’s a
simple copy and paste pro-
cess that puts funeral homes
in control.
In addition to helping pro-
tect a funeral home’s online
obituaries, ObitTree’s pow-
erful direct-to-consumer
portal will help firms cap-
ture more pre-need and at-
need opportunities in their
communities and introduce
several new features, includ-
ing a crowd funding plat-
form for visitors to make
contributions to help fami-
lies with final expenses.
The National Obituary
Registry and ObitTree, Inc.
will also use this opportuni-
ty to help support their pro-
fessional funeral associations
in their strife to continue of-
fering quality programs and
ensure a sustained positive
message about funeral ser-
vice, as well as the benefits
of choosing licensed funeral
professionals.
Register and join thou-
sands of funeral profes-
sionals across North Amer-
ica, who have decided
enough is enough and are
ready to take action. To ac-
tivate an account with the
National Obituary Reg-
istry and to start taking
com, or take the test to see
if a funeral home is affect-
ed there.
Visit
NEWS F ME & CEMETERY
online