July 2017

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Page A6 JULY 2017 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A
Bay Memorials
321 S. 15th St. • Escanaba, MI 49829 • (906) 786-2609 • Fax (906) 786-2692
Zerbel’s
INFANT CREMATION CONTAINERS
Available in 10”, 20”, 30”
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Beginning at $20.00
Appropriate For Viewing
By Christopher Kuhnen
There’s More
To It...
Advance
Funeral
Planning
on the internet. Have a response to anything that is
absolutely incorrect, slightly misleading, or less than
flattering. You might be asked about it. In addition,
encourage your customers to review you on Yelp,
Google, Facebook, or any other popular website. The
more good reviews you have, the better you look.
representatives properly licensed and trained? Do they
keep their education current both with what they can learn
at continuing education courses and with what your fu-
neral home has to offer? Baby Boomers don’t always want
what their parents or grandparents received. They want
to do things distinctively “their way”. Is your firm flexi-
ble enough and suitably prepared to handle any request? If
not, now is the time to get ready.
What about your pre-need representative’s knowledge
and training regarding state Medicaid rules and regula-
tions? Have they taken the time to learn what the current
regulations dictate regarding those who wish to plan ahead
for their final expenses? The number of families walking
through your door seeking to “spend down” in order to
qualify for Medicaid eligibility will substantially increase in
the next ten to fifteen years. Are you accurately prepared to
serve them? If not, they will go elsewhere and be lost to your
firm forever.
Did you know that today’s age 65+ consumers check you
out online before they check you out face to face? They
know more about the good, bad, and ugly of your firm
than you might imagine. Your services, personnel, mer-
chandise, pricing structure, customer reviews (both good
and bad!) and obituaries. It’s all online for them to read,
review, and absorb. Believe me, they absorb it all!
Google your firm and really dig deep to see what people
are sharing about you. You might be surprised to see what
is posted on Twitter or Facebook or a blog. People will say
things about your funeral home online that they would
never share in person. Make it your mission to discover as
much as you can about what is being written about you
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
Here They Come!
Get ready! Like it or not, funeral service is going to get
extremely busy in the years ahead. Not only does that
bode well for the profession as a whole, it also means job
security for professional funeral pre-planners.
As most everyone knows, the front-end of the baby
boomer generation began to turn 65 in 2011 and they
will continue to turn 65 until 2029. The Social Securi-
ty Administration estimates that 10,000 Americans are
turning 65 every single day. The number is going to be
at least 1.5 million per year for at least the next fifteen
years. That equates to roughly a 60% increase to the cur-
rent market. That’s a whole lot of people who will re-
quire the best possible service we can provide them.
Is your pre-need program structured in such a man-
ner as to offer families your very best? Are your pre-need
they attend an event. The goal is for people to return to hold
every meaningful family celebration in the facility, including
weddings, parties, reunions and receptions.
“We are dedicated to being on the cutting-edge of fu-
neral service so that our partners have access to the new-
est concepts and latest expertise,” stated Justin Baxley,
FPG’s Senior Vice President of Business Development.
“This Life Event Center is just the latest example of us
fulfilling this promise to the members of the Foundation
Partners Group family.”
Foundation Partners Group (FPG) is a leading provider of
The Lake Room provides a wonderful setting for a Celebration
of Life gathering or a family’s other important milestone events.
Each arrangement conference room offers relaxed surroundings
and inviting décor to make families as comfortable as possible.
Hiers-Baxley Opens Life Event Center
innovative funeral, cemetery and cremation experiences and
products. As one of the largest privately owned funeral op-
erators, FPG owns and operates funeral homes, cremation
centers and cemeteries in 16 states, and is actively seeking
to expand its locations throughout the U.S. With headquar-
ters in Orlando, FL, Foundation Partners is committed to
revolutionizing the funeral profession with a customer ex-
perience-centered approach that harnesses innovation and
values the power of relationship and partnership. For more
information about Foundation Partners Group, visit their
website at .
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