Page A27 December 2022 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS Se c t i on A The Best Marketing is “Backcasting” By Dennis Breier currently have .0002% of a person’s time to convince them to come back to your funeral home in the future, pre-plan their own services, and grow your revenue and referral base. What would happen to your revenue and referrals if the market share you demanded of a person’s time was closer to that of the NFL? The next logical question would be, “How do I do that?” The first step is to start “backcasting.” Create an aftercare program that brings serious, qualified professionals to the funeral home after services to help with estate closure issues with those who are still alive. This is truly backcasting, or starting at the end. Don’t subscribe to any on-line processes, a phone call, a checklist, or some helpful tips. Do engage local professionals with solid reputations in the community and partner with them exclusively. This brings families back to the funeral home after services and immediately increases your market share of their time 10-fold. They come back to the funeral home to meet with professionals you trust and take advantage of a service offered by you. From there, you can leverage these same professionals to offer interesting and engaging talks at the funeral home on topics like estate planning, social security, funeral preplanning, long-term care planning, health and longevity, among others. These events are at the funeral home, or hosted by the funeral home, and your market share of the community’s time begins to grow. Now, when there is a death in someone’s family, is the person who came to the funeral home 10 times to meet with professionals who closed out the estate for their dad, 4 more times to pre-plan their own services, 3 times to attend seminars on estate planning, social security, and long-term care, and 4 times to complete their estate plan with the attorney you referred them, going to go to the funeral home down the block for services? Highly doubtful. You are the best there is at “the end.” Make your funeral home the premier place to go not to “pre-plan,” or “forecast,” or “educate,” but to “backcast” a plan for an event that is 100% sure to happen. The family will be forever grateful, and you will have implemented a strategy for sustained long-term success. Funeral professionals are in the unique position of offering a service every person on earth will need to access. Unlike retirement or long-term care planning, which deal in potentiality, funeral planning is a certainty. This creates an opportunity for funeral homes to become the main point of contact for families before, during, and after the funeral. This increases brand loyalty, referrals, and revenue, and can be achieved by employing a simple concept called “backcasting.” Backcasting1 is a term frequently used by Dr. Peter Attia, MD,2 whose practice focuses exclusively on the science of longevity. For Peter, backcasting is looking at your body at age 90 and asking, “what activities do I want to be able to do at 90?” If you want to be a 90-year-old who plays tennis, can carry 30 pounds of groceries up 4 flights of stairs, and lift a great-grandchild, you need to do quite a bit of physical work and preparation between age 30 and 90. Conversely, if you wanted to be immobile at 75, the strategy looks vastly different. Peter’s point is, when you start at the end, or backcast, you can put a sound strategy in place to get anywhere. As Peter said in a recent podcast, “Forecasting from wherever you are today will almost without exception fail to get you where you need to go, because you’ll end up missing the mark by slipping underneath it. Instead, you want to start with where you need to be at the very end and work your way backwards.”3 Consider this, Is anyone better at the “very end” than you? Does anyone know more about death, how it works, what’s involved, how it affects families emotionally, what the process is, than you? There likely is not. However, without exception, funeral homes allow people who know absolutely nothing about the business of death to plan for every event that will lead up to it, and what’s more, they do it by forecasting rather than backcasting, which as Peter Attia notes, “will almost without exception fail.” Think about the length of your engagement with an individual. As the funeral business is currently constituted, you have 0% engagement with someone while they are living (assuming they did not preplan a service) and about a .0002% market share of the family’s time when considering a lifespan in days of someone who lives to 85 that you spend a week with. To look at this another way, a dentist might have a .005%market share of a person’s life if they visit from age 10 to 85 for two cleanings a year. A barber might have a .03% share if someone gets a haircut once a month, and the National Football League might grab .06% of a person’s time if they are a fan from age 10 on. Your business deals exclusively with one of the most consequential events in a family’s life and yet, you demand a fraction of the attention they give to haircuts and football. The funeral home should be a hub for meetings, educational events, and planning opportunities. In fact, you should be hosting triple the amount of estate planning meetings in partnership with an attorney than funeral services each year. You Dennis Breier is president of Guardian Estate Solutions, a company founded in March of 2018 that strives to bring exceptional after-care services to funeral homes by helping the families they serve close the deceased loved one’s estate. With 14 years’ experience in financial planning, investment advisory, and banking roles, Dennis is extremely well positioned to handle the complex needs of families seeking estate and asset protection. The mission of Guardian Estate Solutions is to bring simplicity and peace to families struggling with the estate closing process. 1 Peter discussed backcasting in his recent podcast, #223 – AMA #39. https://peterattiamd.com/ama39/. 2 www.peterattiamd.com. Dr. Attia received his medical degree from the Stanford University School of Medicine and trained for five years at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in general surgery, where he was the recipient of several prestigious awards, including resident of the year. He spent two years at the National Institute of Health as a surgical oncology fellow at the National Cancer Institute, where his research focused on immune-based therapies for melanoma. 3 www.peterattiamd.com. Podcast Episode 223. AMA #39. https://peterattiamd.com/ama39/. They empower and motivate others – connecting their personal goals to their professional goals – leaving a legacy of insight and professionalism. Let’s recognize their achievements! By Elleanor Starks, cfsp Founder and Executive Director 100 Black Women of Funeral Service, Inc. Phenomenal Women in Leadership These women stand out! Whether continuing their family’s legacy or taking a leap of faith into the profession, they have become leaders through hard work and dedication to the Funeral Service Industry. As managers, owners, role models and mentors, each of these women have an inspiring vision, and have used their talents to help others. These leaders encourage creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, and teamwork. 100 Black Women of Funeral Service attendees following the Lifetime Achievement Presentations during the NFDMA Annual Convention in New Orleans 2022 Lifetime Achievement Honorees Lenora Wi seman Wi seman Mortuary Fayetteville, North Carolina A licensed funeral director since 1972, LenoraWiseman is known as “Typhinia’s” or “Try’s Mom” to most of her funeral colleagues. She is the owner and operator of Wiseman’s Mortuary in Fayetteville, NC, which was founded by her late husband, Walter L. Wiseman. A member of the 100 Black Women of Funeral Service Inc, Lenora was selected by the organization as a Lifetime Achievement award winner for 2022-2023. Pamela Higginbotham Angelus Funeral Home Los Angeles, California A resident of Waldorf, MD, Pamela Higginbotham is a retired Los Angeles funeral director to the stars, having worked at the Harrison-Ross Funeral Home, House of Winston Mortuary and the historic Angelus Funeral Home. Higginbotham was the go-to funeral director that held them together due to her experience in handling stiff restrictions of the Los Angeles County Medical Examiners. That experience came by handling big names like Ennis Cosby, hip hop star Biggie Smalls, Ray Charles, Attorney Jonny Cochran, mayor Tom Bradley, Steve Wonder, and Ike Turner, mother of Kayne West. Funeral Service Foundation was both thrilled, humbled, and, yes, intimidated simultaneously. It is a distinct privilege and honor to be a member of the Foundation Board, and I will make every effort to make a worthy contribution to the Foundation’s purpose and mission.” In addition to welcoming new trustees, the Foundation’s board elected its executive committee. Lisa Baue, Former President and Owner of Baue Funeral Homes in St. Charles, MO and Founder and Owner of Your Funeral Coach was elected as the Foundation’s first-ever female Chair. In the 1980s, Baue attended NFFS courses offered by and served on the NFFS board from 1994-96. Baue was elected to the Funeral Service Foundation board in 2020. “I’m proud to carry forward the remarkable work of the visionary leaders who came before me,” says Baue. “The Funeral Service Foundation’s board embodies a collaborative and dynamic spirit that helps the Foundation make a true and lasting impact in funeral service, and I am honored to serve at the helm of such a talented group of thought leaders.” The board of trustees also elected Mark Krause, President of Krause Funeral and Cremation Services in Milwaukee, WI as chair-elect. David Falconer, Senior Vice President and Funeral and Cemetery Trust Manager for Regions Bank in Houston, TX was elected as treasurer in July. Allan Cole, President and Owner of MacKinnon & Bowes in Toronto, and Christopher Robinson, Vice President and General Manager of Robinson Funeral Home in Easley, SC will continue their service as Immediate Past Chair and NFDA Liaison, respectively. Joan Billman, Owner and Director of Fleming & Billman Funeral Directors in Ashtabula, OH; and KimMedici Shelquist, Senior Vice President-Planning and Development of Homesteaders Life Company in West De Moines, IA transitioned off the board after six years of dedicated service. Since 1945, the Funeral Service Foundation has served as the philanthropic voice of the funeral profession and has identified as the charitable arm of the National Funeral Directors Association since 1997. Donors and volunteer leaders professionwide support the Foundation in its mission of investing in people and programs to strengthen funeral service and lift up grieving communities. Continued from Page A26 REDUCES INJURIES • INCREASES PROFITS • LEASING OPTION AVAILABLE 585-330-5772 Work Smarter – Not Harder! .com Watch Our V i deos Onl i ne ! Affordable Automated Cargo Loading & Unloading system Cots. Caskets. Cremation Cases. All You Need is the Remote Control and One Hand!
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