January 2021

Page A19 JANUARY 2021 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS Se c t i on A Funeral Supply Store 1-800-392-2936 • www.funeralsupplystore.com FREE COT COVER! Magnum Mortuary Cot $1,595 00 1,000 lb. Capacity FREE SHIPPING! Dressing Table $895 00 Elite Mortuary Cot $995 00 Scissor Lift $5,395 00 Shipping $200 00 Junkin Mortuary Cot 650 lb. Capacity $1,610 00 FREE COT COVER! Impact of COVID-19 on Funeral Service Owners The impact of COVID-19 on succes- sion plans has been greatest on those planning to retire in the short-term. Al- though the pandemic has resulted in un- precedented changes in daily operations, more than two-thirds of funeral service professionals surveyed said the COV- ID-19 pandemic has not affected their succession plan. • More than 12 percent said the pan- demic has impacted their plans, with nearly half (49 percent) stating that it “delayed plans to exit the business.” • Another third (33 percent) said the pandemic has caused them to “reas- sess” their entire business plan, while 11 percent said it “accelerated” their plans to exit the business. Funeral services and profitability are down, but most funeral business owners surveyed are confident in their ability to weather COVID-19 restrictions. • Nearly half of survey respondents (49 percent) said profitability was down since the pandemic began. • More than one-third (37 percent) of respondents said the pandemic in- creased call volume. • Nearly 60 percent have seen an in- crease in cremations. A significant number of funeral homes plan to continue changes made in re- sponse to COVID-19. Clearly, the pan- demic is making a lasting impact on the funeral service industry. Nearly half (49 percent) of survey respondents said they have made changes in funeral service of- ferings and/or operations in response to COVID-19, which they plan to contin- ue post-pandemic. Remote attendance at livestreamed services is now a consumer expectation; digital services are here to stay. The in- creasing demand for live-streamed ser- vices is the lasting change cited most fre- quently by survey respondents, followed by “virtual (online) arrangements,” and “technology upgrades.” COVID-19 promises to have a lasting impact on funeral service offerings and pricing. The impact of COVID-19 on funeral service pricing and profitability varied among survey respondents. One respondent from Michigan has lowered the cost of chapel services but raised the price on graveside ceremonies. Another in New Jersey has raised retail cremation charges while others have totally restruc- tured pricing and payment options and repackaged their service offerings. Oth- ers either contracted or expanded their operations as a result of the pandemic. Other lasting COVID-19 changes cit- ed by survey respondents include: in- creased virtual, online arrangements, electronic signatures and authorizations; video tribute options after obituaries on funeral home websites; more outdoor graveside services and “home funer- als” on family properties; drive-by visi- tations; and increased interest in green burial and “no service” options for buri- al and cremation. “The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way most funeral homes do business,” said Deana Gillespie, NFDA research manager. “With increased ex- penses such as purchasing additional PPE, acquiring webcasting licenses, in- creased cleaning frequency and still pro- viding meaningful services to families, it has become a huge challenge for funeral homes to maintain steady revenue and profits. Many funeral homes are report- ing their profits have declined by an av- erage of 20 percent. Given reduced prof- it margins and the uncertainty of how long this pandemic will last, it’s not sur- prising that the COVID-19 pandemic is altering many funeral directors’ retire- ment and succession plans.” Methodology Nearly 400 funeral business owners, lo- cated throughout the United States, par- ticipated in the online survey, conducted between August 12 and September 11 of this year. The study realized an 11.4 per- cent response rate, which places the sur- vey confidence level at 95 percent with a +/- five percent margin of error. Three out of four respondents described their businesses as “family-owned” and 40 per- cent are multi-generational. Nearly three- quarters indicated they and/or their fam- ily have owned or worked in their current business for more than 25 years. For more information on the survey findings, download the full survey e-book by visit- ing http://www.foundationpartners.com/ ebook/ . Foundation Partners Group is one of the industry’s most innovative providers of funeral services. The company owns and operates a network of more than 150 funeral homes, cremation centers and cemeteries serving 65,000 families annu- ally across 20 states. Their organization- New Study Sheds Light Continued from Page A18 al structure allows us to em- brace and grow the legacies of the local funeral homes we ac- quire while leveraging econo- mies of scale, a deep under- standing of technology and our ShareLife® customer ex- perience-centered approach to deliver truly innovative and compassionate care to the families they serve. Visit www.foundationpartners.com to learn more. Send Us Your News! PO Box 5159, Youngstown, OH 44514 Fax 1-800-321-9040 Email info@nomispublications.com FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS ©2020 MKJ Marketing Management Software for Funeral • Crematory • Pets • Trade "Halcyon is straight forward, very intuitive, and easy to use ... 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