September 2020

Page A18 SEPTEMBER 2020 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A By Mark Bowser Why do leaders fail? This is a tricky question. One with multiple depths of answers. However, I believe there are two shining pillars that are always missing from leaders who fail. Sometimes, these failing leaders are missing both of these pillars and at other times they are missing just one of them. But, if either is missing, failure is inevitable. What are these missing pillars? They are Character and Vision. Let’s take a few minutes to explore these pillars a bit deeper. Hitler was a man of great vision. A man who succeeded a great deal. But, Hitler was a lousy leader. Why? Because of a lack of moral charac- ter. Yes, he thought he had character. Yes, many others around him thought he had character too. But, to the masses of the world and to history, he lacked the ba- sic moral character of honesty, uprightness, and love for fellow human beings. Because of this, he eventu- ally failed and caused misery to millions of people. We could get into the theological reasons for this failure, but that is one for another discussion. All leaders who lack character at their core will fail. Maybe not today, The Foundations of Success for Funeral Directors maybe not tomorrow, but someday. To know this is true, all we have to do is look back at the last fifty years of con- temporary history and look at all the people who have fallen from the heights of success to the depths of despair. Just to mention a few, we have evangelist Jim Baker, poli- tician Gary Hart, and companies such as Enron. Unfor- tunately, the list could go on and on and on. The second pillar that is missing from leaders who fail is vision. Vision is vital. Vision is critical. King Solomon in the book of Proverbs said, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” And perish indeed they will. Where there is no vision or direction, people wander around in chaos with no purpose. The human experience needs direction and purpose. We not only need purpose, we crave it. Vi- sion provides not only the direction but the purpose of the destination before the journey ever begins. Successful leaders continually develop these two pillars. They are mindful of their character and where they are go- ing. Would there be an America without a Washington? Would there be two countries if not for Lincoln? Would England have survived World War II without Churchill, and would there be a Walt Disney World without a Walt? Will your funeral home thrive without you? A “you” who is focused on incredible character and a vi- sion worthy of the moon. Some thoughts for us all to ponder. Thanks for reading today. God bless! To view a video on this topic from one of Mark Bowser’s live seminars then go to https://youtu.be/NXRBFB8cLvM Excerpted and adapted from Mark Bowser’s Seminar, The Foundation of Success for Funeral Directors . To schedule Mark Bowser as a speaker for your next event or conference then email mark@BrightCorporation.com or visit www.MarkBowser.com Mark Bowser is the Vice President at one of the funeral indus- tries premier stationary publishers, the Bright Corporation, and one of the top Professional Business Speakers in the United States. He is the author of several books including The 3 Pillars of Success for Funeral Directors and Sales Success with Zig Ziglar. He can be reached at 1-800-428-6424 or email mark@BrightCorporation.com. FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS www.nomispublications.com Monthly Columns online at Why Do Some Leaders Fail? mymortuarycooler.com Are you state compliant? Funeral Directors Research,Inc. AMRA INSTRUMENT, LLC 623 N. Tower (P.O. Box 359) Centralia, WA 98531 “the shorter the supply line the better off you are” WEB DIRECT GIFT & PRICING TM ® www.amrainstruments.com www.preproomdirect.com FigTree Print Celebrating Life Customized Memorial Stationery Designed to reflect each individual loved one. Exceptional Quality • Reliable Service 24/7 Availability • Next Day Delivery Call today and learn the FigTree Print difference. 978.503.1779 • m.petie@figtreeprint.com Personalized funeral stationery that makes all the difference. Victoria “Viki” Williams December 15, 1944 - April 11, 2019 Barbara McIntyre April 4, 1938 December 11, 2019 ServedProud StevenJ.Wagner May 21, 1948 April 4, 2019 Barbara H. Little April 6, 1945 January 25, 2019 InLovingMemory Joseph Robert Sand August1,1932 -March25,2019 In Loving Memory InLovingMemory Ellen Corley May 12, 1032 -March 15, 2019 figtreeprint.com CHICAGO,IL— Funeral home directors can create a steady stream of new clients for pre-need services when they join with  Plan Your Passing,   a turnkey marketing solution. The company is launching a national Documercial campaign (a documentary with a call to action) that teaches people the benefits of pre-planning their own funerals to take the stress off the family. “Funeral directors are so busy running their busi- nesses; they don’t have time to market consistent- ly. Some directors aren’t very good at marketing, ei- ther. Now they can offload their marketing to a team that can handle the marketing from start to finish,” said Larry Berg, president of Plan Your Passing, who has 20 years of experience in specialty retail market- ing. “Competition is increasing. People are living longer. And low-priced alternatives are stealing cus- tomers. Our plans will boost revenue and help ensure you don’t get pushed out of the market.” “Plan Your Passing’s marketing program is designed to educate consumers on the importance of pre-need funeral planning and to send those interested pros- pects to funeral homes,” said  Doug Duboy, funer- al home visionary whose game-changing idea for a funeral home in Richmond, VA grew their business from three stores to ten in just four years. “We want to build our clients as the go-to funeral home.” The Impact of a Documercial The problem with most marketing programs for fu- neral homes is that they use limited-information me- dia, such as newspaper ads or radio spots.  “People need to be informed and persuaded to make this important buying decision. That’s why we chose to use documercials, so we can tell the full story,” said Sean Cook, who has produced hundreds of infomercials.  Plan Your Passing’s documercial will air on national television networks, including History Channel, Arts and Entertainment, CNBC, Cooking Channel, Na- tional Geographic and many channels that target 50 plus demographics as well as Dish Network, DirecTV and AT&T U-verse. “That’s every cable station in America,” said Cook. “Infomercials have become one of the most ef- ficient methods of advertising for all kinds of busi- nesses.” “The goal of infomercials is to attract viewers to a product or service and ultimately convince them to buy it. Unlike other shorter advertisements, an in- fomercial also has the advantage of being 30 minutes vs. a typical 30-second TV commercial. Viewers can see the persuasive reasons to pre-plan their funerals, and also see a more entertaining format than the aver- age commercial. Our infomercials feature a call to ac- tion, which allows us to measure the performance of our infomercials and track their successes,” Berg said. People who see the infomercial can call Plan Your Pass- ing’s toll-free call center, based in the United States, where operators are trained to answer questions and forward leads to participating funeral homes based on zip codes. They can also go online for more information at http://www.PlanYourPassing.com  and get a special 32-page guide on how to pre-plan their funerals. Funeral home owners can buy their areas, thus clos- ing out their competitors. “We are offering exclusive territories. That means there will be winners and there will be people who can’t participate,” Berg said.  To see the infomercial and various segment inter- views, go to  https://planyourpassing.com/marketing/. Celebrity Spokespersons The marketing campaign is enhanced by celebrity power. The host for the infomercial is  Forbes Riley, who has sold $2.5 billion via 180 informercials.  Kevin Harrington, one of the original sharks from the TV show, Shark Tank said, “Plan Your Passing can answer all those tough questions about a funeral ser- vice and make sure you are making the right decisions financially as well.” Harrington said, “This is an amazing marketing program for funeral homes. At the end of the day, it is all about lead conversion.” Toseetheinfomercial,visit https://vimeo.com/396578209. Testimonials “Having an opportunity to plan in advance those things that may help your family heal is one of the most thoughtful gifts we can give those we love,” said Walker Posey, Posey Funeral Directors, Augusta, GA. “There is a night and day difference between families that have pre-planned and those that haven’t,” said David Hernandez, Jersey Memorial Group, Old Bridge, NJ. “If you don’t market your funeral home, you mar- ket yourself right out of business,” said Geri Oliverie, Oliverie Funeral Homes, Jackson, NJ.  For more information visit www.PreNeedLeadsNow.com.   Funeral Homes Gain Pre-Need Clients with New Group Marketing Plan from PlanYourPassing.com Kevin Harrington, an original Shark on TV’s “The Shark Tank” in- terviews Larry Berg, president of Plan Your Passing S E N D U S Y O U R N E W S ! PO Box 5159, Youngstown, OH 44514 1-800-321-7479 info@nomispublications.com