Last year I had the privilege of speaking to over 1,300 people in my community as a representative of my cemetery. This was in addition to the folks I reached through my own company, The Laugh Academy. Those 1,300 were in places that a cemetery cannot easily receive an invitation to visit – churches, veterans groups, social workers and other groups that usually shy away from bringing “death” into their doors. Of course, my program topic was not always grief related. I spoke on the health benefits of laughter, how to reduce stress and more. Everywhere I went I made sure those in attendance left with my business card, in case they ever needed my help.
In the months since, I have heard from some of those people. They reach out for themselves, a family member or a friend. They ask for information on grief support programs and I am always happy to offer them a packet of information on not just my program, but every program I have found in our community.
In addition in 2015 I have: mailed 1,731 grief support packets to next-of-kin; mailed 1,278 one year anniversary cards to next-of-kin; welcomed 2,791 participants to grief support programs; and sent 490 people in the community grief support information packets.
In five years I have had 15,356 people served in one way or another by the grief support programs that we offer. Each of these people knows my name (and usually my cell phone number) and they know about our cemeteries.
They say that sales are based upon building relationships and I think you can see that we are doing just that. Can I offer you direct sales figures based upon the numbers above? I cannot. The types of programs that I run are not a direct contact/sell dynamic. We are in it for the long run. We are in it in order to be a part of our community. We are in it in order to do the right thing, to offer the support and information that people need. Do sales come from what I do? Yes, I expect they do.
So if increased sales are not the final goal, then why do I consider my programs to be marketing? Because they are! Best of all, we get free, positive publicity from our grief support programs and community outreach events. When a cemetery or a funeral home takes care of the deceased, that is not news, it is business as usual. But when they run a drum circle, a laughter club, host a holistic health fair or invite the community to a remembrance service, the media pays attention. From a simple events calendar listing to a press release to a full article, every mention allows our company to remain top of mind.
I am not special. Our cemetery is not special. You can do what we have done. You can reach that number of people and more. All it takes is a willingness to make it happen. I have taught funeral directors and cemeterians how to run a grief support program. I have spoken to many who want to offer new programs in order to help their businesses grow. I am available to help you in any way that I can. All you have to do is call 716-908-9154 or email me at nweil4000@gmail.com. As I like to say: once you meet me, I never leave you, but I don’t stalk you either!
Stay tuned – I am launching a project this month and I will be sharing it with you in the months ahead.