Have you ever wondered what Service Corp International does with all it’s cash? The below report from Daily Finance outlines the companies cash flow statement to see how much money is truly being earned, and more importantly , what company management is doing with that cash. In the quest to find great investments, most investors focus on earnings to gauge a company’s financial strength. This is a good start, but earnings can be misleading and incomplete. To get a clearer understanding of a company’s ability to earn money and reward you, the shareholder, it’s often better…

We first heard about the resignation of Mr. Colson last week from an email by an anonymous reader. We of course did our due diligence in confirming the resignation, unfortunately we were not able to receive a comment from Genesis Casket Company in time for this article, but the company’s website, www.genesiscasket.com, confirms the resignation on their leadership page as Tony Colson is no longer listed. We also noticed that Denny Knigga, Vice President of Operations, is also no longer with the company.

He was an amazing employee. In fact, the owner of the funeral home said that he was one of the best team members that he’d ever had. He worked tirelessly, never complaining. He always knew that families needed him and he gave everything he had to provide a bit of comfort during those families dark days at the funeral home. So, when he died in December, the emptiness at the funeral home was almost unbearable. Word spread quickly of his death. In fact, it was the newspaper that proactively reached out to the funeral home, wanting to put not only an obituary in the paper but a story and tribute to a giving being and of a wonderful life lived. Oh, they also wanted to make sure they let the community know when the memorial service would be. Yes, he was an amazing team member to the funeral home and an amazing servant to others.

Media, PA—This year, ASD – Answering Service for Directors is celebrating their 40th Anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, ASD has recently updated their logo to reflect the company’s growth and evolution over the years. The new logo, which will most commonly be presented with photos of ASD employees, marks the official retirement of the ASD waiter who has served the company well since the 1970s when he was designed by the first generation of the Czachor family. When Martin Czachor and Barbara Czachor began helping funeral homes with their phones in 1972, they never dreamed their company would one day grow to become the leading funeral home exclusive answering service in the country. At the time, ASD was just a small business with a handful of employees and local clients. During these crucial early stages, ASD’s owners recognized a void in the market for an answering service that catered to the specific needs of funeral professionals.

Confucius (551-497 B.C.E.), the great Chinese philosopher, is known for his high moral values as taught through his famous aphorisms. Who among us hasn’t heard, or most likely in jest said; “Confucius say…”. Reportedly, he was once asked, “What are the most important virtues for leading a successful, moral, and fulfilling life?” His answer leads me to believe that he knew some good Funeral Directors, because what he said describes their qualities. In his customary brevity, he said the most important virtues were; humility, compassion, patience, and detachment. Okay, I know “humility” caused more than one smirk among those reading, and perhaps “patience” got a few snickers too, however, I come to Funeral Directors’ defense in suggesting we should not confuse confidence with a lack of humility, and the intolerance of poor quality and inefficiency should not be seen as impatience.

Harrisburg, PA – The recent ruling by Judge John Jones III, of the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, in the Heffner v. Murphy case was unprecedented and a surprise to the Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association. This sweeping ruling certainly has the potential to change the landscape of funeral directing in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Funeral Directors is not a party to this litigation and, therefore, will be observing what might occur going forward. Either party may appeal, and at some point, legislation will be introduced to address the Court’s ruling regarding many of the counts.

I got an email forwarded to me last week from a funeral director who used to have a Batesville showroom. The email was announcing the “Batesville Insight Council”, which is described in the email as an “exclusive online community for funeral professionals interested in industry trends, issues, new products and services, and consumer trends – both current and emerging – and who are willing to share their opinions on these topics. “ The email goes on to say: As a member of the Batesville Insights Council, you’ll have the opportunity to: Share your insights on a variety of topics by participating in online research surveys, Provide feedback on proposed concepts and products, Give us your perspective on industry trends, Learn what your peers think by participating in online discussions…

Selected Independent Funeral Homes, the world’s largest and oldest association of independently owned funeral homes, has announced the results of its 2011 Family Follow Up Survey Program, which once again affirmed that families and individuals who chose Selected members for their funeral needs were extremely pleased with their service and would recommend the firm to others. The program gathered data on the experiences of more than 15,500 client families and individuals working with Selected member firms throughout North America. This valuable program is a free benefit available exclusively to Selected members. The Selected Independent Funeral Homes Family Follow Up Survey Program is a comprehensive resource that Selected members use to measure and track the satisfaction of families and individuals they serve. The report also provides Selected leadership..

There has been some heavy conversation going on this week regarding Tributes.com VS Legacy.com. It has been deep and informative conversation, even mean and dirty! So to lighten the mood I want to share this video that was sent to me by a fellow reader. The thing I like about this video is how the rock band is showing the funeral as an event. The lead singer even hints about disposition, burial or burn by fire, doesn’t matter “I’m going out in style”!

The headline is a serious, honest question. Is it one of the responsibilities of a Funeral Director to help the surviving members of the families they serve recovery from their loss? What was your immediate reaction? Yes or no? There are strong feelings on both sides of this question among the Funeral Directors I know and have spoken to about it. On the “no” side of the equation, some argue that the primary responsibility of the Funeral Director is the respectful internment of the remains that they have been entrusted with and the role of Grief Support, and therefore, the facilitation of recovery from loss, falls to Hospice, Grief Counselors/Therapists, and the Clergy. On the “yes,” side of the question, proponents agree that the proper handling of the deceased is important; however, they add that the survivors require more than just a memorable ceremony to help them with closure. And, they feel that given the changing dynamics of the modern family and cultural attitudes towards religion they are in the primary and best position to impact a positive recovery for the survivors. Some also feel that it is actually their obligation to offer some level of support or guidance on grief, simply from a compassionate point of view.

Have you ever heard one of your staff member say “just pay us when you get the money; I know your good for it”? In all reality the staff is putting the funeral home in a horrible place when it comes time to send invoices and even more importantly when/if you choose to seek help with collections on unpaid debt. To protect your firm from having to deal with this situation I suggest a well structured payment policy be in place and required of all staff to follow. When working on a payment policy for your firm you need to consider the following: The time frame for which payment must be made. If you allow one day or 30 you need to have that noted on the policy. Do you accept cash or checks? If you allow checks will you allow for a personal check or do you require a certified check or money order as a form of payment? Insurance assignments, do you allow them? Do you work with a third party assignment company? Is there a fee charged for using insurance? Do you allow cash advances on an insurance assignment claim? Can the family receive additional funds immediately from the insurance proceeds? Do you accept credit cards? Do you allow cash advances to be paid on credit cards? Do you charge a convenience fee if a credit card is used? Which cards are acceptable for your firm? What happens when the deceased estate is supposed to be used for the funeral expense? Do you allow the funeral to be paid from the estate? Do you require payment up front? What happens to the account if the payment terms listed above are not followed? What interest rate will the family have to pay? Do they have to pay legal fees if you send them to collections?

Last week I posted an article called, “Caption This: Creepy Hearse Show.” It was meant to be satire, but — like many of my satire pieces — managed to stoke some tempers and offend some readers (remember my Mark Driscoll post?)

In response to my post I was called “narrow minded” by Clarence Williams, “snotty” by Bryan Moore, a “disturbing example of the ever-growing number of intolerant, judgmental, arrogant Christians who want everyone else to live by their rules” by Jeff Perrin, “creepy” by both “Andrew.” and “Gulgamesh” and finally [...]

Wilbert Funeral Services, Inc., (WFSI) the leading provider of burial vaults and cremation-related products and services in North America, is pleased to announce the addition of Audrey Daras as Creative Director. In her position, Daras will play a key role in establishing and integrating WFSI’s brand strategy across all online and offline channels. She will also lead the creative direction for the company’s digital and print collateral and assist the Wilbert Licensee network in the creation of brand-integrated marketing materials for use by the Licensees as well as funeral homes across the US and Canada. Prior to her appointment as Creative Director, Daras has worked for[...]

I got an email a few weeks ago from someone in the industry who said many funeral homes have received a copyright letter from the legal department of Linda Ellis – author of “The Dash”. The poem is basically about how your life is lived in the “dash” on your grave monument that resides between your birthdate and death date. The “dash” is where the details and story of your life are.

I wish I could post the poem here so you would know what I am talking about, but as you will read below, that wouldn’t be in my best interest! In any case, if you do not know what “The Dash” poem is you can most certainly Google it.

In a recent article I shared my true dislike for Legacy.com and how I really see absolutely no value for funeral homes in the services they provide. Legacy.com is grabbing the obit traffic and capitalizing on it, and funeral homes are letting it happen without any pushback. Oh, and we always forget to mention how Batesville has crawled into bed with Legacy.com and for some reason no one seems to have an issue with that. Legacy.com is grabbing user’s info and sending them third party content which in some chases is Bateville pre-need info. Isn’t Batesville suppose to be on the side of the funeral home?