11 Phrases You Should Ban At Your Funeral Home Immediately

Customer Service Funeral Home Marketing Funeral Industry News September 4, 2013
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11 Phrases You Should Ban At Your Funeral Home Immediately

Article provided by: FuneralOne

Yesterday, I had the worst customer service experience I’ve ever had in my life. I was calling my cable company to setup my wireless Internet service, and after 3 hours of being told different things, being put on hold, and being hung up on, I decided I was done doing business with that company.

I’m so fired up about the situation that I wanted to take this opportunity to stress the importance of good customer service. In my eyes, customer service should be the number one thing you focus your efforts on. After all, it is one of the few things that can make or break your funeral home’s business.

Think about it – your families are the ones fueling your business and paying your paychecks, so shouldn’t you treat each and every one of them like they were the most important person in the world? Well, you should. And if you’re not, it’s time to start doing that today. Because otherwise, people will start to realize your lack of service, and eventually, that will cause you to go out of business. And no one wants that to happen, do they?

To help you make sure you’re not offering less-than-satisfactory customer service at your funeral home, let’s look at 11 things you should never, EVER say to any past, potential or future family again:

“You’ll have to go to…”

When a potential family calls your funeral home asking a question or  requesting information (such as pricing), don’t ever send them to your website, your GPL, anyone or anything else. Instead, help them right there, on the spot. I know, you’re busy. But if you want to stay busy, it’s in your best interest to help that person out. After all, we are in the service industry, and any funeral home that doesn’t take pride in their level of service shouldn’t ever be busy, they should be out of business.

 

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

If you’re reading this blog, chances are you’ve been in this business for more than one day (and if not, welcome!). That means you probably hear this phrase 10-10,000 times everyday. And every time you do, your eardrums probably want to explode, right? Well, the same goes for your families.

Diane, a funeral director from New Jersey, explains this when she says, “I lost my daughter almost 9 years ago… at her viewing, 90% of the people came up to me and used that phrase…I felt like standing in front of her casket and screaming ‘NO, YOU DON’T KNOW HOW I FEEL!’”. Instead of saying “sorry for your loss” try using a statement that’s tailored specifically to your family, instead of a canned one that shows laziness and lack of intention.

 

“I’ll try…”

No, no… you won’t try. You will do your best to make any request your family has happen. It’s bad enough not getting what you want on a regular basis, but when you’ve just lost a loved one, the last thing you want to hear is “I’ll try” or even worse…

 

“No.”

In my mind, the moment anyone who is asking for my money blatantly tells me “no”, I’m walking out the door within seconds. I don’t care how complicated, expensive, stressful, or inconvenient that something is, don’t EVER tell a family no! You’ve heard the phrase “the customer is always right” so write that out on a piece of paper and pin it on your mirror so you can look at it every morning. The funeral homes who put make their family’s needs their first priority will be the ones still in business 10 years from now. If you’re not ready to serve your families during their time of need, get out of the way for those who are.

 

“____ is our funeral home’s policy.”

This is just a really nice (or is it even nice?) way to say “sorry, you’re s&%# out of luck.” And honestly, it might even sound better saying “you’re out of luck” than using that awful word… policy. Not only does saying this show your potential customer that you don’t care, but it also causes unneeded frustration and stress.

Think about the last time someone told you “that’s our policy.” Didn’t it make you want to travel through the phone and yell at them? Do yourself, your families and your funeral home a favor and never, ever use that phrase again. Instead, try your hardest to make any request your families have happen, and if you can’t, explain in the most personalized, comforting way possible that you can’t help them, but you know someone who can.

 

“I just have to put the body in the refrigerator…”

This one takes me back to a story a Facebook friend told me once. He said that when his grandmother died, the funeral director said “we’ll keep her body in the refrigerator here until the cremation center picks it up.” I know there are several laws that require you to use the words “refrigeration” but, come on! Isn’t there a nicer way you can put it? If someone referred to my family member or close friend like that, I wouldn’t have anything nice to say in return, that’s for sure.

 

“It” (or any other variation).

Unless you’re talking about a rock or other inanimate object, you should never, ever refer to the deceased as anything but their name. The “dears” and “sweeties” won’t work either. If you’re not otherwise directed by the family, call the loved one “Mr./Mrs. [last name]. Many studies show that referring to a customer by their name makes them feel like you truly care about them and their business. And that goes a long way.

 

“I know your mother would love this [insert expensive merchandise here].”

Cheesy sales tactics such as this one are both misleading and morally wrong. Using the death of someone’s loved one as a reason to spend more money at your funeral home is never a good idea. Let the family make the decisions they feel comfortable making, and leave it at that.

 

“We look forward to doing business with you again soon.”

This line is one you expect to hear pretty much everywhere you spend your money. In fact, it’s usually of a friendly gesture (in most cases). But this isn’t the case with the funeral profession. This is just one example of something you might be used to saying out of habit if you came to funeral service from another career, but please don’t ever say this to a family. It’s almost like saying “I look forward to the next time you or someone else you love dies.” And that’s not very nice, is it?

 

Saying nothing at all.

Hiding or intentionally leaving out information from families is a horrible idea, because it will always come back to bite you. First of all, the family will eventually find out what you were hiding from them, and second of all, you’ll build a reputation for your funeral home that isn’t something you should be proud of. For your own sanity and the sake of your reputation, be honest, open and transparent throughout the entire arrangement process with families.

 

There you have it, 11 things you should banish from your vocabulary, forever. The moment you stop using these 11 phrases is the moment you’ll start offering top-notch customer service.

Before I go, I’ll leave you with the legendary words of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart:

 customer_service_quote_sam_walton

What other words or phrases should be banned from funeral service? Share yours in the comments below!