More Than 50 Funeral Professionals Attend Blue Ocean Tour Workshop

Hands-on Seminar Explored the Next Generation Funeral Business Model

RALEIGH, NC – Alan Creedy, chief strategist at Creedy & Company, continue his string of successful workshops with the recently-completed Blue Ocean Tour.  As with the previous Creedy & Company seminars, this event was not held at a resort location, but rather utilized a learning laboratory – in the form of a funeral home that has successfully transitioned to an additional new revenue stream.

 

“Conducting these workshops in the past, I have found that the optimal way for funeral professionals to learn is first to be fully immersed in the subject matter, then to interact with other workshop participants, and finally to formulate an implementation plan for when they return to their funeral home,” commented Creedy.  “This learning methodology was again validated during this most recent seminar.”

The late September workshop was attended by funeral professionals from all over the world, including El Salvador and was hosted at

the Smith Funeral Home and Event Center in Maryville, TN.  The Smith Life Event Center opened ten years ago and has grown into a substantial revenue source for the firm.  The Smithview Pavilion was added in 2008, as a picturesque outdoor venue for funerals, memorial gatherings and many “non-funeral” events.  The Smith Professional Center is a modern reception hall and learning center for the convenience of the local community.  Since opening the Smith Life Event Center, the company has hosted more than 200 weddings.  In fact, the pavilion is booked every weekend from March 2014 to November 2014.

 

“In the face of declining service opportunities and a fickle consumer, funeral professionals are increasing frustrated by the inability to increase revenues and find a sustainable service differentiator.  To remain relevant, those of us in funeral service must transform, not merely change,” stated Creedy.  “By adopting the principles of the Blue Ocean strategy, the funeral professionals who attended the workshop can now reinvent themselves to create entire new market space and new demand, while making the competition irrelevant.”

The workshop was patterned after the Creedy learning model.  Creedy believes that if he can help firms experience one success, they will become confident in their ability to adapt and the momentum will build for them to be successful in the future.

 

The focus of the workshop was how to transfer and then apply the core competencies of the funeral profession to new revenue streams.  The workshop concentrated on three crucial areas:

Transforming the arrangement conference

Transforming the culture of the business

Transforming how consumers perceive funeral profession

 

What Workshop Attendees Said About the Blue Ocean Tour Seminar

“I would much rather attend an event like this as opposed to a convention with a lecture-style atmosphere.”
Cody Jones, Callaway-Jones Funeral Home, Bryan, TX

“The locale created an engaging environment that challenged me to think differently and put these thoughts into action”
David Hernandez, Old Bridge and Waitt Funeral Home, Old Bridge, NJ

 

“The workshop format was personal and hit on issues that affect us all.  I like that the program was on site and showed us a firm that walks the walk.”
Drew Edwards, Sunset Funeral Home, Danville, IL

 

Participants left the workshop with a clarified vision of their future, a renewed sense of enthusiasm for the profession and a public commitment to change.

Creedy’s next workshop is scheduled for April 2014 and will include site visits to a number of progressive funeral homes that have adopted a new business model.  Information on this next workshop will be posted on www.funeralhomeconsulting.com later this year.

 

About Creedy & Company:  Headquartered in Raleigh, NC, Creedy & Company is a Business Advisory Service founded by Alan Creedy in 2008.   His hands-on industry experience enables him to quickly analyze core problems, develop and prioritize solutions and implement strategies for quick turnaround.  For more information, visit www.funeralhomeconsulting.org