Exclusive Interview: Parting Pro, Blowing Up the Way Funeral Homes Close Cremation Families

Tyler Yamasaki, the CEO of Parting and co-founder of Parting Pro, gave us the inside scoop on their business adventure thus far. Parting is a website that compiles information from funeral homes throughout the country. Consumers can get on their website, search for their cities and compare prices of local funeral homes. This eliminates a huge portion of the burden during such a stressful time. They have created such a valuable resource that can be used by anyone. During the early days of Parting, it came to light that funeral directors could use extra support in their sales department. Parting Pro came out of this realization.

Parting Pro is software that works alongside funeral homes to create a way for consumers to plan the cremation of their loved one online. Amazing, right?

Read below to see what Tyler had to say about his team and their accomplishments.

[ConnectingDirectors.com (CD)]: What influenced you to start Parting Pro? How did this idea come about?

[Tyler]: “We did not start out in the funeral industry. Based in San Francisco, our backgrounds are in building consumer technology. I founded Parting.com after experiencing the death of my grandmother in early 2015. Parting specialized in delivering at-need and pre-need leads to funeral homes in our network.

“After working very closely with many funeral directors, we learned some of the big challenges they now face. Consumer demand shifted and produced indecisive shopper calls looking for cremations. The directors we worked with communicated empathy and serviced families but lacked the time and resources to face this new challenge.

“With this insight, we created Parting Pro to help funeral directors sell. Our goal is to give funeral directors the freedom to focus on servicing, not selling, families. We equip them with the tools necessary to tackle these new challenges and adapt to the new type of consumer.”

[CD] What led you to the success you have today?

[Tyler] “My co-founders make up an amazing team that can thoughtfully provide solutions to problems. The founding members of Parting Pro are lifelong friends and entrepreneurs that have expertise in online marketing, sales, and consumer technology. Although we are experts in the technology field, we are still relatively new to the funeral industry. We make sure that we are always learning. Because of this mindset, we can find and provide solutions to real problems. As an example of how we operate, we talked to over 100 funeral directors before building the beta of Parting Pro. This ensures that Parting Pro helps funeral directors tackle their biggest challenges.”

[CD] How did you build a successful customer base?

[Tyler] “We just launched a few months ago but the response has been overwhelming. Our growing customer base works with us because we’re helping them overcome their daily challenges. We listen to their needs and serve them as best as we can.”

[CD] What is your favorite aspect of Parting Pro?

[Tyler] “The best aspect of Parting Pro gives any funeral director the power to become an amazing salesperson with the click of a button. Parting Pro’s online checkout feature helps directors close up to 30% more of their inbound shopper calls. The checkout also increases the average purchase price by 8% by up-selling merchandise without being pushy. We help funeral homes generate more revenue from their current phone call volume.”

[CD] Where do you see your business in 10 years?

[Tyler] “In 10 years, we see ourselves doing the same thing we are today: helping directors serve families. That will always will be our mission.”

[CD] What has been your most satisfying moment as CEO of Parting Pro?

[Tyler] “Watching as one of our first customers closed a cremation online in the middle of the night, while he was sleeping. This gave us proof that what we were building was actually helping them close more cases. We knew that we had found something that we could build a business around.”

[CD] What sets Parting Pro apart from the rest of the businesses in the industry?

[Tyler] “We are a small team that is quicker and more innovative than the rest of the businesses in the funeral industry. Being relatively new, we can easily take a step back and look at the problems with fresh eyes and sometimes see things that others miss. We are thoughtful in the way we figure out what to build next, so we can find the right solutions.”

[CD] Why should potential clients choose Parting Pro?

[Tyler] “Parting Pro delivers on its promises: We help cremation providers close more cases, sell more merchandise, and make more money. We work with funeral homes to solve the challenges they face every day. We only consider ourselves successful if the funeral homes we work with are successful first.”

To learn more about Parting Pro and how they can further sales, visit http://partingpro.com, call 1-800-FUNERAL, or email hi@partingpro.com.