Take Customer Service to the Next Level with New Secret Shopper Program
Brookfield, Wis. – For funeral home owners and managers, improving customer service is critical for increasing the satisfaction and loyalty of client families. The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) has expanded its Discount Advantage Program with the addition of 360 Intel, one of the country’s premier secret shopper services. Secret shopper programs are used in many service-based businesses to provide valuable and unbiased feedback on how customers interact with staff.
After discussing the unique needs and challenges a firm faces, 360 Intel will work with funeral home owners or managers to design a customized secret shopper program. Firms can choose a mix of shop types – in person or phone. There are standard questions shoppers respond to but NFDA member firms can add custom questions pertaining to their firm and operations.
When a secret shopper visits or calls a funeral home, he or she will engage members of the staff (both funeral directors and non-licensed staff) and complete a detailed assessment. The confidential results are shared within 48 hours with the funeral home owner or manager and will provide insight into immediate opportunities for improving customer service.
A visit or call from a secret shopper can provide a great deal of information about specific customer service skills on which employees can be coached; however, analyzing overall customer service trends within the funeral home is also important. 360 Intel also offers owners and managers an online reporting dashboard which houses data from all shops, along with customizable charts and graphs that will enable them to analyze trends in customer service ratings over time.
“Our initial response from members who have used 360 Intel has been very positive,” said NFDA Director of Member Development Lacy Robinson, who has trained funeral professionals on customer service skills for years. “I am confident owners and managers will find great value in the feedback from 360 Intel. Follow-up reports will identify strengths and areas in which employees can improve their approach to families.”
360 Intel offers specially negotiated discounts for NFDA members. Association members will not be required to make major commitments to a certain number of shops over a particular period of time. They will also have the ability to customize a portion of the questions used for each shop and have the opportunity to anonymously benchmark their customer service scores with those of other NFDA member funeral homes participating in the secret shopper program.
Additionally, NFDA will offer funeral homes that sign-up with 360 Intel a 50 percent discount on the online learning course, Mastering the Art Funeral Home Phone Etiquette presented by Lacy Robinson, NFDA director of member development. This interactive online learning course is ideal for all funeral home employees, from funeral directors and preneed specialists to administrative assistants. The course addresses specific questions they may frequently hear from people who call the funeral home, such as “How much is cremation?” and “Why are you more expensive?” Those who take the course will be able to download handouts and worksheets to further develop their customer service skills.
Funeral home staff who want to learn more about how 360 Intel can help their firm take its customer service to a new level can visit the NFDA Discount Advantage page, www.nfda.org/discountadvantage. There, they can learn more about the program, exclusive benefits for members and how to begin.
NFDA’s Discount Advantage Program offers association members exclusive discounts on a variety of everyday resources such as prescription drugs, travel and vacations, including cruises, hotels, rental cars and Orlando theme park tickets. While learning more about 360 Intel, members should learn more about the other exclusive discounts available to them.
About 360 Intel
Passionate about delivering programs to help clients get a 360-view of their customers, 360 Intel is a customer experience measurement company specializing in mystery shopping services, feedback surveys, and field audits. With clients across industries, 360 Intel helps brands like Marriott, Little Caesars, It’Sugar, Emagine Entertainment, and Sonobello uncover the data needed to monitor and measure customer satisfaction. Learn more at https://www.360intel.com.
About the National Funeral Directors Association
NFDA is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving more than 20,000 individual members who represent nearly 11,000 funeral homes in the United States and 39 countries around the world. NFDA is the trusted leader, beacon for ethics and the strongest advocate for the profession. NFDA is the association of choice because it offers funeral professionals comprehensive educational resources, tools to manage successful businesses, guidance to become pillars in their communities and the expertise to foster future generations of funeral professionals. NFDA is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., and has an office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.
