Dead Ringers Responds to the Importance of FTC Phone Compliance
Cincinnati, Ohio – In support of the Deathcare Profession, Dead Ringers is planning three free informative virtual training sessions on the key discussion elements in a pricing call. The complimentary webinars will take place on February 9, 2024, at 12pm, 1pm, and 2pm EST, where Dead Ringers will provide helpful tools for funeral homes to learn how to stay in compliance. Enrollment in the webinar is available online at www.deadringers.co/ftc. Dead Ringers, a deathcare-focused phone skills consultant, provides essential tools to support funeral homes throughout the United States in effective compliance with the FTC requirements.
On Thursday, January 25, 2024, the FTC announced it is sending letters to 39 funeral homes who allegedly failed to provide accurate pricing information over the phone. In an unprecedented undercover sweep, the FTC deployed phone calls into funeral businesses to determine adherence with the Funeral Rule. This first-of-its-kind tactic has exposed the seriousness of being unprepared in handling these important phone conversations.
“One of the reasons I started Dead Ringers was because no one was watching – let alone helping – funeral providers to make sure they were in compliance with the Funeral Rule telephone requirements,” says Poul Lemasters, founder of Dead Ringers. “When I created Dead Ringers, an FTC violation was $16,000. Now the penalties are $51,744. Who can afford to make these kinds of mistakes?”
In a bold move, Dead Ringers also plans to offer a complimentary price shopping call to each of 39 funeral homes involved in the FTC sweep. Going forward, Dead Ringers will continue to provide ongoing training and services to funeral homes specific to the FTC requirement.
Nicole Wiedeman, Training Facilitator for Dead Ringers, says, “The technical pieces of the Funeral Rule need to be reiterated. However, transparency and empathy need to be demonstrated when funeral directors discuss prices over the phone. Exceptional phone skills and compliance are critical for the profession to remain relevant. Huge fines can be detrimental to a funeral business, but the long-term aftermath of a violation spreads much deeper. If the press were to share the news of such disregard of the rules, a loss of trust in a funeral home’s community could be the firm’s demise.”
Dead Ringers Chief Operations Officer Mandie Hungarland adds: “Dead Ringers has always had a focus on FTC compliance in our training. This isn’t a new offering in response to a new rule; since its inception, Dead Ringers has evaluated and trained funeral homes to service families at the highest level, ensuring that deathcare firms not only fulfill their legal obligations but the moral and ethical standards that come with working with grieving families. It has always been apparent in our research that there are scary gaps between how funeral homes service their families and how funeral homes should service their families. We are here to support those firms in filling those gaps by providing our knowledge and expertise in customer experience excellence — including FTC compliance.”
About Dead Ringers:
Dead Ringers was founded by Poul Lemasters in 2015 as the only mystery shop provider for the deathcare profession. They are the customer experience experts for deathcare firms. The mission is simple: improve the deathcare customer experience, one phone call at a time. Dead Ringers provides customer experience analysis and training solutions for funeral homes, cemeteries, and associations — including mystery shopping, on-site and remote training sessions, consultancy services and speaking engagements.
