We wanted to conduct a Survey of the www.connectingdirectors.com community.
We contacted Timothy J. O’Brien, M.S. of ISMPI, Inc. to assist in developing and conducting the survey.
In an effort to get relevant input, the survey was divided into two parts; this Survey of Vendors, Suppliers and Support Groups, and a Survey of Licensed Funeral Directors.
Overall, 631 individuals participated in the Survey: 454 Funeral Directors, and 177 who are Vendors, Suppliers and Support Groups to the Funeral Services Profession (FSP).
This survey of Suppliers, Vendors and Support Groups for the FSP is not a scientific survey because it was conducted on line and there is no practical way to determine whether or not the group of those who responded represents the full population of Suppliers, Vendors and Support Groups.
With that said, the data gathered is both interesting and useful. And, as you will see in the following charts, the respondents do closely mirror the FSP.
We will have the overview results of the longer funeral director survey in about 10 days.
You can view and download the survey results here: www.hyperstress.com/fdsupportsurveyresults
It was a really bad decision and the outcome is inevitable. What were they thinking? Why reinvent a product that supplies a declining market and competes with The Big 3 casket manufacturers. Did they really believe that cutting the wholesale price of caskets by a few bucks would sway an entire industry? Did the units actually look any different from those already in the marketplace? Who cares about their manufacturing technology? Certainly not the end user (consumer).
Families do not care about the construction or protective qualities of a casket. It’s all about aesthetics. The Big 3 have just flooded the industry with so many choices and options that it is overwhelming for us, the retailer…and even more so for the consumer, our client families. Families do not want to be educated about caskets and vaults. They want to choose something that is pleasing to the eye, whatever that might mean to them. The gauge of the steel or the non-corrosive undercoating is totally irrelevent in their buying decision.