Article originally appeared on funeralOne
There’s a lot of talk about change and adaption here in the funeral profession. And by now, we’re sure that you’ve seen it for yourself… the families that walk into your funeral homes are changing every day, and growing to meet their changing needs is no longer something to consider ﹘ it’s a requirement.
If you want to continue to grow and thrive in the funeral profession, it’s time to make some serious changes to your business that will guarantee you success for years to come. But, at the same time, we know better than most that funeral professionals are some of the busiest people ever. You hardly have time to sleep and see your family, let alone set time aside to brainstorm how you can bring more business to your funeral home.
Luckily, we’ve done the brainstorming for you… and we’ve come up with a few big changes that you can make at your funeral home with a low amount of effort. I know what you’re thinking… that sounds way too good to be true. How much is it going to cost me? The truth is, succeeding in business doesn’t always require spending more money. And sometimes it’s the small changes that can make the biggest difference.
1. Track Your Goals
Every business should create short and long term goals for their future success. But what’s even better than setting goals? Committing them to paper and following them through to the end. Studies have found that when people regularly identified their goals and made the small effort to write them down on paper, they ended up making over ten times as much. So don’t just dream up visions and goals for your business… put them to paper, tape them up where you’ll see them and work towards them every day.
2. Respond To Families Quickly
Whenever you’re working in the service profession, it’s incredibly important to be proactive when you communicate to families. And we’re not just talking about the families who are writing and emailing with questions about your business… but also the families who you’ve served in the past, and the families who haven’t even contacted you yet. So how do you go about finding time throughout the day to write all of these different emails? Well, we have two words that are about to be your best friend: email templates.
Chances are, a lot of the inquiries you receive in your funeral home inbox are on similar topics. If you find yourself repeating information often, and answering the same questions over and over for your families, create email templates that address each of these questions individually. Now, when someone writes looking for information on pricing, service options or contact information, you can answer them with the simple click of a button – allowing you more time to focus on other inquiries.
3. Sign Up For Social Media
If your funeral home hasn’t signed up for social media websites like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, you are missing out on huge (and free!) marketing and revenue potential. Plus, we’re living in a time where families want to engage with the companies they buy from, and they are looking to these types of social media websites to do just that. So make sure that your funeral home is taking advantage of these awesome websites to connect with your current families, and drive more business to your funeral home.
If you want to be even smarter and more time-savvy about your social media posting, check out scheduling apps like Hootsuite or Buffer which allow you to pre-schedule your social media posts. That way, you only have to devote an hour or so each week to uploading your whole week’s worth of posts, while families will still get a constant stream of updates throughout the week. Pretty clever, huh?
(PS. Check out our Ultimate Who, What, When, Where and How Guide To Funeral Social Media to learn more.)
4. Build Trust With Your Families
Did you that it takes twelve positive customer service experiences to make up for one negative one? That’s right – the success of your funeral home hinges largely on the trust that you establish with your families early on. Therefore, never undervalue the importance of transparency, honesty and communication with your customer… especially when it comes to pricing and service issues. The best way to do this? Be upfront about any fees, don’t be afraid of feedback, and always be honest and forthcoming about your process. Not only will families trust you more when you’re more transparent with them, but they’ll also be sure to share their satisfaction with their family and friends.
5. Invest In A Good Quality Website
A great funeral home website is really the best time saver you can invest in for your business. By providing your families with answers to their questions up front and helping them understand the difference in the services and products you offer, you are educating them about the value of your business before they even walk through your door.
Our f1Connect website platform can even take your funeral home’s success to an even higher level – with no extra effort on your end. Our pre-planning form and contact form help your families request the information they are looking for, and provide you with an increase in qualified leads, all without ever picking up your phone.
To learn more about how f1Connect can help deliver success to your funeral home (with little to no effort on your part), click here and schedule an appointment with one of our web specialists.
Implied in #4 and #5 is the importance of posting prices – at minimum, the GPL – on FH websites. It takes a minute or two to post the GPL. Better still, add a page that compares GPL packages side by side: what’s included in each package, the price for each package item, and the total. Do one page comparing cremation packages and another comparing burial packages. Add a disclosure that, as required by the FTC Funeral Rule, items may be chosen a la carte.
Along with the requirements governing when to give an individual or family a copy of GPL at the funeral home, The Funeral Rule requires that prices be given over the phone. Of course the Funeral Rule was written before the internet revolutionized shopping. If written today, would it require funeral homes with websites to post GPLs online as well as give prices over the phone?