Join Your Peers at the Funeral Service Business Plan Conference
An interesting thing is happening in funeral service, and it can no longer be ignored: Your community wants something different – and it’s not the latest casket.
Improve your value proposition, boost market share and identify opportunities that you’re missing at the eighth annual Funeral Service Business Plan Conference, Dec. 3-4, 2013, at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside in New Orleans.
“We’ve gathered some of the top thinkers and funeral home operators in the profession, and they’ll deliver insights, guidance and tools that you can use to better serve your community – not abstract concepts or fluff,” said Thomas Parmalee, editor of Funeral Service Insider, which is coordinating the conference.
At the Business Plan Conference, you’ll learn how to:
- Use survey data to boost employee performance.
- Forge stronger relationships with hospice.
- Expand your preneed program.
- Position your firm for a sale or capitalize on opportunities to expand.
- And much more!
You’ll hear from the following experts:
Michael Bjerum, a senior technical adviser with Kelco Supply Co., was formerly a full-time location manager of Eifert Funeral Home and owner of Bjerum Funeral Home in his hometown of Mountain Lake, Minn.
Alan Creedy began his career as a project manager for a diversified holding company that bought distressed companies, restored them and resold them. His degree in psychology and being certified as a public accountant helped him quickly establish himself as a turnaround expert in funeral service.
Quinn Eagan is president of PFP – Preneed Funeral Program. He’s a marketing legend who has developed systems that have sold more than $2 billion of funded prearrangements.
Dan Isard is the founder and president of The Foresight Companies in Phoenix. He’s appraised more than 2,000 funeral homes, more than 500 cemeteries and about 100 crematories.
Jake Johnson is president and CEO of Johnson Consulting Group. He started his career as associate director of corporate development at Keystone Group Holdings and also formerly worked at Palm Mortuaries and Cemeteries in Las Vegas.
Mark Krause is president of Krause Funeral Homes and Cremation Services in Milwaukee, which operates four funeral homes that serve more than 1,300 families per year. He has degrees in political science, history, mortuary science and an MBA, and he’s also the past president of the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association.
Paul J. Seyler is president of Competitive Resources, a marketing firm based in New Orleans with core strengths in research, strategy development, training and implementation. He spent 10 years in marketing and strategic planning with firms in real estate and financial services.
Kim Medici Shelquist served as the business development and communications director of the Hospice of Central Iowa before becoming the director of marketing communications for Homesteaders Life Co. in 2009.
Darla Tripoli is a full-time instructor in the restorative arts lab at the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science, where she graduated with a mortuary science degree. She formerly worked at Beinhauer Funeral Home in Peters Township, Pa., and DeAngelo Funeral Home in Washington Township, Pa. She’s an expert in cosmetology, airbrushing and funeral home décor.
Sign Up Now, and Get These Bonuses!
When you sign up for the Business Plan Conference, you’ll also get a FREE PASS to a tour and reception at Lake Lawn Funeral Home and Cemeteries, a Stewart Enterprises property. There, you’ll network with the Lake Lawn staff and learn how they deliver excellent customer service while enjoying fellowship with your peers.
The conference also offers CEUs for attendees from almost every state so you can meet your continuing education requirements.
Seats to this conference are filling up fast, so be sure to register early. Sign up by Aug. 30, and you’ll get our early-bird rate, which saves you $100 off your registration!
To learn more about the eighth annual Funeral Service Business Plan Conference, visit www.katesboylston.com/bizplan or call 800-500-4585 and select Option 1.
