MERRY CHRISTMAS
As we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I hope this video brings you a little joy.
Empathy / Sympathy A Very Important Difference
Unlike most other professions funeral practitioners must operate within an often sensitive emotional environment. Let's call it emotionally charged. We know too well that sympathy can often backfire but empathy is never lost. Sympathy can often take someone lower but empathy often lifts up. God was angry with Job's friends but I have always been [...]
How To Stop Customers From Fixating On Price
Equalize Price Points to Crystallize Personal Relevance. This is the first recession to show a measurable impact on DeathCare. Most surprising have been the many reports from rural and "rustbelt" funeral directors that cremation has recently spiked, not because people in their markets want cremation but BECAUSE THEY CAN'T AFFORD BURIAL. YIKES!!!! A recent article [...]
Are You A Change Champion?
There are, in fact, many firms today that remain in denial that our profession has changed dramatically and will continue to change into the foreseeable future. We cannot help them. I have lost count of the financial statements I have analyzed over the last several years. What strikes me is that virtually all of them [...]
The Excellence Trap: How We Confuse Efficiency With Effectiveness
Are you a shop foreman or a leader? In recent years a new focus has crept in to the profession. We are trending toward becoming shop foremen instead of leaders. The belief being that we must measure everything and compare everyone to everyone else. This is, in fact, a good idea and a long time [...]
Sharks and People
One man sat at a stop light. The woman in front of him was going through papers on the seat of her car, and when the light changed to green she didn't go. A green light is not a suggestion, you know, it is more of a commandment. But she didn't notice. When the light [...]
Caregiver or Martyr? Beware the Rescuer Trap
Are you addicted to helping others or are your customer relationships creating unhealthy responses? Perhaps you’ve fallen victim to the Rescuer Syndrome. One of the common threads I am discovering as I get deeper into the study of culture within the funeral profession is the belief that one must be a “suffering servant” doing what [...]
Making Myself Unnecessary
I am a little annoyed with myself. As I address this topic of Leadership i find that I have fallen into the same trap as most others. I have succeeded in treating the difference between managers and leaders as two ends of a continuum and conveying the impression that one (managers) is bad and the [...]
PP*2 ≠ FF
Protecting the Past and Perfecting the Present Does Not Equal Finding a Future. Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic is a behavior often seen in organizations responding to massive change. Why is that? and why is it so prevalent in DeathCare. It turns out our century old culture is to blame and resolving a [...]
Now For Something Completely New
As I travel about the country I encounter a lot of good ideas and some bad. It seems to me that my readers might enjoy learning about some of these first hand. Not long ago I encountered a young funeral home owner who had improved on an old idea. In fact, when I first saw [...]