Game-changers are those events that intervene in our lives, on athletic fields, and in our businesses that forever change everything. In our personal lives we identify marriages, deaths, and moving to a new city as the easiest examples of game-changers. In baseball, a homerun changes everything. In business, innovation is the most thought-of example. Look… [Read More...]
The Secret Sauce: How We Might Resurrect DeathCare
April 9, 2012 By 15 Comments
Is it possible that in some markets people no longer care? In this series on Funeral Apologetics I have pointed out that our real problem is cowardice and have endeavored to share some techniques that might help the profession fight for itself. Several very thoughtful individuals (whom I also admire) have suggested that, in their… [Read More...]
Don’t Confuse Me With Your Facts
April 3, 2012 By 1 Comment
Apologists must be aware of 4 generally accepted fallacies: Consumers think in a well-reasoned rational way In fact, emotions are closely interwoven with the reasoning process. Most often they are dominant. Consumers can readily explain their behavior and thinking 95% of our thinking is unconscious. Our rational mind serves mainly to make sense of behavior… [Read More...]
The Problem is Not Cremation…
March 13, 2012 By 15 Comments
…The problem is cowardice!! There, it’s been said. Plain and simple: We have been unwilling to stand up for what we believe and now we are not sure we believe it any more. After all how long can you get beat up and still try to stand? So, instead of taking a stand we assume… [Read More...]
EXPERT OPINION: How Are Funeral Directors Like Bankers?
February 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I serve on the Board of Directors of a community bank based in Orlando, Florida. In that capacity I receive frequent educational correspondence and one I received this week highlighted the striking similarities between what we do and banking. The author says: “Bankers often forget that they are in a retail business where people have… [Read More...]
Are Funeral Directors “wired” to Lose in The “New Normal” Part 3
January 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Last week in part 2 of this series we learned that “Challengers” don’t educate, they teach. They are not afraid of pushing their customers to think in new ways. We also learned that while people may like those who are nice to them, they like those who help them gain new insights even more. But… [Read More...]
Are Funeral Directors “Wired” to Lose in The “New Normal” Part 2
January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Last week, in Part 1 of this series, we explored the idea that funeral Directors, as consummate relationship builders, may be wired to lose in an environment that has changed radically over the past 30 years. Based on non-industry research we posited that the “Challenger” style was 13 times more likely to succeed in the… [Read More...]
Are Funeral Directors “Wired” To Lose In the “New Normal”? Part 1
January 2, 2012 By 6 Comments
DeathCare has been losing ground relative to consumers for almost 30 years. Now comes research that may explain why and what to do about it. To many observers (myself among them) what we sell seems well on the road to becoming a commodity. As a means of moving market share, differentiation based on price seems… [Read More...]
Amazon.com Starts Selling Preneed Cremation
December 13, 2011 By 2 Comments
Well it had to happen. You have a new competitor. Merry Christmas!! As of Monday December 12 Amazon is offering preneed cremation services through Smart Cremation a Redmond, Washington based provider of cremation services. Click Here to learn more.
Differentiating Your Funeral Home: Reinvent The Obituary
No One Dies So Poor He Doesn’t Leave Something Behind. Blaise Pascal Ya wanna know how to make a difference and set your funeral home apart? Take some of your advertising budget and hire a good journalist to do what this video talks about and post them on your site. Don’t put it in… [Read More...]