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The Real Victims of Our Cowardice

Written by Alan Creedy on . Posted in The Creedy Commentary. 14 Comments on The Real Victims of Our Cowardice

In the past few weeks I have used strong negative language:

Cowardice…Fight… Neglect  

Please understand: this is not an emotional reaction on my part.  Instead, it is an intentional effort to call you out.  And it is this “intentionality” that I encourage you to undertake as well.  It is time we, as a profession, called out our “NaySayers” and detractors, our “doom and gloomers.”

Have I made you angry?  I cannot say I am sorry.  You should be angry.  At least I have created some emotion and out of that emotion may come some resolve and out of that resolve may come some action.

This past two weeks have taught me the difference between sadness and discouragement.

Thankfully, I am not discouraged.  But I am sad.  Very sad.  And sadness has an effect…an enervating effect.

I am feeling your pain.

That pain comes from having the answers to your client’s questions but facing an increasing number of people who are less and less interested in answers.  I have that same pain.  In most instances, I know what needs to be done to turn a business around.  A bold statement? Really?  In most instances, you know what needs to be done to best help a family.  Likewise, my experience and training enable me to know what needs to be done to solve most business problems.  In my case, if it is a parallel, our profession seems fixated on a direction that, for more than 30 years, has produced only more of the same…decline.  I have learned that tact and diplomacy can work; but not often.  So, I have chosen a tactic that I think you should adopt as well: Boldness.  After all, most of you have lost so much ground that you can only gain.

My sadness comes from the awareness that I can’t win them all.  My optimism, though, comes from my unwillingness to give up.  My willingness to fight for what I believe.  From the cold, stark fact that I know that if I give in (even just a little bit) the battle is lost.  More important, though, is the experience that the more I am willing to take a stand the more I win…some.

Never, Never, Never...Give Up

When someone attacks your profession you should be willing to stand up and defend it.  Whether you chose to be a DeathCare Professional or you inherited it, you are in it.  So, make the best of it.  Misery and embarrassment are pathetic alternatives.

How To TurboCharge Your Marketing

There is a principle in marketing…a turbocharger, if you will.

“When a product / service is becoming a commodity You can differentiate yourself by letting people know what you stand for”

Unfortunately, most DeathCare providers are too timid to take bold stands.   Bold enough, at least, to differentiate themselves in the market place.  Instead, they create sanitized vision and mission statements for hanging in lobbies that are quickly forgotten and largely ignored.  In fact, most vision and mission statements are so sanitized they are commodities themselves.

Steve McKee in his video interview on Narrowing Your Focus says we should never say we are better.  Instead we should say we are…different.

I challenge my clients and their staffs to do some real soul searching and develop a “Statement of Beliefs”.   Yes, I can hear you now:  “Could we see a sample?”  No!  A Statement of Beliefs has to be individual, real and personal to your firm.  You can’t borrow someone else’s and just “stamp” it on your door.  There has to be total buy in.  It is built through a process.  But here are a few of the questions I use to stimulate the process:

  • Do you really believe the quality of casket defines the value of the funeral?
  • Do you really believe that increasing the average sale price of caskets is going to save your business?
  • Do you really believe every 95 year old alzheimer patient who has lived in a nursing home for 3 years needs a full visitation, funeral, procession and graveside service?
  • Do you really believe that the family and friends of a 62 year old “pillar of the community” popular local businessman and former mayor are going to be well served by a direct cremation?
Here, also, is my personal Statement of Beliefs:
  • I believe every life has value
  • I believe every life deserves to be commemorated in a meaningful way
  • I believe those whose lives have been touched in positive ways both want and need a physical way to be comforted and / or to comfort
  • I believe that most people still perceive the dead body of those they love as a sacred object deserving of reverent care whether or not they are religious people
  • I believe that the best and most natural way to comfort one another is physically, in person, with touch and voice
  • I believe that some people need a permanent place to memorialize
  • I believe DeathCare makes a valuable contribution to society by providing a formal, socially recognized physically present means for comfort, affirmation and encouragement, in whatever form they choose, coincident with the time of a death.
  • I believe most DeathCare providers are good people who are capable of learning the basics of good business and management practices

I have put a lot of time and thought into these recent articles.  It is not my purpose to persuade you or to give you false hope.

But it is my hope that some of you will decide to become intentional and bold in your own efforts.

That some of you will begin to take a public stand for your profession.

That some of you will think deeply about what it is we contribute to those we serve and why our society will be worse off if it abandons what we offer.

Then, in your own words…for god’s sake…express yourself.  Be proud of what you do and the contribution you make to your community.  Let others see that pride.  Let the chips fall where they may.  The results will probably surprise you.

The next time you are out socially and someone blows you off by saying, “Oh, I’m just going to be cremated and have my ashes scattered.”   Are you willing to say, “Ya know, I realize that’s become popular but I’m not good with that any more and I would like to tell you why.”  Then tell your stories (I know you have them).  Make it non economic.  Speak to the heart not the head.  You may not win them over but you never had them in the first place.  So how you can you lose something you never had.  Yes, you do run the risk of alienating someone.  But something I have learned in 40 years of adult life:  There are, in fact, people who don’t like “Truth Tellers”.  and, you know what?  They just happen to be the people you don’t want to know anyway.  Then, when you have become comfortable with that experience begin challenging the direct disposition customers in the arrangement conference.  Remember challenge is different than confront.

Because The Real Victims of Our Cowardice (borne out of our neurotic desire to be liked by people that probably don’t like us any way) are the people we have pledged to help.

One Last Time:

Your livelihood is at stake!!  What do you want?? Do you want me to tell you it’s someone else’s fault?  Or do you want to get in there and fight for yourself and those you love?

“lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees; make straight paths for your feet…”

Hebrews 12:12-13a

“The noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands”

Isaiah 32:8

Funeral Home Valuation Part 2: Why EBITDA?

Written by Alan Creedy on . Posted in The Creedy Commentary. 1 Comment on Funeral Home Valuation Part 2: Why EBITDA?

Funeral home valuation, Funeral home appraisal, Cemetery Valuation, Cemetery Appraisal

EBITDA became popular in the 70s and 80s when buyers were trying to locate companies that had strong cash flow outside of financing and capital Expenditure concerns. Since buyers were going to change the capital structure anyway, it was convenient to have a quick apples to apples comparison.

EBITDA or Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization is a more reliable and cleaner comparison than Net Income.
1) In general, it is a much stronger indicator of ongoing, operational strength for the firm.
2) Taxes are considered “non-operational” in a sense because they can be affected by a variety of accounting and tax conventions. These have no bearing on the ongoing, operational strength of the firm.
3) Interest expense is a function of leverage, not operations. Companies in any given industry will have varying degrees of interest expense based on the debt load they incur.
4) Depreciation expense is an accounting convention recognizing investment in physical assets over the life of that asset.  It has no bearing on the ongoing operational strength of the firm. Firms with  investments in large capital expenditures like recently built facilities will have high deprection expense while similar firms with older facilities or fully depreciated physical assets will have lower depreciation expense.
5) Amortization expense is another accounting convention dealing with the amortization of intangibles. Because it is an accounting convention, we want to take it “out” also.    Firms with goodwill acquired through other acquisitions will have amortization expense while similar firms who have built their business without acquisition will have none.

So, EBITDA is considered by the financial community the way to compare apples with apples.  It is computed by adding back to net profits or earnings any income taxes paid by the corporation all interest expense, depreciation and amortization.   This is, of course, where many amateurs foul up.   A good tax planner will encourage a business owner to take advantage of all legitimate business deductions.  This includes inflating personal salaries above market as well as other expenses that might otherwise be personal.  As a result, earnings on many independently owned businesses are reported as less than they might be if they were the subsidiary of a public corporation, for example.  So, before EBITDA can be truly calculated adjustments should be considered by a professionally trained analyst to represent the true picture of operations.  Of course, these adjustments are only legitimate if it is reasonable to expect that an independent buyer will operate in a more efficient fashion or can find economies that the seller has not had access to.  This process is called “normalization or recasting”.

After normalization a funeral home typically yields a an EBITDA ratio of between 20% and 30% of NET Revenue with the average falling in the middle.  Interestingly, a branch (accounted for correctly) will often yield between 40% and 50% because it does not bear the burden of duplicated administrative or ownership overhead.

Next week proper categorization, operating ratios and normalization.

Disclaimer

While I have experience in business valuation, I am not a Certified Business Appraiser.   The explanation and comments contained herein are my own.

The “Retailization” of Funeral Service

Written by Alan Creedy on . Posted in The Creedy Commentary. 4 Comments on The “Retailization” of Funeral Service

How “The Hawthorne Effect” got us off focus

The formal casket and vault merchandising systems so common today in funeral homes are a relatively new innovation.  But their impact is disproportionate to their value.

The industry began experimenting with formal merchandising systems sometime in the late 1960’s.  I don’t know whether it was Buddy Hunter of OGR or Wilber Krieger of NSM who first began to promote it in a systematic way.  By the time I arrived on the scene in 1980 there were more than a dozen “self-styled” merchandising “experts” consulting with funeral homes.  Interestingly, none of them were directly associated with a casket supplier.  The National Foundation of Funeral Service had a full selection room set up in their building in Evanston, Illinois and many of the “experts” would hold week-long classes on the proper way to present caskets.   Each had a different approach but one thing they held as gospel: The maximum number of caskets displayed should not exceed 20 and, preferably 18.

The first official vendor-supplied merchandising system was offered in the early 1980’s by National Casket Company.  It consisted of a “garden” setting featuring caskets “floating” on plexiglass biers placed in pine bark settings threaded by Astroturf pathways.  It worked.  Users claimed a $500 increase in average sale.  And that’s something else that was consistent.  No matter what system you used the average increase in revenue was $500.

Being new to the scene and wanting to make my mark I judiciously decided to stay out of the casket merchandising business.  Too much “Red Ocean.”  More important, I believed the casket obsession to be a distraction from the true value of the societal contribution we make.   I am not saying caskets aren’t important.  I am saying that they are only a prop in a much more important event.  

In the early to mid 1980’s the major casket vendors began to offer their own proprietary merchandising systems all offering the same $500 average increase.  I confess I didn’t pay too much attention.  But one important thing I did notice was that the gospel had changed.   These new vendor-created systems required no less than 35 units on display.  This attracted my attention because all the “self-styled” experts had declared with much authority that the maximum was 20. (as an aside current non industry research would seem to support the position of those “self-styled” experts).  In any event, it finally dawned on me that this was an ingenious way to drive more inventory into the field with the resultant bump in cash flow for casket vendors.

Then Alton Doody enters the picture with the theory that the “look and feel” of a retail store will make customers feel more comfortable and user friendly. (really??) I can only imagine the angst that the introduction of “cheeks” and “butts” caused those companies that had to retrieve all that excess inventory.  Amazingly, funeral directors all over the country were spending upwards of $50,000 to refit their selection rooms with, of course, the standard $500 increase in average sale.

At a conference in the late ‘90’s my naiveté on this matter was finally busted.  Three funeral homes presented on the topic of merchandising.  The first speaker shared his strategy which included investing in excess of $50,000 per selection room to achieve…you guessed it…an average of $500 increase in average sale.  The second spent spent $30,000 for his new selection room but he had done all the work himself with the same results.  But the third and final speaker brought down the house in his opening remarks as he apologetically said he felt embarrassed to share what his new selection room cost him.  After one of those pregnant pauses he said, “I only spent $1.49…and, by the way, I brought it with me.” Whereupon he demonstrated his three ring binder.

A lightbulb went off in my head as two things became clear:  First, if all these iterations of casket merchandising over  (then) 20 years actually produced an increase in average sale of $500 then the current average burial sale (as reported by Federated) should have been several times higher than it was.  Second, it wasn’t the systems or techniques that were producing results.  There were too many variations claiming the same thing.  Rather, what we were seeing was originally identified by a study of workforce production by Westinghouse in the 1950’s.  Called the “Hawthorne Effect”, it basically states that improvements in performance don’t always occur because of a new  way of doing things but because one is paying attention to the behavior that produces the result.  In other words your awareness of your activities and the corresponding results is increased. 

So, my point is simple: Virtually any system you use will be effective in direct proportion to your enthusiasm and focus.  If you need to spend $50,000 it will be effective.  But maybe you are one of those lucky ones who only need to spend $1.49 to accomplish the same thing.

But here is the key, whether you spend $50,000 or $1.49 are you spending it for the right thing?   Casket merchandising is about Best Practice.  It has distracted us from Best Purpose which is what we contribute to society and the compelling reason people  call us.  By the way, am I the only one curious about why all these cumulative $500 increases in average sale over the last 30 years don’t show up in the trendline for adult funerals?

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The Perils of Group Think

Written by Alan Creedy on . Posted in The Creedy Commentary, Leadership. 5 Comments on The Perils of Group Think

Why it is so important that you practice Critical Thinking

I am concerned that we, as a profession, are making vital decisions about our future largely on the basis of opinion and conjecture.  Worse, we are allowing ourselves to be influenced by strong personalities or companies who have a need to fit their product into our solution.  Folks with “axes to grind” or “dogs in the hunt.”  You know what I mean. 

If you have been active at any level in our industry for the past half decade you cannot help but be aware that there is growing belief that we are in process of transformation.  Most people agree that DeathCare will be very different as quickly as 10 years from now.   A majority (including some of our major vendors) think our best years are behind us.  (I disagree)   There seem to be an unlimited number of people who have opinions on where it will go.   And opinions and conjecture always seem to degenerate into debate…mostly pointless. (yet another opinion)

 In general, however, there is simply confusion and that brings me back to my point.  As a profession, unless we begin to think for ourselves we are simply destined to repeat the past.  The result: we go in circles. 

Stop and think: For more than ten years we have faced continual erosion of profitability.  Despite our best efforts trends have not been impacted…at least in our favor.  A lot of you (not all) have spent money, time and resources to end up not much better off than you were before.   You did what you did because you thought it would work.  After all, all your friends thought it would work too. 

Einstein once said, “Problems cannot be solved by thinking within the framework in which they were created.”  Deathcare, despite its appearance of fragmentation, does have a shared vision.  Unfortunately, even for those who claim to think outside the box, that vision views everything through a very narrow context: Traditional Burial.   As a consequence many of us have made choices that, in retrospect, had we been thinking critically, we would not have made.  Things like spending too much on a new building, or getting into the pet cremation business solely for the purpose of generating more revenue, buying a cemetery, or paying too much to buy out a partner.  Nothing is wrong with any of these and some of you have managed to turn lemons into lemonade.  But they have not been the answer we thought they would be.  In fact, in many cases they only increased our burden.

I am not trying to make you a cynic…just a skeptic.

The essence of Critical thinking lies not in answering questions but in questioning answers.

  • Just because it fits your paradigm doesn’t mean it’s true
  • Just because your friend did it doesn’t mean it’s good for you
  • Never allow someone’s position, clothing or apparent socioeconomic level influence you
  • Practice a healthy dose of skepticism when someone needs to include their product in your solution
  • Be patient, early adopters make mistakes
  • Develop a tolerance for short term ambiguity and anxiety
  • When you find an expert be very sure they aren’t just a hammer in search of a nail
  • Ask “Why?”
  • Ask “How do you know?”
  • Take anecdotal evidence with a grain of salt
  • And, best strategy of all: Be Warren Buffet and ask,  “If I make this investment how am I going to get two dollars back for every $1 I spend? How long will that take? And do I understand  the risk?”

My opinion is that we have a great future.  But that future demands that we objectively examine every “sacred cow” almost three dimensionally.  Then we must decide which of them should be turned into hamburger, which should be nurtured and built upon and where we might find some new and more effective ones. 

Action Item:  If you have really begun to think criticially you know that your first step should be to:

Question everything I have just told you!

How I Learned To Stop Pushing Strings Uphill

Written by Alan Creedy on . Posted in The Creedy Commentary, Leadership. 8 Comments on How I Learned To Stop Pushing Strings Uphill

Breaking The Cycle

DeathCare is in its 13th year of declining profitability.  Last year is reported as our worst year ever and it’s beginning to tell.   Answer these questions:

___Do you sometimes feel trapped?

___Do you sometimes dread going to work?

___Is it easier to do it yourself than tell someone how to do it?

___Do you resent the pressure you feel?

___Do you resent others in your life?

___Do you find yourself whining?

___Do you wonder if you will ever be able to get out?

___Do you wonder if there is any point in all your efforts?

Most of us feel these things occasionally but if it has become a large part of your emotional life there are two things you need to keep in mind:  1) You are far from alone; and 2) You may be contributing to your own problems.   This article gives you some direction in breaking the cycle.  But first a couple of stories that will help you better understand what I am going to share with you. 

Sisyphus was a legendary Greek king who angered the gods and, as punishment, was condemned to push a large boulder up hill for eternity.  As soon as he got to the top of the hill the boulder would roll down the other side and he would have to push it up again.   Eternity is a long time.

There are days we all feel like Sysiphus… trapped in a never ending cycle without meaningful results.  All alone we try to plot our course, take the risks and try with all our might to motivate staff, gain market share, improve profitability and, most important, improve customer satisfaction.  But, more often than not we seem to always find ourselves back where we started.  Worse yet, if we are honest, we are often behind where we started.

Years ago an individual was brave enough to say something to me that broke this cycle, although, at the time, it made me very angry.  He did it intentionally, knowing it would have that result.  Once I calmed down, the truth of what he said motivated me beyond anything else he could have done.  I made a plaque out of it and it stands on my desk to this day:

“We Are Where We Are…Because That Is Where We Want To Be.”

A biblical story provides an excellent frame of reference:  We all know (or should know) the story of Jesus healing the blind man and how, once healed, he jumped and cavorted around the temple in his excitement at being able to see.  There are many, many lessons in this tale but for me the most profound one is rarely explored.

To see ourselves in this story we must look beyond the miracle of his healing.   His obsession had been: “If only I could see.”  He didn’t realize that his healing would create an entirely new problem.  Think about what it would have been like for the blind man the next day, after the excitement and public attention had died down and he was left to himself.  He had a whole new reality to come to terms with.  He knew how to be blind.  Now he had to learn to function with sight.  Remember all his relationships were based on being blind.  His livelihood was dependent on being blind…he knew how to function in a blind world.   In many ways it must have been frightening.  Everything that was familiar to him had changed dramatically.  Suddenly, he was forced into a new reality and, for him, there was no turning back.

The point is: some of us have learned how to be Sisyphus.  In fact, we have come to like it.  We know how to function in our dysfunction.   Like the blind man, it has come to define us.  Our friends are others who feel trapped just like us.  Our collective whining is a form of release that shields us from facing the fact that we are where we are…because that is where we want to be.  It enables us to create excuses by blaming others.  Being Sisyphus is part of our comfort zone and as appealing as ending the meaningless cycle may be, our behavior tells us we really don’t want a new reality to cope with.   By accepting responsibility for our circumstances we take a giant step towards a new and better reality.  By accepting responsibility we begin to see that we have many more options than we thought.  Our epiphany is that it doesn’t have to be like this.  But there is a catch, it means that the key is no longer that others change their behavior but that we change ours.

One of the most rewarding times of my business coaching practice is when I help someone reach the point where they realize they have many more options than they thought they had.  This is often a true “Ah Ha!” experience and is always accompanied by renewed energy and enthusiasm.  My part is simply helping them stand back from the trees just enought to see the forest.

Personally, when I decided that I didn’t want to be my own victim any longer, I found ways to break the cycle. For me,  one of the most important of these was realizing that there are no perfect people.  Everyone has their own dysfunction.  Some hide it better than others.  Many dysfunctions are socially acceptable anyway.  (Think whining at DeathCare conventions) Still everyone, in one way or another, is limited by their own self perception. 

But the first step…and the most important step…is to choose to take personal responsibility for oneself and stop seeing yourself as a victim.  It is absolutely awesome what you can do when you make that choice…or should I say commitment.

Among the more powerful benefits is:  You start spending more time with people who would rather happen to life than have life happen to them.  This will increase your own optimism and energy.   One of the things I am sure our blind man found himself doing was hanging out with a different crowd:  metaphorically “People with vision”

So, here is an action item:  Find people who don’t whine.  Deliberately step away from negative conversations and avoid people who dwell on negative things.  To change your situation the best place to start is to change your environment.  Maybe you can’t take a month off.  But you can sure choose the people you interact with.  Find a mentor who can hold you accountable.  Attitude is often 90% of the solution.

The best way to change is not because you have to or even because you want to…but because you have found a better way.        

Where are you?     Is that really where you want to be?

How “Best Purpose” Trumps “Best Practice”

Written by Alan Creedy on . Posted in The Creedy Commentary, Practitioner Forum: Insights and Ideas. 2 Comments on How “Best Purpose” Trumps “Best Practice”

How a part time hostess taught me the most valuable lesson.

It was late 1989.  Rachel was then in her mid 70’s.  A retired school teacher, she had worked for us for about 6 or 7 years.  She was a quiet, unassuming and gracious woman who had that gift of always making you feel welcome.  As a part time hostess she was stationed by the front door of our main facility during public hours…often during visitations.  I was President of the nation’s oldest and among its most prestigious independently owned funeral homes.  We served 850 families and operated two cemeteries and a crematory.   Rachel always received more positive comments on our Family Surveys than any other employee full or part time. 

The funeral home was widely respected and even admired by both the public we served and professional colleagues for its high standards of service.  We believed our 70% + market share was a direct result of those high standards.  Certainly, they were a large part of our success.

But Rachel taught me an important lesson about an even more powerful market driver: Best Purpose.

Part of the reason that company was so admired for its high standard of service was a very rigid and unyielding set of employee expectations.  We all had a clear understanding of the “musts” and “must-nots” of our daily behavior and routine.   Mistakes were typically only made once, if they were made at all.  But lest you think this was some closely watched and supervised culture, I should be clear.  The resulting quality and superior performance created a level of “Esprit De Corps” that made the behaviors more or less “self sustaining.”  The problem was not in the performance but in the unrecognized limitation on “above and beyond” initiative that it unconsciously imposed.

Rachel, independently and without permission, deviated from one of our “cast-in-stone” rules and I was delegated to tell her not to do it again. 

Raleigh, NC, where I live, continues to this day to prefer receiving lines over mingling.   We discovered that about half way through visitations Rachel was taking the initiative to bring a glass of water to the widow or widower.   Food and beverage of any kind was strictly forbidden in any of the public areas of our buildings.  It was this act of kindness that I was told to stop.  Now, lest you be too harsh, this was the 1980’s and this type of courtesy was not so obvious back then.  And besides, this story is not about rules (good or bad) it is about purpose which we had but did not emphasize.

I  began my conversation reminding Rachel of the rules and asking her why she was doing it.  She responding so graciously that I still remember it.  She said, “Mr. Creedy, I understand the rule.  But when you buried my husband I remember standing in that same line and thinking I would kill for a glass of water.  So, I try to make their life a little easier by bringing it to them.”  I remember answering: “Rachel, you just forget that we had this conversation and continue what you are doing.”  I went back to the owner and told him that Rachel was doing the right thing and we all needed to be thinking like Rachel. 

The lesson is this:   Maybe the company was successful because of its high standards but Rachel was more successful because she had a higher purpose. 

What is your purpose?  If I asked you without warning, could you tell me in less than 60 seconds without thinking?  Could your staff?

Simon Cooper, President and COO of Ritz Carlton Hotels, strives for “Scriptless Service.”  This means that employees must be able to think, anticipate and act without being told.  They must have the ability and latitude to take initiative when they see an opportunity to help a guest.

Rachel taught me that the highest of standards and expectations without clarity of purpose can cause us to miss the most important things.

How people behave is what they believe.  Does the behavior of your staff indicate they have high standards and high purpose?  Does your behavior?

 

You may reprint this article by including the following on your publication:

 “reprinted with permission, Creedy & Company, www.creedycomments.wordpress.com all rights reserved 2010”

Why Are We Here?

Written by Alan Creedy on . Posted in The Creedy Commentary. 1 Comment on Why Are We Here?

An Easy, Practical Way to Engage Staff

In an aprocryphal story a “burned out” Russian Priest takes a sabbatical in a wilderness retreat hoping for renewal and reenergizing.  Depressed and discouraged, he takes a walk in the nearby woods and stumbles on a military encampment.  Immediately, he is challenged by the sentry: “Halt, who are you and why are you here?”  The priest responds, “What did you say?”  The sentry repeats his challenge: “Who are you and why are you here?”  Now the priest asks his own question: “What do they pay you?”  Startled, the sentry responds, “What does that have to do with anything?”  To which the priest replies: “Because I will pay you that for the rest of my life to ask me those two questions every day!”

Who are we and why are we here?

The answer to these two questions is one of the secrets to engagement.  We talk a lot about motivating employees.  But what we really want is engaged employees.  Employees who see meaning and purpose in their work.  Employees who see their job not as a task but as a responsibility.  Connecting meaning and purpose is the way to do that.

Zig Ziglar talks about his “Wall of Gratitude” where he keeps photos of people who have meant something to him.  I don’t have a wall but I do have a “Book of Gratitude“.   When I look at it I am often renewed. 

Maybe one thing we could do is take a wall in a non public part of our building and put a sign over it that says: “Why We Are Here” and then put photos of those we have been privileged to serve over the past year.   Maybe some of those pictures could include pictures of people hugging our staff.  I am told that happens every once in a while.  Then on those bad days we could go stand in front of that wall and remember “Who We Are and Why We Are Here.”   Yes it will take some work, but not much, and my bet is you will start to become even more creative and add pictures of folks I haven’t mentioned here that give meaning and purpose to what you do. 

 

 

 

The Warning Signs of Becoming Irrelevant

Written by Alan Creedy on . Posted in The Creedy Commentary. 3 Comments on The Warning Signs of Becoming Irrelevant

Wise words from Coach Nick Saban, Football Coach, University of Alabama

Are you in danger of becoming irrelevant?  It’s easy, you know?  Countless organizations have achieved this dubious distinction.

Here are the warning signs:

  • Facilities are outdated and tired looking
  • Staff are disengaged, marking time and unmotivated
  • More time is spent whining than doing
  • Customers just aren’t like they used to be
  • Preoccupation with the past
  • No time spent on the future
  • Expectation that tomorrow will be just like today…and it is
  • No one exploring the big issues like:
    • Where do we need to be?
    • What do we need to do?
    • How do we change?
    • How can we be better?
  • Feeling of being trapped
  • Absentee ownership

Recently, I heard Nick Saban share one of the ways he motivates his Alabama Football Team, “We didn’t come here to be irrelevant!” he tells them.

 It’s a wake up call.  I don’t know about you but I didn’t come here to be irrelevant and I don’t think you did either.

Admittedly, things in DeathCare have been trending negatively for several years now,  but when I listen to a lot of us it sounds like we think it’s hopeless.  I vigorously disagree.  Nothing is ever so bad you can’t do something.  Maybe it’s time to sell.  But…maybe it’s time to decide you don’t want to sell.  Maybe it’s time to admit you aren’t a great leader and find a mentor to help you learn to be a better one.   There are lot’s of things we can do but the first step is to:

LOOK BEYOND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES

You see, if you only look at your circumstances, your circumstances are in control.  The burden of the present is simply too much.  Research shows that those who candidly face reality but never stop believing that the future can be better have a much better chance of succeeding than those who give up.  Kinda makes sense, doesn’t it?  When we look beyond our circumstances we start seeing things as they could be instead of the way they are.    We gain a sense that it isn’t the beginning of the end… but only the end of the beginning.

Here’s the take-away: Dying is one thing that will never go out of style.  People will always die.  How they choose to interact with that event or process is the only thing in play.  Right now we have the “Home Court Advantage”.  What will we do with it?  So far not much.  But that can change.  And if history is any indicator it will.  Stand up, get back in the fight, learn to think for yourself and stay away from depressing people…you can’t afford to let them bring you down.

Should Packages Be Discounted?

Written by Alan Creedy on . Posted in The Creedy Commentary. 5 Comments on Should Packages Be Discounted?

5 insights to packaging funerals

Numerous funeral homes are implementing and experimenting with package pricing with excellent success.  But little is known about the principles of packaging (elsewhere known as bundling) outside of the fact that fast food and car dealerships have been doing it for years.   Those that have adopted package plans find it has helped them in two ways.  First, it has improved their average overall sale and second, it has improved the arrangement process for their clients by making it easier.

Why package?

Packaging provides two advantages:  First it is a convenience for families.  Most families find the task of selecting from the laundry list of items required by the FTC rule to be onerous if not confusing.  By synthesizing this information into simplified packages it is easier for them to make choices that please them.  So, a primary factor is the emotional convenience and customer friendly nature of simplification.  Second, by pulling together the various elements of a given service type into a single price, value perception is enhanced as people accept services that are “already paid for”.  The key in any pricing strategy is to help people feel they are getting a little more than they are paying for and packaging is the best way to accomplish that.

Packaging do’s and don’ts

Many people bungle packaging by thinking they have to cram a lot of extra items into it that people don’t really want.  Ask yourself this question:  is your purpose in packaging to somehow magically persuade people to pay you more?  If so, don’t expect the consumer to be fooled.  If, instead, the items included in a package are there because they make sense to your funeral arrangers then it is likely to be perceived as value to the consumer as well.  

Keep it simple.  Studies consistently show that when making complex decisions people feel most comfortable if you break their choices down into groups of three:  burial, cremation or mausoleum entombment for instance.  For this reason, all of the better programs we have seen offer a good, better best package and these are presented in two sets:  packages for burial and packages for cremation.   A package should be presentable on a single 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper.   Most find it easier to design the best package and then simply reduce it for the remaining two categories. 

Don’t let people unbundle your package.  The packages are offered for the convenience of the customer.  If they want to delete items to lower the price then gently and respectfully take it away and suggest you go back to the itemized price list.  Keep your discipline.  The first one to flinch loses.

To Discount or not to discount?

The prevailing wisdom among professional pricing strategists is that the cumulative price of the individual items included in the package should be greater than the package price.  They also believe the resulting discount should be in the neighborhood of 10%.  In funeral service we believe this is debatable.  Given that it is a true convenience factor in the arrangement process, discounting may or may not be necessary.  That being said, it is our belief that most funeral directors err on the side of giving too much discount and that discounts should be more in the neighborhood of 5% on traditional burial and perhaps 7.5% (splitting the difference between 5 and 10%) for cremation.  Our reasoning is that discounts of more than that could have the unpleasant effect of sending a signal that you have too much margin in your prices.  Our research supports this as pricing strategists warn bundlers that they should be careful not to discount too deeply.  Enough to encourage people to take the package not so much that you are sending a signal that will backfire on you.  Finally, if you do discount, the amount of the discount should be prominently displayed on your presentation material and also on your statement of goods and services.

Presentation:

The Federal Trade Commission Rule requires you to present every arranger with an itemized General Price List.  But it does not require you to go over it in detail.   We recommend you present it immediately by saying “we are required to give you a copy of our general price list and you should take this with you when you leave.”  Then lay it on the table for them and immediately say, “Many of the families we serve prefer, however, to review our package plans in order to simplify the process of making decisions.  Let’s talk a little bit about what kind of service you were thinking about.”    

Of course, you need to come up with a script that you are comfortable with.  

When someone making arrangements suggests deleting an item to cut the cost we recommend you say something on the order of:  “Well, that is included at no extra charge in the package price.  But if you prefer we can build a custom service using our itemized price list.”  Then stop talking. 

Including Merchandise

There is some debate as to whether to include merchandise in your packages.  Most successful programs do include at least caskets and urns.  Vaults may be more difficult to include as they may not be used in 100% of the services you perform.   The number of choices within a package should be limited compared to an average selection room and quality should fit the package level.