Callaway Jones Funeral offers "Stay At Home" Arrangement Helper. My friend, Cody Jones, of Callaway - Jones Funeral Home is offering a guide for his customers to prepare for arrangement conferences, sign documents and make choices. He has given permission to share it. click on the link below. And while you are there explore his [...]
A Scarcity Mentality is the zero-sum paradigm of life. People with a Scarcity Mentality have a very difficult time sharing recognition and credit, power or profit – even with those who help in the production. They also have a a very hard time being genuinely happy for the success of other people. Yet it is [...]
Most people speak of those they work with as a team. But, in my experience, people rarely understand what a team really is. In funeral service what typically represents a team is really a group of people who are very nice but work towards their own ends independently. If the firm has clear standards and [...]
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 [...]
I have to admit I tense up whenever someone begins using the Ritz Carlton as an example Funeral Service should use to fashion its own customer service profile. Not that we can't learn some things from the Ritz. We most certainly can! But it is a dangerous recommendation when we fail to "Go Deep" on [...]
Why is bigger better when it comes to creating memorable experiences? Look at any successful service business, whether it’s a hospital, a hotel, a restaurant or even a funeral home, and you’re bound to come away with one undeniable message: the experience you create for your customers and guests is crucial to the future of [...]
Here is an excerpt of an interrogation of a witness in a Massachusetts trial court: Lawyer: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse? Doctor: no. Lawyer: did you check for blood pressure? Doctor: no. Lawyer: so, it’s possible the patient was alive when you began the autopsy? Doctor: [...]
I read a lot and sometimes I preorder new books. This Winter I preordered "THE REINVENTORS, How Extraordinary Companies Pursue Radical Continuous Change" By Jason Jennings. I started reading it last week and when I turned to page 60 lo and behold what did I see? My friend Bill McQueen as one of the case [...]
Earlier this year Rick Baldwin used a comment by famed hockey player, Wayne Gretzky, in his post: "How To Be Exceptional In The New Normal". Here Bruce Buchanan, CEO of The Buchanan Group adds his perspective to Rick's. Bruce Buchanan As funeral professionals we are torn by two forces when we take on [...]
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 [...]
