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, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
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? [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]