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Author: Alan Creedy

Are You A Leader Or A Manager?

A few years ago I attended a breakfast honoring Alabama University football coach Nick Saban.  In his remarks he shared with us that he begins every season with the statement: “I didn’t come here to be irrelevant!” Those 8 words profoundly illustrate a simple principle: the difference between leadership thinking and management thinking.

Leaders ask themselves 3 basic questions:

  • Who am I?
  • Who are we?
  • Where are we going?

In contrast, managers ask themselves two questions:

  • What happened?
  • How can I fix it?

Do you see the difference?  After Alabama’s disastrous 2006 season Nick Saban could have asked “What happened and how can I fix it?”  Instead his comment incorporates in 8 words a powerful message based on his answers to the three leadership questions:

  • I am someone with a purpose: to build a winning team.
  • We have what it takes to win!
  • We are going to be a team of winners!

The rest is history as he led the 2009 team become National Champions.

Managers obsess about the past and even the present.   Leaders look beyond their circumstances and lead ordinary people to peak performance.

How about you?  Did you come here to be irrelevant?

 

 

Happiness is Positive Cash Flow- A Quick and Easy Way to Model Cash Flow

What business owner wouldn’t agree that Cash is King.  Here is a quick and easy way to find your break even point and model out various changes you might make to revenue or expenses at no cost to you.

Answer a few simple questions and this free DIY Calculator tells you:

  • How your stats compare with industry averages
  • Your Average Sale
  • Your Average Burial Revenue and Margin
  • Your Average Cremation Revenue and Margin

And MOST IMPORTANT: Your Margin of Safety.   A Margin of Safety is the amount of revenue or calls beyond breakeven you currently have.   I recommend a Margin of Safety of no less than 20%

Because you can use the calculator as often as you like it is easy to make changes in your input and watch how it changes your performance.  Try increasing your burial average by 5% and your cremation average by 10% and see what happens.

Watch this brief video and then click on the picture below the video to get started.

Click On the Image Below to Get Started

 

 

Why Funeral Directors Need Two Eyes

In his controversial series challenging the belief that Funeral Service is in the “Grief Business” Dale Clock provocatively pushes us to examine what business we are really in.  It is a conversation long overdue and, regardless of which side you are on, absolutely necessary to our future.

This is more than an “academic” conversation.  For it is the very livelihoods of all practitioners that are at stake.  Since Dale’s bold challenge I have pondered his question.  No, I don’t have a firm answer and I am not sure, as a consultant, that it is for me to declare the answer.  In fact, I sense that the answer may, itself, be situational leaving it to personal choice.  In other words: “Where do you want to stand?”

This article from Steve Goodier (http://www.lifesupportsystem.com/) helped me at a personal level get closer to the “What Business Are We In?” answer.

FINDING THE RIGHT WORDS

Have you ever noticed how hard it can be to find the right words?

It was once said that Al Smith, former governor of New York, was 
making his first inspection of Sing Sing prison. The warden asked 
him if he might say a few words to the prisoners.

 The governor began, “My fellow citizens.” But he suddenly felt 
confused about whether the inmates may have forfeited their 
citizenship.  So he took a second stab at it: “My fellow convicts.”
  There was a roar of laughter and now he became flustered.  He 
gallantly tried a third time: “Well, anyhow, I’m glad to see so many 
of  you here.”

There is no record of what he said after that.

I have frequently struggled to find the right words. And there are 
times I am certain the right words do not even exist.  Like when I’m 
trying to say something hopeful or comforting in a particularly 
frightening situation. 

More than once I have been called to a hospital emergency room or to
 be with a family surrounding the bed of a dying relative.  And more
 than once I’ve been at a loss for words. What is the right thing to 
say at a time like that?  What can I say that doesn’t sound hollow or
 trite or like I’m just not in touch with the feelings of others who 
are hurting?

A lot of us really don’t know what to say at these times. And too 
often the professionals who work daily with people on the ragged
 edge of hope have become so desensitized they have lost any ability 
to comfort.

A wise obstetrician at a university teaching hospital once made a 
comment about comforting those who suffer.  Someone asked the doctor 
what advice he offered his students, future doctors and nurses, when 
caring for mothers who gave birth to stillborn infants.

  The doctor paused for a moment in thought.  Then he said this: “I
 tell them that they need two eyes.  One eye is not enough; they need
 two eyes.  With one eye they have to check the I.V. And with the
 other eye they have to weep.  That’s what I tell them,” he said. “I 
tell them that they need two eyes.”

That may be some of the wisest advice I’ve ever heard. We may not 
always need to figure out what to say;  we really only need two eyes.

In Emily Dickinson’s words, “Saying nothing . . . sometimes says the 
most.”  And this from a poet whose life was all about finding exactly 
the right words.

I agree with the doctor – empathy goes a long way. And somehow 
finding the ability to feel, even for a few moments, what another is 
feeling may speak more loudly than the best words I can choose. It
 speaks to the fact that I care; I understand.  It says that I am 
willing to share their pain so they do not feel so alone. It says I
want to be fully present with them and to walk alongside of them, 
difficult as it may be. My presence is something they can draw real
 strength and hope from. 

 Come to think of it, maybe Dickinson did find the right words:
 saying nothing . . . sometimes says the most.  And saying nothing at 
all may be just the right thing to say.

— Steve Goodier

http://www.lifesupportsystem.com/

 

 

Facebook Revenge: Social Media Rules of Engagement

I have found that “unfriending” people (in particular vendors using this mechanism to solicit) is an emotionally rewarding pastime…and I don’t think I am alone.

As you know I have been trying to get my head around this social media thing.  (See “You Annoy Me”) You probably also know that I like Epiphanies.  And I had one recently about the way I want to interact with my social media.   Notice I said “My” because the epiphany is that I own it and that that sense of ownership is how most people feel about their own interaction with social media.  It’s like having a party and being open enough to allow your friends to invite their friends WITH YOUR PERMISSION.  The problem is that some of your friend’s friends aren’t really friends they are freeloaders.

The purpose of a party (at least for me) is to socialize and it’s all about fellowship.  Catching up and keeping up with the folks you care about or folks you meet you might think you want to care about.

If it’s a party, the second part of my epiphany is that it’s MY party and if people are going to misbehave then I have an obligation to myself and others to set the rules so everyone who comes (and is allowed to stay) will have a good time and not have to be annoyed by freeloaders.  I don’t like having to set rules and am offended that I am forced to impose them but it’s not my fault so here are:

Alan’s Social Media Rules of Engagement

You’re Outta Here if:

  • You are a vendor and your sole purpose is to sell me your goods and get me to endorse your goods
  • You are a vendor and you snuck in to my social media pretending not to be a vendor
  • You are a friend who insists on plugging a product with which you are associated with daily posts
  • You are a friend who finds it impossible to express themselves without the use of socially inappropriate language
  • You are a vendor who provides good content but posts more than 2 times a week to hawk their product or seminar
  • You are a friend who thinks it is important that I know where you are at each moment of the day
  • You are a vendor and have just installed an expensive service or product in a client’s business and you think it will help you to tell the world how wonderful they are
  • You invite me to join your group and fail to keep vendors from using the group to hawk their products.  (groups are for helping each other not free advertising)
  • You are generally smarmy

You can probably see a pattern here so I need to be clear.  I really don’t mind at all having a vendor join my party.  In fact, they are welcome as long as they provide free and worthwhile content even if it is hawking their product.  After all we need some products and services.  What I mind is their flooding my wall and friends with what amounts to advertising.  What constitutes flooding?  I think twice a week is acceptable.  3 to 4 times a day…WOW!!!  Do you really think that works?

If you want to be my friend then there needs to be more than a commercial motive.  I think that it is important that people at my party be authentic.  So, those of you who think you can keep your visibility and public awareness up through disingenuous cheerleading for those in your target customer group need to take note.  At my house I want you to feel comfortable and welcome enough to just be yourself.  There is no purpose to your being my friend other than fellowship.  If sales come as a byproduct then it was because someone else at the party or even me was helped by using it.

I am particularly offended when I become a member of a group in which I have an interest like “NFDA” or “ICCFA” or “CPA’s for a balanced budget” and the only communication I get from the group is from vendors who want to sell me something.  And I am not overstating it when I say offended.

Maybe I’m the only one who feels this way but, again, the epiphany is that it is my party and that gives me the right to exclude people who can’t seem to get the rules right.  After all when my parents come home I don’t want to have to explain anything now do I?

 

 

 

How 1% = 20% Profit Increase

I recently read about a research project conducted by McKinsey & Company, a world renowned consulting company.  They found that among a select group of 1200 global companies, a 1% increase in average prices would translate into an 11% increase in profits.    Assuming demand remains constant, an additional study revealed that the same 1% increase in price would increase profits from 16% (Home Depot) to 155% (Sears).    So, what would a 1% increase yield in a typical funeral home?

Let’s assume a 100 call funeral home with average sales of $6,500 per call

Before                   After

Calls                                         100                      100

Average Sale                        $6,500                $6,565

Total Revenue                   $650,000           $656,500

Cost of Goods                   ($130,000)        ($130,000)

Gross Margin                    $520,000            $526,500

Overhead                           $487,500            $487,500

Profit                                    $32,500               $39,000

Increase in profit ($39,000 – $32,500) / $32,500 = 20%

Interesting!  Just goes to show you how powerful that low variable margin really is.

Sometimes A Sharp Stick In The Eye Can Be A Good Thing

Recently my friend, Dale Clock, wrote an article entitled “Should Funeral Homes Be In The Grief Business?” His position is that they should not for several reasons including:

  • The formal involvement in “Grief” has failed to move the needle
  • Not everyone needs it
  • It is an indication we are failing to listen to the public

I commented on the article to Dale and said I appreciated his taking a “Contrarian” stand but I didn’t agree with him.  But (and this is important) I hoped that strong stands like his would spark necessary debate and discussion about the topic that might help crystallize our business model for the good of all.

In the several weeks since the article appeared I have had a hard time getting it off my mind.  First, because it underscored, for me, that we are a profession with a serious identity problem.  We no longer know where we fit.  Second, there was only one other comment, indicating either that no one cared or no one had an alternative.  Or maybe they were so stunned they didn’t know how to start.  And third, perhaps he was right.  Certainly he is right in acknowledging that it has not drawn the public closer to us.  Certainly he is right that we are not listening as we should to our public.  But I stop short in believing we should abandon all and move it all to nothingness.  In fact, I strongly believe that if we don’t provide opportunities for life expression among boomers they will find an alternative rather than go without.

Some years ago I pointed out the very real and potentially imminent possibility that funeral service as we know it may be becoming irrelevant.  There was general assent but no debate.  Now I see that word popping up with some frequency in articles and speeches.

Not long ago I attended a breakfast honoring famed football coach Nick Saban.  He shared with us that he always told his teams that “We don’t come here to be irrelevant.”

Well, neither do I.

So what will it take to be relevant?  First, read Dale’s article.  Hopefully, it will stir you somehow.  It matters not whether good or bad.  Hopefully, it will wake you up and cause you to begin to reflect internally:  What business are we in?  This is a much deeper question than you might imagine.  Personally, as I have watched us struggle for an answer I find the commonly hasty conclusions and opinions to be shallow at best and hopelessly misled at worst.  Try this for an exercise:

The word relevant comes from the latin relevare which means to relieve or lift up.  Hmmm!  Somehow, I sense that is a connection to the social contribution we make to our culture and society.  Death is a disruptive and disturbing event. The process brings relief and order out of chaos. (my opinion).  Using this definition what business should we be in.

Fair Warning: since this is my commentary you should know that it is my personal opinion that suggestions we are in the “event” business are a gross oversimplification of the human emotional range of needs.  I wonder if the trend toward circus acts isn’t beginning to overserve our customers.  In the words of Peter Drucker “Doing those things increasingly well that should not be done at all.”

Well, Dale, now we are both “stick-pokers.”  Hopefully, between the two of us we have offended someone enough to say “ouch.” And maybe they will care enough to take us on so we can move the discussion and begin moving the needle.

 

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We Stand At The Threshold of our Greatest Opportunity…It is ours to lose!  Yet lose it we will if we don’t recognize that there is a “New Normal.”  With more than 80% of our personal wealth locked up in our businesses we can’t afford to ignore the change that is sweeping our profession.  This year’s commentary supplies indepth insight, illustrative videos, conversations with experts on issues we need to better understand, tutorials and team exercises for your and your staff to begin working on your future today.

This I Understand: The Good Side of Social Media

Several weeks ago I received an email from a friend sharing why he had chosen to be so active in social media. He gave me permission to reproduce it here. I like reading his posts for the reasons he outlines below. They are winsome, occasionally challenging, often amusing and they accomplish very well exactly what he proposes here…they make him highly approachable. This part of social media I get.

Good morning Alan,

Please keep these thoughts confidential (or at least leave my name out of it). You’ll see why at the end.

I noted in your most recent Commentary posting that you were “trying to figure this Facebook thing out.” It is certainly an interesting phenomenon. I know a lot of people that have tried to utilize it for “business.” I think they are missing the point.

Despite the fact that I virtually never mention my business, the funeral home, or death-related stuff, I have taken a number of first calls, imminent arrangements, and preneed inquiries through my personal Facebook account’s Inbox. My key take-away, at least at the moment, is that people see me as a real person, accessible, with an affinity for others. I can virtually guarantee if I started pumping the funeral business, making “come to XYZ” comments, or other self-promotional posts, that folks on Facebook would avoid me like the plague.

The salon is full of folks that like to discuss politics, philosophy, economics, (and occasionally, against all social rules – religion), as well as other topics of the day. My friends list is full of all kinds of people: bikers, bankers, lawyers, legislators, ditch-diggers and waitresses, single moms and grandfathers, musicians and computer geeks. I have business contacts, national church leaders from my denomination, former parishioners and old high school friends. It’s a mish-mash really, just like real life. But in each case, these folks have people they love, people that will die, and people that they will need to entrust their loved ones to.

In a small town, everyone knows the funeral director. He or she goes to to the parties, attends the social events, sheds a tear with folks, and makes mistakes, just like everyone else. Political signs for the “wrong” party/candidate/cause sometimes appear in his or her yard, while at other times the entire community benefits from the generosity of spirit that a small-town funeral director provides. People get buried or cremated, one way or another, whether they have any money or not. And life goes on.

Facebook has allowed me to present that image to my “friends” list. I am a real person. Some of these folks I barely know, or have not even met in person.

I recently did a funeral for a guy’s dad that I have argued politics with for the last two years. He supports single-payer health care, while I oppose it. During and after the services for his father, this gentleman posted the nicest most glowing comments about our services on his page, and to our company page. His daughter posted a touching picture of her young son, standing alone at the casket in our chapel. It was a beautiful and meaningful moment that transcended Facebook and electronic communication. It was real.

That’s what I am looking for with social media. And I think others are too.

You Annoy Me: The Dark Side of Social Media

I  “unfriended” my second person today. They got under my skin. And I am thinking about my third “unfriend” with growing anticipation.  I see a pattern emerging that I think might be helpful for all you other folks trying to make sense of this social media stuff.

Before I go further let me clarify I am definitely over 50.  I believe we need to find a way to be active in social media.  But as a close friend recently shared with me all these folks that are so eager to teach us all about social media are a little like the volunteer fireman who is also an arsonist.  And the reason I have gone on this unfriending binge is a good example of social media run amok.

An Open Letter to My Recent Friend:

I recently unfriended you and in the interest of fairness I think you should know why.

When I first joined Facebook, LinkedIn and Plaxo it was because “Everybody” said I had to do it.  Unfortunately, no one explained the etiquette of the thing and so I have a number of “friends” whom I don’t know and don’t care about because I didn’t know you could ignore someone without offending them.  For the past year I have been smarter and if you are not affiliated with a funeral home, cemetery or related group or someone I care about I just hit ignore…no malice, no enjoyment…just an action that says “not interested.”

You should also know that I only really view my facebook activity on my not-so-smartphone.  On a daily basis I get more than 100 updates, mostly from people I don’t know. I actually like some of them and it’s nice to keep up with others.

Interestingly, I have discovered that there are some people…of which you are one…who have slipped through my defenses and subsequently revealed themselves to be using Facebook for commercial purposes.  This becomes evident when you begin bombarding me with your links, recommendations and other uninvited intrusions on my day.    I don’t really mind so much except for the ones…and you are a good example…who seem to take a page out of the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and send something every 30 minutes.  On Monday of this week I counted 22 from you and Tuesday 24.  I noticed several today but I didn’t bother to count because that was when I said:  “Enough”.  I thought it was SOCIAL media not COMMERCIAL media.  You overstepped your bounds and spent too much time in my face.  It was unwelcome and intrusive, uninformative and inconsiderate. As they say in the movies: “I am just not that into you.”

I am sure this flies in the face of that volunteer fireman who told you this was the way to build your business while he was setting your house on fire. The result is that you are now on my list of people and companies I will never give the chance to tell me about their product.  You see, I am one of those silent majority people who simply votes with their checkbook.

I wish you the best…someplace else.

Sincerely,

Alan Creedy

To my readers: next week a positive example of how to use social media.

We Need To Stop Hiding

Two weeks ago in my article, “A Horrifying Revelation About Price”, I adressed two issues:  Opportunity Cost and our inadequacy in handling price shoppers. Last week I drilled down a little deeper on the issue of Opportunity Cost in “If Lee Iacocca Owned a Funeral Home”. This week I will do the same for the price issue.

A Dab About Pricing Strategy

Price is always a strategy and has to do with pricing to value not to cost.  We have lost so much ground because the overwhelming majority of our profession price to cost.  That means that they maintain an outdated overhead structure and unnecessary expenses and let that drive their pricing strategy.  Pricing to value means finding that part of the service and / or product customers value most and charging more for those and less for the ones they don’t care about.   With many areas of the country now experiencing in excess of 50% cremation the value of physical merchandise in the eyes of a growing part of the market is necessarily called into question.

The Core Issue

What caused me to be horrified, however, is not our outdated strategy but our inability to recognize and articulate value.  After decades of bad press, increasing cremation (which we interpret as rejection) and an increasingly diverse and challenging customer environment we seem to have forgotten why we are here.  Simon Sinek gave a wonderful lecture on this issue on TED.COM.  My belief is that if we had a better grasp of what it is we are doing for society we would be a lot more successful in handling price shoppers.

Here is my personal truth:

DeathCare is not like any other product or service in the world!   And it is time we stopped hiding and faced that fact.  Comparisons to high end resorts and theme parks have their place and serve as informative ways to upgrade the behavior of ourselves and our staffs.  Death evokes deep emotions, has transcendental overtones and (regardless of religious persuasion) elements of the sacred.  No one but DeathCare providers are prepared to serve the whole picture.

Ask yourself this question:  “What Do People Pay Us For?”

Judging from the way we act and talk here is what we think they pay us for:

  • Our facilities
  • Our vehicles
  • Our location
  • Our caskets
  • Our persona
  • Our years in business
  • Our community commitment

I have come to believe that people pay us because they love someone…and sometimes that someone is themselves.  My recent study has caused me to wonder if the type of service people buy isn’t better correlated with the relationships that survive than it is with socioeconomic, or belief systems.  This, in turn, has caused me to wonder if many of those who buy less service aren’t being underserved because we are too afraid (or as in my earlier article lost our own faith) to stand up for what we believe.   For my entire career DeathCare has spent all its time and resources fighting among itself and no time and no resources fighting for itself.

Some time ago a major vendor asked me what I thought most funeral home owners want.  My answer:  “Judging from their behavior they want to not be there.” In recent years we have begun to hide behind a flurry of euphemisms:  Tribute Center, Care Center, Celebration Center.  None of these are bad but I think we should recognize that distancing ourselves from the reality of who we are can’t help us.  We are Death Experts and we work with people who need a Death Expert.  But we have let the court of uninformed public opinion persuade us to tone down our message.

Maybe some of my thoughts about the valid contribution DeathCare makes to society will jog your memory.

Death is…

•Is deeply personal
•Is deeply emotional
•Has transcendent meaning
•Has elements of sacredness
•Has multigenerational impact
DeathCare Facilitates Stories…
•Of Hard Work
•Of Sacrifice
•Of Risks Taken
•Of disappointments & Of Victories
•Of Joy & Sadness
•Of Meaning
DeathCare Connects…
•People
•Families
•Communities
•Purpose
•Meaning
•God
DeathCare…
•Validates & affirms
•Facilitates healing
•Creates permanence
•Entrenches memories
•Defines & acknowledges that life… to have meaning…must have purpose
–Reminds us or gives us purpose

People Pay Us Because They Loved Someone

When we reduce love to a price we are reducing something sacred to something trivial

If Lee Iacocca Owned a Funeral Home

There is an apocryphal story in accountant circles about Lee Iacocca’s first day as CEO of Chrysler.  As the story goes, Mr. Iacocca’s very first act was to call in the Chief Financial Officer and ask how many day’s cash was on hand.  The CFO responded that the company had 3 day’s cash available.  Mr. Iacocca responded, “Where shall we spend it?”

Last week’s commentary “A Horrifying Revelation About Price” addressed more than one concern I have about our profession and touched off a flurry of comments.  All of the responses were well thought out and worthy of reading.  But they made me aware that I need to drill down a little deeper on my points.

The Iacocca Lesson

In a limited resource environment Mr. Iacocca understood the vital importance of optimizing his resources.  Like most funeral homes, he knew the answer involved livelihoods.  It was no abstract theoretical question.  His query of the CFO understood principles I think are largely misunderstood in funeral service.

With so many funeral homes struggling to maintain the same profitability year over year (assuming they are profitable at all)  it is vital that limited resources be used in ways that shorten and optimize returns.  You can bet that there was a lot of demand for that cash among vendors and creditors.  Iacoca knew they would rather get $1 than the ten cents they would get in bankruptcy court.  So, he just blew right past them and wanted to know where he could get the fastest and highest return.  He needed to make his dollars generate more dollars and quick.  As John Horan observed in his comments to last week’s commentary, Iacocca knew he could not afford to: “Step over dollars to pick up nickels.”

Opportunity Cost

The need to generate more dollars from limited resources brings us to the central point of Mr. Iacocca’s strategy and one of my two points in last week’s article: this week I will address Opportunity Cost. This concept means that there is always more than one opportunity and what may seem like a good opportunity because “everyone is doing it” may not actually be the best opportunity.  In my response to Colleen Ellis’ comments I observed that Pet Care might be a viable strategy for some practitioners (if, and only if, it generates more human calls).  For others struggling to survive it could in fact be a fatal strategy.  Fatal because it overstretches limited resources with insufficient returns to make the risk worthwhile.

Opportunity Cost recognizes that if you choose to invest resources in an option so that another option cannot be pursued because you have exhausted your resources then the difference in return of the lost opportunity must be added to the cost of the option you chose.  An example might be that you have 3 different options for investing in ways that will improve your business as follows:

                         Option A     Option B     Option C
Investment               $50,000      $150,000     $200,000
Payback period            7 years     10 years      4 years
Annual cash return        $7,000      $15,000      $50,000

You choose Option B because everyone is doing it and it is less expensive and less boring.   The actual cost of Option B would be as follows:

Investment:                          $150,000
Unrealized cash from Option C         $35,000
Payback period for option B          10 years
Opportunity cost  (10 yrs x $35k)    $350,000
Investment                           $150,000
less: incremental cost of option c  ($ 50,000)
Actual cost of Option B              $450,000

My apologies to accountants and economists.  In order to simplify this illustration I have purposely ignored a number of other variables like the time value of money and risk.

To summarize this point:

  • Warren Buffet and Lee Iacocca would demand that for every dollar invested an additional dollar be earned
  • All options and opportunities should be weighed against other opportunities no matter how unsexy or boring they might be.

To illustrate further:  During the 90’s it was common for funeral homes to invest in the neighborhood of $50,000 in upgrades to selection rooms anticipating significant increases in sales revenues.  Interestingly, at the time, no one was investing even a fraction of that amount in staff training (an alternative investment option).  Here is how I would have looked at that scenario.

                Before   Select rm upgrde   Staff Training
Calls              200           200               205
Avge svce chge  $2,500        $2,500             $2,750
Avge cskt sle   $2,000        $2,500             $2,500
Total Sales   $900,000     $1,000,000         $1,076,250
C.O.S @ 17%  ($153,000)    ($170,000)        ($174,250)
Margin        $747,000      $830,000          $902,000
Incr                       $  83,000          $155,000 

Investment                 $  50,000         $  50,000
Opportunity cost:$155,000-$83,000)           $  72,000
Less:Incremental cost of Option C           ($    -0- )
Total Cost of Selection room upgrade          $152,000
ROI                    54% first year   310% first year

I think I know what Warren Buffet and Lee Iacocca would have done.

Post Script:

It was not my purpose to bash Pet Care but it stands as a good example of what might seem like a good idea but may not be the best idea.   Investing $150,000 to generate unit margins of $125 or less on a stand-alone basis is one thing.  But when you consider that investing $30,000 to $75,000 in a program that will train your staff in ways that will improve yield on existing customers whose margins are already in excess of $5,000 and improve services that will generate even more of those customers makes more sense to me.

A Horrifying Revelation About Price

I have long believed that most price shoppers in DeathCare begin with the price question solely because they don’t know what else to ask. That belief supports another which holds that what most shoppers are really looking for is someone they can trust. Thus I understood why it was important that we engage shoppers over and above simply answering their questions and that the longer the conversation the more likely we are to win the call.  All was well in my little land of making 2 plus 2 = 4.

Conversely, I have always struggled with what is, to me, the almost obsessive way DeathCare providers chase after unprofitable calls and ignore profitable calls.   Think about it!!   We will spend an unreasonable amount of our advertising money to attract direct cremation.  We will start cremation societies, and compete aggressively on price to go after what is (for at least a little while longer) the smaller, albeit growing, part of our market. Yet we spend little or nothing going after the higher end…who are often our best customers.   This inordinate and incomprehensible behavior has reached its peak in the pet cremation trend.

To be sure, I completely get the idea that pet services afford us an opportunity to interact with families we don’t currently serve in a positive way.  But spending in excess of $150,000 to chase after unit margins of less than $125 is beyond my mathematical ability.  I cannot help asking myself how much greater my return would be if I spent that same $150,000 chasing after unit margins of $6,000.  Then it dawned on me.  And if my epiphany has merit, it scares me. Perhaps we have so much trouble with price shoppers and so willingly distract ourselves…even to the point of sacrificing limited resources…because we, ourselves, don’t adequately relate to the value we bring.   Most price shoppers don’t know what the questions are so they resort to price.  It may be that we, too, have forgotten how to quantify the value of a life lived for ourselves and so we feel inadequate in explaining it to others.  Or, worse yet, we don’t know the answers.

If you are successful with price shoppers I hope you will comment.  Enlighten me.  What are the trigger points?