This category contains articles about how to get and keep customers
While I was involved in preneed marketing I observed an odd and, yet, consistent human behavior. Research suggests that many people would prefer to plan their funeral with someone other than a funeral director. YET, when a death occurred they don't want to talk with anyone BUT a funeral director. So as the internet has [...]
Sometimes people ask WHY we have funerals. Good Question. Unfortunately, many of our colleagues aren't quite sure themselves so they stumble. With almost 40 years under my belt (and you thought I was overweight?) I have come to a conclusion and have coined a phrase I welcome my readers to adopt: Collaborative Healing My [...]
These two questions will help you set the stage and provide the service your families are looking for. Today, there are two schools of thought on how to attract more families: Low cost Hyper service To be financially successful as a low-cost provider requires a level of discipline and cost control rarely seen among [...]
Several years ago the Funeral Service Foundation commissioned an unorthodox market research project. They retained one of the foremost market research firms - Olson Zaltman - to study the funeral consumer's unconscious thoughts about funerals. They broke the research into two segments: What consumers actually thought about funerals at the unconscious level What consumers actually [...]
This week I was privileged to be interviewed by Sebastian Thalhammer of Austria. You may or may not have heard of Sebastian but he is a pretty interesting media guru who somehow decided I had something to say. So, Here is my "15 minutes of fame." Actually, it's 45 minutes but it does have [...]
Many consider the advent of the Internet to have ushered in the "Age Of The Consumer." The balance of power (inherently favoring the holder of information) has clearly shifted in a way that at least provides parity between vendor and customer. In the case of those unfortunate products and services which are considered commodities, the balance [...]
I subscribe to the Harvard Business Review Blog and an interesting article came through today that I wonder might have application to those of you who might be challenged by low price competitors. It is a way to separate those who are truly price shoppers and those who are looking for value. It also might [...]
Why Adaptation May Not Be the Right Strategy “You Can’t Manage Change…You Can Only Get Ahead Of It.” Peter Drucker Joe Weigel Last year, for the first time in the history of the annual Best Global Brands report, it was reported that Coca-Cola was no longer the most valuable brand in the [...]
"The best way to break a negative stereotype is to shock the stereotype" The Funeral Profession plays to the negative stereotype by the persona they cultivate: Formal, unapproachable, dignified, conventional, guardians of the past and so on. I have found one of the best ways to shock a stereotype is with humor. If I owned [...]
Joe Weigel I am glad I don't have to compete with Frank Dawson. His use of social media for the past 50 years has built a veritable competitive fortress. Ron Hast, the recently deceased owner of Mortuary Management magazine, had a very compelling habit. It was shortly after I started my career at [...]
