The Creedy Commentary
Why The Answer Is Not Just Increasing Volume
I am an accountant. As I have watched the financial metrics of funeral service continue in their long slow decline over the past 30 years my natural response was “make it up in volume.” But then I had the good fortune to get my hands dirty. I actually managed a funeral home and worked along side […]
Esse Quam Videri
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 […]
The Road To Reclaiming Our Future
There is a way to a better future for Funeral Service. In fact, for those who are willing to closely examine the Sacred Cows I truly believe we will rediscover that we make a vital contribution to society. I say that not only because I have believed it for more than 30 years but because […]
ALPHA DOGS AND THE ROAD TO NOWHERE
WHY WE CAN’T AFFORD TO FOLLOW YOUR LEAD ANYMORE Alpha Dogs are frequently those “Type A” personalities that exercise undue influence on others, especially organizations. You find them in every group of people. By their nature and sheer force of personality they tend to cause people to follow their lead whether they know where they […]
EXPERT OPINION: 5 Tips for Positioning Your Funeral Home for Success in the New Year
Did your funeral home achieve all of its goals for 2012? Does the increasing number of families selecting cremation with no services have you concerned? 2013 is a new year that brings a new set of goals to help reboot you business and your team. The New Year is the perfect time to create new […]
Doing Nothing Costs Too Much
On my office wall I have framed photos of three men. If I asked you what they have in common I anticipate I would get many different answers but, for me, there is only one answer. Each, in his own way, despite significant personal tragedy and unimaginable public pressure and emotional stress understood the importance […]
WIND IS CHANGING-UPDATE
If you were not able to access the video on this week’s post, “THE WIND IS CHANGING” it is now working or you can go directly to youtube by clicking here.
The Wind Is Changing – The Conversation Project
For months now I have been telling DeathCare that the wind is changing in our favor. The public attitude toward death and dying is changing at the GLOBAL level. For the present those involved in this are all “grass roots” initiatives springing up independent of each other wherever I look. I have examples in Singapore […]
Burials down 4%…Cremations up 2.5%…Calculate Your Funeral Cliff
With all the hype about our nation’s pending FISCAL CLIFF, I was recently asked when we could expect funeral service to reach it’s fiscal cliff. For a number of years now it seems that if it weren’t for bad news we wouldn’t have any news at all. Rumor has it that Batesville was reporting last […]
HAMMERS, NAILS, PEWS AND HEARSES
My discussion of reinvention / transformation has sparked more comment (online and offline) than most any other topic. Clearly it is on every one’s mind. As we continue to explore this topic it is important…maybe critical…that we realize that we have an obligation to ourselves and to the public to be conscious of keeping a […]
Terrorism and Funeral Service: The Secret Sauce
What is the link between Terrorism and Funeral Service? Well, you have to read a very short story and watch an even shorter video to find out. But the rewards will be worth it because I am going to reveal some of my secret sauce. A few years ago a friend shared that: “Alan see […]
REINVENTION: THE ARRANGEMENTS CONFERENCE–ENTERING THE “HOLY OF HOLIES”
In Old Testament Days the Hebrew Temple contained the “Holy of Holies” behind the “Veil of The Temple”. The Ark of The Covenant which, in turn, held the stone tablets on which were written the Ten Commandments and Moses’ rod was inside this area. So sacred was it that only one priest was allowed to […]