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 [...]
I found this ad on youtube. Produced by Boeing it is, in my mind, the best tribute to veterans I have seen. To all you veterans out there: Thank you.
Here is a great video that you should watch with your staff and talk about. QUESTION: How do you mentally prepare yourself to wholeheartedly serve people each day?
Unlike most other professions funeral practitioners must operate within an often sensitive emotional environment. Let's call it emotionally charged. We know too well that sympathy can often backfire but empathy is never lost. Sympathy can often take someone lower but empathy often lifts up. God was angry with Job's friends but I have always been [...]
Alternative Title: It's Time To Get Over Yourself! Not long ago I was part of a group studying the challenges of recruitment in the funeral profession. I was stunned to hear the "table talk" of practicing funeral directors. Our conversations centered around why people wouldn't want to be funeral directors...the long and unpredictable work hours, [...]
Did you know that money is not a motivator. It is only a hygiene factor. Paying too little creates dissatisfaction...paying fairly only takes away the bone of contention...paying too much does not create enthusiasm and can often lead to dissatisfaction. So what really motivates people. It's simpler than you think and if you are as [...]
I started out too many weeks ago addressing the virtues of a senior leader making themselves unnecessary and I ran straight into a wall! My apologies but this is too important to take lightly so I took my time to untangle the issues and turns out it's really pretty simple. There are three roles each [...]
Here is a short video for Good Friday to remind us that Jesus lives. Watch it, you might be surprised where He lives. Have a wonderful Easter
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 [...]
