August 31, 2010
Always wanted to “rock on” after death? Why not have your cremated remains pressed into vinyl records?
The company, And Vinyly, supposedly makes records from cremated remains.
Check out their website at: http://www.andvinyly.com/
According to their materials, a complete custom pressing, with music you provide, will cost about two thousand pounds ($3074.68 at current conversion rates) for about 30 of the vinyl discs.
via BoingBoing
April 23, 2010
Recently attended a visitation followed by a service at one of the local funeral homes. The deceased was to be cremated, but the family saw the value in having his body present for viewing and a service.
As I was leaving, I chatted with the funeral director and complimented him on the service. I even teased him that having to work such a late services (went until almost 9 pm) is hard on his own family. Then he said something that reminded me how much change the trend toward cremation has brought to the industry. He said:
“I used to spend four nights a week on the visitation team. Now, we’re lucky if we can convince people to see the body before cremation.”
We chatted some more. Turns out he misses how often he used to stand for visitations. He wishes he had more visitations and he knows that educating his public is the only way to encourage more viewings in the future.
“My staff presents all the options and we tell families that we truly believe that some kind of viewing is beneficial for their friends and loved ones, but these economic times are really affecting my customers,” he shared.
At the end of the day, his bottom line is affected also. Having a big funeral home with multiple viewing rooms and state-of-the-art technology isn’t cheap. At the same time, he is worried that if direct cremation with no viewing becomes the norm, more than just the funeral industry will be damaged; he believes that the basic need to “say goodbye” is harmed, even if people, driven by the economics of it all, don’t realize what they’re losing.
I agree with him. And while I have an awfully pessimistic view of the future of the industry, I think there’s a lot individual funeral directors can do to educate their community. I just wish I had the answer to fix the problem.
February 18, 2010
January 6, 2010
Anyone else host or attend a holiday remembrance service this year?
I went to one hosted by a good friend of mine at his corporate funeral home. It was on a cold, rainy night. I was amazed at how many of his clients braved the wet streets and construction (his company is building him a beautiful new facility) to attend the short service.
They read all of the names of those they had served the previous year and had a wonderful caroling group in period costume sing some beautiful songs while they lit candles in commemoration. They ended with a prayer and a word from the funeral director.
In past years, he’s asked families to decorate a tree with an ornament they had made, he’s given away dove ornaments to everyone who attended and held candlelight services in the cemetery attached to his funeral home.
No matter what he’s done, the people who attend – sometimes hundreds, sometimes less – are touched by the gesture of remembrance and reaffirm their bond with his firm and his staff.
Is it any wonder that his funeral home continues to grow each year?
September 21, 2009
I’m sure there’s a magic formula that NFDA uses to choose the site of their conventions, but while strategy is important – moving geographically so everyone eventually gets a convention in their backyard – I wish there could be a greater emphasis on the economics of it all.
Consider first the hotel situation. NFDA arranged discounts for blocks of rooms at several nearby hotels. They started at $140 a night for a hotel that is four miles from the convention center. The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) shows that the public transport option for this trip takes an hour and requires a bus ride and transfers to two separate subway lines. Can you imagine doing that twice every day for the run of the show?
The other hotels are closer, but more expensive, with rates starting at $249 a night.
Compare that with hotels in Las Vegas and Orlando, the last two stops on the NFDA Expo schedule, where decent rooms, close to the convention center, could be had for less than $100 a night.
Yes, Vegas and Orlando are designed for visitors and can’t offer the rich history of a town like Philadelphia or Boston. But in this economy, it hurts to spend over a thousand dollars for a hotel room that’s still at least a 20 minute walk/subway ride away from the convention center.
Of course, I’m still looking forward to this expo. I’ve never been to Boston and I believe that many of the customers we didn’t see in Las Vegas and Orlando (whether because they were waiting for this show or because the others were too far away form their Northeast homebases) will turn up and give our quilted cot covers a chance.
June 26, 2009
June 22, 2009
I’m excited about today’s start of the 2009 Mid-Western Trade Show, sponsored by the Funeral Directors Assocation of Kentucky, but I’m also kinda nervous.
That’s because this is the first expo where our company is exhibiting, but I’m still sitting at home. Why? Because it’s finally time to send some of my “minions” to man the booth and sell, sell, sell while I work on projects closer to home.
Lynn and Linda, my two busiest sew-ers, are in Louisville right now, getting ready for the first day of the show, which starts this afternoon at 5:00 pm. Here’s a look at what they were able to accomplish yesterday and this morning, when they finished setting up the booth:
It’s interesting to me how many other booths haven’t even started to set up yet. And check out the floor. The show doesn’t require carpet (they don’t even put carpet in the aisles) but I think our “carpet,” made from our fabrics, is a nice “sea of tranquility” on the concrete floor.
We’ve got three days in Louisville, with show hours from 5-8 tonight, 12-3 tomorrow and 8-11:30 on Wednesday. Their goal is to sell 40 covers. When Linda and I attended last year, we sold 32 covers to a whole new audience. I’m hoping this year we’ll get some reorders and some orders from people who didn’t want to “take a chance” last time.
Updates to follow at Linda reports them to me.
June 15, 2009
June 12, 2009
I had a great interview with Mike from Above & Beyond Display Systems. He’s got a nice new idea for funeral directors, which I’ll discuss further in a product review next week.
June 12, 2009
Here’s where funeral home owner and Final Embrace blog reader Bryan Chandler becomes an Internet celebrity:
June 11, 2009
I’m ready to hit the road to St. Augustine, Florida to exhibit at and present two seminars for the IFDF 2009 Expo and Conference, or whatever the official title is.
Later today, I’ll give a presentation titled “Increasing Opportunities: Good, Better, Best Merchandising.”
After that, the opening reception takes place in the ballroom where the exhibits are set up, with guests enjoying cocktails and hors d’oeuvres while strolling the exhibits from 5:30 – 8:00 pm.
Tomorrow, the exhibit hall is open from 12:00 noon – 3:00 pm, immediately after which I will present “To Infinity and Beyond: Funeral Homes and Social Media.”
I’m still working the kinks out of that presentation, so wish me luck! Updates on all our adventures to follow tonight and tomorrow evening.
June 5, 2009
Maybe it’s not difficult for them, but the NFDA just saved me some graphic design work by sending me this image:
Sure, it’s a simple thing, but giving me an image I can use to promote my booth at the 2009 NFDA show is a great way to show me that they’re looking for ways to make my expo time as profitable as possible.
Now, if I can just get them to give me one of their “advertising sessions” for free, I’ll have a pretty impressive presence at the Boston show. 
June 4, 2009
I’m going to attempt to chronicle our “retail adventure” here, but I might miss a few things.
Still, today’s the day I sign the lease!!!
Excited? Yes. Nervous? Oh, hell yes.
Of course, I know this is the right step for our company. We need more space for our cot cover business and there’s a need for a higher-end, customer-focused uniform store in my community. Going to blend the two and, hopefully, come up with a winning gameplan.
And yes, I am still nervous. Always happens when I think about spending money on the “unknown.”
June 4, 2009
ARGGGGHHHHHH!
Is that a loud enough text scream?!?
I’m a little upset with my Flip Camera right now, since it can’t seem to upload videos to Youtube. You may remember that the whole reason I bought the camera was to upload to Youtube. So it’s broken, basically.
And I can’t upgrade it, because none of my computers (we have three in our house) can seem to finish downloading the upgrade software. Gets to the last 2% and hangs up.
It’s really frustrating because I have some awesome video to share with you. I did interviews with Mike from Above and Beyond Display Systems and Dave from a company whose name just left my head. They make customizable register books, candles and other items. This stupid camera has got me so twisted that I can’t even remember his company!
I also talked with Bryan Chandler of Chandler Funeral Home about how to sell memorial videos to funeral attendees. And I took awesome video of the entire show floor.
Maybe it’ll work tomorrow. Or maybe I’ll put it behind the back wheel of the convention wagon and put the car in reverse.
Right now, it’s a toss-up.
May 14, 2009
From www.FAILBLOG.org
May 6, 2009
After some quick responses by readers, I’ve taken advice and added some description and other tags to the header of my www.cotcovers.com site.
Hopefully, that will return a description to my top Google ranking!
February 2, 2009
Photo by Flickr user Senli
Remember the phrase, “keeping up with the Joneses”?
Seems our current economic condition has many people rethinking the “spend-with-abandon” philosophy that had seemed to be engulfing our culture.
And while I can hardly believe that Americans will never, ever again try to outspend each other for social standing, I know that we’re entering an era where people will, at least, think twice before they make big purchases.
I can’t help wondering how this will affect “traditional” funeral homes. That’s the unfortunate part. The better part is all the opportunities this presents for funeral homes that are already listening to what consumers want and offering them services tailored to their needs and ability to pay.
I’m sure there are funeral homes out there who are still serving a traditional clientele and will feel the pinch as those folks who want “the same service we had for dad 20 years ago” become more introspective about their funeral plans and look for options that fit their new reality. And what happens to prestige funeral homes that are used to selling a well-known name and their standing in the community?
Recent reports show that luxury brands (and prestige or reputation funeral homes are just that) are feeling the heat from the economic meltdown. That doesn’t take into account the number of mid-level and entry products makers finding few buyers for their offerings.
Which brings us back to the amazing opportunities I see for the industry.
For years people have been telling us they want to “have a party” or “spend the money on my kids, not a casket” and we’ve responded with interchangeable cap panels and colorful register books. Some of us added butterfly releases or personalized memorial videos, in an effort to meet the new “personalization” trend.
So many of these answers were really just shots in the dark, hoping to hit the crazy, moving target that is the American funeral consciousness.
We have the chance, now that consumers are more likely to buy only what they need or truly want, to find out what the modern American funeral really means to today’s client family.
January 26, 2009
A few recent commenters and emailers have asked me questions about pre-need, with two questions specifically about generating cold leads.
Unfortunately, my experience with pre-need is limited to working with the sales force at a large chain (there are three letters in their name) and selling insurance to walk-ins at a small funeral home.
My time spent with that big company brought quite a few interactions with pre-need sellers. Unfortunately, characterizing those encounters or experiences as pleasant or even tolerable would be over-generous.
In truth, most of those sales people were ruthless and seemed more preoccupied with their own welfare and wallet than with taking care of their clients.
But here’s my caveat: while I met many “sharks”, I also had the fortune to become friends with some very nice, wholesome and caring individuals who were more concerned with their customers and worked to provide the best possible care. It’s unfortunate, then, that the machinery in the large corporation seemed designed to eat the nice ones up and reward those with less scruples.
When I left and went to work for a small family firm, I saw the flipside: an ineffective pre-need drive.
Within two years, I took the necessary classes, passed the appropriate test and background check, and received my license to sell funeral insurance for the funeral home.
My pre-need duties, however, were secondary to my daily chores, which included running all the day-to-day tasks required by a small family funeral home.
All of which limited me to selling pre-need to walk-ins, families we had previously served and referrals.
And that, my readers, makes me less than qualified to teach anyone how to generate cold leads.
Of course, I can tell a new salesperson how to leaf back through old files and cold-call widows, checking up on their well-being and trying to encourage them to buy pre-need. And I can talk about how to present seminars and display at health fairs, but what about the business of generating completely new leads?
Is it about charm? Should you stand in line at McDonalds wearing a nametag (see the post, DAILY NAG: Wear Your Nametag!)?
Or is it “who you know?”
You got any insight? Feel free to comment. We need guidance on this subject.
