Being the Funeral Home of Choice

     There are a lot of choices we make every day in life based on intuition, more commonly known as our "gut-feeling".  People choose a funeral home for pre-planning needs based on impressions they have of your funeral service, whether they are valid or not.  Because of this, every promotional product and contact point from your funeral company should encourage people to contact you for their pre-planning needs, or at least in the case of a loved one's passing.  The way your company's logo makes them feel, the attractiveness of your website, the experience their friends or family members had working with your directors in the past - its all about making people feel good about your company before they attempt to contact you for a funeral arrangement.
     
     Getting referrals for pre-planning options, a  great way to secure growth for your funeral home's future, is best accomplished through providing the best possible service to those families you are already working with.  The best service requires more than performing the basic funeral rituals, such as the service planning appointments with families to all the legal documentation required after the graveside closing.  The best level of service also calls for expressing sympathy to the family with a card, a memorial gift, or even an aftercare visit. 

     Some funeral homes, often with the greatest reputations in the industry, provide year-end memorial services where families can share a sense of closure to their loss of loved ones during the year.  It is these memorial services where funeral directors can show a level of hospitality and empathy that may be missed by the family during the original funeral service thanks to rushed schedules and wild emotions of family members they are consulting with.  A year-end memorial service where all families can get together allows everyone to celebrate the memories of those who passed during the year. 

     As part of these year-end celebrations, personalized memorial gifts can be given to each family in honor of their loved one's legacy.  These memorial items should be something that holds up to many years of use, and cannot easily break.  From personalized memorial ornaments to military veterans' flag cases, the value of a one-of-a-kind memorial gift spreads not only good-will, but sows the seeds of future business for the funeral home.

Explore a Personalized Aftercare Program

Why Aftercare is Important

     When you've done all you're expected to do as a funeral director, the unexpected gestures of goodwill and concern are what the families you serve will remember the most.  In growing your business long-term, relationship management through aftercare is key to your growth in a competitive funeral industry.
    Those strong relationships can easily be forged with families by turning around the negative experiences and emotions they may be expressing with you into positive reflections of the loved one's legacy.  For those directors who simply look at their business in a functional perspective, they may miss the value of this emotional connection with the families, and fail to gain as many referrals or pre-planned clients as a result of this omission.
     The effort you exert to maintain a positive relationship with families you've served (without becoming bothersome) is essential to gain a flawless reputation in the industry that builds future referrals.  One method of helping bridge this gap successfully and gaining the highest reputation is sending a thoughtful letter along with a personalized memorial gift.  Sending the memorial gift does not encroach on the family's time, but expresses your sympathy and encouragement effectively.  

New Engaving Center

As promised, here is a new preview of what the new engraving center area will look like. This change over will take place in September. New features to include:

• the ability to order additional ornaments online
  and pay by Check OR Credit Card
• if you refer a new Funeral Home to us and they
  join the program, we will pay you $50 referral fee.
• a News section that will keep you up to
  date on specials we are running on promotional
  products to enhance your image even more!

So click on the screen shot below to take a look. Once the browser opens it in a new window, click on the image again to see it close-up. We would really like to hear your feedback so please leave a comment below the picture.

Creating a Lasting Memorial for the Families You Serve

     After the funeral, memorial service, or life celebration, many families wish to have something permanent as a reminder of the person that they loved through life and recently lost.  It may help you as a director to think about what was important to the person through the loved ones' eyes.  What did they value?  What made them smile?  Perhaps by beginning there, the appropriate memorial gift will present itself.  Consider these memorial gifts to help families you serve remember their loved ones:

-  Give a personalized memorial ornament to the families.  The holidays can be the hardest times to get through without a loved one, but a personalized memorial ornament will gladly be displayed in your clients' homes as a reminder of the loved one they miss during those special times.

- Give a tree in their memory.  Tree seedlings can be labeled with your funeral home's name, message, or logo directly on the packaging at funeralhomepromos.com/funeral-home-supply.html.  Simply type "trees" or "plants" as your search category in the category field, and you'll find over 100 options including potted plants, seedlings, and potted herb gardens or flowers.  Each can be customized with your message of comfort, and the low prices allow these to be purchased for every family you've directed a service with for their loved one.


- Have your love one's photo placed on a custom-designed cremation urn.  Cremation urns can be personalized through a photo imprint process called sublimation, where a full color photograph is permanently printed into the urn.  Product options can be discussed with Keystone Specialties' representatives by calling 800-240-8639 Monday thru Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM Eastern Standard Time.  See colorful cultured marble cremation urns to start your selection.  
  
- Donate a memorial bench to a park.  if they loved surfing, for example, a bench made in the shape of a wakeboard could be placed at a public beach with the loved one's story on a plaque mounted to the front.  You may also consider purchasing a plaque or a brick in their name to help fund a community project.  Discuss these options with Keystone Specialties' representatives by phone (800-240-8639 Monday thru Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM Eastern Standard Time) or email through our website.

- Give a stepping stone or rock with their name on it for displaying in a special section of their garden. Suggest that each year your clients share flowers from that section of the garden with their family and friends of the parted loved one.  Contact Keystone Specialties for advice on affordable options.  (800-240-8639 Monday thru Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM Eastern Standard Time) or email through our website.

Growing Your Business

As with any business, there is an old adage "If your business isn't growing, it's dying!"  Business growth does take effort, planning and ACTION.  We are here to help with planning and implementation, but you must supply the effort and action.  Check out our growing list of products that will help your business be remembered.

As you look through our Online Store, you will see products that are available for imprinting with your business name and message.  Advertising!  It works and we are also going to show you how it can pay for itself.  Read our testimonials page to see how other funeral directors have used these products successfully.

Building Client Loyalty

We understand how daunting your schedule can be as a funeral director:  Families to meet with, materials to buy, graveside services, embalming, comforting those who have lost their loved ones, and the list could go on and on.  Right?

When do you have time to work on building your business and image in your market?

If your answer is like that of most directors we talk to, this important piece of your business gets put off or delayed.  You know you need to do something personal to stand out against the others in your industry ... there just doesn't seem to be enough time to get it done.  Keystone Specialties, Inc. has created a way that can help you make a lasting impression for those you serve, while still keeping your already busy schedule on track.

We offer a memorial ornament program that is being used in aftercare programs across the country.  These ornaments are given as a memorial gift to a family member of the deceased in honor of their loved one.   Since 2002, these memorial ornaments have proven to be popular, as many recipients request additional pieces for other family members & friends.  The good will established by funeral directors who give this beautiful gift has brought a renewed sense of loyalty to their client relationships.  There's nothing as valuable as client trust in the funeral industry, and this is a program that anchors trust with a simple gift of thoughtfulness.