I'm Amazed

It seems as though a week doesn’t go by without someone offering you a seminar, a webinar, or consulting; all at hefty fees no doubt, that is going to increase your business, put you competitors out of business or help you shed a couple of those extra pounds you got sitting around waiting for the phone to ring because business is down.

 The truth be told, that guy, you know the one that always seems to want to remind you, “I don’t care what you do with me when I die” didn’t really mean it when he first said it nor would he do anything less than the very best he could afford if his wife were to die. Now, he has reservations because it keeps getting more and more expensive to live.

I am not looking to burden you with cost of living index statics, but you know how much money you put in your pocket on the way out of the bank on Friday afternoon and you know how much you have on Monday morning. That being said, if you are feeling the economy pinch you can bet the families you serve are also.

Everyone wants to save you money. Check out the grocery store coupons that are only good for stuff that no one in your house eats or the middle of the night deals where you buy one and get the second one free, (just pay the additional processing and postage). Just think, you can go bird watching with your buddy and you can both be wearing binoculars that sit on your nose so you don’t get a stiff neck or back pain from lugging around those binoculars that you bought last year from the same TV pitchman that convinced you that bird watching was good exercise.

The point of this silly story is we are rapidly losing our middle class (we’re the ones that support the poor and help the rich get richer) and everywhere we turn there is someone promising us the moon. (And it’s only going to cost you three easy payments of $19.95 to buy something that only 10 minutes earlier you didn’t even know you needed). Worse yet. There are dummies that keep getting suckered in.

But, hey! I’m not supposed to be writing about widget sales. I’m supposed to be writing about funeral service and more importantly; how you can  improve your business, help the families you serve, meet your bottom line, and still sleep well at night because you managed to do just that.

Yeah! I know it’s easier said than done, but rather than looking for new ideas and products that will be some miracle cure because calls may be down and sales are down. Try looking inside yourself because the truth be known that’s where the answers are. Don’t look to the TV pitchman, in funeral clothes, to save the day. The only day he’s looking to save is his own.

Sometimes it seems like Deja-vu, I’m saying it again. You don’t need to build a better mouse trap for the world to beat a path to your door, just dust the old one off.

There was a time when the philosophy among funeral directors was; “good embalming means repeat business" and calling hours were pretty much set by the family and there was never a concern for cost. Families got what they wanted, your job was to care and to serve, and the best part was, the more you cared the more you served.

Don’t tell me and kid yourself into believing the families you serve would not be interested in longer visitation. Offer it without a price tag!

People have pride! Not many people are walking in your door and saying, “I’m poor! They are also not saying “what’s the cheapest you got” because that can denote lack of feeling or love on their part. And the truth is they did love Grandma.

You can look out the door to check out the car they arrived in and decide what they could afford. Naturally this would require a working knowledge of car makes and models on your part. But, that’s tacky! Why not just give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they are struggling to pay their bills, just like you.

Be the care giver everyone says funeral directors are, and let the business (money) worry about itself. In the end you might just be surprised.

And you just saved yourself a huge consulting fee!