Pollara 3.0 - Public Perceptions & Your Action Plan

Pollara 3.0: Public Perceptions & Your Action Plan by Robin Heppell, CFSP

Why a New Entrepreneur to Funeral Service will be More Profitable than a 4th Generation, 100 Year Old Funeral Home?

How does that make you feel?

Why? Because…
Entrepreneurs listen to the the public
They’re not clouded by the past
They put themselves in front of the money

Entrepreneurs of the Past

5 Nuggets to Make You More Profitable
The Service Offering that Consumers Want
Where’s the Party?
Get Your Pricing Right
Do Green Funerals Mean More Green Backs?
Winning the Call before They Phone

How will we uncover these?
What the public is saying?
What is the deeper issue?
How you can benefit?
What you can do – Your Action Plan

Give them what they want
81% feel that funerals should celebrate life (not dwell only on its loss).
73% want a Celebration of Life for themselves

Biggest Business Mistake…
Defining our Most Profitable Service Offering with something that the public doesn’t see much value in…

FUNERAL - fu·ner·al
Funeral Director (our definition):
A traditional service for the deceased at a chapel or church with the casket present
Merriam Webster:
the observances held for a dead person usually before burial or cremation

Memorial vs. Funeral

Michael Jackson’s Service Photo by Bauer Griffin

Michael Jackson’s Service
Google Results…
Michael Jackson Funeral Service: 39,300
Michael Jackson Memorial Service: 9,640,000
Photo by Bauer Griffin

Don’t make the same mistake
Don’t define “Celebration of Life” so that it limits you on services & merchandise that you provide

Rebrand Your Services

Your Action Plan
Copy & Paste Your “Traditional Service” and Rename it: Celebration of Life and don’t mention the casket being present or not

Reception following the funeral?

Location of reception

Entrepreneurs: Follow the Cash

Ask this question for every call
Have you decided where you are going to have the reception?

Your Action Plan
In the short term, make Strategic Alliances with local restaurants and offer this as you would any other service offering.
Long term, consider onsite reception area.

Getting Your Pricing Right?

Why doesn’t the public love caskets like we do?

Provincial Maple

Value of various aspects of funeral service

Price Restructuring 101
Take your AFV of each service offering including the average casket
Reduce the price of the casket by 30-50% and add it to that service fee
Re-price other caskets with same percent
Repeat on all service offerings

Your Action Plan
Lower merchandise fees and increase your Profession Service fees.
This is the Funeral Service Profession, isn’t it?

Do Green Funerals Equal More Greenbacks?

Interest in ‘green’ funerals

Cost expectations of ‘green’ funerals

Pay more for an enviro-friendly funerals?

‘ Green’ funeral components

Your Action Plan
Read the Green Funerals in Canada document. Create a green service offering – just like Celebration of Life, you are just rebranding your main offering and making a few adjustments

Sources of information on funeral services

Internet usage in funeral organization

Become the Funeral Expert
By providing information about various aspects and options that are available.
This is most successfully and easily achieved by creating short videos and articles for the Internet.

Your Action Plan
Create 1 FAQ Video / Article per week answering questions about your services and funeral options in general.

Question?
Do you HATE it when your Competition offers low-ball prices over the phone, and then bait and switches client families during the arrangements?

“ Your competitor’s prices are a lot less than yours…”

Bonus Nugget
People surveyed suggested that there be lower fees and no hidden fees.

No Hidden Fee Guarantee
We guarantee that the price we give you over the phone will be the price  that you will pay.
Guaranteed!

Your Bonus Action Plan
Implement your No Hidden Fee Guarantee policy at your funeral home for price shoppers.

RECAP: 5 Nuggets to Make You More Profitable
Get Your Pricing Right
Do Green Funerals Mean More Green Backs?

2 Most Profitable Nuggets
Short term: Creating a Celebration of Life service offering
Long term: Creating a Reception option or offering

Robin Heppell, CFSP
[email_address]
www.FuneralFuturistTips.com
www.Facebook.com/funeralfuturist
www.Twitter.com/funeralfuturist

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Pollara 3.0 - Public Perceptions & Your Action Plan

by Robin Heppell on Jun 11, 2011

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Pollara 3.0 - Public Perceptions & Your Action Plan — Presentation Transcript