In a recent seminar I attended the speaker stated that we (Funeral Homes) need to educate the public on the value of a funeral before they (the public) come into our doors. In general I agree with that statement. Knowledge is power and the more people know about funerals and the services we offer the better they can make decisions that they will be happy with when everything is all done.
One challenge is – What is it that we want to educate the public about?
Here’s a list of things to consider (in no particular order).
- The value of a funeral and ceremony
- The value of viewing a body
- Grief, loss and recovery
- Services we offer
- Products we offer
- Prices
- Our staff
- Our facilities
- Funeral customs and etiquette
These are typical things that we put on our web sites and in brochures that we print up. Which ones are the most important? What should we talk about first?
But is this what the public wants to know or are these the topics we want to “Preach” at them about? It’s a dilemma that we as funeral directors have. We want to inform the public about the things listed above, but if we present the information in too much of a “sales” format we fear that the public/press will portray us as merchants of death.
I’m a big fan of Seth Godin, author of over a dozen different marketing books and one of the web’s most popular blogs at http://sethgodin.typepad.com (I read Seth’s Blog everyday). Seth has always said that people learn best through stories. Put a message in a story and people will put it into the context of their own life. Think of the popular book “Who Moved My Cheese” or all the parables in the Bible. These are stories that teach us values we live by.
I think that funeral service needs to collect true stories from around the country and put them together in an easy to read parable that allows the public to see all the different aspects of funerals, customs, and rituals.
Tell me your stories. I’ll start collecting them. We’ll see where it leads.
I’m Dale Clock. Thanks for listening.
Dale-Time 
Dale, I agree with you and am also a fan of Seth Godin, not because I agree with everything he says but because he makes me think.
when most people talk about educating the public they focus on the “activities”. We should be talking about things that connect with value systems. It is not about burying or cremating dad, or embalming either, its about dad.
I have seen other professions (hospitals leap to mind, greeting cards another, even medical insurance companies) do this very thing very effectively. when you talking about collecting true stories (not testimonials…stories) you are invoking a powerful way of communicating at the emotional level.
People don’t care what we do…they care how we make them feel.