The New Funeral Consumer

I was skimming the funeral ads on one of the major job posting sites a few weeks ago.  Sorting through the cemetery sales and “family counselor” positions was less than exciting, until one posting grabbed my eye.

“Event Planner”

I never thought I’d see the day.  But it’s here, bigger than life, or death, as it were.

A few years ago, I was sitting at a Starbucks with Mike, one of the real giants of our field, with his special expertise in cremation.  It was after hours, and we decided to grab a cup and sit on the patio.  We spoke of the funeral business, what was wrong with it, what was right with it and then he got very serious.

The future, he said, was in memorial event planning.  Funeral directors would be gradually replaced by professional memorial event planners, who would let the funeral homes do the dirty work of handling the remains for a paltry direct cremation fee.  Meanwhile, they would be planning personalized memorial events with food, music, professionally produced tributes, all skillfully executed in some hotel ballroom or in a specially designed memorial event center.

In other words, you get the guts, and they get the glory.  You make $2,000 for a direct cremation.  They make $6,500 for a memorial event.   And they don’t have to send staff out at 2:00 am to remove the deceased. They will never have to see or touch a dead human being.  They will get their training at The Disney Institute instead of a mortuary school.

I didn’t think it was this close, but it’s knocking at your door. Are you prepared? Is your staff ready to make the leap?  Have you scouted out locations for this new type of service which will be in increasing demand in the very near future? If not, you are already behind in the game.

Go to the bookstore.  Grab books on event planning, party planning, and even wedding planning.  Make sure you know who the best caterer is, the best musicians and the best video producer.  Tour banquet halls, hotels and other venues to figure out which one can handle the crowds. 

This new consumer that will happily forgo a casket, vault and plot of ground because a traditional funeral is “too expensive”, will happily shell out the equivalent money for a meaningful and touching memorial event that will linger in their minds and resonate with their friends, who will want a service just like it for themselves.  Why? Because they see value in memorial events. They have seen way too many cookie-cutter funerals with caskets, carnations and cloying organ music.  Lazy, unimaginative funeral directors have begun their own undoing.

You remember the families who went out of their way to make things special and memorable, don’t you?  The rest of the “regular” funerals you’ve arranged through the years just melt together in an indistinguishable mass don’t they?  Your new client feels the same way.

Rule #1 of the new funeral business – find out what your client really wants in their heart of hearts.  

Rule #2 – give it to them.

You will still have some “regular” funeral folks that just want to get things over and done with.  And you’ll have your “just a graveside” or “direct cremation” people too. And then you will have these new consumers, people all about the “experience” who want to laugh and cry and they do not want the same funeral their father, grandfather or uncle had. They want different.  They want people to stop and take notice.  They want their passing to matter and they won’t mind paying for it. 

They won’t have the support or following of the people.  The people will be getting what they want.  This new consumer will feel that they have received full value for the money spent and all the wind will be taken from their anti-funeral sails…

Want to sell more pre-arranged funerals?  Start helping people create their memorial autobiography.  The more people that see you are willing to bend and flex to meet their desires, the happier they will be to pay you.   The words “we don’t do that here” need to be permanently stricken from your vocabulary. Find ways to say “Yes.”

Don’t just listen and react, think with them.  You are a tried and true professional, so flex those mental muscles and help that consumer spend their money with you in a way that they will be happy to write the check.   In doing so, you will ensure that the next time they visit a funeral home that isn’t as accommodating as your funeral home, the experience will cement their loyalty even more.

Seek out and aggressively engage this new consumer.  One really well-designed and well-executed memorial event will establish you firmly as the leader of this new style of funeral service provider. Unless that is you are happy just doing removals at 2:00 am?  FBA

Dan Heaman, CFSP is the original Guerrilla Director, a licensed funeral director and Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach.  He specializes in advertising, marketing and public relations for funeral homes.  He can be reached at dan@danielheaman.com.