Tell me, what do you do? Go ahead; take a second to think about it before you answer. If you answered that question by describing the actual work you do as a funeral director then you don’t know the true power of your firm. You’re not a funeral director. You don’t have a funeral home. What you do is provide a way for families to honor their loved ones. What you do is gently guide them through a difficult process when they are too overwhelmed to handle it on their own. What you are is a hub and your funeral home is the means by which you deliver value.
You have to describe yourself on a scale larger than what your families think. You do that by describing the value your firm’s brand brings to the table. If you don’t families will just view you as another funeral home and make their decision based on comparing apples to apples. In such a situation the buying decision is based primarily on price and very little else. I learned this the hard way.
I was trying to win a new client, a cleaning business, and in the meeting I talked about what I did, what I brought to the table and the quality of my work with samples. Do you see what’s missing? I never talked about the value I bring to the table. What ended up happening? When I followed up with the client his words exactly were, “Another guy came to me proposing to do exactly what you do. Comparing apples to apples here I’m going to go with him because he’s cheaper and has the same quality.” Talk about a long walk of shame to my car. What’s crazy is that as I write this I recall a sales pitch the same client told me about that made him buy on the spot. This was at the beginning of the going green movement and the salesman was talking about how effective his product is while being safe for people. He then pulls out a cracker, sprays it and eats it. Business won.
Let’s dissect what he did that I didn’t. He knew what his client needed, like me. He talked about what he provided, like I did. He talked about the importance of using his product, like I did. Then he demonstrated the value of his product by eating the chemically sprayed cracker, I did not do something similar. Now you might say what he did was gimmicky and it was. However that physical act triggered several subliminal things that demonstrated a long-lasting value for the client. His employees would be happier not dealing with hazardous fumes every day. His customers would have peace of mind knowing their kids and pets were safe from his chemicals. His potential customers would favor him because he’s a green company. The salesman won the business because he showed his value in a memorable way.
Apples to Apples or Apples to Ambrosia?
You’re not an apple, you’re ambrosia. You’re exclusive and elite. Families should feel like they found buried treasure when they come to your firm. The only way you can do that is by harnessing the true power of your firm and delivering on that value.
The Core Tenement of Your Value—Being the Solution to Your Families’ Pain
Now there are many ways you can discuss and demonstrate the value of your firm over others. There are probably several things popping up in your mind right now. While those reasons are necessary you have to focus on delivering your value by understanding your families’ pain, situation and expectations.
They’re grieving. Even if the death was expected they’re still in pain and looking for comfort. How will you comfort them in a way other firms don’t? By understanding what they need to do to lay their loved one to rest properly. Further, putting price aside, all families want to honor their loved one. How do you help them do that in a way other firms don’t? By providing a guide of resources they can avail themselves of that will make honoring their loved one easier. Now this is where you can really differentiate your firm. As a professional you already know the primary things they need to do in order to lay their loved one to rest properly, honor their memory and spare themselves from embarrassment when the service takes place. If you create systems in place that help them along in this process you’ll be forever embedded in their mind as delivering an experience other firms couldn’t.
The Secondary Tenement of Your Value—Delivering on Your Families’ Expectations
When families come to you, they expect you to either provide the service they need to honor their loved or provide the resource for them to do it themselves as easy as possible. You’re the hub, the first stop in their search. If you deliver the resources for them when they need it, you’re the hero. That’s where brand loyalty is built. At Cherished Keepsakes, we understand the pain families are going through. It’s especially heightened when they view the proof of the keepsakes we create for them. At such an emotional time we know they’re not going to be thorough in checking for errors. Further, we understand that families are actually expecting us to be the proofreader because, “we’re the professional, and we do this all the time.” That’s what’s going on in their mind and gives them validation not to be thorough. What’s the danger in that? When they discover the error. Now we’re dealing with someone completely different. We’re no longer talking to the deeply grateful family member, but the angry, unreasonable one fueled by grief and focusing their frustrations on us. Since we know their pain and understand their expectations of us, we demonstrate our value with a simple system. After the family approves the proof before printing we go through a system of checks on the keepsakes. Anything that does not pass the check we contact the family for further clarification. What happens? They’re incredibly grateful. “Oh my goodness, I can’t believe I missed that.” “No that name is not spelled correct. Thanks for catching that.” and so forth. Is Staples going to do that? No. Will my competitors do that? No. Do the families need that level of care? Absolutely! So why not deliver it and create brand loyalty. It works. I’ve had the privilege of handling the keepsakes several times in one family with multiple families because of that simple system of delivering value. You need to do the same by creating a system that harnesses the power of firm as a hub.
“You’re the professional. You do this all the time so why didn’t you remind me knowing I needed it?” Sound familiar? It’s our fault even when it isn’t. Therefore, save yourself the headache and deliver your value by creating systems to address their needs before it becomes your problem and hurts your reputation.
Harnessing Your Hub
The simplest way of being becoming a hub to your families is providing a checklist of the tasks they need to do to lay their loved one to rest. Some firms provide it to families after they’ve retained them for the arrangements. I think you should provide it as a free download on your website. Why? Because it demonstrates you’re not in it for the money, but to be a resource that comforts them the best. They will come to you first, which is what you want. Brand it to your firm. Providing it free also sows doubt in their mind about other firms in the area. They’ll subliminally think, “Why isn’t this firm providing this for me? Having it was super helpful. These guys are really expensive. I just don’t see the value for that price.” You could be the same price or more, but when the family calls you back because of the value you’ve demonstrated, they’re ready to buy. Naturally there are other contributors to this not discussed such as the ambiance of your location, additional services and so forth. The main point is that you must demonstrate that you understand what they need and that you’re the best solution to provide that for them.
Building Your Network
As a funeral home, your services are niche, but your families’ needs extend beyond what you do. By having a trusted network of sphere businesses you demonstrate that you have a system in place that has helped honor many families. Doing so brands you as the least risky and elevates your chances of repeat business, both for at-need and pre-need services. Who’s your headstone guy? Who’s your preferred florist? Where can they go to get good clothing for their loved one? What urns do you have that are the most elegant and popular? Who’ll provide the keepsakes for the service? Who can they call when they feel overwhelmed? Families trust you and will most likely go with whomever you recommend. This becomes a win-win-win. Your family wins because they get the service they need, the resource wins with new business and ultimately you win because you’re the hub that delivered this incredible resource for the family when they needed it most. That’s your power and it becomes amplified by the number of service calls you do a year. Now you can leverage that into preferred pricing which allows you to pass those savings onto the family further cementing your value.
Solidifying Your Value—Exceeding Your Families’ Expectations
In business we’re supposed to deliver and over deliver. One way we do that at Cherished Keepsakes with our product line is by including several extra in their order. One way you can over deliver to your families is with periodic check-ins up until the day of the service. To make it simple for you create an auto responder system with scheduled reminders for different things the family needs to do leading up to the service. This goes back to understanding their situation. They’re doing so much and have people calling, emailing and stopping by their house. As a result things fall by the wayside. When they actually remember now they’re scrambling and can be careless. Such a situation leads to embarrassment at the service when they don’t have what they need and, like it or not, you’ll be blamed. Why? Because, “You’re the professional. You do this all the time so why didn’t you remind me knowing I needed it?” Sound familiar? It’s our fault even when it isn’t. Therefore, save yourself the headache and deliver your value by creating systems to address their needs before it becomes your problem and hurts your reputation.
When you brand your firm beyond what you do, but by the value you deliver you’ll have a legacy that’ll continue long after your gone. It’ll be a legacy of delivering value better than any other firm can. When you do that, you will have harnessed the true power of your firm.
