Funeral Home Marketing: John Callaghan on the Hot Seat
January 30, 2009
You’ve heard of John Callaghan, haven’t you?
To refresh your memory, he’s one of the industry’s top speakers on funeral home marketing.
In his new book, “2009 Strategic Marketing Plan for Funeral Service Professionals” he reveals how funeral homes should market in during tough economic times.
Why am I telling you this?
I’m telling you this because I convinced John to allow me to grill him during a LIVE 120-minute teleseminar on January 30!
It actually went for 2 1/2 hours.
We talked for just over an hour about his book and then we tackled dozens of questions that the attendees submitted.
You can read a partial list of questions below.
If you would like to listen to the recording, you can get it for only $10 – (that’s only $4 /hour)
==>> Get the Recordings Here <<==
If you want to a copy of his book, 2009 Strategic Marketing Plan for Funeral Service Professionals, a copy of the recording, plus a bonus interview where I had a brainstorming session about Strategic Planning for Funeral Homes with university business professor, Dr. Brent Mainprize, you can order it now for the price of the book ($49 + shipping)
==>> Get the Book and the 2 Recordings Here <<==
If you follow John’s recommendations, you will save money on advertising, get better results with your marketing, and overall, Attract More Calls!
…Hepp
Partial List of Questions
- Could you discuss the use of tasteful humor in funeral home marketing?
- Telephones, yellow page ads – How do you set yourself apart?
- How do I market my firm against the “low price firm” in the market place?
- What are your thoughts on marketing during tough economic times? Is it actually a time when you can get more bang for your buck, attract a wider audience etc?
- How do we use permission marketing in funeral service, especially with the increasing use of online guest books and internet communications with our customers?
- With a downtown location and smaller parking area, how do you compete with funeral home not downtown and more parking area?
- What is the most effective advertising in a small rural community? Should we sponsoring and attending community events, sponsor information seminars, weekly newspaper ads, local magazines etc?
- Are there new words in the death care language that are more acceptable to the public?
- What kind of ad and or marketing should a funeral home do in response to a cremation society’s direct mailing piece that they continue to do in our community?
- When asked why our funeral home was chosen, my family follow up surveys reflect that I receive 0 calls from advertising. How should I interpret this?
- How do you get the message out to Hospice that there are many more options for a family other than direct cremation?
- What would the best way to market a second location in the next city with two corporate competitors presently operate there?
- How do you determine what are the most effective strategies?
- When conducting market research in my area, what are some good sources for Secondary data or information regarding the opinions and buying preferences of ANY of my target markets?
- I’m in a small market. How do I attract more calls, when it appears, my competitor has more money for unlimited advertising?
- How can I get people out of the mindset that cremation means no viewing?
- I’m losing market share to a new funeral home, How can I combat an upstate with a better location?
- If we have a web site, what are the best strategies to make certain that someone using a search engine, such as Google, will see our listing at the top of the results list? Are there other techniques that can be used in addition to the “keywords” that are embedded into the pages of the site?
- What is the best way to counteract, “I want the cheapest funeral?
- I am an independent operated firm in my town with two other firms who are corporate run, what can I do in ads to beat them as competitors?
- What medium is the best advertising in a conservative area?
Mistakes Made with Price Shoppers – I hope you don’t make them – Free Teleseminar
October 20, 2008
Winning or losing price shoppers can found a profound effect on your firm – the more you win, the more profitable you will be AND at the same time, you are weakening the competition!
Mike Kubasak and I held a teleseminar in August about Price Shoppers: “Handling Price Shoppers is Easier When You Differentiate Yourself” – over 400 funeral professionals registered!
At the end of the call we said that we would address this issue again. So Mike suggested that we tackle some of the mistakes that he has observed over the years. So this Thursday, we are going to have another telesemar…
10 Biggest Mistakes Funeral Directors Make on the
Phone when Dealing with Price Shoppers Teleseminar
Date: Thursday, October 23, 2008
Time: 2 PM Eastern / 11 AM Pacific
Register for the Teleseminar Now!
Also, if you cannot make it on Thursday, make sure that you register anyway so that I can can get a link to you for the replay. From some of the feedback we received from the summer teleseminar, we heard that many firms used the recordings for staff meetings and training – Great Idea!
Register now at: Price Shopper Biggest Mistakes Teleseminar <=== Don’t miss this!
I hope that you can join us on the call on Thursday! I’m sure that this will be an entertaining session as well.
…Hep
Do You Have A Business Mindset for Funeral Service?
August 1, 2008
Are you frustrated with rising cremation rates?
Are your Average-Funeral-Values getting smaller?
Do you have more competitors and are they cutting into your market share?
Is your firm less profitable today than it was 5 years ago?
During the week of August 4th to August 8th, I will be hosting a series of free teleseminars focusing on the importance of taking a business approach to help deal with all of the issues that owners and managers in funeral service face today.
Session 1: “Having a Business Mindset for Funeral Service”
I will be hosting Nancy Lohman and Todd Van Beck as they will share their insights into why it is important for owners and managers to think strategically and have a business mindset to face the challenges of Funeral Service today.
Monday, August 4, 2008 at 2:00 pm Eastern / 11:00 am Pacific
Session 2: “Handling Price Shoppers is Easier When You Differentiate Yourself”
I will be hosting Mike Kubasak as he shares his experiences with Price Shoppers, how to handle them, and how to win them over without lowering your price.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 2:00 PM Eastern / 11:00 am Pacific
Session 3: “Increase the Value of Your Firm with Strategic Mindset”
I will be joined by Bill Bischoff of Johnson Consulting Group who will share his experiences in creating strategic plans as well as why having a strategic plan can increase the value of your firm.
Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 2:00 PM Eastern / 11:00 am Pacific
Register below for access to all 3 of the teleseminars!
These 3 – 1 hour calls could be the start of turning your biggest challenges into a profitable future!
Be A Funeral Market Strategist (and leave your competition in the dust)
June 16, 2008
I received some great comments and questions about my “Competition” article – thank you! First, many of the issues funeral home owners and managers are unique to your specific market and situation so I cannot offer a blanket answer that everyone could benefit from. The issue was followed by the questions, “How do I fix this?” or “What should I do?”
As I always do in situations to solve problems, I reflected on the process that I have used many times in my home market that is very competitive plus is on the forefront of changing trends. In this type of market – and any market – you need to have a process to deal with issues and make decisions easily and with confidence.
By the nature of how we join funeral service, either as a calling to serve, or following in family footsteps, we rarely get taught how to think strategically. Strategy isn’t taught in mortuary colleges and the issues we face today – like increasing cremation rates, price discounters, memorial societies, and the Internet – were not big issues to the generations before us. Especially in our market where no-one had experience in dealing with these issues before – I decided that I had to go back to university and learn how professionals solve problems in other industries and then apply those methods to funeral service.
Although formal education was a great experience, what has really stuck with me was what I learned as a member of the “Case Competition” team. In a nutshell, a team of four would be given 3 hours to read and analyze a business case study and present our recommendations. Since you were “on stage” at the end of the 3 hours, I really learned to hone my strategic thinking with “tools” that made up my Business Strategy Toolkit.
At this point I could just tell you hire me to tackle your issues in a one-on-one scenario – and of course for those who wish that personal consultation I will make myself available – I also want to teach all of you “How to Fish” instead of selling you fish.
Whatever causes you the most pain – tough competition, price shoppers, losing calls, cremation families, memorial societies, expensive marketing – these tools can give can give you an competitive advantage for just a small investment of your time. So here we go – these are some of the tools that I use on a daily basis to solve clients’ problems. The three that I recommend to get started with are the Environmental Scan, Porter’s Five Forces, and the SWOT Analysis.
The Environmental Scan (sometimes referred to as PEST Analysis) looks at external factors: Political, Economic, Social, and Technological. Then Porter’s Five Forces of Competition analyzes: Power of Buyers, Power of Suppliers, Threat of New Entrants, Threat of Substitutes, and Competitive Rivalry. Then having a solid strategic framework of your market, you then look internally with a SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Then you will have all you need to leap ahead of your competition.
Don’t worry if this seems too overwhelming, I will put together a demonstration next week using funeral industry examples. Also, I will try to pull in a favor and get another expert on the line with me and we will go through step by step through the process as it relates to us.
If you would like to have your company profiled for the example – at absolutely no charge to you, please click the link below and provide me with some basic information. Then I will be in touch to get some additional information. Be assured that your identity will be kept confidential.
Apply for the analysis of your market and company, click here and fill out the form:
http://www.funeralfuturist.com/application-for-strategic-analysis/
Thank you for your time and look for my newsletter next week for the details of the “Funeral Industry and Competitive Analysis” free training session.
Being Strategic about your competition with Brad Scott
June 7, 2008
On this show, Brad Scott, manager of R.S. Kane Funeral Home in Toronto, Ontario, has an open discussion about competition from both a independent and corporate perspective. Click the Play button at the left of the silver bar > Read more
Free Demo of PreneedReferrals.com: Weds., April 9
April 4, 2008
Preneed Referrals is a funeral-specific website that I have created as a resource for funeral directors and cemeterians to put the power of “Send Out Cards” into your preneed marketing and family follow-up – after care – programs.
“Get Preneed Leads”
Send Out Cards is a service that allows you to send greeting cards via the mail – these are physical greeting cards that are placed in a bright, white envelope, and a postage stamp. Even though you do not touch these cards, they are written in your own hand writing and with your own signature. Sound too good to be true?
See The Replay:
Preneed Leads with Preneed Referrals
What will be covered in the demo:
For Funeral Homes:
- Create multi card campaigns to get referrals from preneed clients
- Create multi card campaigns to follow up with at-need families “Greeting Card After Care”
- Send bulk (but personalized) invitations for preneed seminars or holiday memorial services
For Cemeteries:
- Send follow up card with families after monument has been installed
- Send seasonal and holiday reminders to subtly promote floral sales
- Create multi card campaigns to get referrals from preneed clients
- Send anniversary card
For Vendors and Associations:
- Promote upcoming events or new products or services
- Send thank you cards to clients and support staff
- Send cards of congratulations for clients and members
Plus there are many other general uses for this system. I look forward to having you attend the online seminar. Leave a comment below or email me if you have any questions.
Proactive Funeral Director, Jan Nichols of Bay Gardens Funeral Homes in Burlington and Hamilton, Ontario says:
Using Send Out Cards for my Funeral Home is part of my Best Practices! I use it to follow up with families, to send thank you cards, and I send a card to every job applicant following the interview.
NOTE: This online seminar is a 2 step process:
- Log on via the Internet to watch the demonstration
- Call the phone number to listen
Preneed Leads with Preneed Referrals
Watch the Demo
The Boomer Death Boom with BT Hathaway
January 8, 2008
On this show, Funeral Director BT Hathaway of Hathaway Funeral Homes of New England discusses his recent article in the American Funeral Director magazine. BT shares his analysis on population and demographic boom that the funeral industry has been anticipating for years. Click the Play button at the left of the silver bar > Read more
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
