Hep in Wired.com
May 12, 2008
While presenting at the ICCFA 2008 Annual Convention in San Diego, my Blackberry went off and it was a freelance reporter, Marty Graham. She had been monitoring the schedule of the San Diego Convention Center and saw that there was a Funeral Convention taking place in her town.
Wired is the first word on technology. Every month in the magazine and every day on the website, WIRED explores how ideas fueled by innovation change the world. - Wired.com
I made arrangements for Marty to receive a Press Pass and she attended my “Web 2.0 - The New Internet for Funeral Directors” presentation. After my session we had a great interview, and a couple of follow-up phone conversations. Also, she was able to get in touch with pal, John Heald at Tributes.com.
Tributes.com is part of the Eons.com, founded by Monster.com’s Jeff Taylor. In the Tech World, the founder of Monster has a little more appeal than the Funeral Futurist, so Taylor and his efforts are the stars of the article. Marty penned a great story, you should go check it out at Wired: Monster.com Founder Starts Social Networking Site for the Dead.
“People who spend the winter in Florida log on to faraway websites during the winter to check to see who died back home,” the Vancouver-based funeral director and consultant says. “Most funeral homes have websites now, and those that don’t are looking at setting up.”
Word of caution in the comments - there was some whining going on by the folks at Legacy.com that they didn’t get the props that they thought they deserved in the article. It appears that Legacy has some agreement with various newspapers throughout the U.S. It has been reported to me that these in papers, funeral homes are not allowed to include a reference to their website for friends to leave condolences for the family because the paper has this ability via Legacy. This seems more like collusion and less like serving families - what do you think?
For all of the funeral directors reading this, please let me know if you are forbidden to include your website’s URL in your local newspaper’s obituaries - I would love to know!
Johnson Consulting Group launches new virtual marketing platform
April 7, 2008
The Johnson Consulting Group - leaders in Funeral and Cemetery Consulting and Management Services - have just launched their new website - www.JohnsonConsulting.com.
Tom and Jake Johnson, together with their associates, have formed an all-star lineup of senior executives from the funeral profession. Most recently they acquired Legacy Management Services from Keystone. To showcase their depth in their team and of their services offerings, Johnson retained the services of Robin Heppell to guide them through the development of their new online presence. With the goal of creating a platform to provide the most relevant and current information to funeral and cemetery professionals, Heppell harnessed the power of the WordPress weblog functionality and applied the best practices of online marketing and public relations.
Bill Bischoff, Communications and Marketing Strategist for Johnson Consulting, stated:
“What set Heppell apart from standard web development companies was the fact that he took the time to thoroughly understand our business and what our vision was for our Company. Heppell then built us more than a common website, he constructed us a virtual marketing platform that will greatly assistance us in achieving our Corporate Vision “To be the best…” Thanks, Rob we could not be more pleased.”
Key features of this site above the usual website components:
- Audio clips welcoming visitors to specific sections of the site - the goal is to make visitors comfortable with members of the team, hence building relationships
- Testimonials are displayed throughout the site, some randomly in the right sidebar and others relating to specific service offerings
- Media Room lists all press releases with the most recent ones first - this page is dynamically created and new releases are uploaded with the same ease as sending an email with an attachment - no more web developer fees to add new information
Johnson Consulting has also developed a complimentary newsletter that will go out to members of the death care community. It will consist some of the latest developments within the industry, best practices for the management of cemeteries and funeral homes, and highlighting JCG team members and how can assist clients achieve their goals. To sign up for their newsletter, go to the Johnson Consulting Group Newsletter.
If you would like more information on taking your online presence from just a website to a virtual marketing platform to reach out to your community, contact Robin Heppell at 800-810-3595 or 250-744-3595 or email at robin@funeralfuturist.com.
Funeral Costs - What I Didn’t Get to Say
March 19, 2008
I had the opportunity to be on the Seattle NPR Weekday radio program this morning. The show was hosted by Steve Scher with guests, John Eric Rolstad of the People’s Memorial Association and Char Barrett of A Sacred Moment who performs home funerals. The show covered three main topics: Embalming, Cremation, and Funeral Costs. If you want to get the gist of what is happening in the Pacific Northwest, I would recommend that you have a listen to the program.
To listen to the Replay visit: “Funerals on Weekday at KUOW 94.9”
A couple things that weren’t mentioned but should be noted. The home funeral movement I feel is appropriate for those families wanting something private and under the ideal conditions. Dry ice might retard decomposition, but I would question if the family was prepared to deal with purge, urination, defecation, or the more unpleasant things that funeral directors have quietly looked after like tissue gas and maggots.
I give credit to Char for carving out a niche that she is serving - her website is informative and the families that she looks after will be the benefactors of her passion. Her website is: http://www.ASacredMoment.com.
When it came to funeral costs, John, from the People’s Memorial Association, referred to its price survey of funeral homes from western and central Washington state. He stated that there is such a wide range of prices for similar services - 300 to 400% compared to other industries that are 10 to 20% citing Target, WalMart and Costco. Unfortunately, it was the top of the hour and the host, Steve couldn’t see the disappointment face when I was unable to expand upon funeral costs - but this is what I would have said:
John is referring to commodities - things that do not have a qualitative differentiation in a given market. Funeral services couldn’t be further away from a commodity. The flaw in their survey is that they have requested a stripped down service to try to compare apples to apples. What aren’t considered are the differentiation factors like the level of service, the location and quality of facilities, and time frame and number of transfer staff dispatched to a residence, to name a few. Also, not considered in the price survey are other items such as DVD tributes, online memorialization, facilities, equipment, and knowledge of creating and facilitating events that are very personalized.
A more relevant comparison would have been to look at other service / experiential oriented industries like hotels - Motel 6 vs. Crowne Plaza or McDonalds vs. Seattle’s El Gaucho Restaurant - and oh, what about a cup of coffee? I am not saying that one has to choose the most expensive, but not everyone is shopping purely on price. Research that I have seen indicates that only 17 to 22% of consumers are truly shopping on price but the majority of consumers are value shoppers.
“With a more educated consumer and with a wide variety of funeral service providers, the business model of a Memorial Society is obsolete!”
Memorial Societies were formed to give people the opportunity to choose a simpler, less expensive option. A generation later funeral homes are either serving specific niches or offering a wide range of service options. Now with so many different choices, families can get whatever service they want. Just as funeral homes 50 years ago assumed that everyone wanted “traditional” funeral services, Memorial Societies should be aware that not everyone wants the cheapest! For someone who wants the absolute cheapest, I would forgo a Memorial Association membership fee and compare prices - save your 25 bucks.
It is a consumer-driven market so only those funeral providers who cater to what their community wants and what they are willing to pay will survive - if they are too expensive or too cheap they won’t.
I would like to thank the host, Steve Scher and the producers, Sage Van Wing and Katy Sewall of KUOW for inviting me as a guest on their show. I would invite comments from Char, John, other listeners, and my readers and fellow funeral professionals to continue this conversation.
Final point: I believe that any dialogue that serves as a catalyst for the general public consider how they would like their last wishes to play out is a benefit to them, their families, and to the funeral industry.
Things are Heating Up & I’m not talking Cremation!
March 14, 2008
I just wanted to let you know a couple of things happening in the next couple of weeks.
First off this that the ICCFA Pre-Convention Interviews have commenced and can be found at the Funeral Gurus website: http://www.funeralgurus.com/2008/iccfa-2008. ICCFA is in a couple of weeks and they have a great lineup of speakers and panel discussions. I will be conducting some Funeral Gurus video interviews, so if you are going to be there, track me down and get some free publicity for your funeral home or cemetery. Also, during my presentation I will be demonstrating step by step how to use online video to promote your firm - plus I will be sharing some very recent case studies on the results of marketing with online video.
Also, I am going to be on the hot seat next Wednesday - the National Public Radio (NPR) station out of Seattle is having and hour long discussion about funeral trends and the future of funeral service - right up my alley, right? Well sure, but it is not just one on one, it is going to be a panel and on the panel is someone from the Peoples Memorial Society, someone who arranges home funerals, and they are still trying to get a representative from one of the normal -I mean traditional - funeral homes (I will be lonely if they can’t)! So it should be interesting and if you are interested, you can listen live on their website. If you are listening and you want me to make a point, you can Instant Message through Google Talk ( funeralfuturist [at] gmail [dot] com) - sorry that’s so the spammers and robots leave me alone OR through SKYPE at ( funeral.futurist)
Here are the show details:
- KUOW http://www.kuow.org Pudget Sound Public Radio 94.9 FM
- Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 9:00 AM Pacific time
- To listen, look in the left column under Listen Live for listening options
Wish me luck - I will report back later next week!
…Hep
Google and the Funeral Industry
February 2, 2008
In the February 2008 issue of Mortuary Management, Funeral Futurist Robin Heppell starts his multi-part series on how Search Engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN Live will play a part in the marketing and promotions of funeral homes.
For an increasing number of users, search engines are the new Yellow Pages. No longer are search engines used only to find books, airline tickets, and CDs. They are being used to find local services.
The funeral industry is no exception. It is a local service. It has traditionally been a word of mouth business. Funeral homes can benefit from high Google rankings. You have used Google to find out information about other products or services - others will use Google to find out information about YOU!
Check out the latest article of Mortuary Management for the entire article or check back in March to read it on in Funeral Articles here at FuneralFuturist.com.
Heppell to Keynote at Oregon’s Annual Convention
January 29, 2008
Mark Stehn, CFSP, Executive Director of the Oregon Funeral Directors Association has secured Robin Heppell, CFSP, to keynote at its annual convention in April. With the theme of this year’s convention being, “Ride the Wave - Sea the Future” it only seems appropriate that Heppell - the Funeral Futurist - be involved.
Heppell’s keynote is titled, 3 Keys to Future Funeral Service Success!
There has never been a tougher time to be in Funeral Service. We as funeral professionals face many challenges: changing trends, increased outside competition and technology overload - all things that did not affect the former generations. If we could only change one thing - our mindset - and embrace these challenges and more importantly take action on them, it will be the best time to be in Funeral Service. Are you up for the Funeral Futurist Challenge?
Heppell will also be facilitating 4 workshops:
- Google and the Funeral Industry: With three quarters of the population using the Internet, and Google being the go-to place to find information, it is imperative to understand the basics of how Google see you. This workshop will feature live demonstrations so if you would like a free website review, please let the Association know.
- Your Funeral Home on YouTube: The fourth most popular website on the Internet and being owned by Google, YouTube has the attention of Internet users! Are you using YouTube to get your customers’ attention? This workshop will feature a live example so if you have a television commercial or other video and you want it up on the Internet, please let the Association know.
- Funeral Home eNewsletters: Learn the basics of launching a successful eNewsletter program. This workshop will provide you with a starter guide that addresses get people to subscribe to your list, content, format, and frequency as well as references to other programs available.
- Ask the Futurist: In this fourth session, members can ask questions of Heppell on a variety of topics. From his travels around the country, his interviews with funeral professionals on FuneralGurus.com, and practicing funeral services in a high cremation, highly competitive market to the North, he can provide insight, suggestions, or at least the resources to your questions! If you have questions ahead of time, submit them to the Association, and Heppell with answer them at this session or on his website if time does not permit.
The conference will be held from April 24th to 27th in Seaside, Oregon. For more information and for registration details, visit: www.ofda.org.
Funeral Futurist Launches new Website powered by WordPress
January 8, 2008
Robin Heppell of FuneralFuturist.com launched his new website build on the WordPress Weblog Platform. This site is built to quickly disseminate information to the funeral industry as well as providing multi-media content through “Funeral Futurist Radio” and Funeral Futurist TV”.
Heppell explains, “Funeral Futurist Radio is accomplished by harnessing the power of podcasting and will feature interviews and commentary on the latest trends and issues. Funeral Futurist TV offers video tutorials as well as recorded presentations!”
Visitors can visit often for updates or subscribe to alerts on particular topic areas or get the monthly newsletter - their choice!
Hep Quoted: Boston Globe’s A Viewing All Can Share
December 28, 2007
November 27, 2007 by Carolyn Y. Johnson.
A viewing all can share: Webcasts of funeral services gaining acceptance.
This is a very interesting article written by Carolyn Y. Johnson of the Boston Globe. She is reporter on business technology and she dives into the large gap between the latest technologies and one of the oldest professions. I share my thoughts on why there is such a gap between funeral directors and using and embracing the technology that can make funeral homes more efficient and better serve their client families. On commenting about why the funeral industry sometimes has trouble keeping up with advances in technology:
“The people who join funeral service usually do it to serve families and help people, what draws them to it is partly the tradition,” said Robin Heppell, a funeral director for 20 years who now goes by the moniker Funeral Futurist and consults with funeral homes that are interested in increasing their tech offerings.
To read the entire article, visit: A Viewing All Can Share
