Robin Heppell

Robin Heppell, Funeral FuturistBusiness Management and Consulting

  • Owns and operates successful funeral planning and consulting company (www.heppell.com & www.FuneralFuturist.com)
  • Develops and improves effective business process solutions for funeral home operations
  • Facilitated and managed multi-million dollar trust rollovers
  • Consults for companies in marketing and promotion (both funeral and general business)
  • Instructs Business Management courses at the Canadian College of Funeral Service
  • Contributes thought-provoking articles for Mortuary Management & the Canadian Funeral News
  • Presents ‘In-Person’ Continuing Education seminars for funeral directors in the areas of Business & Pricing Strategies, Preneed, Technologies, and Marketing
  • Holds Bachelor of Commerce Degree (Entrepreneurial Management), Royal Roads University

Advance Funeral Planning Sales and Management

  • Successful pre-need experience in both management and sales
  • Rated in the Top 10 in sales in North America for NSM’s Monumental Life Plan every year and no. 1 in 1997 despite having the lowest cost per funeral average of all participants (75{3db447a3d15cdd5fee0056f5b67b26f487ac32ee9ff2df503ef9d094aa08703e} cremation)
  • In-depth knowledge of current market pre-need products
  • Performs analysis and audits of pre-need programs for various funeral homes
  • Supervises and trains funeral directors, sales reps and support staff in all areas of pre-need

Funeral Home and Business Marketing

  • Responsible for all marketing of McCall Bros. Funeral Directors Ltd. (www.mccallbros.com)
  • Canadian component of NSM pre-need marketing group for 4 years
  • Familiar with all forms of marketing media: direct mail, print, radio, television, Internet, etc.
  • Experience in column / article writing and press release submission
  • Funeral Sector Member of the Funeral Profession Coalition Council of Canada

Funeral Directing and Embalming

  • Twenty years experience as a licensed funeral director and embalmer
  • Extensive background in all facets of the funeral and cemetery industry
  • Fourth generation funeral director

Funeral Home Software – Development, Implementation and Support

  • Designed and developed a user-friendly at-need / pre-need database system. The system produces all documentation for at-need funerals, tracks and converts all pre-need files and provides extensive monthly and annual reporting
  • Responsible for system installation and trouble-shooting, training funeral directors and clerical staff and Enhancing system based on end-user and government requirements
  • Contracted by an independent funeral home for the purchase and implementation of this funeral home software. Duties included: program installation, trouble-shooting, and resulting modification; training funeral directors and clerical staff; and purchase, installation and set-up of 15 additional workstations, complete with networking, file sharing and security issues

Computer / Technology

  • Intermediate to advanced skills in the following:
  • New Media Expert in Web 2.0 services including Blogger, YouTube, & iTunes
  • Windows 98, 2000, XP, & Small Business Server 2003
  • MS Word, Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook & Outlook Express
  • Google’s Docs & Speadsheets, Calendar, Alerts, Gmail, & Google Talk
  • Corel WordPerfect, Quattro Pro, Presentations, & Borland Paradox
  • Maximizer & ACT (Contact Management Systems)
  • Adobe’s Photoshop, Premiere Elements, Flash Video
  • Blackberry (synchronization & efficiencies)

Work Experience

  • Owner / Consultant Heppell Funeral Planning Ltd. (Victoria, BC) 1998 – Present
  • Sales Representative Aldor Solutions Corporation (Frisco, TX) 2002 – 2006
  • Funeral Director / Embalmer McCall Bros. Funeral Directors Ltd., (Victoria, BC) 1986 – 1998
  • Funeral Assistant Egan Funeral Home Ltd., (Bolton, ON) 1986

Education & Certification

Academy of Professional Funeral Service: CFSP – Certified Funeral Service Practitioner 2006
PO Box 2275, Westerville, OH 43086-2275 · tel. 1-866-431-2377 · www.apfsp.com

  • Successful candidates for certification in the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice may use the designation CFSP (Certified Funeral Service Practitioner)

Royal Roads University: Bachelor of Commerce (Entrepreneurial Management) 2002 – 2004
2005 Sooke Road, Victoria, BC V9B 5Y2 – tel. 250-391-2511 – www.royalroads.ca

  • This is a two year on-line program which consists of: Business Communications, People At Work, Managerial Accounting & Control, Sustainable Development, Marketing, Entrepreneurial Expertise, Information & Technology Management, International Business, Finance & Investments, Organizational Change, Business Strategy, plus an Entrepreneurial Project
  • Member of the four person Case Competition Team that represented Royal Roads at their International Case Competition in the Spring of 2004. This involved reading and analyzing a case study then creating a recommendation within a three hour time period, after which the recommendation was proposed to a simulated board of directors of the particular company

In-Sight Institute: Certified Celebrant 2003
PO Box 42467, Oklahoma City, OK 73123 – tel: 800-658-9262 – www.insightbooks.com

  • A Celebrant is a person who has been trained and certified through the In-Sight Institute to meet the needs of families during their time of loss. They serve by providing a funeral service or tribute that is personalized to reflect the personality and lifestyle of the deceased.

CAIFA (Canadian Assoc. of Insurance & Financial Advisors): IFATC 101, 102, 103 1999 – 2000
41 Lesmill Road, North York, ON M3B 2T3 – tel. 800-563-5822 – www.caifa.com

  • These courses are the necessary requirements to become a Level ll Life Insurance Broker

Advanced Education & Training (B.C.): Funeral Directing & Embalming Apprenticeship 1987 – 1989

  • Two year apprenticeship with two months of in class instruction and twenty-two months of correspondence courses and on-the-job training (at McCall Bros. Funeral Directors)

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