Business
I spent six years as a board member of the University of Minnesota, which comprises the 8th largest campus by enrollment in the United States counting over 55,000 students. During that tenure I spent two of those years as Chair of the Finance Committee and two years as Chair of the Mission Committee which deals…
Back in 1990 or 1991 I was invited to an event hosted by the late Tom Johnson for funeral profession leaders. With rare exception, I have continued to attend the annual event for the past 35 years and much of what I was able to learn about the greater Death Care world came from…
Who’s writing the reviews? That’s one question that businesses, including funeral homes and cemeteries, don’t want potential consumers asking. I recently read an article in Funeral Service Times “that indicate(s) 89% of people refer to product or service reviews before making purchases.” If true, that is an incredibly high proportion of shoppers and…
Last week Johnson Consulting Group (JCG) released their annual “Sales and Customer Service Trends” report for 2026. The report is compiled by customer surveys that over the past five years and have included 654,327 sales and survey records in that time period. Here are some key takeaways from this year’s findings according…
I love Easter. Even outside of the religious realm I can remember as a child that when mom started decorating the house for Easter — Spring, and nice weather, soon returned to us in Minnesota. Those times reminded me that it would not be long and the cold, wet weather would be…
There is no doubt that when one thinks of the idea of an embalmer around the time of the Civil War (1860’s in the U.S.) or one known as an “undertaker” in the same time period that the profession has changed greatly. And, the business of what a funeral director does or what a…
Today’s edition of Funeral Director Daily will be a little different and I hope you enjoy it. It’s not about the business of Death Care, although, you might find reason to believe that “Therapy Dogs”, that are now making their way into the business of the funeral home, have merit after reading today’s edition.…
You would have to be living under a rock in the United States if you did not notice the large, and seemingly growing gap, between the political parties at this time. I’m guessing that at no time in my life have I seen such a large chasm between the beliefs of the Democratic Party…
Service Corporation International (SCI) recently participated at the J.P. Morgan Industrials Conference and were represened there by Senior Vice-President and Treasurer Aaron Foley. Seeking Alpha provided a transcript of Foley’s comments and answers to questions that you can access here. In those comments and questions one gets an idea of how SCI…
Compassion has always been present in the role of “Funeral Director”. This recent article on the Mortuary Science program at the University of Minnesota quotes Director Michael LuBrant as saying, “It’s such a unique field and it isn’t something a lot of people think of. . .” But LuBrant also says that the characteristics…
