It seems like the old story about just when you thought you had heard it all in the realm of discounts , a new twist enters the market that your funeral home now has to compete with.  According to an article in The Business Times a Japanese funeral home is offering discounts on their inevitable funeral costs to elderly drivers who voluntarily give up their driver’s license.

It appears that Japan has recently introduced a new rule in which people over the age of 75 must pass cognitive tests when renewing their licenses.  One city’s police department had successfully teamed up with a restaurant chain to offer a discount on ramen noodles for the drivers who voluntarily gave up the license.  Now, according to a source the Heiankaku funeral company is willing to offer a 15% discount on eventual funeral expenses  for these types of former drivers.

According to one of the funeral directors, that would save these people an eventual $500.

Funeral Director Daily take:  It doesn’t matter what business you are in. . . .competition and market share eventually become the name of the game.  There are times when discounts are the proper thing to do and then there are times when announcing a discount may be worth more in public relations value than anything else.

When doing things for public relations value always make sure that you are getting what you want out of it – and know the potential downside.  For instance, in this case, might the initial public relations splash of the funeral company’s name be eventually offset by elder Japanese potential clients who disagree or are put off by the idea that those over 75 years cannot satisfactorily handle a vehicle from the driver’s side?[wpforms id=”436″ title=”true” description=”true”]