Keeping your Firm’s Families

April 24, 2023/Business/

By guest writer Joe Weigel.

Have you ever looked in your local paper’s obituary section or checked out a competitor’s website and asked, “How did we lose that family? We’ve served them for generations.”

The fact is – most funeral homes devote a substantial amount of effort and investment to landing new customers. Customer journey mapping, customer personas, and customer touchpoints are all the rage in getting prospects to select your funeral home.

Interestingly, very few funeral homes pay attention to the other end of that process. That’s the point at which existing families disappear. And each time that happens, you must gain a new one just to avoid losing ground.

Joe Weigel
Guest Columnist

It’s been said that selling to a prospect takes six times more money and effort than reaching an existing customer. In other words, keeping a customer costs one-sixth as much as replacing one. That’s why it pays to learn what causes your families to leave and not spend all your time and money on attracting new ones.

Many funeral homes assume that the loss will be because of something they did, but experience has taught me that the more common culprit is what they didn’t do. Simple neglect is one of the most consistent ways a funeral home can lose people over time. They’ll slip away gradually, barely even noticed.

Neglect doesn’t take any effort. In fact, that’s the heart of the problem. When you assume that families you served in the past will continue to use your firm, you take them for granted. You stop actively reaching out to them in an effort to keep them connected and feeling appreciated.

Once they feel unconnected and neglected, they become vulnerable. And that’s when one of your competitors smiles and catches their attention. The competitor makes them feel wanted and important, and they slip away before you realize what has happened. You can make a desperate effort to reel them back in, but how well has that worked in your life?

The only effective way to prevent neglect is through purposeful action. In romantic relationships, that may involve showing genuine interest in what they say, making time for them, and reminding them of their importance in your life.

The same holds true for families. You can do something as simple as making regular contacts. For example, do you invite every family you have ever served to your annual Holiday Remembrance program – or just the ones you served over the past year? The key is that you have to do something. Take part of the time and money you devote to the new-customer acquisition, and refocus it on retaining existing families.

What do you do for the family on the one-year anniversary of their loved one’s death? A text message is a start – but how much more powerful would a card and/or short note from your funeral home be? Sure, it takes a little time, but it would be much more appreciated by the family.

Not sure what families really want from you? Asking, “Is there any way we can do a better job for you?” or “What could we have done to improve our service to you during your loss?” demonstrates that you have a real interest in taking care of them and serving their needs.

Don’t be afraid to ask, either. It’s not a sign of weakness, and it’s a lot easier to romance them when the relationship is strong than to find yourself wondering, “I wonder if there’s anything we could have done differently to keep their business?”

Joe Weigel is the founder of Weigel Strategic Marketing, a marketing communications firm focused on the funeral profession that delivers expertise across three disciplines: public relations, branding, and communications. Visit weigelstrategicmarketing.webs.com to learn more. He also can be reached at weigelstrategicmarketing@gmail.com.

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