Funeral Director Daily

Will preneed methods change?

By Funeral Director Daily / May 7, 2021 /

As many times happens with me, I learn something from a news item or items and then try to convert that knowledge to the funeral industry and try to figure out if or how what I’ve learned will translate to our profession. So was the case this week when I saw some public relations for…

Make sure to watch your flanks in holding onto revenue

By Funeral Director Daily / April 21, 2021 /

I’ve noticed with much interest over my career in funeral service that most funeral home owners are really up to date when it comes to market share percentage as compared to the competitor(s) in their market area. They all either watch the local obituaries or have someone else watch and count death numbers on their…

FTC Funeral Rule comment period ends. . . what’s next?

By Funeral Director Daily / June 18, 2020 /

The Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) “Funeral Rule” is up for review this summer and the comment period for public opinion into the rule ended on Monday. So, now that that period is over. . what comes next? First, a little review on the Funeral Rule. According to the Federal Register of the Federal Trace Commission…

From the investment community: U.S. funeral costs, Australia funeral trends

By Funeral Director Daily / May 1, 2020 /

To roll into the weekend we thought we would give you some food for thought in the funeral industry from almost 10,000 miles apart. Our articles today come from the investment community in both the United States and Australia. Both are good, well thought out articles that deal with the world of death care in…

Dollars and Sense — The great debate over online pricing

By Funeral Director Daily / February 17, 2020 /

I noticed last week that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will be seeking comment on whether to make changes to the Funeral Rule. This is probably the least the FTC will do and there probably could be more to come. In their notice, they mentioned areas of funeral services and pricing where they explicitly seek…

“Charging like raging bulls”

By Funeral Director Daily / June 10, 2019 /

Australian funeral customer Jane Sinclair has created a little bit of a stir down under by calling for more transparency in the way that client families are charged for funeral services. Ms. Sinclair, according to this article from ABC Australia, complained months after the services were performed for her mother. She is quoted as saying…

Transparency . . . or lack thereof in death care pricing

By Funeral Director Daily / May 28, 2019 /

2019 is supposed to be the year that the Federal Trade Commission reviews the Funeral Rule. I don’t know if that will happen, but critics of the death care industry are asking for the reviewal and with it, price transparency required as a web or app based service. This article that I read from the…

The Revenue Drop

By Funeral Director Daily / October 30, 2018 /

While I did not attend the recent National Funeral Director’s Association gathering in Salt Lake City, I recently visited with an attendee about the gathering. One of the things that this veteran funeral director told me was that he cannot remember a time when so many traditional funeral home owners talked about revenue declines and…

The Pricing Conundrum

By Funeral Director Daily / February 8, 2018 /

There is no doubt that in any business the pricing of the product or service must work on at least two levels. The first level being that the price is appropriate enough to draw the customer to – or at least not drive the customer away – from the business. This would be known as…

New Brunswick alters Low/No Income Funeral Packages

By Funeral Director Daily / June 22, 2017 /

The province of New Brunswick in Canada has just approved a new three-year contract with the 64 funeral homes and 500 funeral directors in the province for payment of those people who cannot afford to pay for their own funerals. According to the recent release from cbc.ca most funeral practitioners are not happy. When asked…