What makes a funeral home exemplary? The funeral profession is filled to the brim with multiple players, but as in any competitive field, only a few businesses rise to the top. These funeral homes embody certain characteristics that elevate them above the competition. Here are the top three components of exceptional funeral homes.

Owners Who Go Above and Beyond

Paying attention to the details is expected in the funeral profession, but funeral homes that consistently go above and beyond to meet the needs of bereaved families stand out from the rest. Personalized care is crucial, and even the smallest detail matters to a funeral owner committed to providing the highest level of customer service.

Claire Pritchard
Johnson Consulting
Article Author

Certain funeral professionals make every effort to help their customers, whether it’s by providing support and comfort to family members whenever they need it, or by organizing a personalized and memorable tribute to a loved one. There are many heartwarming examples that illustrate this approach, such as the funeral director in Elgin, IL who generously volunteered his time and money to plan a community service for a fellow veteran who had been homeless. There’s also a team at Lucas Funeral Homes in Hurst, TX who arranged a Superman-themed funeral service for a young boy, and wore Superman shirts beneath their suits in honor of the beloved young fan.

These acts of kindness leave a lasting impression in the community. Grieving families truly appreciate the support and often share their gratitude through positive word of mouth and online reviews.

Professional and Compassionate Employees

People are the most important asset of any funeral business. Your team must be professional, compassionate and sincere at all times because the success of your business depends on their ability to deliver consummate care. These qualities are essential for both full-time and part-time employees, who should come across as authentic and attentive to families and colleagues alike.

Exemplary funeral homes build strong teams by investing in their people and offering continuous opportunities for training and advancement.

Creating a sense of belonging and a unique company culture encourages staff to remain loyal and dedicated to their employer. Your people should be happy to be part of your funeral home — employee buy-in is key to workplace engagement, and engaged employees desire to do good work and maintain a strong reputation within the community.

Other methods a funeral owner can use to boost employee satisfaction is to lead by example and maintain an open door policy so that staff feel comfortable coming to you with questions. Always be open to suggestions for improvement — funeral owners who listen to their employees are rewarded with high-performing workers. Lastly, make sure your operational processes and service standards are well-documented and clearly communicate your performance expectations to your team so that everyone is on the same page.

Staying Relevant

Many funeral homes pass down ownership from one generation to the next, which can sometimes lead to old-fashioned thinking. Exemplary funeral homes embrace change and keep up with current trends by creating new offerings that appeal to their families. Funeral directors can gain insight into what families want by conducting surveys within their community and using the resulting feedback to implement changes to their products and services.

The general look and feel of a funeral home is also important. Your facility must be clean and updated, and each room should cater to the needs of potential customers. For example, providing a coffee kiosk, a cozy sitting area, or a fun kids room can go a long way to making people feel welcome in your funeral home. More and more families are interested in personalized funerals and celebration of life events, which often require contemporary spaces that can accommodate these types of services. Funeral homes should refresh their decor and open up their facility layout in order to compete with restaurants and event halls in this regard.

To reach the highest rank of exemplary funeral homes, you must possess these three components and continuously work to improve your service offerings and deliver unmatched customer service to families. Contact the Johnson Consulting Group management team to find out how we can help you achieve your performance goals.