Stephens Funeral Home
Veteran’s Plaza

Our youngest son graduated from high school yesterday and today my wife and I booked a short trip to Rhode Island to take in the longest continuous running July 4th Parade in the country in Bristol, Rhode Island.  Literature says that the parade has been continuously operated since 1787.  We are hoping for a little R & R, a little New England hospitality, and a lot of patriotic fervor.

I thought of doing this article when I ran across a short little item in the Meridian Star.  It is just a short little note about the Stephens Funeral Home in Meridian building a small plaza for veterans in their community.  I’ve always believed that public relations, especially for smaller volume funeral homes, is the best way to advance their public image.  A small mortuary, in a small community, probably creates more goodwill on a retail level than a wholesale level — by that I mean the visits and discussions with townsfolk is probably more valuable than your name in lights on a city billboard.  Although, in many communities there would be reasons for both.

In any regard  — what are you doing on July 4.  Maybe there is a parade in your community where you can sit with family, watch the parade, and visit with your neighbors.  There might be very good public relations value in that.

Or how about going an extra step and having a little booth offering free coffee and lemonade to passersby.  Don’t forget to fly an American flag at the funeral home that day, if you don’t do it every day.

My point in all of this is not really about the 4th of July.  It is really about how you can go about building your brand in the funeral business over time if you just use a little ingenuity and planning.  You don’t have to be serving for an 8-hour day — just be out there with the people when you have the chance and you will see results.[wpforms id=”436″ title=”true” description=”true”]