Much has been written and discussed about funeral homes’ need for a vibrant and informative web presence, but a recent survey indicated the importance of a more traditional aspect of the business: your physical location.
A total of 87 percent of consumer respondents physically visited the funeral home they selected before making their choices, the study found, and 90 percent said that a facility’s cleanliness was important when it came time to decide. The survey was commissioned by Foresight, a funeral home and cemetery consultant service, and Fortitude, a research and marketing firm.
Key Takeaways
- A total of 87 percent toured funeral homes; cleanliness, parking, accessibility and appearance heavily influenced selection decisions
- Consumers understand funeral options far less than professionals believe, highlighting a major education gap.
- Association involvement boosts employee engagement, satisfaction and access to valuable leadership and business training.
That initial visit, however, wasn’t the only trip to a funeral home that consumers were making. The study found that 33 percent physically visited other locations as well. In fact, the average number of locations visited was 3.1, the study said.
“The assumption that once we have a family in the fold, we have them for life is a nice soundbite, but the data doesn’t bear that out,” the survey said.
In addition to how clean a facility was, consumers also paid close attention to appearance and décor, availability of parking and availability of private viewing and visitation rooms. Each of those areas scored more than 80 percent in importance to consumers. In addition, accessibility for senior citizens and the disabled was important for 79 percent of respondents.
The size of the service or chapel area and overall environment, whether modern or traditional, were also deemed important.
Consumers also stressed that the ability to incorporate technology into services was important. Modern audio/visual systems, capable of streaming services and creating slideshows with background music, were important to 57 percent of respondents.
But the study stressed that most often, the bells and whistles of a modern facility take a backseat to what consumers find most important, “basic cleanliness, availability of parking [and] accessibility for older attendees.”
The conclusions were obvious, the study said.
“While consumers are increasingly visiting your website, don’t lose sight of your physical location AND what is important to your customers,” the survey stated.
The study also pointed to another basic need for consumers: education. And this is an area where funeral professionals often fall short, according to the data. While 70 percent of industry professionals said that education was offered, only 32 percent said that education was received, indicating that while funeral directors may be providing information, the actual meaning of that information is not being understood.
The study indicates that funeral professionals should never assume that what they are telling people is actually registering with them. A total of 59 percent of industry respondents believes consumers are aware of the details of funeral service, while only 29 percent of consumers say they are aware.
“Consumers simply do not know very much about their funeral and cemetery options, something our professionals continue to miss,” the study said.
The largest gap in awareness is in online cremation arrangements, where 75 percent of professionals believe that consumers are aware while only 17 percent of consumers say they are. Similarly large gaps exist when it comes to eco-friendly burial options, memorializations with cremation and natural burial.
The study also points to the value of professional associations when it comes to overall workplace engagement. Among those professional companies, 81 percent of those involved in associations report being engaged with their work, while 71 percent of employees are engaged and 50 percent are “completely satisfied with their job.” Respondents who are not involved in associations rated consistently lower in engagement and job satisfaction.
The associations provided added value in areas where respondents said they need more tools and education. Training programs in leadership, employee management and business operations were all considered valuable by respondents.
The New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association continues to supply in-person and on-demand online seminars to address these needs and through the Northeast Funeral Service Partnership, an organization made up of the funeral directors associations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, has offered training sessions in leadership and management.
A full copy of the Foresight report can be found here.