7 Unique Ideas to Try at Your Funeral Home to Connect with Today's Families

Applying an innovatie mindset at your funeral home can help you solve problems and achieve goals. Read about how one funeral home did this here. And while it looks a little different for each funeral home, we know of a few steps you can take to identify your mindset, come up with new ideas, and then try them out!

First, identify your mindset. How do you react to change? Do you resist it, or do you rise to the occasion?

Then, come up with a plan. Think about how you can apply new and innovative ideas at your funeral home.

Sometimes, it can be hard to come up with new ideas on your own, wondering how they’ll turn out. Being proactive doesn’t mean you’ll get it right every time, but it does mean you’re trying. Check out this list of ideas you can apply at your funeral home to connect with today’s families. Hopefully this list will inspire you to try new things and come up with some ideas of your own!

7 unique ideas to try at your funeral home

#1: Attend local or national conventions

Connecting with fellow funeral directors can be one of the best ways to find inspiring ideas. Capitalize on your time spent at conventions by using it as an opportunity to:

• See what other funeral directors have tried and what you might be able to bring back to your funeral home.
• Attend presentations you think sound interesting (even if you don’t think you need them!).
• Visit with different vendors to see what new and innovative services they bring to the profession.

#2: Host, sponsor or participate in community events

You can open your funeral home up to the community by hosting, sponsoring or participating in different events. Sunset Memorial’s Scatter Day is a great example of an event that involved an entire community, and likely many more outside of that community.

If you’re not ready to host your own event, see if you can participate in one! Plenty of funeral directors speak at local events about preplanning or coordinating with other end-of life specialists. Start by thinking through the next local or national holidays and how you can create value for your community.

Take a look at 20 suggestions for holiday events to host at your funeral home published by our friends ASD - Answering Service for Directors, the leading funeral home answering service . >>>

#3: Update an existing service

We’re not suggesting you change everything or make your whole staff try something new. Start small. Ask your most change-conscious funeral director to incorporate new ideas and methods to see what resonates with your families best. Here are a few suggestions:

• Bring up one unique idea that you’ve never done before in your next arrangement conference. Get inspiration by reading 20+ ideas from Busch Cares >>>
• Try a new script when talking with families about cremation. For example, when a family requests cremation, respond with “What kind of cremation would you like?”, rather than just checking a box. Making a small change like this can give your team the chance to talk about the value of having a service, even if the family plans to cremate.
• Offer a new way to connect with families online by using technology like Passare’s Planning Center.

Keep reading to see 4 more unique ideas to try here:

Next Steps: Try out your new ideas

Now that you’re thinking more innovatively, it’s time to try out new ideas! Be patient as you tweak your processes and try new methods - a huge part of innovating is trial and error. The best innovators keep trying new things until they find the best solution to their problems, so don’t give up after one failed idea. Keep going and you’ll find what resonates best with the families you serve.

Hopefully these ideas will serve as a good starting point for you and your staff to begin adopting an innovative mindset and connecting with your digital families.