Throwing open the front doors of your funeral home to let inquisitive groups look through your facility may be a cause for consternation in some. In an industry where discretion is of foremost concern, welcoming groups of interested people through your premises may seem counterproductive. However, there are some very positive reasons to conduct ‘Open Days’ at your funeral home, where the local community is invited to come and learn about your business and services.
Demystifying funeral homes
The most compelling reason to host an Open Day is to demystify the stigma which is often associated with funeral homes and ‘death’ generally. For the layperson, funeral homes are seen as places to avoid; only to be visited at the worst possible times during your life. However, our research suggests that encouraging the local community to an Open Day will result in the understanding that your funeral home is a welcoming space that offers an array of specialised services, respectful care of deceased and dedicated support for families during times of great stress. Some attendees at the Open Day will be contended to see your front office and possibly an arranging room, others will want the full tour of back offices, mortuary and cremation facilities. Both experiences however will help people to understand that your funeral home is a safe, caring environment, which does not warrant preconceived anxiety or fear.
Opportunity to explain the importance of funerals
An Open Day also gives the funeral home the opportunity to explain the importance of a funeral and related services in the grieving process, which is important information that is often misunderstood and undervalued in today’s society.
Give testimony to the unique life of the person who died;
Encourage the expression of grief;
Provide support for mourners; embrace faith, beliefs, and questions about life and death; and
Find hope for continued living.
People who understand the importance of the funeral process have a better chance to creating a more meaningful experience for themselves and others.
Outlining services offered
Many funeral homes are moving towards providing a more comprehensive range of services to families, including: chapel facilities, catering services, in-house video production, and butterfly releases etc. An Open Day allows visitors to become aware of your range of services which can help them leave more explicit instructions to their families regarding their wishes for their own funeral service, and to share with others what services your funeral home offers.
Community interaction
Open Days are a positive way for funeral homes to interact with the local community, to share knowledge and to promote the variety of services that they offer. They do not have to be highly orchestrated events, they can be as simple as inviting the community to your funeral home for a free sausage sizzle and tour, where every attendee receives an information pack with further reading material about your funeral home and/or prearrangement, plus other marketing collateral or freebies. For relatively little expense, these days can lead to new requests for prearranged funerals and to new enquires from word-of-mouth referrals.
One of our brand values is our commitment to environmentally sustainable practices. We continually work with our suppliers to develop products that will achieve this end.
We have recently been working with one of our suppliers and have developed an amazing biodegradable, Australian-made, environmentally-friendly filler for the pillows that we supply with our lined coffins.
This new filler is a remarkably clean, sustainable product made from Australian wheat starch and has some remarkable attributes:
100% Australian made
100% biodegradable – completely breaks down
Clean and safe for cremation
Good for burial – can improve soil structure
No harmful residue
Better for the environment, soil and air than petroleum based products
A memorial tree is a tree that is planted as a way of memorialising the life of a special person. You can think of it as a living legacy of a family’s loved one.
When a family purchases one of your caskets or coffins from our Memorial Tree program range, a memorial tree will be planted on the family’s behalf.
This video explains how our Memorial Tree Program works, plus the benefits for families and for your funeral home.
Login to our Resources page to view the video.
Talk to your Account Manager about introducing our Memorial Tree Program into your funeral home.
Time Management is one of those management buzzwords, but it actually relates to the process of planning and consciously controlling the amount of time we spend on various activities, with the goal of increasing our effectiveness and productivity.
Most of us know that we could be managing our time more effectively, but it can be difficult to do in practice. When we do manage our time well we are highly productive at work, and our stress levels usually decrease.
We have put together this 60 second self-assessment that will show you how well (or not) your time management principles are working for you.
Print out the score sheet below and put a 1, 2 or 3 in each box that best describes you right now.
Once you have completed the score sheet add up your answers to reveal what your score says about your time management practices below.
How did you score?
Below 24: Danger zone
Time management is virtually non-existent and there are danger signs that you are losing control of your time. The impact on others around you will be significant. Think about the consequences of continuing to live your life this way.
Review your answers and identify ways to improve your time management.
24 – 33: Pressure cooker
You are doing most of your work under pressure and this is causing stress for you and the people around you. You have a feeling of never really getting on top of the workload.
Identify ways to do work that is in line with your long term goals, rather than just doing the ‘urgent, not important’ tasks.
34 – 43: Almost there
You are probably using effective time management tools currently, but there may be some areas which could improve. Some days can be hectic, but you tend to manage okay. However, if more challenges or activities come your way, then chaos may come to the fore again.
44 – 53: Balanced and in control
You have a terrific attitude to your work and your time. You leave a balanced life and plan your time so that you do the things that are important to you. If you have been just focusing on your time management at work, consider how are you manage your personal time. Is that as balanced and as in control as your work life?
54: Time management guru
If you scored 54 and were totally honest in your answers, you are a time management guru and could help others in your organisation or your personal life to master time management.
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