Comments on: The Beauty of Being A Forward-Thinking Funeral Pro

By: Alan Hillsberg

Alan Hillsberg — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 14:57:13 +0000

The funeral home business is a complex one. Your just not running your funeral home but many are coordinating with various outside sources like crematories, transport and shipping, florists, etc. Having deep experience working closely with many funeral homes, I see some working towards the necessary changes to adapt to demand and personalized client wishes.It does take a lot to change a business model, especially for a funeral home but changes are happening as I see it with the many clients I serve and their commitment to offer the best for the families they serve.

By: Irene Lis

Irene Lis — Sun, 03 Apr 2016 15:01:16 +0000

Great article that speaks to my vision of a better funeral industry. I am a recent entrant to the funeral industry with many years of business experience in other arenas. The funeral business intrigued me because I could sense that it is on the cusp of change and I wanted to be a part of it. I was tired of seeing the “same old same old” being proffered by funeral homes that served the needs of the funeral home very well but not those of the families. It is refreshing it is to see that there are some funeral businesses that are starting to change and serve the real needs of their customers first. However, there are still too many that are stuck in the “buggy whip” days, and we all know where the buggy whip industry stands today.

By: Shelly Payan

Shelly Payan — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 23:59:52 +0000

I’ve been in the funeral industry for 28 years. When I started, I thought by the time I was 30, I would have made several career changes. I mean I was only ten at the time. Not one thought ever occurred to me to change Careers or companies; mainly because of one man, John E. Lindquist and the Lindquist Family who proved to be such caring and giving people. Not only do they continue to provide families with the support they need to get through a death, they give so much to the community, and they are so good to the employees. John E. was and still is a forward-thinking funeral director. Because of his funeral background and his acceptance and eagerness for change, he has made a huge difference in the funeral community. He started Great Western Insurance Co. at a time advanced planning money was being placed in a trust account with little to no growth. He is not a “yes” man and has always encouraged me and all others who came after me to play devil’s advocate. I have seen many generations of funeral funding policies developed over the years all keeping up with what would not only be best for the funeral homes we work with, but also their client families. For the first 10 to 15 years, it was obvious that most funeral directors were slow to change. In my eyes, I saw fear that if too much was changed or too much was published or advertised about funerals and planning ahead, client families would be put off. It takes a person like John E. who is not afraid and who listens and watches what is happening not only in the funeral industry but changing marketing trends and buying habits. In many cases, we saw complacency and funeral directors expecting that once a family came to them to bury a loved one that future generations would automatically follow. It actually took conglomerates who were buying funeral homes at the time for many funeral directors to realize they needed to be more progressive. The conglomerates came in with guns loaded. Not only did they raise funeral prices, but they heavily marketed in their areas and advertised pre-need. Many families changed funeral homes because they thought they could only pre-plan through those who were advertising. Individual funeral home owners had no choice but to start advertising and build solid pre-need departments in order to remain competitive. Great Western’s intentions are to offer pre-need funding vehicles to funeral homes. We don’t wish to have multiple products. AM Best has been encouraging GW to add more lines of business in order to improve it’s rating. John E. has said on multiple occasions he will continue to focus only on the funeral industry and will not add other lines just for an A rating. I was at the right place at the right time, and because of that, I am very passionate about what we do and honored to be able to work for such a fine family. We’ve always been in a growth mode and have suffered growing pains, but one thing is for certain, Great Western is a company which will be around for a very long time. I’ve often thought how John E. is somewhat of an outlier – he was the rebel child who surprised so many people, especially his parents, when he expressed he wanted to work for the family business. His dad did not create a job for him, he made John E. start at the bottom. John E. Is a licensed funeral director and truly has earned the solid reputation he and his mortuaries have. No one who knew John E. as he grew up figured he would amount to much, but he proved so many people wrong. He is successful because he utilized resourses available to him and is not afraid of change or to take risks. Now that clients are looking more for value and are so well educated because of the wealth of information available, the strong team John E. and now his son have built, GW wil continue to stay engaged with our clients in order to offer what they need – not what we think they need. Cremation is now on the rise, and I believe that will be the next big change as we move away from more traditional funerals. So we need to be creative and open minded in order to support the continuing changes. One thing that I can say about the Lindquist Funeral Homes, is that the caring staff and the genuine concern and commitment to provide the best funeral experience for every family will never change. I am proud to have been able to be at GW from the beginning of time and all that I have learned from John E. He has been a terrific mentor and taught me so much. I have my own sense of personal ownership because I was trusted and allowed to contribute to its growth. Our funeral home clients have been so great and so loyal which is rare in many cases. I can’t imagine any other opportunity at that time that would have shown me what strong integrity and lack of fear can achieve.

By: Desmond Stephenson

Desmond Stephenson — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 19:44:01 +0000

We represent LifeArt International here in the UK / Ireland. LifeArt products are a celebration/reflection of a life lived our designs are beautiful, made out of enviroboard which makes them eco-friendly. This is a good letter let us revolutionise the Funeral Industry together. LifeArt bringing tomorrow’s technology today.

By: Nila Grant

Nila Grant — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 16:26:57 +0000

I definitely would like to see a change in the funeral business for families to consider. We have to shift our focus from grieving their death to celebration of their life. I strongly feel that life is tough, we all have our ups and downs, failures and achievements; each person has a story to tell and would like to share that with those who are willing to listen. I would rather leave a funeral in awe of a person life vs. sadness over their death. Aspiring post!

By: Robert L Muratore

Robert L Muratore — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 07:08:01 +0000

I found it very interesting to read. And as much as I believe change is good and needed n most cases it sometimes is true when they they say if it’s not broke why fix it. Our industry has changed dramatically in the past 30 years I have been licensed. And unfortunately not for the good. Don’t you miss the neighborhood grocery store, hardware store & pharmacy. Well what happened , change occurred. Wegmans , Home Depot & Walgreens came in and put them out of business. Do I really need to say what happened to our industry. It seems quite apparent. As for the next generation God only knows what their feelings are on funerals. Most likely can we do it all online. Do I really need to come in to see my ” dead mother or father “. We have become such a society that it is a inconvenient to take a few days and properly mourn the loss of our loved one who took care of us their entire life. What has happened is that we get asked what is the quickest and easiest way of doing this. ” Yes I think cremation is the way to go “. That is the answer from the son or daughter to the way f celebrating a loved one. Because personalization takes to much time and the corporations that took over our industry and paid way to much for theses funeral homes cannot properly staff the funera home. They want someone right out of school and pay them the least amount of money so they are able to pay their bills. Who suffers, the family that are use to get SERVICE. Since it’s not provided the value and reverance of properly offering the traditional funeral is a thing of the past. Why waste valueable ground for a cemetery when we get out up nothing but professional medical buildings for doctors since the insurance companies is where all the money is. I do apologize for going on and on but it truly is depressing to have witnessed the collapse of the ” Traditional Funeral”.

By: Karin Schuett

Karin Schuett — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 11:50:54 +0000

Circle of Life Cremation and Burial Centre in Dundas Ontario is very much in keeping with this line of thinking.
Emma,mourn little Miniature Schnauzer, completes the vision as our official greeter and therapy dog!

By: Donica Halcom

Donica Halcom — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 16:04:29 +0000

This is the same feeling I had when I applied for my job here as administrative assistant. I felt completely relaxed and “at home” when I came for the interview. I knew immediately this was where I needed to be and the feeling is still there.

We are a forward-thinking home, with a beautiful, but comfortable interior…a cafe with various flavors of DAVinci gourmet syrups and creans for coffee! Our staff is amazing…working together and with the families – striving for “knock your socks off” customer service.

We are hosting a ladies luncheon and style show April 28…”Have the Talk of a Lifetime” here in our chapel. Our goal is to bring the community inside to experience our beautiful building and meet the staff.

By: Marie Luh

Marie Luh — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 00:00:18 +0000

I enjoyed reading your article. As a woman funeral director I feel change needs to occur. It diffintely is a man’s domain in the business.

By: Cecil Compton

Cecil Compton — Thu, 17 Mar 2016 20:54:43 +0000

Enjoyed your article. Undertaker