Comments on: The 5 Biggest Takeaways From ICCFA’s Wide World of Sales Conference

By: Rilee Chastain

Rilee Chastain — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 14:18:10 +0000

In reply to Graham Burton. Great insights, Graham! I completely agree with you.

By: Rilee Chastain

Rilee Chastain — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 14:17:24 +0000

Walter, thanks for the comment! As you mentioned, I think that a lot of funeral professionals are trying to find the right balance between supporting families and supporting themselves through their profession. Luckily, I think the key to this balance aligns with the same word you mentioned – “Trust.” Families have shown that they’re willing to spend the money on funeral costs, and even upgrade to more high-end options, when they understand the value behind the services, and when their funeral director is open and honest about the cost and what goes into it. I would encourage all people in this profession to focus first on educating families, no matter what the scenario, as it is the first step towards building trust with families.

By: Walter L. Hatfield

Walter L. Hatfield — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 17:35:44 +0000

Rilee, I know by your photo that you are young and would not remember the old days when people that we served were more than a Buck to be had, Funeral Director’s were listed as number 2 behind Minister’s in “TRUST”. I hate to throw water on a profession that I served with pride, honesty and dedication for 47 years but there has to be an awareness that the funeral INDUSTRY has become just another retail business. I am not saying that a profit is wrong, I’m saying that when the SCI’s of the profession took over, the quality and respect for funeral service took a hit from the public. I can speak to this by my own experience. I worked under the ownership of, Loewen Group, Alderwoods and SCI. As each became unable to make more profit, the fixation on financial reward became a total commitment. The salesmen that were hired to do pre-need were untrained to understand the complexity of arrangements and resulted in mistakes, misunderstandings and outright fraud. I know the Funeral Directors were suppose to sign off on the arrangement and what I signed were all fine, To my knowledge, not knowing what was inferred by the salesman without anything in print. I hope this is accepted with my best wishes to those that try to operate a funeral home with commitment to the bereaved, the profits have ALWAYS been there if we lived the ‘Golden Rule” not he who has the gold…Rules!

By: Graham Burton

Graham Burton — Sun, 24 Jan 2016 17:30:03 +0000

Hi Rilee ,nice to see great comments again ,section 3 spot .In the funeral business only one chance to get it right from start to finish.Yes consistency is the key in every way in this serviceable profession just being yourself and treating famlies how you would expect to be treated yourselve goes along way in famlies coming back to you .
Keep up the good work .regards Graham

By: Julie Weir

Julie Weir — Sun, 24 Jan 2016 01:31:45 +0000

I enjoy reading your tips.