We don't have time to question everything, of course, but I want to motivate you to question what you do and why you do it, and the impact that it has on your business. And—most importantly—the impact it has on your families.

I am a second-generation funeral director and embalmer from a really, really small town in Indiana. I've been licensed since 2005. I grew up in the funeral home with no intention of going into funeral service. But, as I got to see my father and understand what he was doing, I knew what he was doing was important and I wanted to be a part of that.

One of the things I heard from my father was “We bury our dead and we burn our trash.” And, as a young man, I didn't understand that, because Dad didn't own a cemetery and he didn't own the crematory. So, I started questioning that.

I thought, “What do you care? You want the phone to ring. You want to help a family.” But this was the mindset of so many funeral directors of that generation: “Cremation is our enemy. When a family says cremation, that's the only thing they want. That's it.” Those men lived in a time of cremation only, but from day one, that's never been my experience. So I questioned how we interacted with our families, and I wanted to get better.

I wanted to get better because, as a young funeral director, you find yourself in awkward situations that you didn't ask for. Families love to ask questions—and we want them to ask questions. But when you're a young, ignorant kid you don't know what to do when you're put on the spot with a question that you don't know how to answer. I never had someone tell me, “When you get a question that you don't know the answer to, just say, ‘I don't know, but I'll find out for you.’” That makes someone feel pretty good. You're going to help them. You're going to find out – it may take you five minutes, it may take you more—but you're going to help.

We have made this unbelievable commitment that we are going to care for living and the dead, and we're going to do it simultaneously. As a young funeral director, I always wondered: what makes a good funeral director? And it's one of those things that is always evolving.

I'm constantly adding to that amount of information that I have that helps me help families. And no matter how much knowledge we have about the funeral business or running a business or death or grief or all that stuff, what families really need is just another human being to listen. Another human being to be there, to support them and to support their decisions. We don't see that across all funeral service.

I am using a story I heard from someone who chartered a fishing boat. He mentioned that his boat captain was on the radio with other boat captains, and they were talking about where the fish are. They've all got paying clients. They all want them to have a good time. They all want them to fish. But these competing businesses are on the horn to each other, telling each other where the fish are biting today.

Conversely, there's other captains out there and they're not going to talk to the competitors. You've hired them for a boat ride and you're going to get a boat ride. And that's all you’re going to get. But other businesses who are competing are out there trying to satisfy their clients. When it comes to funeral service, we may call a buddy for help. We may call a funeral home to help bring someone home.

Yet, when it comes to service, a family walks in and they say, “Hey, I, saw this really neat thing on the internet you can do with cremated remains. Can you do that?” and I don't know about it. This happens way too much in funeral service where we say, “no, we don't do that here.” And we stop. We don't call out for help. We don't call out to figure out how to do it. Heaven forbid we tell a family, “we don't do that here, but I can find a place for you.”

A buddy of mine was working at this funeral home. When someone came in to pick up mom or dad, they sat across the desk and “there's dad, thanks for coming in. Oh, sign here.” She was mortified that this was what was happening. So, she started to think a little bit, make it a little bit different, make it more of an experience. And she got in trouble. “What are you doing? We don't do that here.” Well, she kept doing it. She just made it a little bit different.

I'd never thought about it. Never questioned it. It was just what we did. I think before I started using mom or dad or brother or whomever, it was “cremated remains. Here you go.” But, I started thinking about it and I was like, I can do better. As a funeral director, I do not want to treat my cremation families any different than burial families. Again, my family, we don't own a cemetery and we don't own a crematory, but I will do both for you, so we got to thinking.

You never know what a family's going to value when they walk in the door. They'll walk in the door and they'll be like, we want a dinner, or we want a kegger. Some families want a funeral procession. Some families want pallbearers, and what’s the answer? You buy a piece of furniture.

I was curious about this product: an urn, an arc, an urn caddy, there’s so many different names. I wanted one of these for years and years, but my father wouldn't let me do it. Finally he got older and stopped stopping me. So we got one, because I didn't want our cremation families to be cut out of some of the things that burial families get, and that some families value.

Now, when it comes to cremation, you have all of the choices in the world.

How do we know it's the right thing to do? The key is to sit down and take the time. Think about it, question it, talk about it. When we'd go on a removal or bring someone into our care, we would get into the hearse afterwards, and we'd start to drive away. And I'd look over and be like, “All right, let's grade ourselves. How do you think we did? How did the communication go? How did the transfer go? Do you think we met their needs?” Didn't even know we were doing it, but we were trying to get better.

If you're not even thinking about what you do, this business can be very routine. You show up, you walk in, you do your work, you go home. It can be that simple. But if your mind gets numb and you're not thinking about what you're doing and trying to improve, you'll never improve.

Just because Dad's been doing it 60 years doesn't mean it's wrong. It may be the best way to do it, but until we test it out, we don't know. And I encourage you to talk with other people about it too. Get outside of your circle, your echo chamber. That is the key.

If you asked me maybe right now, what else do I do? Well, when it comes down to it, all of this is caring for our families, listening to them, and empowering them to do what they need to do. We’re put out to be these money-grubbing, guilt-twisting professionals that will use that emotion to help ourselves. When, as we all know, that is the complete opposite of what we do. We will go the extra mile to help a family. You all do it.

I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. We all work in funeral service. We are equals, but when we go home, all of us are the expert to our communities. Tell your story, tell people what you do, encourage them to have those conversations, be open and approachable. And that's how folks build trust with us.

I haven’t worked in a library since 2005, but I still call myself a librarian—even after serving as CANA’s Executive Director for ten years. That’s because librarians do much more than fine you for that overdue book and shush noisy patrons. As the American Library Association puts it, “In their work, librarians research, instruct, and connect people to technology... Librarians work with people of all ages, connecting them to information, learning and the community.” 

As CANA’s Executive Director (and behind-the-scenes librarian), I conduct research and library tasks nearly every workday, because cremation professionals are curious people who are eager to learn and make data-driven decisions. In fact, CANA’s commitment to research – which then helps businesses and our profession advance – is one of my favorites among the CANA projects and benefits we provide. I know CANA members rely on our association to publish timely and practical content, and we will continue to do so, but I also encourage you discover the many ways your local public library can help you, too.

When was the last time you visited your public library? Story time for your child or grandchild? To visit a book sale? Use the restroom? Maybe never? I admit that it’s been a while since I’ve been to a library (pandemic notwithstanding), but I use my library online to borrow e-books and magazines and to access databases for personal and CANA use.

Public libraries offer a wide range of services to the business community, from meeting space to direct mailing lists, free technology and training classes. The Urban Libraries Council estimates that in 2021, a pandemic year during which many libraries offered limited or virtual services, the actual value of library services to entrepreneurs and small business owners ranged from $815,000 for Greensboro Public Library in North Carolina to $1.38 million in Spokane, Washington. That cost includes what the library provides for free that people would have to pay to own or use, like the makerspace (e.g., 3D printers and digital design equipment) and training programs—or even just a computer with internet access.
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Libraries can be a treasure trove of business resources for you and your employees. So, here’s this librarian’s quick look at making the most of these free resources for your business.

This is an important first step to take advantage of a library’s many resources, even though several drop-in programs (and the restroom) can be accessed just by walking in the door. You can always get a library card by visiting your library, and often you can start the process online. Sometimes libraries offer library cards to businesses, so if you live in a different community than your business, you can expand the resources you can access. ​

​ACCESS

Saw a link to an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal or Harvard Business Review on LinkedIn but ran into a pay wall? Your library might have a subscription. Log in to the library website and access thousands of magazine and journal databases.

You can find a whole range of other publications, too. Go to the library’s website and locate Research Databases, then explore the Business category and see what’s trending for businesses today.

INFORMATION

EDUCATION

GUIDANCE

MENTORS

MEETING SPACES

GRIEF RESOURCES

GENEALOGY RESOURCES

RELIABLE WIFI

​BOOKS

A few dollars of your tax payments go to fund public libraries, so why not make the most of it? Also, did you know that federal funding of public libraries is distributed based on library card holders? Simply getting your library card supports funding for your library and your community.

No matter what you think about the evolution of the North American Funeral Rite, you have to acknowledge that cremation is, and has been for some time, a major part of society’s expectation of what happens when someone dies. As the demand for cremation services has increased over the past few decades, funeral professionals have responded in a variety of ways to meet their consumer’s expectations. Some have even tried to divert their community’s attention away from cremation, to no avail. Regardless, cremation is now fully integrated into our society’s funeral ideal and shows no signs of changing anytime soon. Funeral service professionals must now add Cremation Specialist to their long litany of talents.

Most funeral service professionals don’t operate cremation equipment, but thankfully, that is not required to have cremation expertise. Knowing what goes on at the crematory, by what means the decedent will travel through the process, and how your firm and the crematory assure the remains that start the journey are the same that are returned at the end will put the family’s mind at rest and create a sense of comfort and confidence that their loved one is in good hands.

One doubt many have, which can be alleviated from the start, is how the decedent’s identity will be confirmed, verified, and documented throughout the journey. This could be put into words during the removal or as part of the arrangement conference. Knowing and confidently clarifying both the ID process and the chain of custody protocols is good practice for a cremation professional. If you don't feel confident outlining the process, talk to your crematory operators. They can walk you through everything in detail and even if you don’t have all of the steps perfectly memorized, sharing with your families that your crematory does indeed have a formal process that is followed consistently is expert-level knowledge.

Most believe that cremation causes pollution. Any time something burns and heat is generated, emissions are produced, but the cremation professional takes an educated approach when answering inquiries regarding emissions and the environment. Modern cremation equipment is designed so well that (when properly maintained and properly operated) the emissions are minimal and insignificant. The sophisticated control systems and airflow design along with the physical design of the equipment assure minimum emissions. According to environmental experts, cremation is one of the lowest sources of pollution and, because of that, isn’t regulated by the US Federal EPA (but are regulated at the local level).

If one has to wait for something, they are undoubtedly going to want to know how long the wait will be. The variables involved in calculating how long it will take seem endless. How busy is the crematory at the moment? Are all of the necessary permits and authorizations in place? Is the deceased of average size or will there be extenuating circumstances that may delay the cremation? (For example, the decedent is a larger individual that will require special handling at the crematory). For the most part, if there are no barriers, the actual cremation takes between 1 and 3 hours to perform. There is also the time needed for processing and packaging the cremated remains. Keeping track of all of these variables can be cumbersome, but navigating all that is something a cremation professional does as part of their service.

Often families will have questions regarding the actual cremation process. Knowing the basics regarding how things work is not difficult. Cremation, by definition, is a thermal (mechanical or other dissolution) process that reduces deceased human or pet remains to bone-like fragments. The process also involves the further reduction of the remains via pulverization of the bone-like fragments into pieces that are usually no more than one-eighth inch. The temperatures involved range from 1400°F to 1800°F depending on the make and model of the equipment. All cremation equipment has multiple chambers that combust and re-combust what is produced during the process so the pollution that is created is eliminated before re-entering the atmosphere. For the most part, what goes back into the atmosphere is breathable, clean air.

Another important characteristic of a cremation specialist is their lack of assumption that the cremation family does not find value in more traditional funeral services. The cremation specialist knows it's their duty to help the family find the right services to honor their loved one in concert with their choice of disposition. This may be nothing more than the removal of the deceased at the place of death, curating the necessary forms and authorizations, and the actual cremation — but it may be more. It may be a full-on “traditional” funeral service complete with embalming, visitation, rosary, livery, procession, church or chapel service before the cremation, and a graveside committal service. It may be something in between. The funeral director cremation specialist is, at their very core, a funeral director regardless of the choice of disposition, and facilitates an event appropriate for their families.
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With any consumer transaction, the more you know about the products and services you offer, the happier your client will be. If someone wants to buy a new Ford F-150 pickup they are going to head to the Ford dealer, not the Volkswagen showroom. Value is perceived (and directly related to) the expertise of the professional facilitating the transaction and funeral service is no exception. 

My second week on the job as CANA’s Executive Director took place during the joint CANA-NFDA convention in October 2011. I remember many excellent presentations and I vividly recall one speaker asking the audience, "Are you a cremation specialist? Raise your hand if you are." There were hundreds of people in the room, and not one raised a hand. The speaker then chastised us, saying, "Of course you are a cremation specialist, because you say you are."

Is it really as simple as that? Not exactly.
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CANA has been conducting research to determine the actual competencies and related knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) that a funeral director and arranger use when serving their community. Based on this, we've developed continuing education classes that teach these important KSAs, validate good habits and introduce best practices. Together they make up the new CANA-Certified Cremation Specialist credential—a labor of love crafted by the leadership and staff of CANA over the last five years.

You’ve all heard the lament: no one teaches cremation in mortuary science or funeral service schools, so why do some funeral directors excel at connecting with consumers who choose cremation and why do some fall short? CANA set out to find the answers.

One of the four pillars of CANA’s strategic plan is Education, with one of the goals under that pillar being to constantly scan the state of the profession and address training needs through progressive education. To that end, in August 2017 CANA board members engaged in a hands-on activity where they identified their greatest training struggles across their businesses. The major categories identified were: 1. arrangement conferences, 2. crematory operations, 3. sales, 4. managing a service, 5. technology, 6. leadership development, 7. phone skills, and 8. oral communication, business communication and writing.

The CANA Education Committee then set CANA’s top three priorities: arrangement conferences, crematory operations, and sales. With a firm theory about where our profession was struggling, it was time to test our ideas, so we invited rock star funeral directors from CANA member firms across the US and Canada to convene in Chicago and participate in a DACUM (Developing A CUrriculuM) study.

These successful professionals were asked to describe, in exhaustive detail, each task they engage in to serve families who choose cremation. I wish you could have been in the room. This open exchange of ideas and strategies was a type of training in itself.
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The DACUM study identified seven domains of competencies from which we developed training.

Anyone familiar with the curriculum at mortuary science and funeral service programs will recognize these areas. You’ll find obvious connections and echoes to the mortuary school classroom curriculum, which we found to be a reassuring reminder: there’s no divide between cremation and burial families, just in how they can be perceived.
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CANA engaged consultants to do research on this new education initiative, including a large survey. Those respondents overwhelmingly identified a need for training that distinguishes between the knowledge and skills required to serve families choosing traditional casket burial and those choosing cremation. That’s where CANA found its niche.

n keeping with CANA’s mission to serve as the leading authority on all aspects of cremation, the association identified a gap in cremation-focused, online continuing education courses – content that develops and supports the competencies that best prepare funeral directors to serve people choosing cremation. Current courses are outdated, repetitive, provide little to no cremation content, and don’t advance competencies in the areas we identified.

The path forward was clear: fill the gap between the type of specialized training needed and the level of interest in the actual content areas—all with CANA’s brand of cremation-first content to set it apart from the other the education options currently on offer.

The primary audience for this project is early to mid-career funeral directors and arrangers. The primary competition is low-cost or free online training programs. We committed to the development of a self-paced educational program, providing licensed funeral directors with CE which leads to a cremation specialist credential at an accessible price.

CANA members are the leaders in cremation innovation so that is where we started. We identified subject matter experts from across the association to develop and deliver specific courses targeted to each of the seven competencies:

The Cremation Choice – works to explain the cremation consumer by using research to break down biases about what motivates them and what they want.

Communication Skills Fundamentals – created to get at the many ways we communicate, verbally and silently, to clients.

Cremation Phone Shoppers: Your Best First Impression – focuses on making the connection with the caller and showcasing the value you offer.

The Power of Presence: An Introduction – developed with the blessing and support of Glenda Stansbury and Doug Manning, experts in the topic.

Ethics in Funeral Service – moving beyond compliance with regulations, this class addresses ethical codes of conduct for the business and the individual

Complying with the FTC Funeral Rule – uses cremation–focused scenarios to teach how to follow The Rule in different situations

Presentation without Preservation – in what many would consider a foreign concept to CANA this class examines minimally-invasive body preparation techniques for the customer who wants a viewing but doesn’t want embalming.

Each class is highly interactive with exercises, video clips and case studies.
Looking for recorded webinars? Look elsewhere. These classes will capture your attention, present you with interactive scenarios and are always cremation-first.

This preparation work revealed the core issue: most funeral directors have learned over time—or are actually taught—the cremation myths and biases that have influenced business models and created a disconnect between consumers and funeral professionals. These biases are evident, even among funeral professionals working in cremation businesses.

The CCS content challenges participants to confront biases and learn new strategies to connect with grieving families. Participants reported that communication tips and exercises to cultivate empathy and other communication skills resulted in greater satisfaction and success.
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In Fall 2021, CANA offered the first test cohort and graduated eight CANA-Certified Cremation Specialists. During this test offering we learned a number of lessons, including:

​The Second Cohort launches March 7 and you are invited to participate. If you work for a CANA member or are the owner/manager of a CANA member and wish to register employees find out more here.
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It took five years to identify the competencies, build the courses and plan the launch, but here we are introducing the CANA-Certified Cremation Specialist! Join their ranks and raise your hand with confidence the next time you are asked if you are a cremation specialist.

It feels awkward to begin emerging from pandemic isolation and start attending in-person meetings and events. After 15 months of virtual meetings and phone calls, it’s a good time to review networking tips for interacting with people in the flesh. While the core best practices for networking remain the same, our collective COVID-19 caution alters some actions we rarely thought about before.

I am fully vaccinated and eager to be around other people. But I’ll admit I’m a little rusty. At a recent board meeting, outdoors, I offered elbow bumps instead of handshakes, which felt weird at first. Then I realized that others appreciated it. However, as one who’s been a natural networker since kindergarten, I’m finding that it takes forethought and self-control to avoid automatically lapsing into life-long patterns that today don’t feel safe enough for me.

For example, although I’ve decided I’m not ready for a bare-hand-to-bare-hand handshake yet, I was caught off guard and my muscle memory took over at a recent event when a respected elder extended his right hand to me. I automatically shook hands and then was obsessed with not touching anything until I could wash my hands. I was anxious even though I’m 99 percent sure this gentleman is fully vaccinated. My mind kept nagging me, “Had he also exchanged handshakes with others who aren’t vaccinated?”

I know I am not alone. Rockabilly singer and guitarist Deke Dickerson recently released a song called “The Year that Got Away.” The song’s line, “I’ll never take a hug for granted again but it’s still so strange to shake your hand,” resonates with me as in-person meetings and events start returning to my calendar. While the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, many states and cities are easing restrictions and returning to almost the way things were before 2020. Beyond trying to figure out whether a handshake or hug is appropriate and safe, we may need to refresh our networking skills. This means reviewing networking basics as well as considering new COVID-era sensitivities and sensibilities.

I offer the following networking tips.

SET GOALS. Determine why you plan to attend a business event. Are you there primarily to learn from a speaker or do you want to meet others? In either case, decide ahead of time how many new people you plan to meet and why. Research the hosting organization, expected attendees and the location. Understand the venue and evaluate any COVID-19 measures in place and how those stack up against your readiness to venture out.

LOOK GOOD. Dress appropriately for the occasion. Remember that you represent not only yourself, but the organization you represent. It may seem harder to gauge what to wear now, after more than a year of work-from-home casual attire. Compare notes on how to dress post-pandemic with trusted colleagues who are known for exhibiting professionalism. Smart networking attire always includes a sufficient supply of business cards in an easily accessible pocket.

BE FRIENDLY. After avoiding contact with others for more than a year, you may be out of practice in initiating conversations with strangers. As much as ever, it’s important to project confidence and a willingness to talk with others. Smile, make eye contact and strike up conversations. In-person eye contact will feel different than all those Zoom meeting screen stares. Greet others with open-ended, friendly questions that can lead to conversation. Plan some conversation-starter questions ahead of time.

LISTEN. Be genuinely interested in what the other person is saying and interact appropriately. For those of us who have craved being around other people, the tendency may be to talk too much. Listen more and talk less. Maintain proper body space distancing, which today may be farther away from others than it was pre-COVID. Successful networkers often report that when they ask questions, listen and show interest in others, they are remembered as being interesting themselves.

RECAP YOUR CONVERSATION. If you’ve met someone whom you’d like to contact again, make your parting words a specific reminder of the issue or point you have in common, followed by a promise of your next steps. Exchange contact information.

HANDSHAKE OR ALTERNATIVE? Decide ahead of time whether you feel comfortable shaking hands with others. If you’re not, have your handshake alternative ready. With a family member, practice initiating an elbow bump, fist bump, nod, or small bow so it will come naturally. Be prepared to react gracefully to puzzled reactions. Conversely, if you would like to shake hands with others, anticipate some people declining, and be ready to react gracefully to that situation, too.

WASH YOUR HANDS. Before, during and after the pandemic, this is always a sound practice. I’ve always been a bit of a germaphobe, so for decades my habit has been to wash my hands or use hand sanitizer regularly during networking adventures: After the Uber, taxi or public transit ride and before the event. Between the networking reception and the subsequent breakfast, lunch or dinner. Upon returning to the office. I recommend this practice. It aligns with COVID-19 safety measures, and it can help prevent spreading colds. It also protects others.

FOLLOW UP. Keep promises you made to others while networking. Send the document or link you promised, make the email introduction you offered to make, set a date for that meeting or for the proverbial “lunch sometime.”

ENJOY. Networking can be fun, as well as beneficial to your work. Perhaps these networking tips will help you.

It’s no secret successful digital marketing takes time and planning. Funeral professionals encounter obstacles ranging from lack of time to budget considerations to limited marketing experience or know-how when planning their digital strategy. Add in the ever-changing digital landscape and it can make for a big mountain to climb. That’s why many funeral homes and cemeteries often look for a marketing professional or agency to do all or some of their marketing.

However, some firms find choosing the right partner a bit daunting and aren’t even sure what questions they should ask when interviewing prospective marketing partners. We crafted this list of questions to help people identify which partner is right for you, your firm, and your goals. Answers to these questions before you hand off your digital marketing to an outside marketing company will help you understand just what you’re getting into.
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If you’re in the process of choosing someone to handle your marketing, or if you are working with someone already, you likely know three things for sure:

This answers the big question: “What am I getting for my money?” You want to know exactly what you’re expected to handle, and what your marketing company is taking off your hands. The more clearly your marketing company can explain what they need from you, what the next steps are, and what you can expect from them, the greater chance they will be the right fit for you.
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For instance, will your marketing company provide you content but you need to post it? Or do you need to provide content and they post it? How often do they post? Once you get a comprehensive list of items included with the service, consider asking the follow-up questions below.

Once you get the terms, make sure you understand what they mean. If you don’t understand the marketing jargon being used, your marketing company should be able to explain it to you in a way you can understand.

What you’re looking for here isn’t an MBA in a 30-minute phone call, but transparency. Is your prospective marketing company willing to spend a little time helping you understand? Do they understand themselves or have someone on staff who does? Can they define terms you don’t know? Give appropriate analogies to help you see what they mean? Talk about the process you will go through with them? Help educate you on how everything works?
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You want to see a willingness from the marketing team to help you understand, especially at the beginning of the relationship while you are building trust with the partner.

When looking at overall business health, it’s important to have short-term and long-term goals for your firm. A short-term goal is something you want to accomplish today, this week, this month, or even this year. Your short-term goals should help you reach your long-term business goals.

Do the short-term objectives and tactics fit with your long-term plans? For instance, does the short-term plan enhance your brand, help you get ahead of the competition, build your reputation (or at least not detract from it), etc.

Be sure that the gains your marketing company says it will provide fit with your business goals. No need to have a preneed strategy if you’re not interested in more preneed growth, for example.

Long-term goals require time, planning, and an effective strategy. Be clear with your marketing company on what your long-term business goals are. Then ask what gains you can expect in the long term that support those goals. As mentioned above, your short-term objectives should help you reach your long-term ones.

If you are unclear about what your business goals are, what marketing goals you should have, and what gains you can expect based on the strategy and tactics used, ask your marketing company to help you. Most marketing companies have plans or offerings that include strategy sessions to help you tease out what you want for your business and know how to create a marketing strategy to help get you there.

You’re looking for transparency from your marketing partner. You should know exactly how posts are performing, how the company is checking, how you can check, and who will be answering your questions about the results. You’ll want to know how that performance directly relates to your business results.

You’re not looking for “perfect” results here; there’s really no one “perfect” result. You do, however, want to see how the efforts are performing and be able to see the results yourself to determine what’s working and what’s not.

Why do you want to know this? Because if you decide to part ways with a marketing company in the future, you need to know what’s yours and what’s theirs. If you own the rights to your email and website domain, then you can make future updates to them on your own or through a future marketing or website provider.

As for content, if it’s a reputable company they should have a solid (and legal) method of obtaining images for your content. No sketchy shortcuts here. And they should be able to tell you what content you get to keep if you end the partnership and which content is theirs.

Like your email domain and website, there are several reasons you want to know what sort of access you have to your content. For starters, if the marketing company is custom-creating your content, can you still use it after your contract expires? Say they create a post to promote your 2021 event and you want to use it again for the 2022 event, are you going to run into trouble reusing the posts they created for you, or is that content all yours? There’s no right or wrong answer, just look for a clear response so you are aware of the process.

Next, when running lead ads, will you have access to the contacts collected, or is there an extra charge for contacts? You might also ask if the marketing company keeps or sells the contacts collected. You want access to those leads and their contact info, so be sure to address that question.

As mentioned above, you need a clear understanding of what your marketing company is taking over and what you still handle. You should also find out how much time they need from you on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. We recommend you cover this upfront so there are no surprises.

Every marketing company or partner is going to need some of your time for things like collecting logos, access to websites or Facebook pages, strategy setting, content approval, and more. Just like onboarding an employee, an upfront commitment is required but will pay dividends in the long run.

The key here is to gain an understanding of how much time that will take. Note that more time may be needed at the beginning of the relationship as you and your marketing partner get to know one another. Don’t be afraid to ask if this time requirement will decrease over time or remain consistent.

Onboarding isn’t an overnight process. It requires time and effort from both you and your marketing company. Investing your time and effort with the right company will ultimately result in more preneed contracts, at-need business, and an established online presence.

Onboarding takes time, but your marketing partner should have a process. Be sure to ask how long they estimate it will take. You may be in a time crunch or you may have all the time to launch your online strategy; find a marketing company that can provide what you need in the time you need it.

Once you know your onboarding timeline, ask about their communication process. Find out:

What kind of customer support can you expect? Depending on your preferences, you can choose to work with a marketing company that sends check-ins and reports or with one you interact with daily. Those options and more are out there, just ask so you can choose what works for you.

Selecting an agency that has in-house experts across their service offerings is a good idea for a few reasons. You have someone in-house to collaborate with and you can maintain a consistent relationship with less of the “relearning” that happens than with one-off workers.

Some marketing companies use freelancers and that’s ok! As long as there is an in-house expert to help you when you need something immediately addressed.

Growing up as the daughter of a traditional funeral director, I never would have imagined that five decades later I would be caring for those grieving the loss of a pet. Back in 1972, when my father first began taking calls from clients wanting burial and cremation services for their pets, it was considered “taboo.” In other words, “People just wouldn’t understand.” I have vivid memories of my father telling stories of how clients would request that he arrive in an unmarked vehicle and that he come after dark because they did not want their neighbors to know they were caring for their pet in this way. Can you imagine not being able to openly grieve or mourn a loss that was so emotionally devastating to you?

Fast forward to today, where, according to the American Pet Products Association, over 67% of the US population now owns a pet, and 45% own more than one pet. Expenditures for pets are expected to surpass $99 billion in 2020, so it is easy to see that our pets have truly become members of the family. In fact, a 2001 survey from the American Animal Hospital Association revealed that 83% of pet owners refer to themselves as pet parents. For those with value added services marketing to the pet sector, how care is communicated to those pet parents is important and can be the difference in building and sustaining lifelong relationships with pet families.

Did you know the human-animal bond dates back more than 16,000 years? Burials for pets have been found in Germany from 14,000 BCE, in North America from 11,000 BCE, and China from 7,000 BCE. Alexander the Great owned a mastiff named Peritas. When Peritas died, Alexander led a sizeable funeral procession and burial, erected a large monument, and ordered the locals to honor his dog’s death every year with a festival. The human-animal bond is strong. Whether it is a furry child to empty-nesters, a best friend to the children in a family, or an only companion during a major adult life change, we should not be surprised when a pet parent seems to be “over the top” in how they choose to honor their beloved furry family member.

The grief can be overwhelming. I’ve often heard, “This has been more difficult than losing a human family member.” The bond with a pet is like no other relationship; there is no emotional baggage, there is just pure, unconditional love. That can be hard to find by today’s standards. It is no wonder that pet parents today are seeking more personalized caring services for their beloved furry family members.
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Whether it’s holding a viewing with family and friends, conducting an informal ceremony to scatter cremated remains, taking part in a witness cremation, or being able to choose the perfect personalization for the right urn, pet parents don’t just want choices – they need choices. As pet bereavement experts, it is important that we don’t shut those opportunities off during the decision-making stage. Making sure these options are known to the pet parent can become part of their healing process. Like planning a service for any human, we shouldn’t assume every pet parent desires the “standard service.” Pet parents need to be able to honor the emotional bond they held with their beloved furry family.

I recently had the honor of working with Jennifer Werthman, Education Director for CANA, and Debra Bjorling, owner of Hamilton Pet Meadow in New Jersey and Past President of the IAOPCC. We were working collaboratively to develop the new, online version of the IAOPCC’s Pet Bereavement Certification Level 1 Program. As we talked through the many phases of the program and the more unusual stories of grief that we had experienced with pet parents, it struck me as to how universally similar the stories often were. At the heart of every pet parent is the need to grieve, the need to know they are being heard, and the need for an empathetic and understanding voice.

After 32 years of working with pet parents, I know it can be easy to find yourself on autopilot and focusing on the details of the arrangements, urn personalization, and memorials rather than the grieving person in front of you. But I also know that what determines a lasting relationship with any pet parent is being able to effectively communicate care and concern for their loss and express a willingness to actively listen to their pain.

We all are aware of the varying stages of grief: Shock, Denial and Disbelief, Anger, Guilt, and Resolution. But are we committed to communicating well at every stage of a pet parent’s grief, both verbally and non-verbally? Knowing what to say and what not to say to a pet parent who is experiencing shock, profound sadness or unbridled anger is important. It can calm or escalate a situation.

We live in a culturally diverse society with different backgrounds, religious affiliations and beliefs about pet death. Words can have consequences. Make sure you and your staff know how to respond to that inevitable question that anyone dealing in pet aftercare has been asked: “Will I see my pet in Heaven?” How you answer can have profound consequences. We all know words have impact and making sure we are dedicated to best practices for ourselves and our staff can be life-changing for others. Training in pet bereavement is the key to good foundational practices.

Our non-verbal cues have just as great of an impact. Our body language, tone of voice, and inflection convey a lot to a pet parent who is overcome by grief. Because you are dealing with families in a highly emotional state, your body language and vocal tone are essential to creating rapport and building trust. People know when you are being real and when you are giving “pat answers.” Being authentic is important. As anyone working with pet parents will tell you, a pet parent can always spot another pet parent!
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One of the more exciting sections of our online program covers these detailed specifics. It provides a real opportunity to check ourselves, our language, our demeanor, the way we carry our body, and the pace at which we move. We learn how to responsively listen and how to apply reflective listening dramatically improving our communication skills to grieving families.

During our work together, I found myself learning new ideas, getting a refresher on my non-verbal cues, and forming new de-escalation and de-stressor techniques. It can be a challenge to work with pet parents who have an especially difficult time due to extenuating circumstances. Whether it is a lack of social support, pre-existing mental health conditions or an emotional sense of responsibility for the death of the pet, these challenges can require inside knowledge of how to best serve the pet parent. As we built the course, we were able to share direct personal experiences of unusual circumstances and unique requests – how do you respond when a pet parent asks you to remove the paw for them? How do you react and what do you say to a pet parent that is convinced their pet is still breathing?

We laid out important steps to take when approaching challenges, including emergency situations requiring immediate medical assistance – when do you call for help? Asking the right questions, knowing how to identify key risk factors and finding ways to take quick and decisive action is important for us to know, and, more importantly, for our staff to know as well. Education and training on how to handle difficult situations before they arise is key for all of us!

As a third-generation family business, my father, Doyle L. Shugart, raised my brothers and I to believe that we are each here on purpose and for a purpose. We all have a higher calling in life, and how you prepare for that calling can impact and change the lives around you. As a past president of the IAOPCC, he was dedicated to continued education. In fact, the IAOPCC’s Educational Scholarship is named in his memory. Making sure we take advantage of every training opportunity available at our fingertips is the only positive during this post-pandemic time. Making sure we as well as our staff are well-trained and prepared to handle any and every situation in a culturally divisive world should remain at the top of our priorities – it can be the difference in building and sustaining relationships and your business.

My father often referenced the famous quote attributed to Maya Angelou, impressing it on us: “People may forget what you did for them, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” Forty-nine years after he started our family business, his words still ring true. Your actions can have a profound impact on a pet parent’s grief experience. Learning best practices ensures your families receive all of the options, the best possible care, and your professional expertise to ease the burden of their loss.

Most everyone—millennials included—has quite a few thoughts on how they should work and the tasks they are given. I have heard everything from, “Millennials are extremely lazy, spending all day on their phone,” to “They are the most goal-oriented, outside-of-the-box thinking and solution-solving generation out there.” Most people I talked to would rather have a dedicated, creative millennial than a traditionalist because, for the most part, they are thinking of ways to better themselves and your business. True, some are there to put in only the bare minimum of what is requested, but you will find that all across the board.

In my presentations, I focus on the expectations millennials have of their employers: a fair schedule, decent pay, typical perks such as insurance and retirement, and room to introduce new ideas. I also speak on how we must focus our efforts as leaders to hone in on what they bring to the table and simply not make them “pay their dues.”

​As I said, I have been given almost carte blanche with most of my employers to focus on finding ways to better serve families. That is the attitude leaders need to have towards their millennial employees. Obviously, it’s the leader’s job to make sure these ideas are carried out efficiently with respect to the business. I have always considered it a blessing to get to travel around and be involved in numerous organizations and to socialize and learn from people who have been out there doing it. I hope to keep this up, because I always want to be up to speed on the latest our profession has to offer, both for the business I serve and, of course, the families I serve.

I wish many more employers would jump on board with this thought process. You must give your employees the opportunity to spread their wings and attend conventions, conferences, and educational seminars. They will learn so much more from other funeral professionals, things that they can bring back and put directly into action. The reality of it is there are so many scholarships out there that most people can attend these events at little cost. It’s is our job as leaders to send our people to these events and help them grow as professionals, which in turn will help you to grow your business.

If you are wondering how to attract millennials to your business, then you have to ask yourself, “What do they really want?” I believe what millennials yearn for most in our profession is a healthy work environment. They desire a workplace that has strong leadership, a flexible schedule, and a solid company culture.

MISSION-DRIVEN
Company culture should be a top priority for any funeral home. Whether you are a family owned firm or part of a large corporation, it is important for your coworkers to know why you do what you do. A company’s culture is often made up of three key components: their values, their mission, and their vision.

A company’s vision is essentially their long term goal as a business. It will not typically change overtime as it should be something you continuously strive to achieve. Your mission is what you do every day to help attain your company vision. It is what defines your enterprise to the world. Your values are then an outline of the intended character of your coworkers. If an employee lives by the values you set forth then they are carrying out your mission and will ultimately fulfill your vision. A funeral home with a solid company culture is one with a future in which millennials can see themselves being an integral part of.

FLEXIBLE
Having a flexible schedule is another trait of a healthy work environment. A flexible schedule in our industry is a difficult task to tackle. To attempt to detail it would require an additional blog post. Simply stated: a flexible schedule allows for a work-life balance that decreases the likelihood of employee burnout over time.

For millennials, it may mean the ability to go their child’s tee-ball game or to go to a concert during their normal shift. Without tipping the scales too far for any one person, a leader should do their best to accommodate their colleagues instead of making it more difficult for them to find that balance. The results will be better morale and a willingness to go the extra mile for the company because the company went the extra mile for them.

STRONG LEADERS
In order to maintain a flexible schedule and support a company culture, you have to have strong leaders. Leaders do not have to be managers or supervisors. Those titles can be bestowed and stripped away without any discernible change occurring. A leader is one who cares for and supports those around them. They help others succeed and become the best they can be for the sake of the company, not for themselves.

Luckily, leadership can be learned! It is a skill that can be honed with practice. If you have the heart to serve (you’d hope so, working at a funeral home) then you have what it takes to lead. Set a good example with your actions. Set an even better example through your interactions with your coworkers. Stay positive and motivate others to do the same and you’ll see a healthy work environment begin to flourish.
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With that, you’ll have an inbox full of resumes from millennials in no time.

In 2020, maintaining and keeping good quality talent on your team isn’t just a want, it’s an absolute need. It’s what’s going to determine your success and the foundation of your business moving into this next decade.
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This next generation needs a purpose, something that fires them up and gets them out of bed in the morning. Yes, millennials want to make a living, but they want to make a meaningful living. According to Forbes, millennials ranked meaningful work as one of the top needs they have from their workplace.

If leaders and those in positions of power can take this quote by Marcus Buckingham to heart, I believe we would see so much more retention amongst our profession.

Here are some harsh realities:

How connected do you think your employees are to your company? If we are being honest with ourselves, there are plenty of areas we can improve in this category.
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According to a study done by Gallup in 2017, 230,000 employees were surveyed in 142 countries on their current engagement. Employees fall into one of three categories:

Only 13% of employees they surveyed were truly passionate and motivated by the work they did every day. An astounding 63% were not engaged, and 24% were actively disengaged.
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The impact of a disengaged employee can negatively impact your business in the following ways:

Unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do about the actively disengaged. They just need a path out. However, the statistics show that around 63% have the potential to be engaged if we put the effort in to putting meaning behind what they are doing.

What category would you put most of your employees in? Do they fall into the popular category not engaged? Maybe it’s time to rethink how you’re motivating your employees. Do you share a common purpose that they can buy into with passion? How often do you give praise? Could it be time to put more incentive compensation plans in place? Purpose and incentive are the keys to motivating engagement.

Once we have worked to get our employees into the “engaged” category, the positive benefits have an astounding impact. Statistics show that 50% will post messages on social media and 24% are more likely to help boost sales than disengaged employees. Find ways to bring meaning back so that your employees live in the engaged category, and your firm is guaranteed to reap the benefits.

HIRE THE RIGHT PEOPLE
Obviously, all this talk about having engaged employees is only possible if we hire the right people from the get-go that are naturally motivated. Service attitude is a big thing we look for at JCG. Recognize if they have the natural ability to go above and beyond to exceed a customer’s expectations. Are they good listeners, do they care, are they genuinely interested in other people and have a desire to always be learning? You can teach service aptitude (the ability recognize service opportunities), but you can’t teach attitude (the desire to serve).

ONBOARDING AND TRAINING
Develop a welcome program that makes them remember their first day. Decorate their desk with a welcome sign, write an internal spotlight, or take them to lunch with your team. Remember, their first day of work is one way to set the tone for their engagement. Spend a lot of effort on helping them to understand WHY you do what you do and how they bring value to that purpose. The first few weeks are critical to employee engagement. The more they buy in early, the more likely they are to want to stick around.

Initial training an on-going training is essential to employee engagement. You must teach them skills to be successful. Have a minimum standard for customer service expectations in writing and don’t train just once. Reinforce the expectations as often as weekly. This includes modeling, observing, and measuring behavior.

RETENTION AND RELATIONSHIPS
Employees are more engaged when they are recognized, so communicate! Provide for feedback, and even ask for feedback yourself. Peer recognition is another way to keep employees engaged. Set up a quarterly award that gets everyone involved to recognize their peers. Feedback is the key, as this next generation craves it.

So where should we start? A good place to assess where your engagement is at is to survey your staff about their happiness at work. Ask about if they feel valued, and if they appreciate the kind of feedback they get.

It might be a rude awakening, but we all have to start somewhere. Getting the data is the only way you can grow from today into reaping the benefits of having engaged employees long into the future.

Want to learn more about increase employee engagement and improve customer service? Join Lori Salberg and more cremation rockstars in Las Vegas for CANA’s 2020 Cremation Symposium, February 26-28. Lori will present on “Developing a Collaborative Growth Culture” to re-invigorate organizations by fully engaging employees, improving performance of the business overall.
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See what else we have planned and register for CANA's 2020 Cremation Symposium: goCANA.org/CG

Regardless of your role in the industry, it is important to understand the current laws and regulations that govern your work. Put aside the necessary time to review the federal, state, and local laws and regulations which affect your day to day operations. Right to control final disposition and cremation authorization issues dominate legal complaints against people and businesses in this industry. If you have difficulty finding the statutes and regulations, try searching the web sites for your state association or licensing board – they often have links available.
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CANA Members: If you need further assistance, use your legal consultation benefit and give me a call.

Employment issues are a prevalent headache across all industries and business models. Address common concerns in your employee handbook, so that everyone is on notice of the standards to which they will be held accountable. Implement clear, unambiguous policies on work hours, time off, sick leave, vacation time, and dress codes. Have appropriate sexual harassment policies in place. Communicate your expectations regarding social media use and restrictions on employee posts on business matters. Make sure employees are aware that social media is not for airing of workplace grievances or complaints.
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CANA Members: Read up on what my office suggests for these policies as part of the Crematory Management Program.

Periodic training and review of operational and employment policies and procedures are critical. There cannot be compliance without your employees first understanding your expectations and standards to which they will be held accountable.
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CANA Members: You can keep your standard operating procedures current and your staff informed with the Crematory Management Program and support from Cremation Strategies & Consulting.

Make sure your insurance agent or broker understands your business. Too often there are gaps in coverage discovered when you need insurance assistance or defense to a legal claim, when is too late to put the protections you need in place. Many gaps in coverage result from your agent or broker not understanding your daily work and operations sufficiently to make sure that what you actually do is covered. Just because you have “professional liability” insurance, you have no guarantee that all of your professional services are covered. Proactive insurance strategies will serve you best.
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CANA Members: Have you looked over CANA’s newest benefit, a professional liability insurance program for crematories? Read what makes this policy different and how it covers businesses like yours.

Take some time to think about the education and assistance which will benefit you and your business most in the upcoming year. Then, search for continuing education opportunities that will assist in meeting your goals. There are in person and online resources available to address almost any concern as an industry professional or business owner. Some jurisdictions even allow you to get your crematory operator certification online. If you attend CANA’s convention in Seattle this year, please say hello. I look forward to seeing you!
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CANA Members: Not sure how to get started developing a defined professional development plan for your employees? CANA Education Director Jennifer Werthman is here to help you achieve your goals – reach out any time.

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​Getting your new year off to a good start can jumpstart accomplishing your business’s New Year’s Resolutions. Best wishes for your success in 2020!
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CANA Members: Your association is here to help! If you ever need these resources or anything else offered by CANA, reach out.