Sales & Marketing

SERVICE OR EXPLOITATION

Is selling of memoralistion products to grieving friends and relatives ethical? This will always be a vexed question. It has been debated in the press, the subject of numerous television documentaries and of many discussions amongst cemeterians, families and other interested parties. The dilemma is wheter to offer families a very simple, highly affordable product that may have low income for the cemetery or else a choice of options. Such options might range from the extravagant to the modest and would generate much greater levels of revenue for the cemetery as well as offering enhanced choice for customers.

More and more cemeteries are now expanding their memorial offerings to satisfy the needs of their customers and indeed those of the cemetery itself. They are finding that the question of exploitation is not an issue if the expectations of a modern community are taken into account.

Market research across diverse industries reveals that customers are growing more sophisticated. They are short of time, want more convenience and they have high service and value expectations. Segmentation analysis shows that the "Baby Boomers" like to experiment with colour and migrants want to retain their ethnic heritage. Premium products are in deman where people enjoy having the best, so they are going to buy the best. We are all unique and where possible will look for something special and exclusive with a greater sense of personalisation.

When a person shops in a bedding store and they are there to buy a mattress or a "good night sleep". Similary when a family looks for real estate are they looking for a house or a home? Perhaps this all sounds a bit trite, however, each case, the buyers are looking for a particular combination of features and there are many, that best suit their needs and aspirations. They won't buy until those criteria are met and whilst they may shop around for the best deal, they are prepared to pay more for value and service.

People buying from cemeteries are no different. Many professionsl in our industry see themselves as selling a grave, a crypt, an urn or a memorial. The families on the other hand, see themselves buying love, comfort, peace of mind, uniqueness and convenience. A narrow product range can rarely cater for such needs. Cemeteries and Crematoria that have a sound understanding of their makets and offer a comprehensive range of products and services are best positioned to satisfy the needs of families and the community at large.

Eighty percent of people have never before purchased products from a cemetery. They have little idea of what to do at time of need and they have utmost trust in the memorial or client services consultant. The responsibilty for consultants to understand the family's needs and present a range of options is tremendous. Training in this regard is of the utmost importance.

Consultants will be comfortable talking with families about products and services they are knowledgeable about. The corollary of course is that customers are more confident and trusting when dealing with consultants who know what they are talking about. Training can obviate personal preferences of consultants that lead to old clichés such as "Our customers don't have the money to buy expensive memorials", "Peiople shouldn't be buying memorials on credit" or "Nobody would buy this product". Until it is offered, nobody but the client should make those decisions.

A well organised and trained sales department is prepared with carefully chosen and positioned brochures, catalogues, pictures, point of sale material, samples and added value options. The use of well constructed displays and tours of the cemetery itself show the range of products off to best advantage. Armed with knowledge and confidence, a consultant can professionally present the benefits and value inherent in the most expensive to the least expensive products and they can demonstrate all the added value items that make memorials unique and special. Provided these are fully explained it is then up to the client to choose what they want.

This is really a "Telling" excerise rather than selling although it is preferable for the cemetery that clients choose the move valuable options for improved revenue. Yes it is possible that zealous consultants could "over sell" the expensive products which in itself could be exploitation. However, the modern community is sophisticated and well versed on asking for alternative. For this season it is best to offer the most expensive first and if necessary work down until a satsifactory solution is found.

There will alawys be a balance in selling to maximise revenue for the cemetery or crematoria against satisfying the needs of customers. Nowaday, people expect choices, many are prepared to pay for value and are sophisticated enough to see through hard selling or what may branded exploitation. It is essential that cemeteries and crematoria raise sufficient funds to meet their development and maintenance needs now and into the future. Offering options, whether expensive or modest, is an obvious way to balance these needs.

Finally, not providing a range of product and value added options could be construed as a disservice to the community. An opportunity to memorialise our loved ones in a meaningful and personal way might be missed and our cemetery heritage could be jeopardised.

Lyn Davis - General Manager - Arrow Bronze

THE ABC'S OF CEMETERY PR - By Corinne Laboon - Public Relations - Matthews International Corporation

"Local cemetery dedicates new statue of Blessed Virgin Mary...details at 6"

Those are words viewers don't often hear from television news promos while watching Oprah. However, with the right public relations plan, Catholic cemeteries can create awareness and generate publicity of their new products, services and special events.

Breaking ground for a new mausoleum, dedicating a garden feature, sponsoring an Open House or celebrating a milestone anniversary are well excellent public relations opportunities. Even cemeteries that do not have a full time PR professional can communicate their messages to key audiences and generate publicity for their special events.

Suppose you are planning a special event such as the dedication of a new mausoleum, when do your public relations efforts begin?

1. Being at the beginning. First and foremost, public relations should be incorporated into your plans right from the start. Once you select a construction company, finalise a design and develop a building schedule, preparations should begin for the dedication.

2. Assemble a planning team. Astute cemetery managers find thatit is very effective to assemble a committee of cemetery employees, including those from the sales, marketing, maintenance and administrative departments, as well as church and community leaders to plan the event and coordinate publicity. You may even want to include a retired member of your cemetery's administrative staff and a communications professional from an industry supplier on yor planning committee.

The planning committee has many responsibilities. Under the direction of the cemetery's management, its members will

• Plan the actual event. The planning should cover all of the details from developing the guest list to determining what type of refreshments will be served.
• Establish a budget. Funds should be allocated for each line item from postage to decorations. As a general rule, the budget for the communications program should represent at least 20% of the total event budget.
• Assign responsibilities. Every member of the committee should be assigned responsibilities within their area of expertise. For example, a committee member with artistic abilities might be responsible for creating the invitation or a flyer.
• Make time to meet. It is important to meet regularly - weekly, bi-weekly or monthly, evin if you truly believe you have everything covered. Meetings provide great opportunities for committee members to share ideas and report on their progress.

3. Plan stategies for reaching your target audiences. Public relations for special events could have multiple objectives. Goals couild range from generating attendance for the event to ultimatley selling lots of crypts.

Listed below are the communications vehicles available to help you spread your message along with the suggested time frame for when they should be handled.

Six Weeks Prior to the Event

• Purchase billboards in high traffic areas or in close proximity to the cemetery announcing the event and inviting the community to attend.
• Send letters to local church and community leaders requesting their participation in the event.
• Order promotional items from a local advertising specialty company for distribution to those in attendance. Cemeteries typically print the name of the cemetery, the title of the event and the date on the item. Depending on the time of year and the climate, seed packets could bean effective item.

Four Weeks Prior to the Event

• Send public service announcements to radio and television stations.
• Post information about the event and any pertinent details prominently at your website.
• Send details about the event to churches in surrounding communities for placement in their weekly bulletins.
• Post signs/announcements near the entrance to the cemetery and at the office inviting the public to attend the event.

Two Weeks Prior to the Event

• Distribute flyers to neighbourhood merchants for display in their windows.
• Contact the Catholic newspaper in your community initing the editor or a reporter to attend the event.
• Assemble media kits for distribution to the reporters in attendance the day of the event. The kits typically include a news release with pertinent information about the event, a fact sheet with information about the cemetery and photographs.
• Hire of assign a photographer to take pictures of the event including the actual dedication, staged shots after the ceremony and informal photos of people in attendance.

One Week before the Event

• Distribute a news release to print and broadcast media including local cable television stations announcing the event.
• Work with the maintenance staff to be sure the property looks its best. Visitors will be driving throughout the cemetery - not just where the event will be held.

The Day of the Event

• Set up an information table where visits can obtain cemetery literature. Be sure to have an ample supply.
• Have principals from the cemetery available to speak with the media in attendance.
• Distribute media kits to all members of the media in attendance. It is recommended to have a minimum of 20 kits prepared.
• Mail media kits to all local media outlets including television, radio and newspapers not in attendance.

4. Incorporate a measurement into your plans; that's how you determine if your public relations efforts were successful. Stories could be published in every major paper in your area announcing the event and then there could be lackluster attendance on the actual date due to inclement weather or traffic restrictions near the cemetery. Would you have met your goals? Your goal might be a numerical measurement that translates into future revenue generated.

Summary:

A great deal goes into the planning of your special event. Consideration is given to everything from the list of dignitaries to the colour of the balloons. It is important to buld public relations into your event from the intial planning stages. Through careful planning and proper execution, you can garner media coverage to disseminate your messages, build attendance and ultimately generate new revenue for your cemetery.

Revolutions propel people into three different states:

-- Lead

--Follow

-- Sleep through

The customer experience revolution is occurring right in plain sight. Unfortunately too many governing bodies, business leaders and marketing and sales professionals are blind to the changing landscape.  These vision impaired leaders appear content to sleep through this revolution while continuing upon their daily routines.  Then they wonder why margins are slipping, why the phone isn’t ringing, and why their customer base is eroding.   Management and sales meetings are filled with despair and complaints about business challenges without ever considering the root cause.  It is more fundamental than merely a movement from traditional burials to cremations, more fundamental than the loss of the “family” nucleus, and more fundamental than the impact of Internet or even Bunnings.

The fundamental issue is that customers have changed and some cemeteries and funeral service providers haven’t.  Some cemeterians, Trust, Council or Private continue to operate like they did a generation (or 2 or 3) ago.  The challenge is that customers no longer desire the traditional product or service package that satisfied prior generations.  People today want an “experience” and if your only competitive advantage is price – you are relegated to that marketing nightmare referred to as “commoditisation”.

Business and for that matter service provision is all about the customer and what they want.  It isn’t about what you would like to sell.  Remember that no one desires a drill bit.  People want a hole.  And, if they could get the hole they want without a drill bit, they would be happier because the experience of getting their hole didn’t require drilling, drill bits, dust, and clean-up. 

In order to compete today and earn the all important revenue to meet running costs and perpetual maintenance, all businesses have to determine how to reconfigure their products and services to meet the ever-demanding consumer.  From caskets to monuments, from burials to memorials and all steps in between, you must determine what it is your customers desire and how your products and services meets (and hopefully exceeds) their expressed and unexpressed desires better than anyone else. 

And anyone else could be another cemetery or crematorium, a Funeral Director, a Memorial Garden or even organisations offering components of your overall service package. Have you determined and valued all those process components or even recognized and valued the links your staff provide between the components.

If at the end of the day all you can claim is that your customers are satisfied, well….yippee skippee.  That is nothing to be proud of.  That would be like a hotel thinking that merely because they cleaned my room every day they are likely to be successful in the future.  It takes more than that.  Customers have choices and they have more choice today than any time in history.  Consumers today are better informed, and for them, information leads to increased purchasing power.  They know more about what choices are available, what prices are available, and what your competitor sells (in some cases you actually have to tell them). They make comparisons quickly and frequently in their cars between the time they first contact you and actually show up in your sales office. 

Too many, front-line team members in the cemetery and funeral professions are ill prepared for well-informed and sophisticated customers.  Without the proper training and planning, the customer quickly gains the upper hand.  Your ability to demonstrate a competitive difference between you and your complex array of competitors along with providing a superior customer experience will be your greatest weapon to stave off ultimate commoditisation.   Avoiding commoditisation is the most important function for all sales and marketing professionals.  No business wants to compete on price and if that is all that differentiates you and your competition then the market determines your value and your ability to move up the consumer value curve is terminated.

In order to avoid this price driven death spiral, you have to reinvent who you are, what you sell and what unique services you provide. You need to identify what it is that only you can do to make the experience the best. You need to think about the customer and what each customer wants and needs.  Your customers are armed with knowledge but lack experience in how best to integrate both traditional death services with their desire for customisation and individuality.  Your job is to bridge your experience with their knowledge in order to deliver a customised experience that cannot be duplicated. 

By providing a true customer experience instead of just a mere product or service you create the differentiation necessary to move up the customer value curve and charge premium prices.

Commoditisation is a trap for the unseeing and unknowing.  It is time for a vision check and adaptation to the ever-changing customer dynamic.  The alert leader recognises customers constantly change and that success isn’t determined by price alone.  Success is determined by providing solutions that go above and beyond a customer’s expectation. In the final analysis you are what you charge for.  Only when you go beyond satisfying customer needs and move to fulfilling their wants will you be able to leave the competition behind and begin to reap the rewards of succeeding in today’s dynamic economy.

Daniel D. Morris, CPA gave a powerful presentation at the recent ICFA conference in Las Vegas on how to differentiate your products and services from the competition. He is the founder of the VeraSage Institute, a think tank dedicated to bettering the professions along with being the managing partner of the Silicon Valley based CPA firm of Morris + D’Angelo.  He is an author, speaker, educator and consultant to the cemetery and funeral professions along with professional service firms around the world.  You may contact Dan at dan@verasage.com