Modern challenges facing a storied profession: Recession-proof vs. Bulletproof

The funeral profession and its supporting industries are often considered by many to be recession-proof because of the inevitable demand for funeral services. A number of recent developments appear, however, to highlight the fact that recession-proof is by no means bulletproof.

Financial pressures, competitive dynamics, and ever-growing consumer expectations have created complex, new market realities for most funeral businesses. They pose significant challenges—and even risks—to businesses that have delayed adapting their business models to take on these mounting pressures and respond to the signs around them. A notable shortfall in expected 2024 Q2 earnings for Service Corporation International (SCI) and the documented struggles of many smaller firms underscore these challenges.

More concerning, perhaps, could be the starting point for the battle. Data presented in The Foresight Companies 2024 Funeral & Cemetery Consumer Behavior Study paint a picture of a proud and proven profession that appears to have, generally, allowed a wide gap to open up between its own self-perceptions and the perspectives and preferences of those it aims to serve. ??

Defending your funeral business

To respond and thrive, your funeral business will need to embrace new ways of thinking about customer relationships and each customer interaction. You will need explore new ways of connecting with current and future customers, using technologies that can help you effortlessly connect with them, educate them, and add value to their overall experiences with you and your brand.

Your funeral business will need to take deliberate steps forward to meet and engage with new customers, build their trust in your brand, and win their business in the same online environments that most of us already live, work, shop, and socialize in. What I’m suggesting goes well beyond a Facebook strategy and may require you to get the fresh eyes and insights of a digital marketing specialist or business transformation expert.

For years, industry experts have forecasted the now-current trends in funeral consumer preferences and behaviors. Countless conferences and webinars have been organized for funeral professionals, with hundreds of related articles written, to help leaders in our industry recognize and respond to the challenges we face today. The volume of information alone is compelling evidence that these issues are real and pervasive. Interestingly, it is worth noting that they aren’t all unique to funeral service.

The demands of modern challenges

In late 2020, our company’s leadership team realized that our funeral partners (our customers) would eventually want to use our streaming platform to not only live stream and record funeral ceremonies, but also deliver meaningful brand experiences and seamlessly create new opportunities to engage with and connect directly with future customers in the process.

We needed to adapt if we wanted to remain a relevant partner and valued platform in a post-pandemic world. We needed find new ways for our customers to benefit from streaming. We needed to help them take full advantage of every opportunity to live stream, to help them build relationships, provide access to helpful information, and connect directly with their target audiences. We needed to advance our own thinking, and our funeral streaming platform needed to evolve to address the evolving needs of our customers, to adapt to their preferred behaviors and the rising expectations of the families they serve.

While a different type of business, our challenges may seem familiar to you. To maintain our market position and pursue growth, our leaders needed to deliberately step back, engage with customers, and choose to address the realities of our changing market. That led us to deliver a simpler, more affordable, purpose-built funeral streaming platform (and mobile app--which we didn’t have before) which, today, make it easy for our funeral partners to offer families the very best, custom-branded, family-personalized guest experiences available.

Convey your super status

Without question, what you do for families and their loved ones, as a funeral professional, requires uncommon courage, dedication, and compassion. That will never change.

In contrast, the services you offer and the ways you communicate and build relationships with customers and future customers need to evolve. Ask yourself: Do we use the communication channels our customers prefer? How do I know which channels they find most natural and accessible? Are there interactions we could successfully automate to improve care without sacrificing personal service?

It's likely your business could be more innovative when it comes to its messaging, communication frequency, and channels used to connect with, gather information from, and collaborate with families on funeral arrangements. Your business development messaging and channels could, likely, also be adapted to help your target audiences connect directly with your people and discover the services you offer and how you care for bereaved families.

Tackling challenges head on

These challenges may require you to develop a new superpower for your business, or you may need to uncover or refine an existing superpower—like what you had to do with live streaming during the pandemic—but this time on your own terms and timeline. ?

Here are some areas and questions I recommend to help you discover where you can begin taking action:

1. Embrace Technological Innovations

a. What digital services do you offer today that could be refined or augmented to cater to modern consumer demands and enhance your service offerings?

b. What are the AI or automated services available that could help you connect more effectively with your audiences, streamline operations, and reduce costs at the same time?

2. Diversify Your Service Offerings

a. Which service portfolio(s) could be expanded to include more personalized, digital services to help you attract a broader customer base?

b. Which technology providers could you partner with to facilitate the integration of new services or communication channels, like automated guest messaging and online planning tools?

3. Focus on Customer Experience

a. Are there aspects of your customers’ journey that could be enhanced through personalized, digital services to improve family support and their overall satisfaction and loyalty?

b. What data or guest and customer feedback are you collecting and using to continuously refine your service offerings and ensure they’re aligned with evolving needs?

c. What tools or services do you already have that you could use or build on to improve your customers' and guests' experiences engaging with your company and brand?

You can do this!

While the urgency to address modern challenges continues to increase, the first steps remain the same. Making changes is uncomfortable and requires commitment. But as you know (or have seen), important changes begin with you choosing a direction and starting down that path with resolve. Whether that is because you want to or because you need to, it's still not too late to get started. Let’s go! ?

About the Author

Trajan Schulzke ([email protected]) is a digital transformation strategist and certified change practitioner. His personal mission to put complex technologies to work in simple ways for families around the world sparked the creation of Foveo Memorial in 2020. He holds a graduate degree from the University of Toronto. He and his wife have six children, and they call Ottawa, Ontario, Canada home.

"Send me an email if you’d like to talk about your own digital service challenge or would like an outside perspective. I’d equally like to hear about success stories. I’m not offering consulting, just a 20-minute call, if you think it could be helpful." -- Trajan

About Foveo Memorial

Foveo Memorial, the funeral streaming company, is changing the nature and value of live streaming for funeral businesses. Foveo’s funeral experience platform has simplified live stream booking, broadcasting, recording, and support for families and their online guests. Besides simplicity, Foveo’s online guest experience and funeral home brand experience features are second to none. Foveo's family-led personalization, privacy controls, and guest registration features are also unique among funeral streaming options. With custom messaging, it automatically builds direct brand relationships for your funeral business before and after the funeral. Take a platform tour: https://foveo.org