The "SERVICE" at a Funeral

D

Darren Bedford

PCS Member
This thread was created in order not to thread jack a couple other recent threads titled: "Value: The Funeral" & "Horn Repair" .
Read those as well.


This is a "Public Perception" question that can also be answered by funeral directors as "Industry Perception"...


( Note: I am not a funeral director or don't even work in the funeral industry. )


Question:

Family/Individual owned Funeral Homes vs Corporate owned Funeral Homes...

How do you feel the "public perceives" funerals taken place at a family/individual owned Funeral Home vs a corporate owned Funeral Home ?



This is not to slam either and not to make anyone angry, just a question I had.


Reply with your own opinions and comments either as a "public" or "industry"
person.


Thanks,
Darren
 
From my experience in a 500 case a year combo operation, the public either has no concept or initial interest in whether the facility is privately or corporate owned. In this internet-savy age, an increasing number of consumers are aware that they can purchase funeral-related merchandise on-line, or from other third party providers, and this appears to be more important to them than who owns the business.

Our firm dealt with price-shoppers on a daily basis, and I used that opportunity to educate them on the advantages of choosing a family-owned funeral home. Probably twice a year, a caller would inquire as to who owned our operation, so that doesn't appear to be a determining factor in their selection, until the benefits of local ownership are explained to them.

SCI has capitalized on their "Dignity Memorial" label, as name recognition is important to a lot of consumers.

Terry
 
I started by career as a student at a family owned funeral home. After I graduated from mortuary school, I worked for a large SCI owned firm in Minneapolis. I went back "home" and worked for another family owned funeral home and now I own my own funeral home. From my experience, it doesn't matter who owns the funeral home. The individual funeral director a family works with DOES matter. I have worked with corporate funeral directors who are fantastic while others were horrible. I have worked with family owned funeral directors who are also excellent and some are horrible. I think the public shy's away from corporate owned funeral homes because they don't want to be treated "like a number" Some are worried that the corporate owned funeral home is only looking for the most money. In fact, the family owned funeral director is more likely to be concerned about money (The corporate funeral director gets the same pay check no matter what you spend).

Each funeral home and each geographic area have their own style and service quality. The reputation of a funeral home is a direct tie to the public perception. In some places such as large metorpolitian areas, public owned may not be an issue, in others (small towns for example) it may by huge no matter how good a job they do.
 
I look at anything corporate owned with a lot of suspension. but agree with the statement that it the locale man that makes or brakes the business. we have one funeral home her and have had for as long as I have been aware. it has the same name but has changed owners 4 times. some have been better then others. I'm not overly impressed with the current staff. but we still have just made arrangements for my grandmothers service with them. what other choice did we have? besides at 100 years old we have all ready loss so much by not doing it when she was 80, I did not want to take anymore chances. she makes it another 20 years and we have bought a bargain.

but with anything corporate you have the bottom line dictating what they do and the way they do it. weather it's farming, building cars or the funeral business. the money is the bottom line with the corporation. then when they get a monopoly and start controlling the price structure threw contrived shortages you get the greed factor to contend with in there bottom line. after all they only answer to there stock holders who all want more for there money.
 
Like what was said above, in a lot of cases it doesn't matter either way, there are good and bad Funeral Directors in both. But in my opinion, in a small town, aspecialy here in the south, I beleave a lot of familys are more likely to go with a privately owned Funeral Home. When you have a Funeral Home that is ran and owned by people that people in the comunity know, trust, and respect, and in a lot of cases are second or third genoration Funeral Directors, it makes a big difference, and a family is more likely to go with them as oposed to a corporate owned firm, where they don't really know them. This is just my opinion.

Josh
 
I have always worked for a private family owned mortuary, most of the families I have meet during thier consultation and making funeral arrangements with one of our funeral directors always seem drawn to the fact we are not a huge corporation. We strive to make their time of sorrow a little easier to deal with. I think in part they know that we are dependant on them and we will take the time and every measure to ensure every detail of the funeral experience is a positive and memorable one. The celebration of life, condensing years of love, toiles, tribulation, grief and joy into a one to two hour service, is not easy but with compassion and empathy the families are able to put together loving reflections with a little guidence from one of our funeral directors. The families we serve know if their is a problem we will do everthing we are able to do to make it right. My mother used a large corporate firm (_ _ _)and they seemed to be in a rush to present her funeral, it was a cold and lacked compassion. I feel they have either to much to do, not enough time to do it, or they are in such a desire for revenue they rushed us through and did not pay attention to detail, family body language and our wishes. When we went to see her and to assist in getting her dressed, we had to wait over an hour while her remains were transported from their embalming center to the mortuary, and everything just seemed to snowball down hill from that point on until we had buried her remains. I guess my point is the larger firms do not always represent themselves as well a some smaller firms because they have more money and if one or two things go wrong they can absorb the incident and move on where being in a small firm one or two incidents can cost you your livelyhood There is good and bad in each but this is just my two-cents.
 
My personal preference is to go with a firm that will provide "service". For years in the city I live in, there was one funeral home to deal with and they were a family owned firm with 2nd generation owners & were very well respected in the community.My stepmothers family has used this firm for years. As time went on, they sold to a corporate giant who ran the firm into the ground. It was then sold to another corporate giant who changed the name to match the cemetary next door that they owned. Now, in our area, there are many more options for funeral providers than "Dignity Memorial". In conversation with my step mom about what to do & who to use when my dad passes away, I told her that the firm her family has always used is no longer owned by Mr Green's family but rather a large corporate entity and I wasnt comfortable using them. She said to me "Well, you know people in the business. I'll leave it up to you." My choice is a family owned facility with a classic colonial style building that LOOKS like a funeral home should. My dad is very traditional! This is the same firm that arranged the funeral for Robert "Orbs" Tiedemann several years ago. I know that by using this firm, my family will be treated with respect & dignity & be charged a fair price.
 
traditional family owned are the best

My vote has always been for the traditional,family owned establishments.
there are so many here in my area,and they almost all are third and now fourth generation funeral homes.i have witnessed first hand the
wonderful and compassionate service that they offer.

to call it first class is an understatement.these folks understand the
value of providing a first class service at a very personal level.hats off
to all of those in the funeral service who "go the extra mile for the
families they serve":clap:
 
the SERVICE at a funeral

I believe it has to do with the community. I live in a small county of 48,000 people. We had a firm that was family owned with two locations sell out to a coperate company in the late 80's. After a few years their call volumn dropped by over 50% while their main competitor call volumn increased which was still family owned. In 2006 the firm went back to local family ownership and their business has steadly increased. The firm I work for also has two locations which is being operated by the third generations. At one time they considered selling out to the corporation, but in the end decided they did not want to turn their backs on the two communities that supported the. In larger areas where the funeral director might not be your neighbor it may be different.
 
I agree with what has been stated previously about the level of service provided by the personnel. Regardless of who owns the funeral home, the reputation can be made or broken by whomever has personal contact with the families.

I grew up in a funeral service family and have continually been employed in the profession since 1987. I have never worked for a corporate-owned firm, but I do know of many families who were happy with the service they received from them.

I do think many families appreciate working with a locally-owned and operated funeral home because those firms generally know what is best for their community. They have the ability to make day to day decisions for the good of providing individualized, personal service, without having to "check with a manager" or worry about what the corporate office hundreds or thousands of miles away will say. Some families may perfer to do business with a locally-owned firm that gives money back to the community that supports them (not just through advertising, but purchasing things like vehicles, furnishings, and insurance locally.)
 
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