family members to come together virtually and participate in the process. Individuals can share photos and memories on the webpage of their loved one, allowing them to stay connected with the family. 3. Offer support to everyone. Each funeral is different and the needs of the people left behind also differ. The needs of the immediate family are not the same as the extended family or the friends of the one who passed. Everyone grieves differently and everyone heals at a different pace. Both people who come in for preneed and those that come in for at-need, need the funeral home’s support. Aftercare can help to meet all of these different needs. This support can come in the form of helping to fill out forms, offering information on grieving, and holding classes on topics like car repair or money management. Conducting programs throughout the year that bring life once again to the deceased can be seen as a form of support. For example, a funeral home offers a holiday program that highlights the lives of some of the people it served throughout the year. Through this simple service, the business shows the family and friends that their loved one has not been forgotten. 4. Provide continuity of care. From the first contact with the consumer until the final disposition of the deceased, a relationship forms between the funeral director/funeral home and the customer. Aftercare can help to continue that relationship long after the interment. Often there are several years between services for the same customer. Aftercare helps the customer remember the funeral home long after the service. Also, aftercare can generate other preneed and at-need leads by providing this continuity of care. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising and is free. When a customer feels like they matter and they are more than “just another” customer, they will pass this information to others. Many aftercare projects reach more than just the immediate family. These simple ideas create the brand loyalty mentioned earlier, while also helping the funeral home stay connected with the families and friends by providing support and continuity of care to all involved. “Aftercare is not a lead-generating faucet for pre-need. Imagine you have 200 people attend a holiday help program. If you do the program correctly and make it worth their time, you are going to have people who are impressed with your business. Are these people more inclined to want to prearrange with you when they are of the mind to do so? Of course. Now imagine you gather the same 200 people together and have your pre-need counselor take families off to the side to try and get them to prearrange before or immediately after the event. How are these people going to feel? They are going to feel betrayed.”
be good for “the bottom line,” even though aftercare is not directly responsible for revenue enhancement. In its blog, Homesteaders Life Company suggests the following ways that an aftercare program can help build a funeral home’s business. 1. Build brand loyalty. What is branding? According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, branding is “The promoting of a product or service by identifying it with a particular brand.” People encounter brands every day, for instance individuals may drink Coke or Pepsi. They may drive a Chevy truck or a Toyota Prius. In the funeral business, many things are standard. For example, the funeral home gets a call and they go and pick up the deceased. Then they prepare the body for viewing. Next, they either cremate or bury the body. On this front, most funeral homes are the same except for the prices of all the services and products. So how can a funeral home brand itself? How can it add value to its services and stand out in the industry? This is where aftercare services can make the difference. Aftercare is considered a value-added service. There is no charge for aftercare services, but these services create value by maintaining a relationship with the families year-round, thus increasing the likelihood of repeat business. 2. Stay connected. Before the advent of aftercare services, there was not much dialogue with the family after the final disposition of the deceased. Aftercare offers an opportunity to have a dialogue with consumers year round. Using aftercare helps keep the funeral home in the forefront of the customers’ mind, and thus, helps to create repeat business. There are many ways to stay connected. Offering online resources on grief and coping, holding grief-related seminars, and creating holiday programs that remember those who have passed during the year are all ways to stay connected. People want to be remembered and they want their loved ones to be remembered. Online memorials can accomplish this. They also allow extended family and friends feel like they were a part of the ceremony if they were not able to physically attend. Today, family members are often spread out all over the country. An online memorial allows all Ethical issues in offering aftercare services Ethics are important in any business and the funeral setting is no exception. A situation that creates a conflict of interest can become an ethical issue. For example, a staff member of the funeral home is assigned as director of the aftercare program. However, he is also a minister in the community and has just been offered and accepted the position of chaplain of the local community hospice. Aftercare is not meant to generate leads; however, in the long run it may lead to more business. In the article “Aftercare, Outreach and Preneed,” Dan Isgard states (2015): New trend – Using an aftercare company Many funeral homes are outsourcing their aftercare programs to companies who specialize in this area to avoid ethical issues. Funeral One, Order of the Golden Rule, and Aftercare Solutions Conclusion Aftercare programs help people through the difficult process of grief. Each funeral home will use different levels and different forms of aftercare based on the needs of its customers and local community. “Make it about what is best for your families. References Gamino, Louis A. & Ritter, Jr. R. Hal (2009) Ethical Practice in Grief Counseling – p. 178 Isard, Dan (2015) Aftercare & Outreach Completing the Service. www.ogr.org | The Independent – p. 23 The Independent (2015). [The graph shows age of death over the past 100 years]. Retrieved from http://www.f4sight.com/wp-content/uploads/Aftercare-Outreach-Completing-the- Service-Independent-Article-Winter-2015.pdf Isard, Dan (2015) Aftercare, Outreach and Pre-Need: The next frontiers. Canadian Funeral News - p. 31 Leming, Michael R. & Dickinson, George E. (2011) Understanding Death, Dying, and Bereavement – p. 396
are just a few companies that provide aftercare services to funeral homes. These companies offer a variety of services based on the needs of the funeral home they serve.
They are the ones paying for your experience and guidance and using your assets ... They are the ones that need to recover from this undesired event. They are the ones that need help, and it doesn’t end at the edge of the grave.” Murad, Kelly. (Mar. 22, 2012). 5 Ways to Serve Your Families After the Funeral Service blog retrieved from http://blog.funeralone.com/grow-your-business/funeral-marketing/funeral- service-aftercare/ Kershaw-Staley, Tracy. (May 2, 2005) Funeral Home Expands its Aftercare. http://www. bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2005/05/02/story5.html Bloomquist, Barb (Aug. 24 2015) 4 Ways Aftercare Can Help Grow Your Funeral Home Business blog retrieved from http://www.homesteaderslife.com/blog/4-ways-aftercare-can- help-grow-your-funeral-home-business Isard, Dan (2012) Why Funeral Directors Should Engage in Aftercare. American Funeral Director. – p 61.
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