Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, and New York (National Home Funeral Alliance, n.d.). The Green Burial Council (GBC), an advocacy group for natural and green burial, notes a growing membership and currently has more than 350 members (New Hampshire Funeral Resources & Education, 2022).
current statistics on the number of people in the U.S. who are considering home funerals, but the number is increasing according to Lee Webster, president of the National Home Funeral Alliance (Webster, 2016). In all states, it is legal to have a home funeral, and most states do not require a licensed funeral director for final arrangements. The states that do mandate funeral director involvement, from signing the death certificate to overseeing burial or cremation, include Connecticut, Illinois, Changing responsibilities Funeral professionals will likely see their responsibilities grow, and this will require additional training and staff. The most successful companies will become jacks-of-all-trades who can use social networking and/or apps to the company’s advantage. Comprehensive services will encompass food services for catered events, travel and accommodations, off-site venues, services for pets, eco-friendly funeral options, grief counseling, Changing ownership Funeral homes were often family-run and passed down through generations, usually from father to son. Today, however, funeral service professionals are no longer predominately male. According to NFDA (2021), “in 2017, nearly 65% of graduates from funeral director programs in the United States were female.” Today, many mortuary school graduates choose the profession independent of any family connections and often get into the business as a second career after working as medical personnel, chemists, cosmetologists, nurses, or artists. In the 1990s, large corporations purchased many smaller funeral homes, anticipating financial benefits as the aging baby boomer Changing funeral home function and design Changes in funeral home function have produced a range of adaptations to traditional funeral home design in the past decade. Innovations are driven by technological improvements in mechanical systems, energy-efficient building materials, and green practices as well as new safety requirements for ventilation and chemical handling and disposal. Other innovations are associated with the evolving nature of the funeral industry; the increased demand for cremation, including resomation; the reduced demand for traditional burials; and more flexible building designs that can accommodate a variety of community functions. Cremation calls for drastically redesigned facilities, including a crematorium; a dedicated cremation chapel with viewing access; a room to comfortably view videos about cremation services; and/or a location to attractively display urns, keepsakes, and other options for the interment of ashes. Pet cremations, which are becoming increasingly common, require a different setting, and in some states, must be conducted in a completely separate area from where human remains are processed. Burial grounds are also changing. More people are asking to be buried with their pets, requiring revised regulations in some areas. Natural burials have strict rules regarding practices and materials as well as land maintenance. As of 2022, there were 58 natural burial grounds certified in the U.S. (New Hampshire Funeral Resources & Education, 2022). Following this green Increasing competition Funeral homes were traditionally secretive regarding their services, products, and prices, but this is no longer viable. With increased access to information via the Internet, and the ease of comparison, as well as more vendors and service providers, transparency is key and competition is fierce. Vendors like Costco or Walmart now provide products that were exclusively the domain of the funeral industry, and provide them at lower cost. Funeral professionals need to provide additional value to compete. Concierge funeral services accessed online or by phone offer support for comprehensive funeral planning and
and use of funeral-planning technology. Marketing will require services to be listed on the business website and the business to be available via social media and apps for smartphones and tablets. Community presentations will continue, but they will need to incorporate state-of-the-art multimedia presentations to be competitive. population began to pass away. This turned out to be a poor business decision as increasing numbers of individuals choosing cremation over burials upset the financial model, yielding much lower profits than expected. These large companies were unresponsive and inflexible in the face of increased demands for cremation, leading to lost revenue and the eventual sale or closing of many businesses that were unable to adapt. The opposite is currently true with the growing trend of customer service dedicated to personalization, individualization, and creativity to meet the changing demands of the consumer. trend, groundskeepers are turning to less resource intensive maintenance practices. Funeral homes are branching out by hosting a variety of functions beyond wakes, such as family reunions and community meetings. Community and social functions require a reception room that can accommodate a large group, availability in the evenings, and adequate parking, all of which are common at most funeral homes. Kitchen space and equipment with access for catering staff or banquet space and servers may be required. As funeral homes become more integrated into community life, assisted by new marketing strategies such as social media networking, they can be a place to do more than grieve, as the recent trend in creative funerals suggests; they can be a place to celebrate life and need not be associated only with death. The appearance and ambiance of funerals homes is also changing. Where traditional funeral homes may have felt intimidating and somber, and were decorated formally in dark wood, they are now friendly and inviting, elegant and comfortable, and decorated with attractive colors. Foyers and reception areas are warm, with comfortable furniture. There is a desire for bright, airy spaces that are not only welcoming but provide a suitable environment for any type of social gathering as well as spiritual services. Colors are very important because they can influence mood; visitation rooms typically have very simple decorations and muted wall colors to highlight floral arrangements. services throughout the U.S. and Canada. These companies do not provide the services but receive a commission from funeral industry providers. Concierge services include the following: ● Constant support for planning services. ● A national database of funeral products and services to meet personalized service demands. ● A confidential and secure database to store information. ● Price comparisons delivered in a consumer-friendly format. ● Planning and selection of funeral services and product options tailored to the consumer.
Page 13
Book Code: FSC0624
EliteLearning.com/Funeral
Powered by FlippingBook