As you know, getting people to preplan their funeral isn’t easy for a number of reasons. Many people simply don’t understand all that goes into funeral planning and the benefits of doing it in advance. But, by understanding how to approach the funeral preplanning conversation, your funeral home’s staff can better educate them about it.

It also helps to know your target audience. For example, the funeral preplanning conversation talking points may vary depending on the person’s generation. Since Baby Boomers are your current audience, let’s talk more about how to approach the conversation with them.

How to Bring Up Funeral Preplanning

One convenient time to bring up funeral preplanning is after a Boomer has arranged someone else’s funeral, such as for their spouse or a parent. Chuck Gallagher shares his positive experience with this in an article in the December 2019 issue of American Funeral Director.

However, you need to be careful with this approach, so you don’t come off as insensitive to their grief. To avoid this, it may be best to follow up with them a little bit after their loved one’s funeral. This way, they’ve had some time to cope with their loss and the funeral is still fresh in their mind. Then, if their loved one’s arrangements are something they’re interested in, it makes planning their own funeral easier. Plus, they’re already in the mindset of funeral planning and have been educated about your funeral home’s service offerings.

Take an Event Planning Approach

You also can take more of an event planning approach to funeral planning. Boomers want personalized funeral experiences, so what better way to do this than planning all the details like you would for any event? Find creative ways to personalize their funeral experience and show off their personality and interests. Whether it’s through the memorial displays or the funeral reception food, the opportunities are endless. To find out how they want to be remembered, ask them specific questions for creating a personalized service and getting to know their life story.

Make Funeral Preplanning Easy

Make funeral preplanning less stressful for them with easy-to-use preplanning tools and resources. For example, Frazer-powered websites come with a convenient online preplanning form and educational preplanning website content, including a checklist of things to do when funeral planning. You also can create other helpful downloadable content about preplanning, such as an infographic about the pros and cons of burial and cremation.

Share the Benefits

Explaining the benefits are what will be the deciding factor in someone’s decision to preplan. Ultimately, it relieves their loved ones of the burden and stress while grieving. It also gives the person preplanning some comfort in knowing that it’s taken care of and how they want it. They also can prepay to relieve their family of the financial burden, which is a great opportunity for you to explain all your funeral home’s payment options, such as life insurance assignments.