What today’s families view as meaningful has changed. They are seeking out new experiences, new ways to memorialize, and new ways to remember their loved ones. And while some funeral homes have started looking toward the future, there are others that are still living in the past.
Let’s look at it this way. There are the Flintstones-style funeral homes — holding on to traditions of the past. Then there are Jetsons types of funeral homes — blazing toward the future. Which one are you?
Flintstones Funeral Homes
The Flintstones funeral home lives in tradition. Their mantra is “we’ve always done it this way.” A Flintstones funeral home knows that through consistent tradition, rituals, and compassion, they can honor the deceased and provide meaningful service to the family.
And that’s all well and true. Some of the most successful businesses excel because of their consistency, reliability, and dependability. But what happens when old funeral traditions aren’t meeting today’s families’ new values? That’s a problem many funeral homes face. What today’s families find meaningful — the rituals they want to memorialize their loved ones by — it’s all changing.
Walker Posey, CFSP, touched on this at the 2018 ICCFA Convention in Las Vegas. For many funeral homes, there’s a disconnect as family preferences don’t often align with the standard practices of the funeral profession. There’s an ongoing struggle of old vs. new values. Some funeral homes are adapting. They are leaving behind the Flintstones-style way of doing things and adopt the Jetsons-style “space age” of funeral service.
Jetsons Funeral Homes
The Jetsons funeral home lives in the future. Through technology and staying on top of trends, they cater to the modern family. They are early adopters and innovators. They embrace change, and they benefit from it. According to the Harvard Business Review, early adoption of technology and trends gives a business an overall advantage over their competition. Not to mention, early adoption of technology also helps funeral homes by:
- Allowing them to become a thought leader in their area.
- Giving them free publicity and promotion in the press.
- Letting them influence the market instead of having to try to catch up to changes and trends set by others.
Why Not Both?
So which one is better? Flintstones or Jetsons funeral homes? Well, why not both?
There was another good point made at the ICCFA convention. Erik Qualman, in his keynote address, said that we are all living in a Jetsons-era, but we can’t forget to live like the Flintstones. He said the technology and trends change, but human nature never does. Technology is great — it will help save us time, give us new ways to memorialize loved ones, and keep funeral homes competitive. But it won’t replace the person-to-person connection funeral directors have with their families. That’s where the true service, the true compassion, and care for your families comes from.
So go ahead. Make your funeral home look like it’s from the Jetsons, but don’t forget to keep the heart of the Flintstones.
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