It can be difficult to know what’s appropriate or meaningful when it comes to funerals, whether you’re trying to figure out what to say to someone who is grieving, what to wear when attending a memorial event, or even what to send to a family when expressing your support. For those who are lucky enough […] Continue reading 5 Sympathy Gifts (Other Than Flowers) That Are A Beautiful Expression of Support on funeralOne Blog. 5 Sympathy Gifts (Other Than Flowers) That Are A Beautiful Expression of Support published first on YouTube via Tumblr 5 Sympathy Gifts (Other Than Flowers) That Are A Beautiful Expression of Support
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For so many years, funeral service has been what we like to call a “business card profession.” What this means is that many funeral professionals in the past (and still even now) would rely on their business cards to be their primary networking tool or marketing method. Think about it — 10 years ago when […] Continue reading 4 Reasons Why Families Want Your Funeral Website, Not Your Business Card on funeralOne Blog. 4 Reasons Why Families Want Your Funeral Website, Not Your Business Card published first on YouTube via Tumblr 4 Reasons Why Families Want Your Funeral Website, Not Your Business Card As funeral professionals, we too often look past the potential value that many of our everyday products and services provide. Take funeral memorial cards, for example. These personalized, printed cards are a staple for most funeral services. They are a standard way for families to share details about their loved one’s order of service, and […] Continue reading 5 Custom Features That Will Elevate Your Funeral Memorial Cards on funeralOne Blog. 5 Custom Features That Will Elevate Your Funeral Memorial Cards published first on YouTube via Tumblr 5 Custom Features That Will Elevate Your Funeral Memorial Cards It has come to our attention here at GFG Towers that some particularly bad practice is taking place on social media, compromising the integrity of funeral celebrancy as a profession. Whilst recognising that funeral celebrancy can be lonely work and there is a real need for support from colleagues, it’s suggested that anyone discussing their work online in peer-support groups is aware of the following: Facebook groups, even if closed, are not private. Don’t share anything in a Facebook group that you wouldn’t want to appear on the front page of a national newspaper. Posts can easily be replicated and shared outside of the group. Never breach client confidentiality. Be wary of discussing situations in anything but the vaguest of terms. No identifying information should ever be shared. Never reveal the identities of people attending funerals. Respect mourners’ right to privacy, no matter who they are. Be mindful of the advice you’re given by peers. Whilst fully supporting colleagues in sharing their strength, hope and experience online, please exercise caution, discretion and professionalism at all times. A Serious Cause for Concern published first on YouTube via Tumblr A Serious Cause for Concern There’s no point in trying to rationalize it or sugar coat it… no one likes having to attend the funeral service of someone they know and love. Even as funerals get closer to becoming a one-of-a-kind celebration of life, at the end of the day, a funeral marks the end of a loved one’s life… […] Continue reading 3 Pet Peeves Families Have About Funerals… And How Funeral Pros Can Fix Them on funeralOne Blog. 3 Pet Peeves Families Have About Funerals… And How Funeral Pros Can Fix Them published first on YouTube via Tumblr 3 Pet Peeves Families Have About Funerals… And How Funeral Pros Can Fix Them Can you believe that we are nearly two months into the start of 2017?! It seems like just yesterday we were mapping out our New Year’s resolutions and creating a game plan for a happier, more successful year of funerals. But now it’s mid-February and most of us have come face-to-face with what I like […] Continue reading How 5 Funeral Pros Are Serving Families Better In 2017 on funeralOne Blog. How 5 Funeral Pros Are Serving Families Better In 2017 published first on YouTube via Tumblr How 5 Funeral Pros Are Serving Families Better In 2017 Back in 2015, we reported on this blog about the legal skirmish between funeral plan providers Safe Hands Funeral Plans and Golden Charter – see here to refresh your memory. A paragraph from that blog post came to mind today: ‘While the lawyers order trebles all round and get ready to enwrap both parties in litigation for as long as legally possible, the good citizens of Funeralworld tremble. A lot of heavily soiled linen looks like being washed in public. God forbid that the public learn just how much of the money they spend on a funeral plan gets divvied up among sundry predators in the form of commissions, sales and marketing costs, directors’ wages, you name it.’ Well, thanks to the wonderful world of t’internet, that very information is now available in an easy to read table, showing just how much money is taken out of the total cost of a funeral plan in non-funeral related fees. Thanks to John Taplin from Open Pre-Paid Funerals Ltd for providing this link. Have a look here. Or, for a quick précis, we’ll summarise a couple of the lesser know facts listed in the table for you.
So, it is entirely possible that the money you pay in good faith for a funeral plan, thinking that you’re addressing the ever more hysterical annual announcements of the rising costs of funerals escalating beyond comprehension yet again, will in fact be whittled down to the bare bone when death occurs and the funeral needs to be arranged. A pocketful of cash here, a handful of cash there, all disappearing from that plan price in the direction of administration and commission before the ink is even dry on the medical certificate of the cause of death. As an example, we were told this week about a funeral director receiving a call from one of the funeral plan providers listed above. The plan provider invited the funeral director to carry out a funeral for a plan holder who had just died. The plan holder had paid £3,595 for their funeral. It included all the traditional aspects of a funeral, collecting and caring for the person who had died, providing a coffin, dressing them and providing chapel visits, all professional assistance with the funeral, providing a hearse and a limousine and the third party costs. So far so what, you might think. £3,595.00 sounds about ok for what is being provided? Well, the amount that the funeral director was offered for undertaking this funeral was actually £2,445.00. And, of that £2,445.00, £1,100.00 was allocated for the third party costs. In fact, the third party costs totalled just under £1,200.00. So the funeral director, the one actually doing the funeral, was effectively invited to do so for £1,245.00. That’s just £145 more than the £1,100.00 that had whistled out of the original payment to persons unknown in administration fees and commission payments. The funeral director concerned politely declined the offer. They couldn’t make the sums add up. The person who paid £3,595.00 for their plan and who died thinking their funeral was all sorted is none the wiser. Their family is probably none the wiser. The plan provider may have found a funeral director willing to carry out this funeral for £1,245.00 and nobody will be any the wiser. We think it stinks. There is a whole can of worms writhing underneath the label of ‘Funeral Plans’. Thousands are sold each year to unwitting purchasers who want to are seduced by lines such as ‘We Believe Your Loved Ones Shouldn’t Be Left With Any Surprise Bills’ (capital letters not our own), or ‘A pre-paid funeral plan from the UK’s largest provider ensures peace of mind for you and your family’. There’s a very nice living to be made from selling funeral plans offered by the big six providers, but not such a good one from carrying out the actual funerals involved. If you are thinking about planning your funeral in advance, do your homework. The only plan provider that we rate is Open Pre-Paid Funerals Ltd. So highly do we rate them, we have developed our own, unique alternative to funeral plans in partnership with them. It stands apart from every other offering on the market. It’s the GFGPlan. GFGPlan puts your interests first. There is an administrative fee of £195.00 (and £25 of that is donated to the Good Funeral Guide). Other than that, we make no deductions whatever from the money you give us to look after for you. Zilch. Not one penny is spent on salaries, nobody gets a commission, and there are no free pens. Read about it here.
There’s an unpleasant odour emanating from somewhere.. published first on YouTube via Tumblr There’s an unpleasant odour emanating from somewhere.. When it comes to funerals, there seems to be a veil between what families think of the funeral process and what actually happens behind the scenes. Everything from the way that families view funeral professionals (“they’re crooks who are just out to make a buck”) to the value that they feel funerals provide (“they’re a […] Continue reading 5 Funeral Articles You NEED To Share With Your Families on funeralOne Blog. 5 Funeral Articles You NEED To Share With Your Families published first on YouTube via Tumblr 5 Funeral Articles You NEED To Share With Your Families Filed under: Accounts Receivable, Funeral Director Training, Funeral Operations/Training, Leadership Tagged: Funeral Business Consulting, Funeral Home Operations Funeral Director Training: The Birds & The Bees. published first on YouTube via Tumblr Funeral Director Training: The Birds & The Bees. “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” – Benjamin Franklin Well, Ben, I am uncertain about that these days! While death and taxes are here to stay, how we deal with those two certainties certainly has changed. No longer does it seem strange or uncomfortable to ditch the […] Continue reading Guest Post: When Will The Funeral Profession Go The Way Of Uber and Airbnb? on funeralOne Blog. Guest Post: When Will The Funeral Profession Go The Way Of Uber and Airbnb? published first on YouTube via Tumblr Guest Post: When Will The Funeral Profession Go The Way Of Uber and Airbnb? |
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