In the latest episode of Jake Johnson’s (President of the Johnson Consulting Group) “M&A Minute” video series, Johnson talks about the top 5 things that can affect the value of your business. 

Labor Mix

It’s important to have hard-working and passionate employees in your corner. A successful business is run by people with a variety of skills, experiences, and knowledge that comes with how long they’ve been employed. “A strong business has a multigenerational staff with varied talents and co-workers who cross-train to share skill sets,” says Johnson. If a business is being inherited then it’s important to have a strong team to manage the day-to-day. 

Size of Your Business 

“A business that brings in many millions of dollars per year is worth more than a smaller business,” says Johnson. While this is true, it’s important not to devalue smaller businesses. Depending on market conditions, local demand and competition, it may be easier to sell a smaller business. 

Location

Location, location, location! It’s all about real estate. Just like the housing market, it’s important to understand that the geography of a business directly impacts the value. In order for a business to flourish it’s important to be located in a populated area with opportunity to succeed. “This varies from state-to-state, but even regionally, business locations can be graded on their location,” says Johnson. 

Interest Rates 

When interest rates are low, a buyer can pay more for a business. This is great for both buyers and sellers. Low interest rates means there is a greater pool of potential buyers who can afford more properties. 

Credit Ratings 

Credit scores and ratings are extremely important when it comes to valuing a business. When lenders are willing to let you borrow money, that means the business has been run well, and it’s lucrative enough to pay bills on time. This is why it’s so important to make sure your house is in order prior to thinking about selling your business. Johnson Consulting Group has expert consultants who can help you grow your business or plan your exit strategy. Check out our blog that talks about planning your exit strategy.

Jake Johnson and the Johnson Consulting team created the M&A Minute to help business owners through the process of buying or selling a business. The M&A Minute utilizes Jake and the JCG team’s knowledge to give advice that helps individuals feel confident and at ease when going through one of the most important times of their lives, selling or purchasing their most valuable asset. The M&A Minute is released every other Thursday. You can watch episode 9 now. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to get M&A Minute updates.

The post M&A Minute Recap: Episode 16 appeared first on Johnson Consulting Group.

As a caregiver the way you present your services is of the utmost importance. Families need to be able to trust you with the care of their loved one and be assured you can handle everything in a professional manner. Societal opinion of your funeral home or cemetery matters — reputation in the local community and overall approval ratings is what drives new calls and more customers through your front door. Public opinion can truly make or break your business.

Funeral Industry Notoriety

It’s no secret that the funeral and cemetery profession has suffered from bad publicity over the years. The media is often quick to jump on scandalous stories about fraudulent practices, customer abuses, and general mismanagement. These negative stories tend to affect all funeral homes because the public assumes these egregious events are symptomatic of the entire industry. This can make it difficult to market pre-need products and services to potential customers who are skeptical of your funeral business based on what they heard on the news.

It’s hard enough trying to maintain your own reputation without having to deal with the public relations disasters of other funeral homes and cemeteries. You also have to pay attention to how you manage your business operations and marketing efforts in regards to public attitudes. Poor customer service, low-quality products or services, and not adapting to changing consumer preferences can hurt your company’s image.

Funeral directors must be proactive with protecting their public image in the face of bad publicity or management mistakes. Here are a few ideas on how to maintain a strong community profile for your funeral home.

Ask for Reviews

Word of mouth has always been a compelling marketing tool. In this modern day internet age, online reviews have become the top superior method for recommending funeral providers. Potential customers now search online for funeral-related products and services and rely on online reviews to compare and rate individual funeral homes.

In order to stay competitive, funeral directors need to ask for feedback and post reviews and testimonials on their funeral home website and/or social media accounts. A recent survey showed that 70% of consumers will leave a review if the business asks, so don’t waste an opportunity to collect constructive feedback from your families and improve your funeral home’s online image.

Host Community Events

Hosting events at your funeral home is a great way to engage the community and build lasting relationships with local families. Community events help showcase your business in a different light — as more families begin to associate your establishment with something other than the tragedy of losing a loved one, their perception of your role in the community will evolve. Funeral homes can hold a series of educational or fun events at their location or partner with local nursing homes and hospice centers if possible. Some ideas for community gatherings include:

• Grief Support Groups – bring families together to discuss topics like how to cope with unexpected loss or dealing with the emotions of grief
• Pre-Planning Seminars – provide checklists and guides to help individuals plan funeral arrangements in advance
• Movie Nights – screen a movie that appeals to all ages and offer free popcorn

Celebrate Holidays and Anniversaries

People mourning the loss of a loved one sometimes find it difficult to get through the holidays or special anniversaries. Funeral directors understand the complexities of grief, and can offer support to family members on difficult days by suggesting different ways to memorialize the deceased, e.g., plan an event to honor veterans on Memorial Day or host a candle-light vigil on Christmas Eve. Funeral homes can also send cards or letters to previous customers on special anniversaries such as a loved one’s birthday. This kind of after care service helps families feel appreciated and your continued interest in their wellbeing fosters goodwill towards your business.

Invest in Public Relations

Large corporations often hire entire departments to manage their brand image. While a funeral home might not have the same type of budget as a corporation for public relations activities, funeral directors can still benefit from developing strong networks with local newspapers, magazines, radio stations and other media outlets. Providing informative interviews or refuting adverse news with a detailed press release can go a long way towards maintaining a positive image in the public’s mind.

Get a Grief Therapy Dog

Grief therapy dogs are becoming a popular feature at funeral homes. It may sound a bit strange, but animal assisted therapy has been used for many years and research shows that dogs have a special bond with humans. A funeral home therapy dog can help reduce anxiety and stress during funeral arrangement meetings and provide emotional support during a visitation or funeral service. Grief therapy dogs work especially well with children as gentle companions to help them process their feelings over a loss. Offering therapy animals to assist your families cope with grief is a unique way to enhance their overall perception of your business.

Public Image Consulting Services

Establishing a positive public image for your funeral home is a process that requires constant attention, and collaborating with professionals to help you manage this task can make the job easier. Johnson Consulting Group offers funeral home management services that are customized to fit your specific needs, and our experts have over 400 years of combined expertise in the death care industry. Talk to us about how to manage your funeral home’s public image and maintain a good reputation.

The post How to Maintain The Reputation of Your Funeral or Cemetery Business appeared first on Johnson Consulting Group.

Cash flow is one of the most important financial metrics of a funeral or cemetery business. The movement of cash in and out of a company is a strong indicator of monetary strength and market value, and cash flow problems can have severe (and sometimes irreversible) effects on continuity of operations. As such, cash flow management is a fundamental component of business strategy and should be closely monitored on a daily basis. 

Tracking how money flows in and out of a business is not an easy task however, and funeral and cemetery professionals are not alone in the struggle to maintain positive cash flow. A recent global study on cash flow challenges showed that 69% of small business owners lose sleep at night due to concerns about cash flow. In order for your funeral home or cemetery to not remain a going concern, you must ensure that there is more money coming in than going out of your accounts. This sounds simple enough but unless you understand all the cash inflows and outflows of your firm, and consistently track and measure significant changes and fluctuations, your business will most likely end up in the red. 

Jake Johnson, the president of Johnson Consulting Group, says that many death care companies don’t know how to maintain proper cash flow levels. “Cash flow issues can stem from payroll, advertising, pricing, case mix, debt load, lease payments and more,” he says. “If efficient cash management tools are not in place, it is a recipe for failure.”

JCG experts have  helped thousands of funeral home and cemetery businesses improve liquidity and value through better cash management. Over the years, we have learned that developing a budgeting and forecasting system and using industry-specific accounting tools and reporting systems are two of the most reliable methods of effective cash flow management. 

Accurate Budgets and Forecasts

Budgeting and forecasting are essential to the formation of a successful business strategy, especially in the changing commercial landscape of the funeral industry. As more families choose cremation or personalized services such as celebration of life ceremonies and green burial, it can no longer be “business as usual” for funeral and cemetery providers. Death care businesses have enjoyed a long period of stable profits, but continuing to rely on past practices will not produce the same results.

Funeral home budgets should not be based on prior year numbers if the goal is to develop realistic short-term and long-term projections. Johnson Consulting Group recommends the use of funeral industry benchmarks and trend analysis when forecasting budget expense categories and creating new product/service offerings. Funeral business operators need to compare their revenue and expense estimates against other firms in the industry in order to find out where their cash flow levels should be — this type of benchmarking can quickly show if your firm’s cash levels are too low or too high. Creating a realistic budget and analyzing the numbers on a monthly basis puts businesses on a clear path to positive cash flow.

Get Organized – Use an Accounting System

Funeral home and cemetery owners should review their financial statements carefully to determine how much cash they have available for operations and investment activities. Gone are the days when a funeral home’s P&L was only used at year-end for tax purposes — current trends demand modern accounting systems that provide detailed sales and expense reports in a timely fashion. Your local accountant may have served you well over the years, but to ensure cash flow accuracy and preserve profitability, you need a professional who can discuss your cash position in relation to your business and the relevant economics of the death care profession.

Your Financial Story

Consistent cash flow management and accurate budgeting and forecasting are the key components of financial success for funeral and cemetery businesses. Johnson Consulting Group’s Accounting and Financial Management team offers two levels of accounting services to meet your company’s specific operational needs. To find out how we can help you understand the real financial story of your business, please call us at 888-250-7741 or contact us online today.

Johnson Consulting Group offers a full-service accounting and financial management system developed specifically for funeral homes and cemeteries. We offer a specialized chart of accounts unique to the industry, and our reporting tools provide customized trend analysis statements and sales summaries by call type, individual arranger, location or company. In addition, our flexible web-based software allows you to review financial data in real time no matter where you are. This ability to analyze your profit & loss, balance sheet, and cash flow statements 24/7 is crucial to identifying negative trends and making proactive decisions for effective change.

The post How to Combat Common Cash Flow Issues appeared first on Johnson Consulting Group.

Now more than ever, keeping track of client satisfaction levels should be a high priority for your business. Customer surveys can help you evaluate if arrangement and service adjustments are meeting expectations, and how well your staff is doing overall. Here are the Top 5 reasons why funeral homes should survey their families during this health crisis:

To Assess Customer Experience

The 2020 pandemic has fundamentally changed how funeral services are arranged, which means that the general customer experience will be very different compared to what funeral directors have seen in previous years. One of the best ways to understand what families are going through during this health crisis is to request feedback via user-friendly surveys. After all, if you really want to know what a customer is thinking you should simply ask them.

Many funeral homes use automatic survey tools to obtain responses from families, and some funeral directors openly ask for an honest review in person. With either method, the main objective should be to elicit descriptive comments and opinions that help improve customer service levels and build a loyal client base going forward.

To Source Ideas for Growth

Evaluating a family’s overall satisfaction with your funeral home is essential to understanding what works well vs. what doesn’t. To get an idea of which strategies are successful, consider using surveys to evaluate whether or not you are meeting customer expectations on a regular basis. Keep in mind that the COVID-19 crisis is causing some families to make rushed decisions and choose fewer services, and this unfortunate trend may continue even once the emergency tapers off. Funeral homes will need to be proactive in developing new and effective ways to reach families based on customer feedback, case mix and revenue projections.

To Analyze Gaps in Customer Knowledge

Customer surveys often reveal what people really think about your business. Their responses also provide crucial information regarding unseen gaps in consumer knowledge about the products and services your funeral home offers. For example, families who have lost a loved one to the coronavirus disease may ask for direct cremation only because they don’t know that they can hold a formal service before or after cremation. Professionally-written surveys can disclose key findings that inform the need for additional education and/or marketing to keep families current on their available options for saying a final goodbye.

To Improve Staff Training

Customer surveys can be customized to enhance staff training and improve performance. Survey responses offer insights into the arrangement conference and show exactly how much information families receive — these real-time results can help your staff focus on specific aspects of the funeral experience like financing, payment plans and empathy, and encourage them to reinforce these ideas with every family no matter the circumstances. This is especially important during the current health crisis when many families are under pressure to choose something (or anything) as quickly as possible. A well-trained arranger should be able to guide family members towards a decision that works well for everyone while still meeting sales performance targets.

To Refine Aftercare Programs

Funeral aftercare is just as important as pre-need or at-need care. Even during a pandemic when time and resources are very limited, funeral providers should make an effort to follow up with bereaved families to see how they are coping with their loss and to offer additional sympathy and care as necessary. Sending surveys after the service to ask for feedback can provide relevant information about overall satisfaction and average sales, and is also a great way to ask families to provide testimonials and/or reviews. Customer reviews are vital to your funeral home’s reputation and help establish a loyal community of future customers.

How to Use Customer Surveys

Evaluate your sales performance and stay connected with your families by using the Johnson Consulting Group Performance Tracker — an industry-leading survey tool that empowers funeral home owners to run a more profitable business and provide a better experience for their families. Please call us today to learn more.

Lori Salberg
Director of Technology

Lori joined Johnson Consulting Group in 2017, bringing experience in cemetery, funeral home, and pre-need sales management. Along with sales and operations management, Lori directed the development of two propriety cemetery and funeral home enterprise software systems. Lori began her career in 2001 as a Family Service Counselor for the Catholic Cemeteries in San Jose. She quickly moved into management and rose to Associate Director of three cemetery locations. In 2010, Lori furthered her career as General Manager of Holy Sepulchre Cemetery and Holy Angels Funeral and Cremation Center in Hayward, CA, where she also joined the Catholic Management Services leadership team. As Director of Administration and IT, Lori brought management expertise and software solutions to cemetery and funeral home clients. In 2015, Lori joined PlotBox as VP of Sales. Lori contributed to the development of a SaaS cemetery software program, and was principally responsible for introducing it to the US market. She is a frequent speaker at many state and regional industry events and an article contributor to many industry magazines. She is also a member of the ICCFA Sales and Marketing Committee, which plans and oversees the Annual World Wide Sales Conference each January. Lori balances her passion for helping clients prepare for the future with raising her three children, Catalina, JJ, and Lyla. She spends a lot of weekends at dance competitions and little league baseball tournaments.

The post Top 5 Reasons to Survey Families Now appeared first on Johnson Consulting Group.

Social Distancing Effects on Funerals

No one could have predicted for the large-scale effects that social distancing has had on traditional funeral and burial services. Even when looking back to the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic where public funerals and wakes were banned in certain cities, funeral directors could not have known that almost the same thing would happen 100 years later despite all the medical advances of the 21st Century.

The social distancing and stay-at-home requirements of 2020 have limited funeral gatherings to a maximum of 10 people or less in certain states. Restrictions include no hugging, kissing or hand holding, and funeral guests are encouraged to stay at least six feet apart from each other during the service. This has been a difficult adjustment for many families — the true essence of a funeral is being able to comfort and support bereaved mourners, and it’s just not the same offering sympathy from a distance.

Many funeral homes are now livestreaming funeral and memorial services on private channels or social media sites like Facebook, so that more people can experience the event in real time. Some funeral directors are even arranging drive-through viewings for family members and friends to pay their last respects while maintaining social distancing guidelines. It may seem strange to attend a live-streamed funeral or a drive-by visitation, but it is a practical option
during these crisis times. And while it can’t replace the personal connection of a traditional funeral gathering, more families will likely demand these options even after the pandemic ends.

Delayed/Postponed Services

Under normal circumstances, you can make funeral arrangements within a week of a loved one’s death. But burial timelines are being pushed out during this pandemic. Many families coping with the loss of a loved one due to COVID-19 are having to postpone funeral and burial services for several weeks. The Coronavirus crisis has hindered how quickly bodies can be transported from place of death to the funeral home, and shipping the deceased person’s remains to another state or country is almost impossible with airlines operating at a bare minimum.

In addition, many funeral homes can only schedule a handful of services daily and in some areas there aren’t enough licensed funeral providers with the capacity to serve the increased number of families affected by Coronavirus. Families that can’t plan the funeral they always envisioned for their loved one due to social gathering restrictions may prefer to wait until a later date to make arrangements. However, the selected funeral home may lack the space to shelter the remains for an extended period of time, and not many people can afford the increased costs for storage.

Cemeteries and crematories have also been impacted by the crisis. Some cemeteries are quickly running out of space and crematories are operating beyond capacity which means that burials and cremations are being pushed out days and even weeks into the future. Unfortunately, being able to hold a funeral and graveside ceremony after a loved one dies is no longer a certainty in this uncertain environment, but funeral directors are creating various options for their families.

Complicated Grief

COVID-19 has caused untold havoc on the grief process, perhaps the most important of all death rituals. It’s true that grief is a personal and unique experience, and there’s no “one size fits all” approach, but nobody can deny the importance of being able to mourn the loss of a loved one with family and friends. Due to the Coronavirus crisis, some bereaved families have missed out on the opportunity to honor and celebrate their dearly departed the way they would like — even with creative livestreaming and online memorial options, saying a final goodbye to a loved one just doesn’t feel the same during a pandemic.

Stay-at-home orders and social distancing mean that bereaved families can’t receive much-needed emotional comfort and support from the community in the ways they are used to — they are forced to grieve alone, which can be a painful and overwhelming experience. Others may not be able to acknowledge the death of a loved one because they were absent at the hospital or at the funeral/burial, which can make it all seem surreal. This struggle can lead to instances of compounded or complicated grief, where feelings of sorrow, pain, guilt, or anger are intensified and the person can’t seem to adjust to a new reality without their loved one. Someone who is experiencing complicated grief may self-isolate, have trouble with normal routines or become depressed.

Phone calls, emails and letters can help when someone is grieving alone, and tech tools are especially useful if you can’t make a personal visit. Dr. Alan Wolfelt, a well-known grief expert, encourages people to take advantage of video chats as face-to-face conversations can make all the difference when someone is mourning a loved one.

If you are having trouble coping with a personal loss or have symptoms of intense grief, consider getting help from a professional therapist.

After the Pandemic

Once the Coronavirus crisis ends, what will be the new normal? For funeral home and cemetery owners, the answer to this question will be essential to creating a successful legacy for your firm. For practical and customized guidance on adjusting to a changed reality, please call on the experts at Johnson Consulting Group.

The post How Coronavirus is Changing Death Rituals appeared first on Johnson Consulting Group.

As a funeral home or cemetery business owner, it might seem like a complicated and time-consuming exercise to invest in a professional business valuation on an annual basis. However, the results are well-worth the time and effort involved, and can help define a clear path towards growth and profitability for your company.

Johnson Consulting has helped thousands of funeral home and cemetery professionals achieve success, and we firmly believe that an annual business valuation is usually the first step towards driving positive results and improving your company’s competitive position. Here are our Top 5 reasons why you should get a business valuation every year:

Enhance Strategic Planning

Strategic planning is an integral part of effective business management and is especially important to the long-term viability of funeral and cemetery companies. Using estimates or relying on “gut feelings” can lead to costly operational missteps — a professional valuation provides real-time data and analysis to help you establish a business strategy and determine what operational actions are necessary to achieve your goals.

Maximize Sale Potential

Having a clear understanding of what your funeral or cemetery business is worth is crucial to evaluating sale options. Not only does a business valuation compare your firm to local competitors, it also reveals your position in comparison to the overall industry standings (utilizing benchmarks for expense accounts on your financial statements). Understanding where the profitability of your business falls, as compared to other operations, can assist in determining where improvements can be made now that will assist in maximizing your value when you’re ready to sell. This knowledge allows you to accurately assess potential purchase offers and maximize your bargaining power.

Attract Investment

Potential investors need to know how much your company is worth before they put any money into it, and a professional valuation offers an objective determination of where to put their investment dollars. In addition, if your strategic plan requires outside financing, you will need a current evaluation to demonstrate the financial health of your funeral/cemetery business.

 Succession Planning

Many funeral and cemetery businesses are passed down to family members or company employees, which can be a major challenge for both the seller and the buyer. A business valuation provides a clear value range that is fair to both parties, allowing the family members to determine a win-win situation moving forward. When the true value of the business is pre-established, it can help reduce conflict and assist with a smooth transition for all parties involved.

Simplify Taxes

The IRS levies specific taxes for significant business events such as mergers and acquisitions or share distributions. The total tax amount often depends on a company’s valuation, so a comprehensive review based on current financials and market capital could result in a lower tax bill for your funeral or cemetery business.

At Johnson Consulting Group, we work hard to provide our clients with accurate valuations that objectively measure all of the hard work that they have put into their funeral/cemetery business. Our experts evaluate your operational and managerial practices, analyze your company’s current and historical financial and case trends,as well as your market demographics, which provides a complete profile that determines how much your business is worth. Tom Antram, one of our valued customers from French Funerals & Cremations, said it best: “Johnson Consulting has helped our team stay in tune with our value as an organization. We feel that we have a solid value of our business and with this knowledge, will lead our business to even higher levels of growth.”

 If you are a funeral or cemetery professional interested in knowing where your business has been, where it stands today, and what the future holds, please contact Johnson Consulting Group for a free business valuation quote today.

The post 5 Reasons Why You Should Get a Business Valuation Every Year appeared first on Johnson Consulting Group.

Start Early

There’s no way to accurately predict how long it takes to sell a funeral or cemetery business – the average time on market before final sale depends on a variety of factors including the size of the company, asking price, number of interested buyers, and market competition.

The best way to prepare is to start the process early as there are multiple steps involved and each one takes time, for example, you will likely need to get a business valuation, a property appraisal, and there may be legal issues to iron out. Plan ahead to avoid making rash decisions and be realistic about economic or financial impacts that may affect the timeline.

Get a Professional Valuation

A valuation is essential to knowing how much your funeral or cemetery business is worth. A business valuation analyses all aspects of the company to determine the economic fair value, which in turn provides a firm understanding of how to set the right selling price. Getting a professional valuation allows you to objectively measure all the hard work that’s gone into building your business and establishing goodwill with your families and your community..

An in-depth evaluation of your financial, operational, and managerial practices can also identify areas of improvement to work on before putting your business on the market. Small updates and enhancements implemented before a sale can boost the overall value of your cemetery or funeral home.

Organize Your Financials

It goes without saying that having detailed financial statements is a must when it comes to selling a business. Organize all your accounting records, especially the profit and loss (P&L), balance sheet, and cash flow statements. Most buyers and lenders will want to see at least three years’ worth of financial accounts and asset/liability records to get a clear picture of the monetary “ins and outs” of your funeral home/cemetery.

Other examples of important paperwork to collect include real estate documents, legal records, call volume reports, vendor/partner agreements, and a current list of employee compensation details. Review all the accounts carefully, and get a second opinion from an industry broker or consultant to identify potential issues. Think about what you as a buyer would want to see, then get everything ready and organized beforehand. Your records should clearly illustrate the investment potential of your business.

Communicate with Your Team

Employees are the essence of a funeral home or cemetery business, so it’s important to communicate your sales plans to them as soon as is reasonably possible. Buyers appreciate having a good team in place to continue running the business after the sale – this lowers their overall risk as long-term employees are key to maintaining productivity and preserving the company’s reputation. Keeping your team in the loop when you’re planning to sell the business also helps with morale. Make it a point to have honest conversations early and often, and elaborate on the details and timing to limit uncertainty.

Life after the Deal

Finding the right buyer and getting the maximum value for your funeral/cemetery business usually takes precedence when you decide to sell, but don’t forget about what comes afterwards. Think about life after the deal – will you want to remain involved in the business in some capacity, e.g., as a consultant or part-time employee? What if you don’t like the way the way the company is being managed? A buyer with money but no experience can ruin your legacy – what should do you if you experience a case of “seller’s remorse?”

Selling a funeral home or cemetery isn’t just about the numbers. Plan in advance for potential feelings of regret and emotional adjustment after the sale is final. If your whole life was invested in the business, you will need time to adjust to a new reality and find a way to move forward.

Partner with an Expert

Finding the right partner is crucial to the successful sale of your funeral or cemetery business. Johnson Consulting Group (JCG) is the largest broker in the funeral industry, and we’ve helped thousands of funeral homes and cemeteries get the highest value for their business. We specialize in funeral industry mergers and acquisitions and manage an extensive funeral home and cemetery buyer list.

Our experts offer personalized solutions and targeted advice to help you evaluate all the options and ultimately make the right decision for you and your family.

Learn more about your options as a seller. Contact JCG Today!

The post Getting Ready to Sell Your Funeral/Cemetery Business? Here’s What You Need to Know appeared first on Johnson Consulting Group.

It is not easy to sustain a funeral business during a pandemic, but several initiatives and resources have been developed to help make things a little easier for funeral homes in these challenging times. Here are five essential tips for funeral home owners that are worth considering:

Take Full Advantage of COVID-19 Relief Programs

The U.S. Government has developed various COVID-19 relief programs and stimulus offerings to help businesses navigate the unique challenges brought on by the virus outbreak. Funeral providers should take full advantage of this assistance to maintain their firm’s economic position. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, enacted at the end of March 2020, offers several benefits for funeral home owners:

• Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans – a PPP loan provides cash to funeral home owners who maintain payroll and keep their staff employed during the coronavirus emergency.
• Debt relief programs – the CARES Act includes economic injury disaster loans and emergency grants, as well as immediate relief for small businesses with non-disaster Small Business Administration (SBA) loans for six months.
• Expanded bonus depreciation provisions – funeral homes can now accelerate depreciation on certain interior improvements such as drywall replacement or electrical and plumbing upgrades – which is a tax savings opportunity that should not be ignored.

The Funeral Service Foundation has also launched a COVID-19 Crisis Response Fund to provide grants for organizations providing funeral services and grief resources for families mourning the loss of a loved one due to Coronavirus.

Maintain Healthy Cash Flow

Maintaining a positive cash flow position is a key component of any company’s financial plan. In this unusual environment, funeral home owners should carefully evaluate their cash position to ensure they can effectively cover any short-term obligations. Tracking the inflows and outflows of cash in your business allows you to address material fluctuations and forecast future cash needs, which can be a make-or-break issue in the current economic climate. Due to this, funeral providers should carefully manage their cash reserves and explore options for access to additional cash if necessary.

Be Proactive with Sales Mix Adjustments

The COVID-19 crisis has led to atypical adjustments in the “normal” funeral home sales mix.  Social distancing guidelines, viewings and full traditional services have been replaced with livestreamed funerals and small graveside ceremonies. In addition, some funeral homes are experiencing a decline in cases while others are struggling to keep up with the rising demand. If changes to your sales mix are negatively affecting margins, consider making proactive adjustments to your funeral products and services to ensure your business stays healthy after the pandemic is over.

Stay Up to Date with Financial Reporting

In this crisis environment, timely and accurate financial reporting is more important than ever before. Don’t delay your monthly reporting process no matter how busy you get with daily tasks — it is crucial to have a clear understanding of your numbers. Additionally, if considering applying for any type of aid under the CARES ACT, keeping track of your business expenses is a requirement of the program. Therefore, your funeral home accounting system should enable you to evaluate your business activities and outcomes against prior year results and assess financial statement variances against budget projections. Holding true to a fiscal plan is a good way to achieve profitability and growth targets, even in these extraordinary times.

Use Industry-Specific Benchmarks for Analysis

When it comes to business management, you must use the right tools to get the job done correctly. For an accurate analysis of how well your funeral home matches up against other competitors, using industry-specific benchmark tools is the best way forward. Our team at Johnson Consulting Group (JCG) has worked with hundreds of funeral businesses across the country, providing strategic solutions and compiling large amounts of financial data to establish benchmark targets for funeral homes. Our JCG database offers an in-depth look at your funeral home’s performance vs. similar firms, as well as realistic reference points for strategic planning. In this crisis, knowing your overall position is key to forging a path forward after the pandemic is over.

We are the largest broker in the funeral industry, with seasoned experts ready to offer practical guidance on how to cope with the disruptive challenges caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. To learn more about our services, please contact us for a personalized consultation today.

The post 5 Essential Tips for Funeral Home Owners During These Challenging Times appeared first on Johnson Consulting Group.

Communication

Successful funeral home and cemetery management has always included effective communication. During a crisis, it’s important to increase communication amongst the entire company. This means within the management team and then delivered to the rest of the organization. Schedule daily times to review new information and issues. Take time to inform, educate, and train on topics pertaining to COVID-19. Consider designating one team member to be your COVID-19 information specialist.

Customer Interaction and Service Delivery

In funeral service, caring for families is at the core of what we do. Now, however, COVID-19 has changed the means by which we do this; but it hasn’t changed the core fundamentals themselves. Be creative in serving families and celebrating lives. Look for ways to do things differently with technology for private or small gatherings. It’s also important to establish your business’ protocol for how you handle arrangements, private services and delayed services. Ensure that all staff understand these procedures. Identify support resources for the families you serve and take time to network with colleagues and professional organizations. Finally, understand your limitations in sheltering loved ones, and explore options for temporarily expanding your sheltering capacity.

Staff Safety, Care, Concern and Welfare

Times of crisis reveal character, and this is true for both individuals and businesses alike. Now, more than ever, your staff needs to know that you care about their health, welfare and the work they do. Take all precautions to ensure staff safety by adjusting staffing levels and individual schedules. Understand your essential workforce – the team of critical employees are vital to operate your business. Remember, although the goal is to be efficient, cutting resources to cut costs and labor in the short term are not sustainable to business success in the long term. Support your COVID-19 information specialist to stay current on guidance from governmental organizations such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Cash Flow Management

With a change to case mix comes a change to revenue and cash flow. In order to properly adjust to these changes, take time to make some initial projections based on the previous weeks’ trends. You should do this to understand exactly how much revenue shortfall you can expect in the next 90 days or longer. Additionally, you should be maximizing the revenue that is possible, and carefully consider expense reduction initiatives. Consider utilizing inventory without replacement in the short run and reach out to your lenders and request payment deferrals. A great way to do this is to contact ask a JCG Business Consultant about SBA lender information to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loan, or an Express Loan if necessary. Lastly, ensure that you utilize your monthly financial statements as a tool to manage your cash flow accurately and effectively over the next several months.

Many of the components of a good crisis management plan are, in fact, parts of operating a successful funeral home or cemetery business outside of a crisis. The difference, however, is that the margin of error has become razor thin during this COVID-19 crisis. In a sense, the fundamentals are no longer optional. They are the keys to weathering this storm and emerging stronger and more united on the other side. As there will be “the other side” of this crisis, now is the time to position your business for that next chapter so that the more families understand the value of ceremony, your employees know you care about them, and your community knows the exceptional role you played during this COVID-19 crisis. To schedule a free crisis consultation with a JCG Business Consultant, click here.

The post Managing Through the COVID-19 Crisis appeared first on Johnson Consulting Group.

It is an honor to work in the funeral and cemetery profession. Providing professional and compassionate service to a family during one of the worst times of their lives is truly a higher calling. 

However, designing personal and memorable funeral experiences shouldn’t take a backseat to measuring customer satisfaction. Families that are satisfied with their funeral home experience are more likely to share their story with others and recommend your services to the community. This kind of organic advertising is the best way to sustain financial success.

Get Honest Feedback

So how does a funeral home go about measuring customer engagement and satisfaction? To start, you need to have something to measure. Funeral directors can collect meaningful data by simply asking clients for feedback on their overall experience with the funeral home. You can request customer input in person after the service or via online surveys that can be filled out on your website. You can also mail out survey forms to your families, but make sure you include a pre-paid return envelope.

What kind of survey questions draw out sincere responses and honest feedback? Here are some useful ideas and strategies that can help you get the right data inputs to help you measure your funeral home’s customer experience. 

First Impressions Count

As the saying goes, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” A family’s first contact with your funeral home, whether it’s on the phone or in person, is a crucial building block. Some questions that can help you analyze a customer’s initial thoughts might include:

• How was the family greeted? 
• Is the greeting consistently applied at all times? 
• How responsive was the staff?

Managing first impressions can provide meaningful data on how well your funeral home interacts with pre-need and/or at-need clients.

Arrangement Conversations

The arrangement meeting can make or break a family’s opinion of your funeral home. Funeral directors are trained to effectively manage the planning conversation, but there is always room for improvement when it comes to enhancing the experience for the bereaved family. 

Strong communication skills are vital to this process, for example, how attentive are you to the customer’s needs? Do you ask open-ended questions that allow the family to share stories about their loved one? How do you show that you are listening? Funeral arrangers must be able to listen well, show empathy, and recognize body language cues to drive the conversation on a deeper level.

Another element to consider is organization. Ask, is the arrangement conference well structured? Does the family understand all of the product and service options available? Clear communication of what your funeral home offers enables the family to make informed decisions based on their personal and financial preferences. Combining all of these elements into the arrangement meeting will have a positive impact on customer experience and provide valuable insight for enhancing the conversation.

Do Looks Matter?

The appearance of your funeral home definitely matters. Customers judge the presentation of your staff and facilities, and if they see something they don’t like it’s often the first thing they share with others regarding their experience. Unfortunately, bad news always spreads faster than good news, so funeral homes need to manage all aspects of their image accordingly. To prevent bad news, ask yourself these crucial questions:

• Is your funeral home clean and well-maintained?
• Are your funeral vehicles comfortable and in good working condition?
• Is your staff professional and accommodating?
• Are your facilities clean, organized and accessible?

Paying attention to the small details will keep your customers happy and improve your funeral home’s performance reviews. These metrics can be easily measured with survey questions or a simple feedback form.

Price vs. Value

A funeral is an expensive undertaking. Funeral directors should inform families about all the available options and discuss the costs and fees associated with each choice. Planning a funeral or memorial often causes emotional and financial stress, so it’s important to clearly explain the value of your funeral home’s services and expertise in relation to price

Once the arrangements are finalized and the pricing is set, the funeral home must ensure that everything goes smoothly. Exceeding expectations is the best way to build customer loyalty and satisfaction. It’s analyzed by looking at the performance and execution details before, during and after the service, and measuring customer perceptions of value received for money paid.

Customer Experience Tracking Tool

Measuring customer experience metrics is an established management strategy that can improve business operations and elevate your funeral home’s reputation. The Johnson Consulting Group’s  Performance Tracker™ customer survey and sales analysis tool helps funeral homes track performance metrics with user-friendly features and reports that provide accurate and timely measurements of customer satisfaction. Learn more about how Performance Tracker can help you grow your business.

The post Your Funeral Home Should Measure Customer Experience: Here’s Why appeared first on Johnson Consulting Group.