A lot of important things happened in the funeral industry in 2021. From lessons learned on things not to do when it comes to your funeral technology solutions to things that funeral directors should carry over into 2022 and beyond.
To help your firm make sure you’re prepared for 2022, we brainstormed our top seven takeaways for funeral directors from 2021. Check them out below.
1. Leave these website mistakes behind in 2021
Earlier this year, we shared some common funeral home website mistakes in this blog post. Don’t worry, the article also goes over how to fix them.
The six website mistakes to leave behind in 2021 are:
1. Not having a mobile-friendly website design
2. Putting walls of text on your web pages without any visuals
3. No customization to your firm
4. Not including forms for generating leads for your firm
5. Keeping your website secure isn’t a priority
6. Not using revenue-generating features
2. Give families the flexible and convenient payment options they need
Families need flexible and convenient payment options for many reasons, such as:
1. Financial reasons
2. Personal preference
3. Simply convenience
It also makes things much easier for your firm, as it can save you time and money. A few payment options to consider offering are online credit card payments, crowdfunding, and life insurance assignments.
To learn more about these payment options, check out our blog post.
3. Stop wasting time on tasks that can be automated
Have you heard of marketing automation? It’s exactly what it sounds like. It automates your funeral home’s marketing by posting and sending content for you.
But it can do so much more than that. Depending on the marketing automation software solution you choose, you can save time from planning, writing, and scheduling your content, along with tracking the results.
That’s why we partnered with Growth Engine Marketing Hub in 2021. To learn more about this software, check out this blog post.
4. Upgrade your technology solutions
Now is the time more than ever to make sure you have the most up-to-date solutions for your firm and the families you serve. For instance, a big one is funeral home management software. If you’re still doing your recordkeeping by hand, you’re wasting time and more vulnerable to losing valuable information.
For wasted time, consider the time it takes you to record and locate your cases by hand, especially if you’re not at your firm at the time and need to drive there to access it. As for vulnerability, if something happens to your paper files, whether it be a fire, natural disaster, or they’re accidentally thrown out, they’re gone forever with no digital backup.
That’s why 2022 should be the year you upgrade to a digital management solution. To learn more about the benefits, check out this blog post.
5. Get involved in your community
Community involvement is crucial for getting to know your families and letting them get to know you. Whether it’s an educational in-person event, just-for-fun virtual meet-up, or a combination of the two, there are many ideas to choose from.
Need some ideas? Check out these 12 ideas for hosting end-of-year events. With a few tweaks, some of these event ideas can even work during other times of the year too.
6. Practice self-care
If you do any of the things on this list, do this one. It’s important for everyone, but especially for funeral directors, since you have such demanding jobs. Because if you don’t make time for self-care, you’ll become burnt out and unable to complete your goals for the new year.
To avoid burnout, these are eight steps you can take:
1. Get moving
2. Start a journal
3. Trust others and ask for help
4. Find a hobby
5. Work in a flow state
6. Make your free time count
7. Don’t be afraid to say no
8. Practice meditating
Want to learn more about these steps? We have an entire blog post you can read.
7. Expand your knowledge by attending industry events
Want to learn what’s happening in the funeral industry? Attend events! They’re also a fun way to get to know other funeral professionals and visit new places.
Due to the pandemic, we missed the opportunity for in-person events in 2020, so we were glad to get back to meeting in person this year, like at the annual NFDA Convention. Account Executive John LoFaso attended Thrive this year as well. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to attend the Selected Conference in person, but we did attend virtually.
We hope to see you at some events in 2022. Be sure to stop by the FrontRunner booth to say hi!
See our software, websites, and other technology in action! Book a free 15-minute demo.
