Funeral Industry Relationships

“Business is not doing deals; business is having great products, doing great engineering, and providing tremendous service to customers.  Finally, business is a cobweb of human relationships.” Ross Perot perfectly describes the funeral industry; its really not about doing “deals.”  Our product is providing families the opportunity to honor the life of their deceased loved one. Supporting the business are countless companies such a casket, vault, fluid, insurance, cemetery, flower, technology, vehicle and multitudes of others that produce goods/services making the funeral industry work.

The great engineering is meeting the needs of the ever changing funeral consumer.  The funeral industry offers a broad spectrum of service providers with varying degrees and levels of offerings.  We have firms that date back 200 years in funeral service history and others that are providing from a new source, the internet.  Whatever the business model, we all seek the same result; providing the family with the service they are seeking.

But as Ross said, we are a cobweb of human relationships.  In the funeral industry, think of all the relationships we have between funeral home owners/directors, vendors, the families we serve, the communities we live, etc.  At some point in all of our lives, we end up in a funeral home. We are an industry that has intertwined relationships for ultimately one purpose, providing families the opportunity to honor the life of their deceased loved one.

I am grateful to be part of such a noble group and enjoy the relationships brought about by serving others.  Happy New Year to my fellow funeral industry professionals and I pray for a prosperous 2014 for you, your family and your staff.