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Featured in the Funeral Business Advisor: May- June 2019

By: Deanna Dydynski, marketing & public relations manager

Have you ever read something on Facebook and been completely perplexed or heard an employee or coworker say something and you have absolutely no clue what it means? If you answered yes to either of these, then this is the guide for you.

Undoubtedly, social media is changing the way we communicate, socialize and interact as humans. The English language is evolving every day, from acronyms (LOL) and abbreviations (Totes) to the #hashtags, Emojis 😉 and new Oxford Dictionary recognized words like: Selfie, Tweet, Gif and Photobomb. We have social media to thank for all of these changes and if you do not wake up in the morning and immediately check your notifications, know how to “Dougie” or do not feel #blessed, then you are missing out on a serious culture movement.

As a marketing professional, understanding social media is absolutely necessary and I will admit, I have an upper hand in this arena, because I had a Myspace (2003 social media platform which is essentially obsolete) and am a part of a generation that grew up interacting on many of the first online social media platforms.

Business consultants stress the importance of utilizing social media in your marketing efforts and present how likes, shares, tweets and comments can help brand your business and gain you clientele, however they rarely provide an informational guide on what any of it means.

Understanding the sometimes-complex language and culture of social media can be confusing but if you want to stay engaged in your children’s, nephew’s, wife’s or your current/potential customer base, it is important to learn social media language and these ten tips will help.

1. Get a Smartphone

While it sounds extremely basic, and some enjoy living the “simple life,” getting a Smartphone is probably the most important tool needed in your quest for understanding social media. Afterall, nearly all of the social media applications, known as “Apps,” such as Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are mobile friendly and can be viewed anywhere your phone has internet access, which is also key when maintaining a consistent social media presence.

2. Learn the QUAD

We are not talking quadrangles, groups of four people or an architectural structure with four sides. We are talking about the power-four, quad of social media networking sites, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. These four are the essential and bare necessity social media platforms to learn.

 Facebook, the largest social media platform and allows you to connect with friends, family and acquaintances across the world.

 YouTube, the largest and most popular video sharing platform which allows for sharing music, videos and live streaming content.

 Twitter, a platform allowing users to communicate with 280 characters or less and also home to the first use of the #hashtag.

 Instagram, now owned by Facebook is a social media platform allowing users to share photos, videos and live streaming footage with              unique image #filters.

3. Create social media accounts

Obviously, if you want to learn and communicate the language of social media you will need to have access to them, which will require you to create accounts. Start by going to the “App Store” on your smart device and downloading for FREE, the QUAD and creating user accounts for each social media.

4. Interact on social media

Learning requires a conscious effort and interacting on social media is required in order to learn the language and culture. Each social media platform has “its own thing.”

Facebook the originator of the “LIKE” allows you to post images, videos and text. You can share posts and it offers the ability to interact with other’s posts with a thumbs up, heart, laughing face, wow face, sad tear drop face, mad face, or you can leave a comment.

Instagram is known for the infamous “double tap,” which allows you to ❤️ (love) a post. On Instagram you can share 24-hour lasting live streams, share photos and videos with a large selection of appearance filters such as Rise, Hudson, Lo-fi and my personal favorite Mayfair.

Twitter you can ❤️ (love), comment, retweet or TWEET your own content, images, GIFS or videos.

It is important to note that while these capabilities are available now, each social media platform has evolved and changed overtime. They have added and taken away specific features, so it is important to “update” your Apps when recommended on your smartphone to keep up-to-date with the latest changes.

5. Learn your Emojis

Emojis are digital icons used to express an idea or emotion. At this point in time, Emojis have surpassed social media platforms and have become a crucial tool in everyday communication. There are even toys and a movie made about Emojis. Most smartphones now automatically include the Emoji keyboard as an option to use when sending any written communication, so use them. There over 3,000 Emojis and according to Brandwatch and Twitter some of the world’s most popular include:

1. Face with tears of joy/laughter 😂
2. Loud crying face 😭
3. Smiling face with heart eyes 😍
4. Red heart ❤️
5. Backhand index pointing finger 👉

6. Use MEMES and GIFS to communicate

They say laugher is the best medicine and at times nothing can be funnier than a well-crafted MEME. MEMES are essentially captioned photos intended to be funny and play a large role in today’s communicative culture and comedic relief. Anyone can make a meme now with the multiple MEME creators available online. To create you simply use a picture and write content in the standard MEME white-block letter font, Impact. A couple well-known and commonly repeated MEME subjects you may know would be Grumpy Cat or The Success Kid, see MEMES below:

GIFS, vary in their meaning and are essentially expressive, short, soundless videos used to communicate a range of emotions. Myself, my friends, family and coworkers all use GIFS to communicate with each other. GIFS can often communicate a thought or feeling much better than a standard text or Emoji and smartphones have added a GIF option as well on your keyboard when texting.

As the world becomes more embedded in their smart devices, MEMES and GIFS help to create a sense of animation you may have if you were communicating in-person and are essential in social media culture and language.

7. Use online translation systems and dictionaries

As mentioned before abbreviations and acronyms have played a large role in today’s everyday communication and it can be difficult to keep up with the daily creations. Some standard abbreviations and acronyms are:

TTYL: Talk to you Later

Totes: Totally

DM: Direct message

LOL: Laugh out loud

B4: Before

BRB: Be right back

Obvi: Obviously

Cray: Crazy

NBD: No big deal

Jelly: Jealous

Fab: Fabulous

F2F: Face to face

Redic: Ridiculous

The best thing you can do if unsure of an acronym or abbreviation is GOOGLE the meaning, use Urban Dictionary or ask a friend.

8. Speak the language

When learning a new language, any linguistics professional will tell you to practice and try to use what you have learned in everyday communication. The same goes with social media language. It may feel weird to step outside your comfort zone and use acronyms or abbreviations to communicate, however it may be how your next family communicates and you may seem unrelatable and totes redic.

9. Create your own hashtags or phrases

Your funeral home or cemetery staff may have a common phrase you use amongst each other, use it in your next social media post or create a new hashtag and keep using it.  You can make anything a hashtag and it could be the next viral sensation.

10. Appreciate social media and its ability to connect others

Social media has altered our lives and changed our culture in many ways. Some feel it is ridiculous, a waste of time and is ruining human interaction. In some degree these feelings are true, however social media can bring people together and it has proven to do so. Something so simple as a post of a dress in 2015, brought the world together in an ongoing debate. Is the dress black and blue or white and gold?

Millions of people voted and spoke on their belief of the dress’s colors, including scientists, psychologists, newspapers, radio hosts, television shows, news stations, online blogs and social media platforms, and all because of a post on Reddit, which is a social media American news aggregation. The dress proved to be black and blue after finding an actual listing of the dress online, however this started a worldly debate. If you are not familiar with the dress then maybe the #IceBucketChallenge rings a bell, which brought tremendous awareness to ALS, all because of a Facebook post of a gentleman dumping a bucket of ice water on his head. By the end of 2016 the social media sensation, Ice Bucket Challenge raised over 115 million for ALS research.

Say what you will about social media but it is here now and will probably exist, grow and thrive throughout our lifetime. Embrace this cultural change and expand your knowledge on its language and you may find it extremely useful in the future.

Featured in American Funeral Director, Financial Touch Point: September 2018

By: Deanna Dydynski, marketing & public relations manager

Accounts Receivable Department:  “Hi Jim, we have your order, but we will not be able to ship it to you until you pay for your last three orders.”

Jim: “I can’t wait that long, cancel the order.”

I figured a bit of accounting humor would lighten the mood for this not-so-laughing matter of accounts receivables. At one point or another you have probably encountered a similar situation as above. Whether you are a supplier, funeral home owner or outside-industry businessperson, most likely hearing “accounts receivables” makes you cringe just a little. If you are not cringing now you may be after reading the next several paragraphs unfolding all of the additional costs associated with receivables.

We all know the number one business killer is having no cash, as you cannot meet financial obligations, explore growth opportunities or even have a business. You may have the best services and funeral director staff in town, but if you cannot collect payment for those services then your business will ultimately struggle. Before we dive into how accounts receivables are crippling your business, we must identify if you have an accounts receivable problem and why it is there in the first place.

You may have accounts receivable problem if…

• You call past due accounts when you need to make payroll You stop trying to collect after 90 days
• You are waiting 30, 60, 90 days or beyond for insurance company payment
• You have no idea what your Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) is
• You have to increase your credit terms in order to reduce DSO
• You have more accounts receivables over 30 days than current

Some funeral home/cemetery owners simply have poor accounts receivables because of bad paying customers.  Many funeral professionals go to great lengths to extend payment leeway for struggling families, but in the end, this has severe consequences on their business. Additionally, insurance companies are posing multiple challenges to funeral professionals, including delay of payment. Funeral homes are often waiting 30, 60, 90 days or beyond for payment on services, and sometimes getting shorted on payment or not receiving payment at all.

Sadly, many funeral home/cemetery owners are unaware they have an account receivable “problem” as they may have year-round business consistency, which is the ultimate goal. If you have enough money to cover overhead expenses, payroll, and your suppliers then you are set, right? Technically yes, however many funeral home owners who remain uninvolved in their business’s finances may not be aware there are outstanding receivables or room for improvement.

Whether you know you have an accounts receivables problem or are in the dark on your business’s finances, realizing the hidden costs involved in outstanding receivables will provide you the knowledge to improve your receivables, cash flow and bottom line.

Based on a study done by the Harvard Business review, the most common hidden costs of receivables are:

1. Time of Cost

The cost of carrying receivables is often equated with time of cost. Believe it or not time of cost can be estimated by your accountant and is calculated using discounted cash flow (DCF), which is a valuation method used to estimate investment and cash flow opportunities. While “time is money,” this is only one of six cost elements affecting your receivables.

2. Administrative Costs:

Telephone calls, follow-up letters, record keeping and general collection processes are cost intensive and only grow larger the older the age of the receivable. You may have a rock star accounts receivable team but sometimes even Janice, your MVP cannot even collect from families, creating additional administrative cost when she has to turn the bill over to a collection agency.

3. Bad Debt

The cost of debt relates directly with the age of the receivables. The longer a receivable ages, the more unlikely the full amount will be covered, ultimately costing your funeral home money.

4. Financing Cost

If your business is having difficulty collecting receivables to pay for general overhead and business expenses you may need to finance and borrow money until you are able to collect from your own customers.

5. Predictability

Without a consistency of collections, it is difficult for a business to forecast financing. This factor is especially pressing in the funeral profession where seasonality and death rates can make business unpredictable.

6. Opportunity

When your money is tied up in accounts receivables you have no potential funding for expansion, marketing, investments or the opportunity to take advantage of supplier promotions and discounts.

The 2009 Harvard Business Review Cost Elements of Accounts Receivables Analysis:

Though this study is nearly 10 years old the valuation method to determine the cost of each element is current.

Factoring in each cost element, this chart reveals if you were to have a $5,000 invoice outstanding for 60 days, you are losing an additional $450, and $1,350 for 120 days overdue. Are you cringing now?

You are probably wondering what solutions are available to improve your accounts receivables.

1. Payment Terms

While this profession is unique in practice, how you are paid should not be. You should set clear payment policies/terms and provide services only after receiving valid forms of payment.

2. Offer Multiple Payment Methods

With an average funeral cost of $7,000 (NFDA, 2016) and 63% of Americans without $500 in their savings to cover an emergency (Forbes, 2016), families are looking for alternative options for funeral payment. Allow your families to pay with life insurance policies but be certain to outsource to a reputable insurance assignment funding company. Funeral homes processing life insurance assignments in-house are experiencing multiple challenges and are waiting extensive periods of time to get paid for services, which effects your accounts receivables. Utilizing a funding company can help free your receivables and help you maintain consistent cash flow.

3. Consider Hiring An Accounting Company

As a business owner it is important to know when to outsource. As a funeral professional you are responsible for multiple roles, you are grief counselors, event planners, embalmers, florists, caretakers and beyond. One aspect of your business you definitely want to manage properly is your accounting. Money keeps the business going and hiring a team of number-savvy professionals will allow you to focus on what matters most, running your funeral home/cemetery.

As a business owner, positive cash flow management is essential for your firm’s long-term survival and not managing your accounts receivables properly can have severe effects on your business. Communicate with your staff and develop solutions to improve your accounts receivables, your business will thank you.

References: Tom Green, AmerAssist AR Solutions, Inc., (2014). Harvard Business Review (2009).

Featured in the Funeral Business Advisor: September- October 2018

By: Deanna Dydynski, marketing & public relations manager

Technology can be daunting for some generations. Some find it expensive and confusing, and others would prefer, “not to reinvent the wheel.” However, with a potential of four generations working under one roof, and more tech-savvy families coming to your funeral home, it is essential to improve how your funeral home/cemetery utilizes technology.

Introducing new technologies to your business can improve speed, efficiency and employee productivity. Technology can also give you a competitive edge over the funeral home down the street and can save you money in the long run. Technology is continually evolving, and it can be challenging deciding what implementations should be made to improve your funeral home/cemetery. Here are three times you should say, “TECH YES!” to technology upgrades.

1.Your Website

Unfortunately, several funeral homes and cemeteries across the nation still do not have websites. Even though you may have an established funeral home/cemetery that has been successful through word-of-mouth marketing and community loyalty, there are several reasons why your business needs a website. A recent study by BIA Advisory Services indicated 97% of consumers look online first to find local businesses (2018). If you do not have an online presence, you essentially do not exist, and are missing an entire market of potential business. Consumers are searching online for solutions, comparing prices and general information on businesses and their services. A website is running 24 hours and 365 days a year, so that 32-year-old millennial who is searching online for funeral homes at 2 a.m., is going to see your funeral home as a potential place of service for his father. Having a website not only establishes credibility but also lets the world know your funeral home/cemetery exists!

Now, it is one thing to have a website and another to have a really great website. Because the majority of consumer’s first impression of your funeral home/cemetery will be online, it is critical you make a great first impression for your brand. I have seen funeral homes with the most beautiful establishment, the most professional and caring staff, along with innovative service options, have THE WORST websites.  Your brand is everything, from your staff’s attire, your funeral home’s foliage and interior design, to the marketing materials and definitely your website. If a consumer clicks on your website and it is slow to load, looks outdated, is not easy to navigate, has poor image quality and design layout, is not mobile-friendly or provides zero information on your service offerings, they are moving on to the next funeral home.

The days of “set it and forget it” on your website are over. Now more than ever, the funeral profession is changing, family’s preferences are changing, and your business should be changing and evolving along with these. Your website should be consistently updated with fresh content and images on your services and offerings. Invest in quality images of your staff and funeral home, hire a freelance content writer if needed, but be sure to create a professional and accurate impression of your brand through your website.

As a small business owner, you probably think you cannot afford a professional website but the reality is you cannot afford not to have one. When you breakdown the costs of advertising or promotional materials and compare them to the cost of having a professional website; long-term having a website is one of the most cost-effective ways to continually market your funeral home/cemetery. So, say, “TECH YES!” to updating your 10-year-old website.

2.Remote Working Tools

Millennials are currently the largest living generation and have been transforming the workplace for the past decade. In today’s modern world, technology has made the range of communication almost limitless with the internet, cloud storage and mobile devices. With an increasing number of millennials joining your staff, they are expecting you, their employers to not only invest in technologies to make their jobs easier, but also to make their jobs remote accessible.

As funeral directors, you have around-the-clock obligations and you are not always at the funeral home. You may be performing removals at midnight, making house calls on weekends, or attending community events to network and market your funeral home/cemetery. Business operations are changing and 43% of the US workforce worked remotely in 2016 and 77% of those, found they were more productive. Overall, remote employees reported they felt more valued and happier with their employer. Multiple studies including those from Forbes and Stanford University found research proving working remotely is the most desired flexible work option people want in a job (2018). As an owner, providing your employees the opportunity to work remotely can decrease overhead costs tremendously and according to research improve your employee’s happiness.

Family preferences are changing from less traditional funeral services, so if your funeral home is adapting then your staff may be working remotely to plan funerals at a family’s home or scheduling pre-need appointments at Starbucks for the 29-year-old who finds your funeral home intimidating. Imagine if your staff could attend community events and show potential families all the services your funeral home offers while collecting contact information on their iPad. Additionally, consider that families may want to utilize your services but not at your funeral home. Your funeral directors may need a wireless Bluetooth speaker to travel with them offsite to play music. Investing in remote technologies such as laptops, tablets, cell phones, and remote communication tools for your staff to work offsite and to stay connected is going to be essential for the well-being of your employees and the success of your business.

Your employees are your greatest asset, having happier employees leads to greater retention and team morale. If your staff feels the need to connect with families outside of the funeral home, say, “TECH YES!” to the technological tools that can help them get the job done.

3. Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM)

Customer relationship management software helps businesses build stronger relationships with customers. It can boost conversation and helps you track data coming from multiple communication channels such as, phone calls, website visits and social media interactions.

As funeral professionals it can be difficult to stay in touch with potential families or generate new business, because marketing funeral services and death care is challenging. However, investing in technologies designed to be engaging, personalized, and trackable can help you not only keep in touch with families you have served but also help you to reach new families. CRM’s are valuable because they help you keep track of what is working! Investing in this technology for your funeral home will allow you to see who has clicked on your website, where they are clicking, how they got there, if they interacted with you on social media, if they read your email and beyond! Large companies rely on CRM software but there are CRM software companies that specialize for small businesses. If you are wanting to reach new families and keep in touch with your current customer base, invest in this technology and you will see how beneficial it is for your funeral home/cemetery.

Technology is changing our everyday lives and it can improve your funeral home/cemetery if you allow it to. Encourage your staff to embrace technology and provide training, especially to those it may intimidate. Ultimately your business will remain stagnant if you do not start saying, “TECH YES!” to new technologies.

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Featured in Southern Funeral Director Magazine : May 2018

By: Deanna Dydynski, marketing & public relations manager

Acquisitions, mergers, partnerships, regional consolidation and other joint ventures are changing business and have become essential to gaining competitive advantages. These joint business collaborations have multiple benefits from obtaining quality staff and valuable assets to reducing competition and overhead costs. With various financial resources available today, the ability to increase market share and expand your business is more attainable than ever.

Once you merge with or acquire another business, there are multiple considerations which must be taken into account such as: company cultural dynamics, management and employee placement, company-wide communication, strategic business and marketing strategies and of course financial management. Successful financial modeling and management is essential for any business but proves critical especially for mergers and acquisitions. Modeling your financial plan during an acquisition or merger is key in projecting cash flow and profitability.

Positive cash flow is what keeps your business going, it gives you the capacity to meet your financial obligations along with flexibility to explore growth opportunities. Maintaining positive cash flow can be challenging especially in this profession, as multiple variables including seasonality and death rates make it difficult to predict business. An additional challenge this profession faces in regards to managing positive cash flow is customer payment. Traditional methods include cash, check or credit card however, with an average funeral cost of $7,000 and over 63% of Americans without $500 in their savings to cover an emergency (Forbes, 2016), families are looking for alternative options for funeral payment. While it is true that funeral professionals do not have to accept life insurance as a form of payment, most do, because three in five Americans have some form of life insurance. So, if your funeral homes or cemeteries are not accepting life insurance as a form of payment you are eliminating a large portion of potential business. Additionally, for funeral homes accepting life insurance as payment, but processing the life insurance assignments in-house, they often face several challenges from countless administrative tasks to delayed payments.

If you have acquired or merged and now manage multiple businesses, maintaining positive cash flow can prove to be even more challenging as you are now fiscally responsible for more than one entity. You need money to pay your employees, investors, suppliers, overhead expenses and beyond. Owning multiple businesses, adds additional challenges when striving to maximize the efficiency of your resources and employees. You risk maintaining positive cash flow and reducing employee productivity if you are processing life insurance assignments in-house versus using a professional funding company.

How can your businesses maintain positive cash flow, let alone operate when you are waiting 30, 60 and sometimes 90 days and beyond after a funeral service to be paid? There are over 800 insurance companies in the United States and whether you own one location or several locations, they will not discriminate and you will be waiting on payment. Your investors and your bank are not going to accept payment 30, 60 or 90 days later, so as a funeral home owner, why are you? You are not a bank, but every time you process life insurance assignments in-house you are essentially giving away free loans. As an owner of multiple funeral homes, you do not have time to wait on your money. Insurance assignment funding companies will not only obtain the receivables you are waiting on but they can help you maintain positive cash flow. Instead of waiting an extended period of time to get paid on your services, imagine having payment sent straight to your funeral home bank account within the same day. Imagine having money on hand to pay your employees and overhead costs. Imagine freeing your accounts receivables. Imagine getting paid on pending death certificate and coroner cases. Imagine having additional money to take advantage of supplier discounts and promotions. Imagine having additional money for your cash reserves. Imagine being able to invest and acquire another funeral home. Partnering with an insurance assignment funding company can make all of those “imaginations” come to fruition! I often hear funeral directors say, “This sounds great, but what does it cost?” It does not have to cost anything. A small processing fee is taken from the family’s life insurance benefit, so there are no out-of-pocket expenses for the funeral home or cemetery. A typical rebuttal to this I hear is, “I do not want the family to have to pay for this.” While it is the standard to pass the fee along to the family, funding companies do make it possible for the funeral home to absorb the processing fee if they desire to. Funding companies can provide the positive cash flow essential for your businesses and enable you to redirect employee resources to other value-added services.

In this profession, connecting with families and providing services second to none is essential for continued business and is what differentiates you from your competitors. For funeral homes processing insurance in-house, how can you expect your funeral staff to give families the attention they deserve if they have to sit on hold with insurance companies for hours, complete endless amounts of paperwork or have to call families back into the funeral home after a service to complete additional forms? There are costs to these administrative tasks and if you could eliminate those and position your staff to other areas of increased revenue streams, wouldn’t you want to? While all funding companies can improve cash flow, there are different levels of service each provide. While you are seeking a partnership with a funding company it is essential you partner with one that provides the fastest and easiest services and can eliminate the administrative claim paperwork portion of the process.

As a regional consolidator each of your funeral homes are likely paying a salary for someone, we will call her “Sally,” to sit on hold and complete paperwork. However, the landscape of this profession is changing and as funeral directors you are being pushed to your creative limits to expand your services for changing demands. Instead of hiring another employee to manage new revenue opportunities, what if you could utilize Sally and have her manage and explore new service options? Imagine eliminating nonproductive claim administrative time for a “Sally” at each of your locations, now you have an even greater opportunity to increase productivity and revenue.

Every funeral home and cemetery can benefit from using a funding company but for investors and owners of multi-location firms, the benefits are multiplied. In fact, a majority of funeral home groups and corporations require each location to use a funding company, for improved positive cash flow and productivity of staff.

You are an entrepreneur, investor and owner, you are not a life insurance expert and you should not expect your staff to be. Maintaining positive cash flow and effective utilization of resources is crucial for the success of your merger or acquisition. If you partner with a funding company that can provide 360 degrees of support, you will see first hand how essential their services can be for the success of your businesses.

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