Funeral Home Marketing: John Callaghan on the Hot Seat

You’ve heard of John Callaghan, haven’t you?

To refresh your memory, he’s one of the industry’s top speakers on funeral home marketing.

In his new book, “2009 Strategic Marketing Plan for Funeral Service Professionals” he reveals how funeral homes should market in during tough economic times.

Why am I telling you this?

I’m telling you this because I convinced John to allow me to grill him during a LIVE 120-minute teleseminar on January 30!

It actually went for 2 1/2 hours.

We talked for just over an hour about his book and then we tackled dozens of questions that the attendees submitted.

You can read a partial list of questions below.

86 Pages of Funeral-Specific Marketing Advice

and over 2.5 hours of recordings

(delivered immediately after you purchase below)

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If you follow John’s recommendations, you will save money on advertising, get better results with your marketing, and overall, Attract More Calls!

…Hepp

Partial List of Questions

Could you discuss the use of tasteful humor in funeral home marketing? Telephones, yellow page ads – How do you set yourself apart? How do I market my firm against the “low price firm” in the market place? What are your thoughts on marketing during tough economic times? Is it actually a time when you can get more bang for your buck, attract a wider audience etc? How do we use permission marketing in funeral service, especially with the increasing use of online guest books and internet communications with our customers? With a downtown location and smaller parking area, how do you compete with funeral home not downtown and more parking area? What is the most effective advertising in a small rural community? Should we sponsoring and attending community events, sponsor information seminars, weekly newspaper ads, local magazines etc? Are there new words in the death care language that are more acceptable to the public? What kind of ad and or marketing should a funeral home do in response to a cremation society’s direct mailing piece that they continue to do in our community? When asked why our funeral home was chosen, my family follow up surveys reflect that I receive 0 calls from advertising. How should I interpret this? How do you get the message out to Hospice that there are many more options for a family other than direct cremation? What would the best way to market a second location in the next city with two corporate competitors presently operate there? How do you determine what are the most effective strategies? When conducting market research in my area, what are some good sources for Secondary data or information regarding the opinions and buying preferences of ANY of my target markets? I’m in a small market. How do I attract more calls, when it appears, my competitor has more money for unlimited advertising? How can I get people out of the mindset that cremation means no viewing? I’m losing market share to a new funeral home, How can I combat an upstate with a better location? If we have a web site, what are the best strategies to make certain that someone using a search engine, such as Google, will see our listing at the top of the results list? Are there other techniques that can be used in addition to the “keywords” that are embedded into the pages of the site? What is the best way to counteract, “I want the cheapest funeral? I am an independent operated firm in my town with two other firms who are corporate run, what can I do in ads to beat them as competitors? What medium is the best advertising in a conservative area?

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Comments

Stephen Elliott says:

February 3, 2009 at 7:42 pm

I really appreciated the comments about redirecting the focus of the event of the death and on to the celebration of life. It confirmed in my mind that my own approach is correct. I also liked the idea of the packages and naming them after something that has local appeal instead of “plan A” or “Plan B”. The idea of the “Specials” packages and keeping the choices simple is something I will consider when we adjust our pricing in the near future. Thank you for the great information.

Nanci Trevino says:

February 3, 2009 at 7:44 pm

I really appreciated today’s program – thank you – the ideas shared were up-to-the minute as far as addressing our industry and the current economic times as well as the current generation we are serving. I would like to receive the 10 steps to higher ranking in search engines.

Ponderosa Valley Funeral Services, 10470 S. Progress Way, Parker, CO 80134

Wendy Kraft says:

February 4, 2009 at 9:50 am

We listened to your interview for over two hours and didn’t want it to end. We are opening a new funeral home and while we have discussed some of the concepts you brought up, there was no way we could have thought of all of the ideas you shared. I’m sure spending the time listening to this interview will reap profits for our business for years to come!

John Kelly says:

February 4, 2009 at 9:58 am

Thank you for this wonderful live webinar. John Callaghan’s information and insights are amazing. I’ve learned so much about how to change my thinking about all aspects of marketing. I have purchased John’s Book. I hope you offer more seminars like this soon. Thank you so much

David Fry says:

February 4, 2009 at 10:02 am

Great Information given as well as shared. I looking forward to reading your material and acting upon it. Thank you for your insight!

Gary Baker says:

February 4, 2009 at 10:05 am

Robin…Your interview with John Callaghan was very informative. I
especially benefited from the section on “Resolving Arrangement Problems,”
Funeral arrangers need to do more listening than selling…we need to get on
the same path with the family by redirecting their focus by asking
open-ended questions.

Debbie Fleming says:

February 4, 2009 at 10:08 am

Listened to your broadcast. I am a supplier to funeral homes (burial vaults), but hope that the education I received will help those I call on daily. I want to be that person they rely on for information and education in funeral service – excellent presentation!

John Paul Schilling says:

February 4, 2009 at 10:13 am

Very informational, Thanks Rob & John

Funeral Futurist | Robin Heppell

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