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Editor's Note: Beginning in 2003, Matthews Cremation Division (MCD)
conducted an intensive consumer research study on all aspects of cremation.
Conducted by market strategy firm Competitive Resources, Inc., the study
focused on six major topics:
This article is the second in that series. Future articles will look at
each of the remaining topics.
There is a time-honored saying in the martial arts: "In order to achieve
victory you must place yourself in your opponent's skin, [but] if you don't
also understand yourself, you will lose one hundred percent of the time."
(Tsutomu Oshima, Japan)
In the death care industry, we face the same challenge, as well. There
is a pitched battle for the future of funeral service, and the only way to
truly succeed is to understand both sides of the conflict. On one hand,
our profession wants to create profitable business that provides important
comfort to families. On the other hand, consumers have shown us a huge,
seismic shift in their attitudes toward traditional deathcare. The problem
is especially acute on the subject of service, where consumers' attitudes
collide with funeral directors prejudices and both sides lose.
In our industry, survival depends on consumers finding real value in
the service. Everything else we do, from embalming to merchandise sales,
depends on our ability to create services - we might as well call them
"events" - that consumers actually want. Understanding those consumer
preferences was an important part of our research, and it is the focus of
this month's article.
To View or Not to View - "That is the question"
Historically, a family viewing was the foundation for building our services,
and our revenues. The obvious problem we face with cremation is that the
viewing is no longer automatic. Without the viewing, we lose service revenue,
and undercut the importance (and revenue) from the casket sale, as well.
When asking consumers about the importance of visitation and the viewing
of the deceased, there were strong opinions on both sides of the issue.
Every participant had strong reasons that justified his or her stance on
the issue. Many cited "deceased's wishes", or "circumstances surrounding
the death" to "an influence in cost" as reasons to view or not to view.
For those who advocated viewing, they cited the traditions of how this
offered them closure. Through their eyes, having the body present afforded
family and friends the comfort of saying goodbye and initiating the healing
process. Without a body present, their ability to grasp or come to terms
with the death was difficult and the remnants of unresolved grief would
haunt them.
Celebrating A Life, Not A Death
For those who did
not want a viewing, one of the benefits for choosing cremation was to remove
the uncomfortable focus on the body. Without the body present, some people
felt that family and friends would be better able to focus on the memories.
Many echoed the words that they'd prefer to remember the healthier times
and a viewing focuses on the sadness of death not the joy of life - "I don't
want my last memory of my loved one to be an embalmed corpse". Cost was
also mentioned as a reason to avoid viewing.
Both sides of the viewing debate agreed on one thing: a viewing was
certainly likely to increase the consumer's cost. It was interesting to
note that while this discussion unfolded there was never a question from
anyone about the importance of service and a time to reflect, gather and
memorialize. The challenge for the funeral professional is to become
comfortable with the design of meaningful services with or without the
body present.
If meaningful services are contingent only with the body present, we
immediately limit the value of our services in coordinating this event.
By placing us in this situation, we are inviting our families to go and
figure it out on their own….and with time they will!
Funeral v Memorial - More Than Meets The Eye
The
issue of whether or not the body was present influenced dramatically a
consumer's perception of funeral versus memorial. Our discussion captured
a real challenge that our industry presents when we blanket the term
"creating a funeral" while making arrangements.
To a cremation advocate, the term "funeral" immediately conjures up a
vivid image. In their eyes, funerals represent an established set of rules,
dictated by a director or a clergyman. They are formal, religious, time
consuming with a heavy mood & somber setting.
When discussing the perception of memorial, there is a more positive,
uplifting experience - "Celebrate my life don't mourn my death". A memorial
service offers choice and individuality. It creates a more spontaneous
atmosphere that allows an environment for creating a service that reflects
more appropriately, the life of the decease.
The Luxury of Time
Memorials also offer that all
important luxury of time. With family and friends spread across the country,
the need to plan and coordinate travel is a major challenge. This important
distinction creates both a challenge and an opportunity for our industry.
When the body isn't present, both the families and the funeral director have
time to do more not less. The challenge is to get both the family and the
arranger to start thinking this way quickly.
While we never want to lose our identity in funeral service, we need to
be especially careful that we aren't unknowingly alienating our audience by
classifying all arrangements as funerals. As we position our business to
serve this growing cremation consumer, we must build this type of freedom &
individuality regardless of how the remains are handled.
The Gathering: Outside your facility?
While
researching the value of meaningful services with today's consumer, the
topic of gathering was at the top of our list of priorities. While we
already unveiled through our research that cremation services can not be
packaged under the umbrella of traditional standards, we also learned that
the creation of meaningful events may require the funeral industry to look
beyond the scope of conducting services within their own facility. We
understand the challenge of accepting this belief because of the practical
sense of paying for the high cost of real estate and hundreds of thousands
of dollars in building expenses. The requirement of being flexible or for
some, the unthinkable, the possibility of promoting a gathering outside
the confines of their funeral facility can be tough to swallow. The gamble
we face with the standard locations for services (funeral home, church or
cemetery) is the fact that for families wanting a "less formal" memorial
environment, they will inevitably search for businesses that offer more
choices for these settings or an added threat, figure out the services can
be done on their own…in the absence of us. I'd prefer not!
Steven Schaal is the Division Manager - Sales and Marketing for the
Matthews Cremation Division. He can be reached at sschaal@matw.com.
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Undertaker to Event Planner?
When we discussed the
topic of event planning within funeral service, we introduced the discussion
of funeral homes offering catering. We framed this discussion around the
appropriateness for funeral homes to offer services that support the gathering
of family and friends in a more casual, reception setting. What we discovered
from some of our consumers was that this type of setting was more of a family
matter and it was wrong to have anyone other than family (or church) involved
in the planning. For the more modern consumer, this type of choice fell
directly into their scope of creating a meaningful memorial event. The
added convenience and social setting was a welcome addition to what they
would define as appropriate. What was interesting to note was the overwhelming
"no" to having a reception be held at the funeral home during or after the
service. I can still hear one participant say… "To see mom laying there
while we are socializing, drinking and eating would be totally inappropriate".
It became clear that the attraction for these services was not about
whether or not it was a good idea, but whether or not it was positioned
correctly. The message was unmistakable that the reception space needs to
be different from the funeral home space. The thought of eating right
where we just had the service was a clear negative. The appeal of having
a reception at a place "other than the funeral home" was much more embraced
by consumers. The services must be flexible enough to support a setting
that is most appropriate for family and friends.
Whether the venue is public or private, at a park, reception hall or at
the family residence, a "one size" fits all approach will not satisfy the
varying degrees of consumer preference. What we learned was there is a real
opportunity for these types of additional services that can be naturally
introduced while discussing the creation of a meaningful service.
The idea of establishing a network of local businesses and venues that
support this type of arrangement is a positive experience for all participants.
If your desire is to maintain a healthy service to the community and recover
revenue that appears lost with cremation, we believe this is a real opportunity
if our industry is willing to embrace the invitation to think outside the
traditional service box.
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