PERSONALIZATION AS A GROWING TREND IN THE FUNERAL INDUSTRY

As the funeral industry has seen many trends come and go, the constant is that funeral professionals serve not only the deceased, but also (and to some degree more-so) the people they leave behind. With this being the case, it only makes sense that the industry must adapt to meet the needs of these people. The formal 'funeral' with the pomp and circumstance and the wake and the church and the cemetery is slowly becoming less popular as mobility issues and people’s desire for a highly personalized memorial have emerged.

The brunt of the personalization trend is falling on funeral directors and funeral homes, but the ripples can and will be felt throughout the entire industry.

"The funeral industry is a very personal business with personal relationships with the families we deal with," said Mark Musgrove of the National Funeral Directors Association in an article by Alan Sayre on msnbc.com.

The article by Sayre explains that the shift toward corporate buyouts of independent funeral homes and the baby boomer generation’s knack for deviating from the norm are both contributing to decreased profits of funeral homes and nontraditional treatment of death care. It seems that the funeral service companies that are thriving are the ones who are creating new and different means of memorializing. Sayre posits that the trends are going to continue and many businesses that do not adjust will slowly flicker out.

With funeral homes and funeral directors being forced to adapt, what does the industry that supplies funeral homes (casket makers, cemeteries, florists, memorial product firms, etc.) need to do to stay in the game and keep a healthy bottom line?

According to an article in YBNews by Sharon L. Gee, Assistant Professor-Clinical at Wayne State University and Professional Embalmer, the concept of personalization is nothing new. Funeral professionals have helped families through the memorial and grieving process by encouraging them to find the things that the deceased held dear. The funeral director and the family “thematically set the stage for the complementary rituals and ceremonies that followed” by picking items and pictures and awards and virtually anything that helped people through the memorialization process. Gee avers that the major shift occurred when personalization became less personal and became ‘personalization for sale’.

There is not anything wrong with producing memorial products as a business, however Gee states that it is the loss of the funeral ritual that is losing validity and is corrupting the industry. By removing the dead body from the process, the funeral industry will be severely harmed and will in-turn fail to give the closure to the bereaved and create an emotional void in the society as a whole.

The personalization trend is one that has ever increasingly removed the body from the process. Whether direct cremation, burial without a memorial service or delayed memorial service, or no treatment at all, the traditional funeral is eroding at an alarming rate. What can the industry do to abate this trend or turn and adapt to embrace the trend?

Many casket manufacturers, cemeteries and memorial product companies have already shifted their focus toward the emerging segment in the population that favors a highly personalized service. This retooling has paid off tremendously for most. There are now more revenue streams and options available to casket manufacturers because they can offer some personalization. It is the question between a $3000 hardwood casket and a $3500 hardwood casket with the Dale Earnhardt #3 panel insert. The auto industry learned this lesson many years ago. The Model T did wonderful for many years, but then the consumer wanted more. Now we have heated seats, chilled cup holders, back-up warning systems, etc. In the casket industry the start was the simple pine box; but as time has gone by, the size, style, material, and options of caskets have evolved to a highly specialized industry. The key to survival in the highly competitive personalization market is to be the best at what you do and be able to create personal value for the consumer.

Develop a unique offering that, combined with your traditional services, will blow your customer away. Vary your menu enough that you can touch those emotional cords, but do not have too many options that make selection confusing or difficult. The best way to approach the adaptation is to make slow sustained additions and figure what your target markets want. You must evaluate the success or failure of any initiative against concrete metrics. With the evaluation results, you must make a decision.

It is not a question of why, when or how much of a change is taking place, it is question of how willing and able companies are to adapt to the changing marketplace. With the rise in need for personalization, firms have emerged and started offering unique ideas and alternatives. The key is tapping into the creativity and giving your customers what they need and desire; the root of which is to be remembered as an individual.