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6 Technologies Every Funeral Home Needs

6 Technologies Feat-V2

Written by Josh McQueen, VP of Marketing and Product

 

Technology has become more and more intertwined with our daily activities over the last few decades. Just think, your cell phone can show you traffic on the route to a nearby restaurant so you can pick up the mobile order you placed…all while playing songs recommended for you by Spotify.

25 years ago, all that cell phones did was dial.

As technology continues to evolve, many companies are striving to innovate better ways to meet the needs of their customers using technology - and the same is true for funeral service. The reality is those funeral homes that are not looking ahead and considering the needs of the families in the area of technology will be left behind.

While adopting technology in your funeral home can sound like too much hassle for the return, we can promise you that it’s well worth it. Using software provides funeral homes with:

  • Huge time savings over pen and paper and reduction of human error

  • A way to differentiate your funeral home in your market by offering better, more convenient options for families.

  • The ability to decrease business costs and increase the amount of time spent with families

These are just a few examples of ways technology can improve the way you manage your business.

As a funeral professional, you have many options for investing in technology for your funeral home. So, we’ve made a list of 6 different technologies every funeral home needs to get you started:

6 technologies every funeral home needs 

#1: Case management software

As a funeral director, you have so many tasks on your plate each day to manage your business and serve families. Having reliable and user-friendly case management software can help you keep track of case details, stay organized, improve team communication, and avoid chances for error.

Here are a few things to look for in a good case management software:

  • Cloud-based capabilities: Access information any time anywhere for easy and quick updates.

  • Unlimited users and devices: Get maximum use out of your software when everyone on your staff is using your software.

  • Auto-fillable forms: Cut down on data entry with a software that can take information entered once and push it everywhere it needs to go.

  • Barcode tracking tools: Assign scannable barcodes to each item and tie barcodes to certain cases - no clipboards required.

Lastly, your case management system should make your life easier - not more difficult.

With Passare, you get the most user-friendly experience possible and awesome case management tools :slight_smile: Learn more about our case management software by requesting a demo here.


#2: Websites

In today’s tech-savvy world, families are searching online for everything from a new car to grocery items. When it comes to planning a funeral, their shopping habits are no different. So, having a website that’s unique to your business can help your business get noticed. Enhance your online presence by using a website service to showcase your awesome staff members, top-notch services, community outreach events, and more online.

Companies like Batesville and Tukios, along with others, offer services like obituaries, merchandise catalogs, custom website designs, videos, custom copywriting, and SEO services to help funeral homes promote their business online creatively and uniquely.

Passare integrates with many website providers so that information entered from the family is pushed exactly where it needs to go. No more re-typing obituaries onto your website!

See the full list of our integrations here.

#3: Memorial Printing

Custom materials and keepsakes create a special experience for families when they lose a loved one. Partnering with an innovative print service can help you do exactly that!

On top of standard print services, The Messenger Co. offers creative ways to help funeral homes stay relevant and generate revenue in an ever-changing marketplace. Here are a few examples of how they do this:

  • Sympathy Store: A convenient way for web visitors to browse and send comfort gifts to families in your care. Plus, it integrates onto your website for easy access :slight_smile:

  • Digital Guest Registry: Take your guest experience into the future with a digital way to sign in for services. It also offers an easy way for guests to purchase registry products, and for families to send thank you notes.

This technology is just another way you can improve your funeral home’s productivity and offer unique services to families.


#4: Tribute videos

Tribute videos are a fantastic way to celebrate and honor a loved one’s memory. They’re also a great way to tell a story and allow guests to know a different side of a loved one. But with countless photo uploads and video clips, creating these videos can become time-consuming.

That’s why companies like Tukios offer software to give you high quality videos in a fraction of the time. With Tukios, it takes less than 10 minutes from the time you start making a video to the time your video is playing in HD on the TV! Families can easily watch their loved one’s tribute video and place an order for video products allowing you to generate additional revenue.

Save money, generate revenue, and offer high quality videos to families when you start using a video service.

#5: Online Payments

It’s not new information that most customers prefer card over cash (to be exact, over 50% prefer card!). But finding the right card processor for your funeral home can be a challenge. There are many things to consider - rates, fees, equipment, and customer service…and all of these fluctuate depending on the size of your funeral home.

Passare partnered with First American because they provided solutions to many of these problems for our customers. Take a look at this:

With First American, funeral homes get:

  • Free equipment and excellent customer support

  • Transparent pricing options to meet the needs of all customers

  • The convenience of taking payments directly in Passare

When you work with a credit card processor like First American, you can give families the ability to make payments, view transaction history, and see payment confirmation all in one place (Passare! :wink: ).

#6: Answering service

Is there ever a time during the week when no one at your funeral home can get to the phone to answer a call?

Well, of course (unless someone is on call).

With an answering service, you can get all the first call details every time no matter what. One of the best providers out there is Answering Service for Directors! You won't find another answering service that can meet the needs of practically every situation.

Listen to this story about how one funeral director used ASD to get the job done, even when he was away from the funeral home:

 

About five years ago when we were having our TFDA convention down in Austin, TX, I got a first call. We’re a small, one-man funeral home here. The answering service took the first call. I turned around and called the family, fired up the laptop right there in the hotel, and started the actual process of bringing them onto Passare. I got their email address, sent them the collaboration invite, and had all that taken care of. When I got back home, I was immediately able to sit down and start the arrangement process for the funeral service. I had the family come in to check all the important information and death certificates that needed to go out. The collaboration features made that job easy because I didn’t have to put them off for a couple of days to do a three-hour meeting.

-Matt Smith, Fry-Smith Funeral Home

Tuscola, TX

 

Start meeting the needs of your digital families

Technology continues to progress and change families' shopping habits. We saw it firsthand after completing a study with Funeral Directors Life and McKee Wallwork + Co. over funeral consumer behavior. These 6 different technologies can help you offer unique services to meet their digital needs.

So, what are you waiting for? Now is the time to start using technology to set your funeral home apart from the rest and better serve today’s digital families. You can use these must-have services to come up with a plan to begin implementing technology in your funeral home.

With the help of Passare, you can manage your business with ease and choose from 30+ software integrations to tie all your services together. Get a demo today!