January 29, 2024
Bryan Hicks, General Manager and funeral director at Elmwood Funeral Home in Abilene, Texas, realized his staff was spending a lot of time on paperwork. While filling in each signature field and checking every box on paperwork was important, it also took up time. And Bryan realized he needed more time with families to help them plan the most meaningful service.
So, he looked for a change in software that would help his staff save time on everyday tasks like paperwork.
Passare was the solution they needed!
Keep reading to see how Bryan uses Passare to increase efficiency, save time, and build deeper connections with families.
How long has your funeral home been with Passare?
We first implemented Passare in 2015, so we’ve been using it for about 8 years now.
How would you describe your overall experience with Passare over the years?
My overall experience with Passare has been great. Since 2015, we’ve watched Passare grow and develop over time. It’s awesome.
What challenges were you facing in your business before Passare?
The system we used prior to Passare didn’t help us work more efficiently. We would put data into the system, but the information was never easy to find, and things would get disorganized. That’s why we switched to Passare.
What kind of results have you seen since implementing Passare?
The first thing I’ll say about implementing Passare is that we go upstairs to the filing cabinets a lot less!
In all seriousness, Passare is very convenient for us, especially the forms. With the ability to autofill information on all our documents, we have saved so much time on paperwork.
Now, we might have to go in here and there to fill in a few blanks, but honestly, if we have to fill in any blanks on forms, it’s probably because we didn't enter it into Passare in the first place. The more information you put in Passare, the faster and easier paperwork goes.
Are there any other results you’ve seen since implementing Passare?
Yes, another great thing Passare has helped us with is spending more time with our families. Having a software that helps us increase efficiency on processes puts us at the table with a family getting to know them and planning a meaningful service. We can meet that family where they’re hurting, instead of sitting back in a corner trying to get all the paperwork done so they can sign it.
It sounds like Passare has given you time back in the day to connect with families.
Yes, and that’s something a lot of people might not mention. Passare helps you connect with each family.
Think about it this way: having software that saves you time doesn’t mean we work less, shave time off our long day, or go home early. Passare saves us time on things like paperwork so we have the opportunity to spend our time differently - with families.
We didn’t get into this profession to do paperwork; we became funeral directors to serve families. Passare allows us to do that.
Do you have any favorite integrations?
I love the integration with Answering Service for Directors (ASD). This integration is so helpful because all the information picked up by our answering service automatically creates a case in Passare. We spend significantly less time on the phones now with our answering service.
Additionally, the integration with Funeral Directors Life is wonderful. And our website integration is so helpful. We recently switched our website provider and now use Tukios. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy being able to press one button and see information pushed directly onto our website.
Instead of copying things from Passare and then logging onto the website each time I need to make a change, I can publish information to the website with the click of a button.
It seems like Passare has saved you time in several areas of your business.
Yes, all the integrations in Passare have been great. Any time you add a step to a process, whether it's publishing an obituary online or printing a form, you add a step to the process.
And what I mean by that is, every time you add something, it leaves you thinking: Did that obituary push through to the site? Did the email go through? Did the form print correctly?
With Passare, you don’t have to worry about any of that. All the integrations take the extra steps out, and it’s just a click of a button to successfully pull that policy, print that form, or update your website.
What’s been your overall experience working with Passare support?
It’s been great. The people over at Passare are like my best friends now that we’ve been using the software so long. And now that Passare has grown and offers services like Premium Support, our experience has only gotten better.
For example, just last week, I sent an email because I needed something done in Passare. I got a response from the team within 5 minutes, and they told me they had already taken care of it. It was so nice to get that response, because I have worked with other companies that don’t respond the same way. They might send you 15 screenshots on how to do something yourself. Passare doesn’t do that. They’re always willing to take extra time to help me solve my problem.
It sounds like you’ve had a great experience.
The support team is great. And that’s not just because I know them well - it’s because of how quick they are to help us.
A lot of times, if something in Passare isn’t working correctly, I have a family sitting there waiting on me.
With Passare’s quick support team, I don’t have to tell the family, “Hey, the computer isn’t working. I’ll get this back to you in a couple days.”
Support understands we need our software problems fixed quickly and are always right there to help us when we need it. Passare has done a great job teaching their team that funeral directors need problems fixed as soon as possible because we likely have a family waiting on us.
Would you recommend Passare to another funeral home?
Yes, I do it all the time. I would recommend Passare to anyone just because of how much time the software saves you.
On top of that, we use Passare’s decedent tracking tool. In this day and age, it is so important to have an accurate chain of custody. Passare gives us and families peace of mind. If you use Passare, you have to use their decedent tracking tool - it’s just crazy not to!
Anything else you’d like to add?
The last thing I want to emphasize, or re-emphasize, is how Passare saves you time.
The ability to do everything digitally in Passare and not have to write everything down is already a timesaver. And while there are still tasks you have to do by hand, you don’t have to write someone’s first name over and over - Passare does that for you. I would estimate that before we got Passare, we’d write someone’s name anywhere between 25 and 50 times on the death certificate, the military forms, and other documents.
Now, I put it in Passare one time, and that’s all I need.
That one example might not save you hours in a day, but it will save you minutes, and every minute counts. Because over a year, those minutes turn into hours you spend on paperwork instead of with families.
Passare saves you time, so you can spend more time where it matters most - with families.
About the funeral home:
Bryan Hicks serves as General Manager and funeral director at Elmwood Funeral Home in Abilene, Texas. They regularly serve around 250 families in the greater Abilene area.
See success with Passare
Want to see success come to life in your funeral home like Bryan? Start saving time in every area of your business and spend more time with your families with Passare. Get a demo today when you fill out the form linked below!
💡 Already using Passare and want to brush up on your software skills?
Learn how to use the timesaving features Bryan mentioned by reading these help articles:
Everything you need to know about using Documents in Passare
Using the integration with Answering Service for Directors (ASD)
Sync Funeral Directors Life policies with Passare
Learn how to use the Tukios Website Integration
And remember, if you need help you can always contact our support team. Email them here. →