Once Kelly Hyke became the owner of Hyke Funeral Home, he realized he needed a way to keep all information in one place. After years of struggling with lost information and disorganized processes, Kelly sought a software solution to help him do it all.

Passare was just what he needed!

With Passare, Kelly and his team keep all their information in one place, which has helped them stay organized and eliminated unnecessary data entry.

Kelly gives a full review of the software and what he enjoys most about working with Passare.

How long have you been with Passare?

We signed up with Passare in 2016, so it's been about 7 years.

What challenges were you facing in your business before you implemented Passare?

I worked at the funeral home I now own from 2006-2015. In 2015, I had the opportunity to purchase the funeral home.

During those 9 years before 2015, we used a hodgepodge of different programs to keep up with inventory, preneed and at-need cases, follow-ups from funerals, and other information.

It was very time-consuming to keep up with all that information and enter it into so many different platforms.

What convinced you that it was time to make a change? 

I had heard about Passare before and knew the software could store at-need cases, preneed cases, imminent cases, trade calls, inventory, and contacts all in one place. It just made sense to switch to Passare because I knew it would save us time on data entry. And everything would be in one place so that information wouldn't get lost.

After seeing the platform, I thought to myself, "I have to give Passare a try. If I don't like it, I can always go back to the way things were before."

But I'll tell you right now, after using Passare for seven years, I would never go back.

Can you give a specific example of how Passare has helped you save time on data entry?

Yes! There are several large families in and around our town in South Dakota. One family in particular lost one of their kids and came to the funeral home. This was the first time I had served this family, and I remember when they came into the arrangement conference, one sibling said, "We've got such a large family - here's a list of all of my siblings." And then he gave me a piece of paper from his pocket with all the siblings and birth dates. I entered the siblings, spouses, and everything into Passare.

Well, about eight months later, another sibling passed away. When the family came in the second time, it was such a timesaver to go back and transfer all the family information from the previous case to the current case with just one click. I didn't have to reenter all the names, addresses, phone numbers, because it was already in Passare.

This saved us a lot of time and a lot of unnecessary data entry that we would have had to do if we didn't have Passare.

It seems like the ability to transfer family information has been very helpful.

Absolutely. The ability to transfer family information wasn't always available in Passare. I remember I went online to the customer suggestions page and left a comment like, "Transferring family information would be so handy.”

Sure enough, you guys look at those suggestions we make. Passare announced the ability to share family details from one case to another not long after. I'm thankful Passare takes our feedback and suggestions!

What's your favorite feature in Passare?

One of my favorite features is how easy it is to enter information. I don't have to search for different fields; I just enter information step by step. It's very helpful when I’m with a family and you can type in the city, and the rest of the location information pops right up. I don't have to try and find all that stuff in front of a family.

I can see anything with just a click on the computer. And not only is it super easy to use on the computer, but I can also have it on my phone on the go.

For example, I could be with a family in the hospital and if they have a question, I can pull up the information in Passare right there on your phone. Whether it's preneed information, a funeral trust, or military paperwork, it's all there.

With Passare, I never have to say, "I'll get back to you in the morning" or "I'll get back to you when I get to the office." I can look in Passare right when they ask a question and get an answer.

What's been your experience using Planning Center in Passare?

It's been good. Families have responded well to Planning Center, especially the younger generation. They grew up using computers, and so it comes easier to them. Plus, we live in such a mobile society that someone might have kids on the West and East Coast, or even overseas. It's so nice that all of them can work on the funeral arrangements together in Planning Center, no matter where they are.

What's been your experience with Passare Support?

The staff at Passare is very helpful. They are understanding and thorough when it comes to helping us solve problems. I've never called Passare and had somebody make me feel like I'm wasting their time. They're always willing to help.

Would you recommend Passare to another funeral home? 

I definitely would, and I have recommended Passare to other funeral directors. It's the best thing that's come out. It's easy to work with, and you don't know what you're missing until you get in there and try it.

About the funeral home:

Hyke Funeral Home is based in Redfield, South Dakota. Kelly Hyke is the President, licensed funeral director, and embalmer at the funeral home. Last year, they served around 80 families.

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