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Spotlight: BONNEY WATSON Funeral Homes

When Cameron Smock saw Passare’s easy-to-use cloud-based system, he made the funeral home software change, and now his staff couldn’t be happier.

BONNEY WATSON Funeral Homes

Location: Seattle, WA

Call Volume: 1,000 Calls/Year

For more information, contact Cameron Smock at csmock@bonneywatson.com.

Cameron Smock has been a licensed funeral director and embalmer with BONNEY WATSON Funeral Homes in Seattle, WA, for 31 years and now serves as President and CEO. When Cameron and his team finally moved to their first software platform over a year ago, the staff fought him tooth and nail on its limitations. When he saw Passare’s easy-to-use cloud-based system, he knew he had to make one more change, and now his staff couldn’t be happier.

How did you make the decision to go with Passare?

For 15 plus years, we used an Excel spreadsheet that we created as our arrangement tool, collecting information, printing documents and more. Then, we tried out a new database system. We used that for about a year and a half before we migrated to Passare. The difference between the first system and Passare is incalculable. The way the Passare platform was developed makes it so easy to use. Our funeral directors have really embraced it in a way that they didn’t the previous one. They fought us tooth and nail with the limitations of our first system, but with Passare, we’ve had a completely different response.

What is the biggest benefit to using Passare?

Well, it has really streamlined our mortuary operations from a case management standpoint. It is so user friendly and intuitive. It’s really transformed our arrangement conference process in working with our client families. With each of the families I’ve waited on since we implemented Passare, I’ve used the Planning Center and find it to be an excellent tool, especially for sharing information, documents, and photos. With the families I’ve waited on, I have not heard a single concern expressed about the Planning Center. In fact, if anything, they seem to appreciate not only the ease of being able to exchange information, but also the resources that are available as a reference in the Planning Center.

Have you been able to increase your efficiency with Passare?

Yes, we have. We use Passare among all our locations, and that has helped with the administrative processes because through the Passare platform we have full access, regardless of which location we’re at. The other thing, too, is all our funeral directors work primarily out of our main location and then they are assigned to go to the satellite locations when there’s scheduled activity. They’re able to work on arrangements while they’re at the satellite location through the Passare platform, just like they would at the main location.

We’ve also been able to integrate our financial accounting processes, which has reduced duplicate data entry into a separate accounting system.

What are some of the features you think that your employees enjoy the most?

The ability to customize the contracts has been huge for us. The goods and services are so much easier to use in front of a family. Previously, it was difficult and cumbersome to make alterations, and now, we have all the different packages built in there and the ability to be able to make adjustments. My funeral directors love how flexible, intuitive, and easy to use this system is. We are able to be much more efficient now and much more professional in front of our families, which gives us confidence and enhances the value of the service we provide.

How would you rate your customer service experience with Passare?

Exceptional. Of the few issues we’ve had since we launched it, Passare support was prompt in correcting, updating, or addressing the issues. For example, there was one issue that we had, and I sent out an email to Passare support on a Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Later that day, I received an email confirmation from one of the supervisors, acknowledging that she got the message and hoped to have it corrected by Sunday. I was really impressed that I would hear from a manager on a Saturday. I certainly didn’t expect that. The entire process from when they first met with my team to present the platform, to the implementation launch, to the on-going support, it’s been nothing short of extraordinary.

What would you tell other funeral professionals about Passare?

I speak for myself as well as my leadership team that, in this day and age, things don’t always live up to the hype or how they are billed. You really don’t know what you are getting until you get into a system and start working with it. And yet, Passare has just been a shining star for us. We’re in the process of adding CLAIMCHECK as well, and we’re looking at some of the other offerings on Passare. We were very impressed with the platform from the first time we saw it, and now that we’ve been using it for a few months, we just could not be more pleased.

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