Washburn-McReavy Funeral Chapels is a family-based funeral organization with 19 locations around Minnesota. At one point, their operation was fielding 3,600 calls without an efficient way to communicate across their team. As you can imagine, keeping track of case updates was really difficult without a system helping with internal communication. Funeral director Jordan Seitz shares some of his insights on how Passare has helped across the board with organization, ease of access to information, and strengthening internal communication.

We even got the inside scoop about his favorite feature to date…barcode tracking!

How would you describe your overall experience with Passare?

Our experience with Passare has been great.

Passare has been committed to continuously improving, which has been a game-changer. It’s fascinating to see the technology upgrades. We have already seen a lot of changes within the software since we first transitioned in 2018.

I’ve been licensed for 7 years and had a couple of years of experience with our previous software. The difference is night and day.

What were some of the challenges you faced before switching to Passare?

With our previous software, taking notes was not as structured. Each staff member had their own method for notetaking, and there was no unified process. Communicating internally and checking updates was also challenging because there were no web-based options on a mobile device. We were bound to a desktop plugged into the wall to stay informed on cases.

We needed the ability to have internal notes and communication between departments, especially with our size and communicating across various locations.

And at that point, we weren’t using any sort of mobile devices to manage information on the go. Once we made the switch to Passare, all of our funeral directors started using Surface Pros. We needed to have our software as accessible as possible, so this was a step in the right direction for us.

What kind of results have you seen since implementing Passare?

Overall, we’ve seen so much more visibility across the organization.

Our workflow is efficient because each team member knows where to go to find specifics for any case. We’ve cut down on our number of internal phone calls. One of our business goals is to consolidate internal communication, and Passare has helped us make huge strides toward that goal.

What has your experience been like working with Passare Support?

From the beginning, working with support has been really positive. Their responses are always timely and friendly. We have no doubts that the team understands our specific needs and is on board with helping improve things.

Even when Passare started to gain more customers, we never felt like our level of support weakened. We had our point of contact when we had questions, and that process always worked smoothly for us. They make us feel important and heard, whether we have a big request or small problem.

Do you have a favorite feature?

Barcode tracking in Passare is my number one favorite feature.

I work on the operation side of things, and the visibility Passare tracking provides is essential. We’ve seen major organizational results with the barcode tracking.

Keeping track of decedents and the chain of custody was one of our biggest hurdles, and our processes have cleaned up significantly since using Passare’s tracking. We’ve integrated the tracking system almost entirely across the board for cremation, transfers, and traditional burials.

That's incredible! Has your team communication improved as well?

Yes, internal notes have worked wonders for our internal communication. The notes feature has seen some significant improvements over the years. Now, we can change the titles, add comments or updates, and filter what we view. It’s been cool to see the progression.

Everyone here loves that Passare’s interface is so user-friendly and customizable. We can adjust how we view cases to fit our needs well. We love the simplicity and ease of use with Passare.

Are there any releases you look forward to seeing in the software?

We are looking forward to the updated mobile app functionality. I've been lucky enough to be in the testing group using the beta, and I can’t wait to be able to consolidate even more and merge decedent tracking into the app.

We’re super excited about the updated eSignature tool, too. Anytime we can continue making processes more accessible for our families, it’s a win!

We’re excited to implement even more tools, but we have a lot of directors to train. We are making progress, though. I can only imagine where we will be in another few years!

Do you have any favorite integrations?

We love the Claimcheck integration and the preneed integration with Funeral Directors Life.

Claimcheck takes the hassle of assignment processing off of our plates. We have seen that service improve and change how they operate, and that has been great.

It’s been awesome to use the Funeral Directors Life integration to get our two systems closer and even more automated for better visibility with the preneed side of our business. We do not have to run all over the funeral home to pull a preneed case off the shelf and decipher everything the file contains.

Would you recommend Passare to a colleague? If so, why? 

Absolutely. I recommend Passare all the time! I think it's the best funeral service software out there, and
I've had nothing but good experiences on Passare. Anyone who uses the software would be pleased. Some people are more comfortable doing things the way they have always done them, and that’s okay. My advice? Just give it a go!

That is really great to hear. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Washburn-McReavy could not have transitioned to Passare at a better time, and I will always be super grateful for the timing. We implemented Passare right before the COVID-19 pandemic. It was perfect because we needed electronic and remote capabilities. We’re super thankful for Passare!

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