As a funeral director, your time is precious.
But too often, it's eaten up by tasks like paperwork, scheduling, billing, and coordinating with vendors. These responsibilities can take over your day and keep you from focusing on what really matters – helping families.
But what if there was a way to reclaim those lost hours? 🙌
Funeral home software can simplify how you run your business and communicate with families.
Funeral home software or “case management software” is essentially any digital system that replaces the work of pen and paper. It helps you manage your cases and day-to-day business operations all in one place, while allowing you to better connect with families. Sounds great, right?
At a minimum, software should have tools that help you manage 4 key areas of your business:
Financial tools: These are features like inventory management, payments, check writing, and more.
Family tools: You need options to work better with families, including gathering electronic signatures and offering an at-need planning platform and online arrangements tool.
Collaboration tools: Team productivity and collaboration require digital notes and notifications, barcode tracking, and event management.
Data tools: You deserve full control over your data with tools that help with reporting, tracking dashboards, and case management.
>>> Get more details about these tools.
The ultimate goal of funeral home software is to save you and your staff time.
And the difference between good software and great software is how much time it saves you and how many areas of your business it saves that time.
Let’s explore 3 qualities that take funeral home software from good to great.
When looking for software, you want to make sure it’s easy to use, but it should also be easy to access. Here’s what we mean.
There are two widely known types of funeral home software: install-based and cloud-based.
Install-based funeral home software does a decent job of replacing your filing cabinets, record books, and fax machines by keeping information organized. But it has some serious limitations, such as using valuable computer storage, needing manual updates and backups, and more.
But the worst offender? It keeps you tied to the one computer that has it installed.
Cloud-based software eliminates all of these headaches.
“The cloud” isn’t just one of those buzzwords you’ve heard over the years. It’s internet storage for your data and tools that you can easily access from any internet-connected device. For example, you would no longer have to drive to the funeral home to log into a specific computer to make case updates. With cloud-based software, you could log into the platform on your personal computer at home.
It also securely stores documents and sensitive information, keeping your data safe from natural disasters like fires and floods.
>>>>> Interested in learning more about cloud-based software? Check out this blog.
Cloud-based funeral home software should be the bare minimum these days. But what takes cloud-based from good to great?
See if the software company has a mobile app for even more convenience and extra tools to make your life easier. Christine Swagerty, Administrative Assistant at Bersticker-Scott Funeral Home, explains how she benefits from using our mobile app.
“We have a trade business, and I use mobile for trade cases. I can create a case or notify staff about changes all without ever having to sit at a computer, make a phone call, or send a text. It’s been convenient if I am ever away from the office.”
Let’s face it - sometimes you might not have your laptop or tablet nearby to access case details or send a note to your team. With a mobile app, your business tools fit in your pocket.
And remember the extra tools we mentioned? Your cell phone could become the ultimate tracking tool, helping you scan barcodes for decedents and personal effects, take photos for your records, and improve your chain of custody for better peace of mind.
The point is that great software saves you time by keeping all your business tools with you, no matter where you are.
You got into the profession to serve families, so why spend so much time on paperwork? Software should simplify data entry by auto-filling forms for you, which means you don’t have to manually type and retype information.
But that’s not all.
Good software should also share information with other systems you use every day. This connection between two systems is also called an integration.
Every good software option should have basic integrations.
For example, you likely already use a company for your funeral home website. When your funeral home software integrates with your website, you can publish an obituary in your software system and push that obituary to your website with a few clicks.
You wouldn’t have to enter the same information over and over, which would mean fewer mistakes. And if you noticed an error, you could quickly fix it everywhere from one edit.
Integrations are must-haves for saving you and your team time on paperwork. While every software platform should have some integrations with the tools you use every day, great funeral home software solutions have even more integrations to reduce data entry for all of your processes.
For instance, Passare integrates with several memorial printing companies, aftercare services, accounting platforms, and payment processors, including life insurance assignments and the first preneed integration with Funeral Directors Life.
If a software system has a public API for companies to integrate with it, even better. That means the software platform welcomes other companies to integrate with it to save funeral directors even more time.
Remember, good software has a few integrations. Great software has many integrations to simplify data entry while reducing errors and always seeking new company partnerships.
>>>>>> Interested in learning more about software integrations? Read this next.
Whether you work in a large funeral home or are a one-man (or woman) show, good communication is a must. Why? From the first call to arrangements and services, your team and families gather a lot of details.
You need a central place to manage every conversation and real-time update with your team. Software helps you accomplish that!
Every good software option should have built-in features, including the ability to add notes, mention team members, leave comments, assign tasks, and get instant notifications so nothing falls through the cracks.
With notes, any staff member can take calls from families and make updates, even if the primary funeral director isn’t available. Whoever answers the call can check the case, make updates, leave notes, and keep the conversation going with the family.
If good software improves communication with your team, great software does that and increases collaboration with families.
After all, families are changing, and funeral consumers today have different preferences for funeral planning. Our New Funeral Consumer study revealed families' comfort with online planning has increased by 44% since 2011. With this shift, technology can help you serve families in the way they prefer.
Great funeral home software options have tools that make collaborating with families easy. Some offer online arrangements for preplanning and prefunding. Others have online, at-need planning software so families can plan a service from anywhere while keeping you at the center of conversations and updates.
Passare has both of these options as well as additional features like the AI Obituary Writer that families can use and eSignatures to simplify paperwork. With all these tools, you can collaborate better with families and improve your overall communication.
Funeral home software should save you time in multiple areas of your business, from being easy to access and reducing data entry to improving communication.
Bryan Hicks, General Manager at Elmwood Funeral Home & Memorial Park, knows the value of time and why it’s important to decide how you want to spend it. He said:
“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.”
Elmwood Funeral Home and Memorial Park | Abilene, TX
When it comes to saving you time, some software options are good.
But don't you and your team deserve great? Greatness awaits in a demo with our team.
Now that you know the ultimate goal of funeral home software, let’s explore what features you need to be successful.
When shopping for a new car, you have choices to weigh before you find the right one to purchase. Here are a few:
New or used?
Car, truck, or SUV?
4-wheel, 2-wheel, or all-wheel drive?
Color? Finish? Miles per gallon? Gas or electric?
The list of questions goes on and on, and all of them should lead you to a final decision.
The same can be said when choosing funeral home software for your business. You should have a list of questions to help narrow down what tools you want and need to help you find the right solution.
But with so many options out there - what should you look for?
The best way to start the software search is by examining its features and how they will impact different areas of your business. All the tools should work well together and be housed in a single platform. Because if your funeral home software excels at accounting but doesn’t have a way for you to keep up with events, case notes, and tasks, something is bound to fall through the cracks.
Let’s look at the 4 key areas of your business that software should help with to keep your operation running smoothly.
Money isn’t everything, but it keeps your funeral home in business. Your software should have features that make managing finances easy, not more time-consuming and tedious.
More families expect to interact with businesses in person and digitally. Your software should have features that allow you to offer families digital planning options while building meaningful connections with them.
When internal operations go sideways, your funeral home can lose efficiency. Your software should make communicating and collaborating as a team simple and easy to ensure tasks get done on time.
Keeping up with all the information that enters your funeral home can be a challenge, not to mention taking that information and creating reports to gain insights into different areas of your business. Your funeral home software should make information accessible, easy to find, and manage.
When you find software with features that cover all these areas, your team will get tasks done efficiently and be able to better serve families.
Now, let’s dive into the top features you should look for in each of these key areas to find the best funeral home software for your business.
If you have to jump between platforms to manage your finances, keeping track of payments becomes tedious and time-consuming. No one wants that! Check out these financial features that will make payments less stressful and financials run so much smoother:
Look for software that allows you to log and process payments without ever leaving the platform. For example, in Passare, you can enter payments, print receipts, and add adjustments to keep track of your financials.
Writing checks to different vendors and distributing them can be a hassle. Find software that allows you to create, print, or void digital checks. In Passare, you can do this within each case or write business checks and track them in the platform.
Have you ever double-purchased something on your inventory stock list? Or sold what you thought was the “last” of an item to a family, when really you had none left? Without great inventory management, you run the risk of making mistakes. With Passare, you can see available inventory, hide sold or pending items, and easily add, edit, or transfer items between locations.
These are a few financial tool non-negotiables to look for in funeral home software, but it should also have other features that can help you manage your business. Learn about them here. >>>
Have you noticed that more businesses are offering digital ways to connect with consumers?
You can order groceries from an app and pick them up in-store or have them delivered. You can book an appointment online and complete paperwork digitally before ever setting foot in an office.
And when it comes to working with your funeral home, families are growing to expect the same. Many want the option to plan with you in person and online.
Here are a few software features you should look for to improve your service to families:
In a funeral consumer survey our team conducted with McKee Wallwork + Co., 36% of people said they were comfortable planning a funeral online, which shows a 44% increase over the last decade. And nearly half of the respondents said they would likely prearrange and prepay for a funeral online.
In Passare, our online arrangement tool allows families to preplan and prepay for their funerals, which can generate new leads and business for your funeral home. Families can also use this tool for at-need arrangements so they can plan in a way that’s most convenient and familiar to them.
The best part? All the information from these arrangements - whether for preneed or at-need - syncs directly to Passare, giving you a head start on data entry.
When planning the perfect service, you collect a lot of information from the family, from vital statistics to payments and documents. With a tool like Passare’s Planning Center, you can work with families online to gather information, process payments, and message each other anytime there’s an update or question. Learn more about how all families can benefit from Planning Center here. >>>
Some families prefer to take charge of writing the obituary, but heightened emotions and time constraints, getting started can be difficult. In Passare's Planning Center, you can give families a leg up by offering them an AI Obituary Writer. This AI tool pulls case information a family has already entered in Planning Center and uses it to write a quick first draft that they can adjust how they see fit.
Added bonus? There’s also an AI tool for fun.eral directors in Passare - so if you and your staff are the ones doing the writing, you can also benefit from this tool!
In the last year, the number of planners who lived 500-1,000+ miles away from their loved one who had passed increased by 20%. That means you need an easy and convenient way to gather signatures for a case so you can keep the service moving. Look for software that has a built-in eSignature tool, so you and your families can complete paperwork anytime, anywhere. Plus, with a built-in tool, you can distribute, sign, and collect all the documents you need without ever leaving your funeral home software.
When you use these features in Passare, all the information uploaded from families syncs to your case management software, saving you a ton of time on data entry!
Learn more about using software to connect with families here. >>>
It takes a village to plan a funeral service from the first time a family calls, to the service, to enrolling them in aftercare. To provide the best service, your entire team must work together to ensure no detail falls through the cracks. Here are a few software features that are absolutely necessary.
All funeral homes need a system to keep track of all the items and bodies that pass through their facility…and clipboards don’t cut it anymore. With Passare’s barcode tracking tool, maintaining an accurate chain of custody is efficient and easy, whether you serve 40 families in a year or 4,000. Learn about barcode tracking tools for funeral homes here. >>>
Sticky notes, emails, and face-to-face reminders might have worked in the past, but you deserve a better way to keep up with your team. Stay connected and organized with a digital notes feature that allows you to record case details and mention team members to ensure tasks get done. In Passare, you can use notes and notifications on the desktop version or mobile app, making notes a convenient way to track case details.
Find software that allows you to schedule work events to share with families or your team so you never miss a meeting. For example, in Passare, you can share events with families through the Planning Center or create a team calendar to make sure everyone on staff knows where they need to be. You can even sync Passare to your personal calendar so all your important events are in one place.
It’s easy to get bogged down in documentation when multiple people on your team have to re-enter the information multiple times into your software. That’s why it’s important to look for software with features that simplify this process. With Passare, any information entered into the case file can automatically populate into any document or form within the software, saving the entire team time on paperwork! You can even have forms customized for your specific processes.
With these features, you and your team can work better together and provide the best possible service to every family that walks through the door.
You have a lot of information to keep up with and manage. And with all your other tasks, organizing case files and running your monthly accounting reports can fall to the bottom of the to-do list. What if you had software that made all of that faster and easier?
Here are a few features to consider for data management:
You own your data, and you deserve to have the ability to access it whenever you need it. With reporting tools, you can create customizable reports that give you insights into your business so you can make key decisions. With Passare’s reporting tools, you can pull all the information you've entered into cases to create financial, inventory, and sales reports, just to name a few. You can even set up automatic reports to appear in your inbox monthly, weekly, or daily!
When you log into your software, there’s nothing more convenient than seeing all your key information front and center. In Passare, you can create a personal digital dashboard with custom case listings, team notifications and messages, and more! Plus, you can create shared dashboards for your team so everyone is on the same page. Learn more here. >>>
When it comes to cases, your entire staff might help at some point. And when several people touch a case, it’s easy to have duplicate cases emerge. In Passare, you can easily merge cases to get rid of duplicates and keep your case files clean (and make reporting more accurate!).
With these data management tools, you’ll be able to save time every step of the way, from entering data into your software for the first time to running your monthly reports to gain business insights.
Do you often find yourself entering information multiple times into different systems?
With software integrations, you only need to enter information once into your funeral home software, and it will sync with other systems you use daily, such as your website, accounting service, and more. Passare has integrations with 30+ other services to help save you time on data entry. Plus, Passare has a public API that allows any vendor to build an integration into Passare if you need it.
Choosing the right funeral home software is important for enhancing efficiency at your funeral home. Look for these 4 key areas and features to help you simplify processes, save time, and create a great experience for your team and your families.
In the next section, dive into the specific ways you can use funeral home software to enhance the planning process for your families. And don’t worry - we mention a few perks for you as well!
As a funeral professional, your primary goal is to support families by helping them plan a meaningful service.
However, over the past few decades, families’ planning habits have evolved, and their preferences have changed. Specifically, there’s been a 44% increase in comfort planning online in the last decade.
Is your funeral home equipped to meet the changing needs of families?
With the right technology, you can offer families the convenience of online planning, all while maintaining a personal relationship.
To better understand how to use technology with families, let’s first examine a few specific ways families' preferences have changed over the last decade, backed by a study done by McKee Wallwork + Co (MW+C) and Directors Investment Group (our parent company!).
In 2011, some of the largest funeral homes in the nation noticed the families they worked with had different buying habits than previous generations. To better understand these changes, they partnered with MW+C to survey 3,000 individuals and asked them hundreds of questions to identify consumer preferences and trends.
Their research was adapted into a report called the “New Funeral Consumer,” which revealed six consumer types, or “personas,” in the market. But the market has evolved even more since 2011.
In 2022, MW+C conducted part two of the study with Directors Investment Group. Here’s a quick overview of the 5 key findings that emerged:
😊 People are feeling more positive about the funeral profession as a whole
👪 Families are more comfortable with online planning, increasing by 44% in the last decade.
📈 Cremation has risen, but so have other types of disposition and activities associated with burial.
✝️ There is a continued shift away from religion, but people still want some religious elements for their funerals.
👍 More positive funeral perceptions can be seen amongst younger groups, those with higher incomes, and those in the black community.
Additionally, they found that some consumer groups from 2011 have changed or died off, while other new ones have emerged. This resulted in 7 new consumer types, each with their own unique preferences and attitudes toward funerals:
Type 1: Resolute Rookies - Most likely to try to do everything themselves - even when it comes to funerals.
Type 2: Great Expectations - Most likely to choose a funeral home solely based on reputation.
Type 3: Distanced & Decided - Most likely to be driven by their head rather than their heart.
Type 4: Free Spirits - Most likely to have given a lot of thought to their own funeral.
Type 5: Faith & Family - Most likely to know a funeral home or mortuary they trust.
Type 6: Hometowners - Most likely to own a truck, fishing rod, and a gun.
Type 7: Future Funerals - Most likely to say a good funeral is marked by the level of laughter.
Now that you have an overview of how families have changed, it’s time to explore different funeral home technologies that will make planning easier for everyone.
Based on the results from the study, most of today's consumers have ordered groceries, clothing, or shoes online.
And the growing adoption of eCommerce doesn’t stop there. Many other types of businesses have started implementing online ways to connect with consumers. For example, many doctors' offices have patient portals where patients can:
See bloodwork results
Get appointment reminders
Fill out paperwork
And make payments
As more and more businesses provide consumers with online options, it’s likely that families will grow to expect to interact with your funeral home in the same way.
With online arrangements, families can preplan and prepay for a funeral service completely online. But not all online arrangement tools are created equal. Here are a few things a great eCommerce tool should do:
Promote the value of a funeral service - All too often, eCommerce tools lead with disposition type, which can make consumers think disposition is the most important decision. That could lead to them choosing the cheapest option available. A great eCommerce tool will first ask consumers questions about what’s most important to them and their preferences for a funeral service. This helps the consumer better understand what your funeral home has to offer them.
Be useful online and in person - In many other industries, a blended experience of online and in-person interactions is becoming more common (think back to the doctor’s office example at the beginning of this section!). A great eCommerce tool will be set up so your staff can easily pick up where the family left off in their planning. This means that if a customer starts their planning online but doesn't finish, a sales professional should be able to follow up with them easily and help them complete their plans.
Generate free leads for your funeral home - Since setting up an eCommerce tool is already an investment for your business, you should get leads at no extra cost. Essentially, the best eCommerce tool will complement your preneed program to provide your sales professionals with free (and qualified!) leads to follow up with.
Arrangement Guide offers funeral homes all of these benefits. Here’s how you can use Arrangement Guide to allow families to plan online while still providing personalized service options:
🔗 Families click a link to preplan on your funeral home website, social media, or ad.
❔ They'll answer questions about their funeral preferences, who they’re planning for, etc.
✨ Arrangement Guide will generate packages that best fit their needs (the best part is the plans are custom to your funeral home’s unique offerings!).
💲 Families can make a selection and pay.
🔄 Bonus! Once a family has completed the process, a preneed policy autogenerates in Passare, saving you time on data entry!
And if a family doesn't complete the process, you can be the first one to contact them and guide them through the rest of the process.
Learn more about eCommerce in funeral service here. >>>>
So, now you know the benefits of a great eCommerce tool and how one works. But how does it help you connect with families?
Every family deserves a service that helps them honor their loved ones. However, not all families are ready to visit the funeral home immediately to make arrangements. In fact, 37% of a new consumer group, Resolute Rookies, would prefer to handle funeral planning online rather than in person.
When you make your services more accessible to families through an eCommerce tool like Arrangement Guide, you provide them with the flexibility to plan in a way that feels most comfortable. And families are guided through the planning process in a way that highlights the true value of your services and the options available to them.
Next, explore how you can use technology to make things more convenient for families during the at-need process.
When it comes to the at-need process, most funeral homes are used to working with families through many emails, text messages, missed calls, voicemails, and written notes. However, the study shows that many consumers - especially Millennials and Gen X - want more online planning options.
But what’s the best way to do that?
With the right online at-need planning technology, you can make the at-need planning process more convenient for families. Here are a few of the main benefits of online planning: give families the option to plan the service at any time, from anywhere. Here are a few of the main benefits of online planning:
Families can plan anytime, anywhere. In 2024, there was a 20% increase in the number of families who lived 1,000+ miles away from their loved one. This means coming into the funeral home several times may not always be an option. This is why an online planning tool is so valuable! It allows families to upload vital information, sign paperwork, and make payments from anywhere, which helps keep the planning process moving forward.
Keep all your information in one place. An online planning tool ensures that all - whether photos, documents, or discussions about the number of death certificates a family needs - are organized in one central location. That way, you can be confident that no detail will fall through the cracks.
Create more transparency. In between your face-to-face meetings, families often have questions about the status of tasks your funeral home is managing. By using an online tool, you can improve transparency in your processes. Families will be able to check in at any time and view pending tasks and understand next steps, thereby reducing stress and confusion.
With Passare’s online at-need tool, Planning Center, you and your families experience all of these benefits and more. This tool helps you stay connected with families throughout the entire planning process and allows families to:
📸 Upload photos and videos
📝 Collaborate with you on the obituary in real-time
💬 Message you with questions at any time
✍️ Sign paperwork from anywhere
💲 Make a payment for the service
✅ Navigate upcoming tasks using checklists
And much more!
Best of all, any information the family inputs into the Planning Center is synced to the case in Passare, and you can see where the family is in the planning process at any time.
After reading about these technologies, you may be thinking, “This sounds convenient, but my families won’t want to plan online”.
To some degree, you’re right, you may encounter families that don’t wish to plan online. Because while the study proves there is a growing comfort with interacting with businesses online, making funeral arrangements is much more complex than ordering groceries or clothes online.
That’s why you should look for technologies that act as an extension of you, not a replacement. Then, your services will be accessible to families at all times, but your guidance and care will still be a huge part of their experience.
As technology continues to evolve, these changes in consumer preferences will only continue to evolve. Adding these technologies now will help you enhance your preneed and at-need processes to reach more families with the digital options they want and expect.
Next, learn how to best use funeral home software to manage your business, including tips for maximizing efficiency from other funeral professionals and common pitfalls to avoid with software.
You probably learn best by observing others and using their experiences to guide your decisions. It’s wired into our DNA.
For example, babies learn by observing their parents. Toddlers and teenagers pick up on parents' habits (even if you don’t want them to 🤣). In the workplace, you might look for a mentor.
The fact is, we like to see what others are doing to show us what we should be doing. The same is true when trying new software in your funeral home.
If the ultimate goal of funeral home software is to save you and your staff time, let’s hear from the experts on their 5 best tips for maximizing efficiency. Plus, you’ll learn 7 common pitfalls and tips on how to avoid them.
You work on a lot of cases, and there are many details constantly being passed around. While sticky notes are awesome, they aren’t the most efficient way to jot down information.
You need a reliable method for tracking important case updates and making sure everyone is on the same page. Why?
If a family calls and wants to change service details, you need an effective way to note the update and inform other team members. Or if a family member has questions, you want to make sure you get them the answers they need in a timely manner. If your team can take and share notes digitally on one platform, then the right information will always be at your fingertips!
Randy Nash, Owner of Sumner Funeral and Cremation, wanted to improve his team’s efficiency. They found success by taking notes on a cloud-based platform. He said:
“Efficiency increased immediately.
I complete all my tasks much quicker with Passare than on my own. Keeping track of case details and updates is much smoother than taking notes by hand when working on a cloud-based platform.”
Sumner Funeral and Cremation | Gallatin, TN
One of the main culprits for inefficiency in the funeral home is typing information over and over again. Talk about a time-waster!
For example, when you get a call, you enter vitals into your case management system. Then, throughout the planning process, you might enter that information again to process an insurance assignment, once more to publish the obituary on your website, and another time to print programs for the service.
In this scenario alone, someone on your staff entered the same information four times.
If your goal is to save as much time as possible, integrations can tremendously help with data entry. With Passare, you can connect your website, print, call services, and more to increase productivity.
Ashley Price, Owner of Price Funeral Service, Inc., shares how integrations have saved her time:
“Between our website, answering service, and submitting death certificates, there are a lot of places we have to enter information. Before Passare, I'd sit in front of the computer, re-entering data when I had 40 other things to do.
Now, I can put the information in one time, and Passare sends the information everywhere it needs to go. It has been a huge timesaver.”
Price Funeral Service Inc. | Meyersdale, PA
>>>>>>Interested in learning more about Passare’s integrations? Check them out!
As a funeral director, you understand the struggle of tracking down family members or employees to grab a signature. You also know how important it is to handle paperwork quickly and efficiently.
But you don't always have the extra minutes in the day to hunt down those sacred signatures.
With digital signatures, signing paperwork got a lot easier!
By collecting signatures digitally, you can get paperwork signed anytime, anywhere. As a bonus, it is simple and easy for families, too. 👏
Take efficiency a step further and find an eSignature tool that’s built into your case management software. That way, you eliminate the added steps of jumping between programs to complete the paperwork.
Shirley A. Calahan, Vice President and Owner of Calahan Funeral Home and Cremation, has first-hand experience with our eSignature tool:
“I love the eSignature capabilities in Passare. With this feature, we can get an order of release form signed by a family whether they're across the country in California or just around the block from our funeral home.
All we have to do is open the file in Passare, add the necessary information, sign it, and send it to the next of kin. Now, we can get forms back in 5 minutes with eSignatures.”
Calahan Funeral Home and Cremation | Chicago, IL
>>>>>>> Curious about the benefits of Passare’s eSignature tool? Look no further.
Serving and connecting with families is the heart of the job. To do that effectively, you need more efficient ways to gather details from families.
If your families are constantly sending service details via email, working on obituary drafts in Word, or sharing files through multiple email threads, that can leave you feeling overwhelmed. You need a better way to connect with them.
Give them one platform to upload photos, start working on the obituary, pin merchandise, make payments, and so much more. Simply giving families a bit of control over service details can help them through an experience where they feel out of control.
Plus, gathering information before the arrangement conference means you can spend more time and energy discussing ways to personalize and honor loved ones.
Passare’s online at-need planning tool, Planning Center, is an easy-to-use platform for gathering details that allows families to start planning right away.
But do families actually use it?
Yes! Michael Capehart, General Manager and Funeral Director at New Hope Funeral Home, has seen success with families using Planning Center. He shared, “About 80-85% of the time, families who do use Planning Center will log on and work on at least a portion of the vital statistics, the obituary, and service details.”
Andy Stout, Owner and Funeral Director at C.R. Strunk Funeral Home, Inc., shares what his staff’s lives used to look like before and after Planning Center.
“Before, we would send a Word document back and forth. Then, we would have an email thread going back and forth with dozens of pictures to transfer. I would have to remember to loop in other members of our staff who were involved. It was chaotic. You were left hoping you didn’t miss updates from your emails or overlooked changes on Word documents.
All of that to say, Planning Center has been beneficial for centralizing our planning operations.”
C.R. Strunk Funeral Home Inc. | Quakertown, PA
When talking about maximizing efficiency (and having a better chain of custody), barcode tracking must be part of the conversation!
Without a digital tracking system, you risk having a chaotic process that feels like one big guessing game to know where decedents and belongings are located.
With a tracking system, everyone on your staff can see exactly where a body or item is, who handled it, and when. You can keep track of everything using scannable barcodes that you can then match to locations, such as prep rooms, viewing rooms, refrigeration units, and urns or caskets.
Your funeral home’s organization will improve by allowing you to keep track of everything, get the most up-to-date information, and see a bird’s-eye view of your processes.
Your staff’s communication will also be upgraded because anyone can change the location of an item, add new items or notes, attach images, and more!
Angie Good, Managing Director of French Funerals & Cremations, needed a reliable, efficient way to keep up with items and bodies. She shared about her team’s experience implementing our barcode tracking tool:
“Since implementing barcode tracking, our communication process as a company has greatly improved. Our communication is much more focused and accurate, which results in less back and forth when clarifying details."
French Funerals & Cremation | Albuquerque, NM
>>>>>>Want to know more about barcode tracking? This guide is for you!
These 5 tips for maximizing efficiency in your funeral home software can transform your business!
While these are best practices to follow, there are also risks that can stand in the way of your success. Here are some to be aware of so the previous tips won’t go to waste. 👇 👇 👇
Committing to using new funeral home software is a huge decision. There was a lot of thought and intention behind why the change was necessary for the business, your staff, and your families.
As soon as the change is in motion, your staff needs to be brought up to speed and given context as to why things are about to change. Once you’ve communicated the “why,” your staff can see how funeral home software will make their job easier and more convenient.
Switching to a new platform completely changes processes, which causes a big shift for your staff. To have a smooth and painless transition, you need buy-in from the people using the software every day.
Let’s face it, technology is only as good as the people using it! Without buy-in, you won’t see the results you were hoping for because your team will have too much inconsistency.
Set your expectations and communicate them.
Once you decide to use new software, jump in head first. You must go all-in and remove the option to fall back into old processes.
Once Jayme Broussard, the Chief Executive Officer at Broussard’s Mortuary, switched to Passare, she made it clear to her staff that there was no plan B.
“When we began using Passare, we also removed our old software platform from all of our computers. Any time you allow room for a fallback and give people an option to not change, they won’t.”
Broussard’s Mortuary | Southeast TX
>>>>>> Hear more about Jayme’s experience launching Passare here.
It is crucial to ensure that your staff continues to receive support during implementation and after. If anyone has a question or runs into a problem, ask for help as soon as you need it. The support team should be responsive and helpful, no matter the hiccup.
Training should continue for your staff, even well after implementation. The more opportunities your staff has to practice using the new software, the better. Training allows for a risk-free environment in which mistakes can be made, and support can be received at the moment.
“Perfect” doesn’t exist. And if you wait for one technology that checks every box, you may never step into better processes.
Instead of waiting for some magic, “perfect” solution, look for a company committed to innovation. As technology constantly improves and updates, progress is made toward creating something better.
Read Jordan Seitz’s, Funeral Director at Washburn-McReavy Funeral Chapels, take on how Passare aims to improve constantly:
“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.”
Washburn-McReavy Funeral Chapels | Bloomington, MN
You could probably list a handful of reasons not to undergo a huge change. While some reasons are valid, steer clear of making excuses. If you want to improve processes and save time, stop saying, “I’m not good at technology.”
It might be true. Technology may not be your strong suit. But chances are, you have people on your staff who can step up, help lead, and teach others who are not as comfortable.
It’s smart to look for intuitive and user-friendly technology because good technology can make (almost) anyone look tech-savvy. 😎
It might sound like a great idea to create and completely customize your software to your business needs. However, developing your software is very expensive and time-consuming.
You can save time, money, and headaches by choosing partners who are willing to work with you to customize your experience so you can make technology fit your needs.
The quickest way to earn back some time is by learning new ways to maximize efficiency using your funeral home software. Just be sure not to fall into common pitfalls that will hinder your progress.
As you start using funeral home software, keep these tips to maximize efficiency in mind. And be prepared to be amazed at how many hours you and your staff save. 👏
Now you know how to use funeral home software, let’s find out how you know if your funeral home software is secure, plus some best practices for maintaining security.