C.R. Strunk Funeral Home, Inc. - A small team that loves big features
June 05, 2024
Andy Stout, Owner and Funeral Director at C.R. Strunk Funeral Home, Inc., faced workflow challenges with the software program he inherited after purchasing the funeral home. He knew there had to be case management software to fit his needs better.
Since switching to Passare, Andy and his team have experienced countless timesaving benefits. Even with a smaller team, he has utilized many of the features Passare offers. It’s safe to say that he is a big fan!
How would you describe your overall experience with Passare?
Overall, we have been really pleased. Everyone on the team we have interacted with has been super responsive, accommodating, and helpful. I couldn’t ask for a better experience.
What challenges did you face in your business before switching to Passare?
I purchased this business in July and inherited a software program I wasn’t particularly familiar with. It didn’t offer some capabilities that make the arrangement process move smoothly.
For example, right after I meet with a family, I like to come back to my office and put together the statement of goods and services. I wasn’t able to do that efficiently with the old software. After a few months of writing everything out by hand, I realized that wouldn’t work long-term.
We started shopping around for new options, but I wasn’t finding what I was looking for.
Then I started talking with Austin from your team and was immediately impressed. I was pleased with his responsiveness and willingness to figure out how to make Passare work for us. Austin made the move seem manageable for our business.
The other selling factor was that the platform was just what I was looking for. Sure, it is more robust than our smaller team needs, but everything flows logically for our processes.
What kind of results have you seen since implementing Passare?
I particularly like that every template offered in the program opens into a Word document. I can make quick changes if I catch something last minute and don’t have time to go back and create something new. The ability to instantly tweak and edit documents has saved tons of time and headaches.
Not to mention, the pure seamlessness of the program’s structure is awesome. Passare has been a big timesaver.
One of the biggest selling points is Passare’s ability to sync with EDRS (electronic death registration system), our state death certificate system. Again, when talking about results, the sync is a major time saver for double entry.
What are some of your favorite features in Passare?
Planning Center
Planning Center is fantastic. I can do everything right there on one platform. The family can easily join in by simply getting an email and logging in. It's a great way for me to collaborate better with families online.
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.
Family buy-in with Planning Center
We saw some initial hesitancy from families when we suggest using Planning Center. Luckily, once I explain the benefits and how easy it is to use, families loved it.
Some families have become more involved and eager to use it because they get a more prominent voice in the planning process. I can tell they are having a good time uploading their photos and filling out service details.
Planning Center is also great for families who live out of town. It allows them to work on some of their tasks ahead of time and relieves some of the stress of having a huge checklist to do when they might only be in town for a short time.
Overall, Planning Center has been well received by families.
>>>>>Need some tips on how to position families to utilize all Planning Center has to offer without feeling overwhelmed? Look no further! Read How to Position the Planning Center to Families.
Forms
One thing that I’ve enjoyed is the use of the Statement of Goods and Services. Passare had a template for it, and then they customized it to my needs so I could see everything I needed to.
They also took our cremation authorization form and made it fillable. Having those fillable documents available saves a lot of time because I don’t have to write everything out by hand.
Dashboards
Another beneficial feature is the ability to customize our dashboards. I set up my tabs with what makes sense for us. Now, I see everything I need at a glance. I don’t have to click in a million places to get what I need.
Do you have any favorite integrations?
Our integration with Claimcheck has been great and is super simple to use. The support team is incredible, especially when they are dealing with insurance companies that don’t always cooperate very easily. They are always efficient and helpful when working through any tricky problems.
The whole process of using Claimcheck is prompt and straightforward on our end.
EDRS syncing has definitely saved me time, especially when other team members are gone and I'm doing all the paperwork and data entry. It’s simple to do everything out of one platform. Then you just have to spot check.
Are you using the Passare Mobile app?
I am using the app, which has been great for checking information on the go. I have a lot going on, so I don’t always remember everything. It’s great for quickly double-checking information on different service details when I’m not in the office.
It’s also great that the updates are live, so my staff and I see the same information.
Would you recommend Passare to a colleague and if so, why?
I would definitely recommend Passare to colleagues, and I already have! It’s a handy platform for funeral directors. I know there are several software platforms out there, and new ones are constantly coming out, but Passare is just so solid.
The team understands what we do and respects the time component that funeral professionals face. The response time couldn’t get any better. The platform is customizable in a lot of ways. Passare is robust, but it’s incredibly user-friendly.
Passare eliminates the need to go through multiple other programs, so it really consolidates our work.
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