Embracing Technology in Your Funeral Home

TECHNOLOGY EXPLOSION
We can likely agree that technology has exploded over
the past forty years. While your great grandmother might
have hung her clothes to dry on a clothesline, you’d be hard
pressed to find a clothesline today. The internet has drastically
changed the way we live and conduct business. Things
that were once a normal part of our life not so long ago are
already gone. Digital cameras came and went along with CDs
and DVDs, Blackberry devices, pagers, pay phones and the
latest on the chopping block – landlines. Improvements in
both the internet and funeral home management software
has provided a level of efficiency for funeral homes that would
have been hard to imagine even a decade ago.
Today’s software technology includes being able to forward
incoming calls to a specific staff member based on day
of week and time of day and when the assigned staff member
makes a call using their personal cell phone, your funeral
home’s name and number are displayed. Easily share the load
of answering calls 24/7 through automation

THE BENEFITS OF FUNERAL HOME SOFTWARE?
Funeral home management software was developed to
help funeral home managers, arrangers and directors manage
the multitude of tasks associated with each case. Case
management begins from the time you take custody of the
decedent until the time you get paid and, in some cases, long
after the service has been completed. While the software is
intended to help you manage your business, a side benefit of
implementing software is providing better services for families.
The biggest benefit to you is entering case information
one time and all your paperwork is completed with a single
input.
You can throw away your old Rolodex as most software
packages store all your important contacts in an easy dropdown
list. You can easily add a minister to a case with a simple
click. Information about suppliers, clergy members, churches
and other important contacts can be easily populated with a
single-entry system.

WHAT DOES FUNERAL HOME SOFTWARE DO?
While the bells and whistles vary between software systems,
basic functions should include scheduling, inventory
management, record keeping, billing/invoicing, relationship
management, accounting and reporting. Each of these tasks
might include simple functions or be very elaborate. As an
example, Relationship Management could include a simple
Thank You message sent a week after the service or could include
multiple automated contacts with the family to let them
know you are still thinking of them. This builds extreme
loyalty that will drive repeat business within the family. Your
software should easily integrate with popular accounting
packages like QuickBooks or have the functionality for full
accounting needs.

CLOUD-BASED SOFTWARE
The days of computer-based software residing on a hard
drive are just about gone. You are better off to use a cloudbased
system that allows access from any device and all your case information is stored online. You can conduct business
with families from anywhere using a phone or tablet to create
contracts and collect e-signatures. There is no software to
download to your computer. Your cloud data is secure, and
you never need to worry about a hard drive crash or virus.
Using a cloud-based system allows any of your authorized
employees to access case notes to keep everyone on the same
page and allow quick and easy updates as the prepping process
continues. Eliminate the need for emails between staff.

SCHEDULING
The need for a comprehensive scheduling system is paramount
to the efficient operation of your funeral home. With
a need to schedule chapel usage, embalming rooms, prep
rooms, vehicle usage and even staff, a robust scheduling
system should be a primary concern in your search for the
perfect software for you. The best systems include a task
dashboard that helps manage daily action items like maintenance,
documentation, monthly cases, and even projected
revenue. In addition to scheduling staff, some software offers
cloud-based payroll/time recording so your employees can
clock in and out from any location. Software can also be used
for driver dispatch and chain of custody tracking. Using efficient
scheduling and time management allows you to accept
more cases.

CASE MANAGEMENT
Software will allow you to manage cases from tracking
bodies and belongings to assigning staff to various tasks.
Streamline vital statistics collection and quickly capture
essential information. Most funeral home software incorporates
invoicing and payment processing that includes
accepting credit card and ACH payments to improve collection
rates. As an added convenience for families, make sure
your chosen system can send payment links by text or email.
When payment links are sent to a family, payment is made
20% faster than traditional payment solutions.
With case management software, you’ll stay organized
with case management checklists that can be customized to
your procedures. All forms can be digitized to send to families
electronically so they can complete and eSign from wherever
they are. Signatures are conveniently stored within the
software including a working copy of the Death Certificate.
There really is no reason for family members to make several
trips to the funeral home. You can even designate veteran
status during the arrangement process and have the extra
steps automated. Technology today includes generating a barcode or QR
code to a decedent that can be scanned as needed to document
the work that was done, time it was started and make
sure there are no mistakes. This allows staff to quickly see
where a body is at any given time.

VALUE ADDED SERVICES
In the most advanced software packages, many bells and
whistles may be included with your system or be available
for an additional charge. These features include the ability
to live stream services and manage the entire funeral home, including assets and non-case related tasks such as building
and grounds maintenance.

GROWING YOUR BUSINESS
Managing your business means growing your business.
Many software packages include marketing tools such as asking
families for a review. Boost your reputation with automated
review collections and build trust and credibility within
your community. Reviews can automatically be posted to the
family’s preferred social media platform such as Facebook or
Instagram. Your Statement of Goods and Services can easily
be posted to your website from your software and price increases
are easy to implement within the software.
Many software packages include the ability to show families
digital options for services, caskets, vaults and urns.
This helps families easily plan services while reducing stress
as consumers embrace technology, they expect to do more
things online.

COLLECTING MONEY
Your software package should include the ability to process
credit cards and ACH payments, track outstanding invoices,
and generate collection notices for past due accounts.
One way to avoid overdue accounts is to engage an industry
credit card processor such as Aurora Payments that offers
a recurring payment solution that automatically debits a
family’s chosen funding source such as a credit card or bank
account on an agreed upon payment schedule.
Many funeral homes are opting to pass on the cost of credit
card fees to the family. Aurora’s ARISE system, designed
with funeral homes in mind, displays a cash price and credit
card price without any awkward conversations. ARISE also
creates unique payment QR codes to share with families so
family members can easily scan the QR code and contribute
to a specific case.
Your software may be integrated with a credit card processor,
or you may be able to select your own processor. The
ability for you to choose your processor is very important to
avoid paying higher fees which are split between the processor
and the software developer - costing you more money! If
you are ready to leap forward with your technology, there are
many reputable companies on the market with various levels
of technology. These companies offer robust systems with
integrated payment processing provided by companies like
Aurora Payments and Heartland, providing simple invoicing,
inventory management and payment solutions.