PARTNER USE CASES
Our success can only be achieved if our funeral partners are successful. With hundreds of unique partners nationwide, we know each of them use our innovative online solutions differently. So in order to achieve success together, we have to ensure that our sales and lead generation solutions serve as as extension of your strong, established funeral business. Learn about the unique use cases of how our partner providers leveraged our tools to grow their online business.
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PARTNER USE CASE.01
Can you use eFuneral if you don’t have
an agent?
Yes, we have several that do.
Many of our funeral homes around the country have successfully run their business without an agent with the help of eFuneral, generating online preneed sales and growing their business without burdening their current staff.
THE CHALLENGE
Agentless provider struggling to generate preneed sales
SMALL TOWN USA
NO FULL-TIME AGENT
MINIMAL MARKETING EFFORTS
PREVIOUS YEAR
$16K PRENEED SALES
In July 2019, one of eFuneral’s first agentless partners signed up for help generating more preneed sales. With just one location in rural Tennessee, they were seen as the sole funeral provider for their small town of a little over 2,000 people.
The previous year, they lost their agent and generated a total face amount of $16,000 in preneed sales through Homesteaders Life Company.
THE SOLUTION
Use eFuneral digital storefront as a kiosk during in-person meeting
eFuneral could serve as a kiosk the funeral home could leverage to close the sale, allowing the staff to educate the family on the arrangement process, walk through options to help personalize their arrangement that best fits their needs, then finalizing the arrangement with the customer to review, sign and pay — all from one device in the funeral home.
Most importantly, eFuneral could serve as the agency through the storefront, ensuring the funeral home was able to assist their families on at-need and preneed arrangements when and where their customers need them the most.
REVIEW
SIGN
PAY
We worked with the funeral home closely to get their digital storefront up and running in less than a month, heavily customizing their merchandise and packages to make it easier for the funeral staff to walk the family through their preneed options.
Funeral home signs contract, eFuneral begins the data collection process.
Online storefront goes live with eFuneral serving as the agent
Funeral home generates first online preneed sale
Online preneed sales via eFuneral surpasses previous year's total
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THE RESULTS
Preneed sales increase 6x from previous year
With the support of eFuneral, within 1.5 months they had already sold $53K in online preneed arrangements. And by October 2020, they had reached $96K in online preneed sales — a year-over-year increase of 500% — with an average cremation of $2,300 and an average burial of $7,500.
This new online storefront allowed them to use our tool as an “over-the-counter" sales solution to lead their families through the eFuneral preneed planning process from start to finish, right there in the funeral home. Because of that, this partner never ended a walkthrough with our solution without a signed contract — leaving them with a 14% close rate for all preneed sales.
USE CASE.02
Can eFuneral help save us time without hurting our revenue?
Yes, it's our #1 focus.
Our online planning solutions can be used where and when they're needed. This helps families be better prepared when they're ready to meet face-to-face, which leads to higher quality opportunities for you.
THE CHALLENGE
Staff overloaded with higher volume of at-need planning requests
LARGE METRO AREA
HIGHER-END SERVICES
HIGH VOLUME OF
AT-NEED REQUESTS
STAFF WORKLOAD AT CAPACITY
With demand for immediate funeral arrangements at an all-time high, this provider’s staff was having difficulty keeping up with volume of requests while fulfilling all other duties. As a high-end provider larger metro area who specialized in at-need arrangements and built a reputation on excellent service and premium offerings, they needed a way to ease their staff’s workload without losing potential at-need sales calling in or walking through their doors.
THE SOLUTION
Use the digital storefront to introduce their arrangement process and to close the sale
The provider directs all new families looking to begin the at-need arrangement planning process to their digital storefront to educate themselves on the funeral home's offerings before they sit down with the funeral staff to plan the arrangement together.
Once they're ready to talk through next steps, the provider then uses the tool alongside the family to finalize the sale by walking through and selecting options together, finalizing any paperwork, then setting up payment details - all online with ease.
By sending their digital storefront as an introduction and allowing families to do research online on their own terms, then utilizing that same online experience to finalize the process when the family was ready, the funeral home is empowering them to become better prepared in what to expect without the unnecessary pressure during an already stressful time. In some many case, the family actually completed the arrangement online without needing meet with the provider again as they felt it was a simple enough process to complete on their own.
For the families that did come back to arrangement alongside a funeral director, the provider saw a huge lift in confidence from families, knowing they could ask the right questions and select the services they think fit their immediate needs, making the steps to finalize the arrangement even easier since most of the time-consuming manual processes and authorization forms are automatically built into the digital storefront checkout.
THE RESULTS
93% of burials sold online included additional $2K in casket upgrades
Not only did this simplified sales process give the provider's staff more quality time to support their families when they sat down together, but it also gave them the opportunity to upsell naturally by recommending potential upgrades as they sat down with families to assess final selections. Since introducing this sales model in 2020, they have over $345K in online at-need sales across two locations, while upgrading families on 93% of burials sold to a more premium casket option for an additional $1,880 per sale on average.
Furthermore, they were still able to maintain their average ticket, with an average at-need burial through their eFuneral storefront of $10,500, showing that the use of the digital storefront throughout the sales process provided their staff with the additional support they needed to continue providing the high-quality service their families expected.
Yes, our partners stand out.
Even our smaller funeral home partners use eFuneral solutions to stand out from their competitors and expand customer reach
PARTNER USE CASE.03
Can eFuneral increase online visibility in high-concentrated areas?
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THE CHALLENGE
Funeral home looking for ways
to stand out in an area with
a lot of competition
SMALL TOWN IN A MID-SIZED METRO AREA
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MANY FUNERAL HOME COMPETITORS
2 UNIQUE ROOFTOPS
TECHNOLOGY-FORWARD BUSINESS
Located in a small city within a medium-sized metro area (pop. 500K) this provider was looking for ways to set itself apart from other funeral homes in the area. For years, families in the area would not reach outside of their city limits to find funeral homes. This partner wanted to expand its reach to new families in the metro, with a fresh technological solution.
They have two brands in their area – one is a traditional funeral home, and the other is a more modern cremation service brand, designed to capture more families in the digital age.
THE SOLUTION
Use eFuneral’s online solutions to reach
new families in the area and set themselves apart from other funeral homes
With all their prices online, potential customers can view services online with complete transparency, fostering trust in their business. As an already technology-forward funeral business, this provider promoted its eFuneral storefront with digital and print marketing. With these efforts, the funeral home can cross into communities that would not have considered them before.
SELL ONLINE
SIGN ONLINE
PAY ONLINE
The storefront gives the provider freedom to meet their families where and when they need it. Families that are comfortable with planning online may do so. However, they still maintain the face-to-face arrangements that many families need.
With two brands, the provider is also able to cater to families who are looking for a traditional service, or a simple cremation or burial. Families can easily prearrange online at home or in the funeral home – a service that they may not be able to find at other funeral homes in the area.
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THE RESULTS
Higher sales and thousands of dollars in leads, in just the first year
The funeral home saw $104K in online funeral sales in the first year, serving more families in the greater metroplex. Prior to signing up for eFuneral, they were writing prearrangements, but the use of eFuneral as their agent allowed them to sell more.
The funeral home also collects abandoned carts and funeral quotes from the site. Since going live, they’ve had $478K in quoted funerals, for over 400 families.
45% more in face amount sales YTD, for their cremation business through their eFuneral storefront.
The funeral home has passed its 2022 sales goal by 110%, passing it officially in the first 6 months of this year. They also have kept their monthly sales consistent for the cremation brand, through effective marketing efforts.
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