EPISODE 16

Why Funeral Homes and Cemeteries Should Be Surveying their Families

If you are not surveying families after the service is over, you are missing a HUGE opportunity. Surveys aren't just about rating how pleasant your staff was, or how smoothly everything went, you probably already know that. Surveys provide hidden gems like unique insights, patterns, and data that provide you with a literal checklist of what is needed to continually improve your service levels.

On this episode, Ellery and Welton discuss family follow-up surveys in detail, including:

1. Why surveying families is necessary
2. What questions you should ask
3. How to get a high response rate

Show Notes & Resources

• Overall reasons why it's beneficial to survey your families (3:23)
• Determine the goal you want to achieve from conducting a survey (11:27)
• Create a plan for what to do with the feedback you receive (14:19)
• When possible, only ask the right questions—that is, the ones that align with your goal (15:31)
• Should you use multiple-choice or open-ended questions? (17:42)
• Ensuring a good return rate by designing an engaging survey (19:50)
• A survey is a great way to generate preneed leads (22:50)
• Ellery's number-one tip: Keep it short! (23:22)
• Send the survey independently—don't obscure it by including it with other paperwork from the service (27:07)
• The difference between surveys and reviews, with discussion of their distinctive purposes (28:30)
• Provide an opportunity for the survey recipient to share any additional thoughts in a "free writing" format (32:36)