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A Funeral Home's Guide to Online Reviews
Caden Rhoton • September 24, 2019
It is no secret that online reviews play a significant part in the purchasing decisions that Americans make every day. Did you know that over 90% of consumers say that online reviews have an impact on their purchase decision?
The same is true when it comes to funeral service. At the time of need, if a family doesn't know where to go, they turn to the internet. Over 2,000 people every month Google the phrase, "funeral home near me."
That means that potentially 2,000 families every month don't know initially which funeral home to use at the time of need. This statistic isn't surprising when you know that the average American moves 11 times in his/her lifetime. The days of the local funeral home serving the same family for generations are all but gone, and funeral homes need to adapt.
Your online profile is how families in your community not only find you but form an opinion about who you are, and how you do business. Your reviews play a major part in how your community perceives your business. Your rating and number of reviews are the most important factors. But people also look at how you, as a business, respond and interact with reviewers. It reflects what type of business you are.
Here are some tips on managing your reviews. At the end, you'll find suggestions on gaining more positive reviews.
Positive Reviews
Respond
When someone takes the time to leave a review for your funeral home, especially a positive one, that effort should be rewarded with a response from the funeral home itself. A simple, "It was a pleasure to serve you" or "Thank you for the kind review. We do our best to make sure every family has a positive experience with our staff" goes a long way. It helps the family know that they are still important to you.
Promote
One of the best marketing messages you can have are testimonials from actual customers. Once you have several positive reviews, you now have social proof that you are the type of business that others should want to do business with. Share your positive reviews on your website and tell price shoppers to look at your reviews when making a decision. A strong online reputation is a surefire way to growing your call volume.
Negative Reviews
Just because you got a one-star review, doesn't mean that you don't offer excellent service. And it doesn't mean that you can't still win business through your reviews. It just means that you have to work a little harder. People understand that there will always be people who find reasons to get upset. How the company deals with those people can help sway a lot of new families your way.
Apologize
The first thing you should do, whether the complaint was real or not is to apologize. When apologizing, acknowledge the frustration or feelings of the customer.
Stay Calm
It can be frustrating to read a negative review. Especially when you know that you went above and beyond for that particular customer. When responding and apologizing, it is important not to let emotions get in the way or to become defensive. Staying calm and maintaining a cool head will ensure that it doesn't escalate any further.
Offer a Solution
In your response, show that you are willing to make things right. Offer a personalized solution for that specific family. If you are offering the same answer for every family, it won't seem personal anymore and may come across like you don't care.
Move Things Offline
The last thing you want to have with a disgruntled customer is a long, back-and-forth dialogue that lives on your online profile forever. The best thing you can do is refer them to someone on your staff who can serve as a customer service rep and help remediate the situation. It's easier to communicate over the phone and will be more personal for the individual.
How to Gain Reviews
Funeral homes work hard to serve the families in their community and offer a very valuable, important service. Unfortunately, that value is often so personal and infrequent, that it doesn't always compute in the minds of your families to leave a review.
When trying a new restaurant they like, people are eager to share that with friends and family so they can have the same positive experience. With funeral service, families don't want their loved ones to experience a funeral soon. This might be why funeral homes have a tougher time obtaining reviews.
That doesn't mean that the service isn't appreciated and very valuable; it just means that the funeral home has to be a little more proactive. Below is a video explaining how to generate more reviews, and if you're interested in learning more, here's our guide to generating more funeral home reviews.
Funeral Home Articles
If there's one thing we've learned in 2020, it's that it's difficult to predict the future, and there will all be surprises that lie ahead. Businesses and individuals need to stay agile and adaptable to be ready for whatever life throws at them. 2020 has been a challenging year for the funeral profession and others as well. Still, we've seen that those funeral homes and funeral professionals who have focused on making their consumer experience as comforting and easy as possible are those that are winning. At Domani, we exist to help funeral homes help their families have a better experience. Through the power of text messaging, we follow up with families and give them the support and resources they need following a loss. That great experience then leads to a positive online review and helps others looking for a positive experience to find that funeral home. It's a virtuous cycle that helps grow a funeral home's at-need business. When it comes to preneed, the same principle holds. If funeral homes can provide the experience a family is looking for, that will be the funeral home that wins. During 2020, our preneed appointment setting team has found great success in scheduling remote appointments. Funeral homes that have been willing to adapt and find new ways to do business have grown even during difficult circumstances. We firmly believe that technology will help us as a funeral profession provide those better experiences for families, but simply using technology for technology's sake is not the answer. We need to leverage technology to help provide personal, engaging experiences with families. We shouldn't use technology as a crutch or an excuse. It's another way to help the ones we serve and provide them the support they need during a difficult time. As we approach the end of the year and look forward to 2020, take some time to think about how your funeral home is providing meaningful experiences for families and how/what you can do to improve that in the coming year. If you're interested in learning more about Domanicare or Domani Appoinment Setting, please schedule a demo by clicking the link below.
By far the most effective way to create a sense of loyalty to your funeral home is to perform an exceptional service for that family. However, there’s more that you can be doing to establish credibility with families. Here’s three easy steps on how to develop loyalty to your company and ensure your customers come back for your services when a loved one passes.
The vast majority of people in the US and Canada use smartphones. Almost everyone has a smartphone nowadays. Remember when the first “smartphone” came out in 1992 and cell phones like the BlackBerry and iPhone were considered luxuries when they were first created? Now it’s a common sight to see an iPhone. Most funeral homes and cemeteries haven’t even scratched the surface of text-based aftercare, but with 80% of the U.S. population owning a smartphone, and that number expected to rapidly grow.