By Thomas A. Parmalee
I was recently chatting with one of the smartest people in the funeral profession.
This is a man who has helped start companies, who has owned a funeral home, and who is comfortable working in absolutely any environment – whether it be private equity, a family firm or on his own.
If there is a board of some kind making key decisions, there is a good chance he’s on it or was asked to be on it. He knows virtually everyone in funeral service and helps anyone. He is a good man.
As usually happens during our conversations, our conversation wandered, and it eventually turned to how artificial intelligence is impacting – or will impact – virtually every business and profession that exists or you can imagine.
I then shared an interesting story with him, which I’ll share with you here.
Recently, I was at a business meeting revolving around crisis communications. As usually happens during such meetings, we were given a crisis scenario and asked to break into groups. Our assignment was to anticipate what reporters would ask us about the crisis in an on-camera interview – as well as how we’d respond. Afterward, a designated group spokesperson was even recorded on video giving our responses in a mock interview – and then we reconvened to assess the results.
While I have heard a lot about ChaptGPT and artificial intelligence, what happened next blew me away. A member of our group – she struck me as probably being the smartest person in the room wherever she goes – immediately took the one-page scenario and began typing the entire thing into ChatGPT, which then did the assignment for us pretty much, spitting back what reporters would most likely ask as well as suggested responses based on the scenario given.
Now, I’ll tell you that the questions and responses were not perfect, but they were pretty darn good, and it gave me a very clear example of how people are already using artificial intelligence in the workplace – and not because they are forcing a square shape into a round hole as part of any type of mandate to use AI – but just because they find it helpful.
What Does Any of This Have to Do with Funeral Service?
My point in sharing the above story is to signal that artificial intelligence isn’t something that is on the horizon. It’s already here – and it’s going to get better and have even more of an impact as the months and years go by.
We are already seeing its impact in funeral service – particularly in the obituary space, where it’s saving funeral directors valuable time in terms of moderating comments and even generating obituaries that are written pretty well just by entering some general details. Can a human do better? Sure … for now, at least – as long as it is the right human.
But if you take a human that abhors writing obituaries and enjoys being in the embalming room more than writing an obit, well, an AI-powered solution is probably already at his or her level if not further along.
My mover-and-shaker friend, however, correctly observed that artificial intelligence will never take the place of a compassionate funeral director who is able to connect with families, be there to lean on and share stories back and forth as they plan a meaningful service or celebration of life for a family.
I told you – this guy is smart.
So, what is the No. 1 way artificial intelligence will transform funeral service – and make it better?
I propose to you it is this …
Some really smart funeral home owner is going to incorporate artificial intelligence into their efforts to cultivate leads and win business. That person or it could be a preneed marketing company – be it Precoa, Preneed Funeral Program or another firm – will incorporate artificial intelligence into their marketing efforts in such a way that they keep the personal connection, which requires the involvement of a funeral home.
But how? How will they do this, you ask?
Imagine a funeral home that instead of offering families the chance to engage in “Pizza and Preplanning” or a “Lunch and Learn” does something entirely different.
That something different could be something along the lines of:
One day only: Come to our funeral home and learn how to leverage artificial intelligence to carry out meaningful daily tasks. Our friendly staff has hired an expert to explore how ChatGPT works. At the end of a brief exploration of how to access it and how to use it, you’ll have the chance to see how powerful it is in action by having it write your own obituary! You’ll also get the chance to meet other friends in the community and enjoy some light refreshments. Register at (give URL).
You can adjust the message and there are entire marketing plans you can build around this idea. But this is the No. 1 way artificial intelligence will revolutionize this profession – someone just has to go and do it.
It marries everything that certain funeral directors are good at – creativity, building connections, and asking questions to determine what really defines a person and their life. Moreover, it’s an activity that incorporates a topic that people are desperate to learn more about that can be molded to fit perfectly with a funeral home’s mission – as well as its target market.
This, of course, is not the only No. 1 way artificial intelligence will impact the profession – but it falls under the overarching umbrella of creativity and using artificial intelligence to carry out your mission, which is already so meaningful and important: helping families celebrate a life a loved one – and reaching as many of those families as possible (and certainly more of them than your competitor).
I encourage all of you to think in new ways to think about how to be better while touching more people and boosting revenue. You can read another idea I have along these lines, which involves the livestreaming of funeral services, here.
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