Alan Creedy and Danny Jefferson, two funeral service innovators who host a popular podcast called “Two Guys and a Question,” shared a myriad of insights on “the ins and outs of discounting prices” in their latest episode.
“The implicit assumption in funeral service is that the form of disposition dictates the form of service,” Creedy observed. “There is some truth to that, but it’s not the whole truth. Embedded in that assumption is that people who choose something other than burial don’t care as much about their loved one as other people do – and I do not agree with that.”
In fact, even if a family is forced to choose direct cremation because of their financial situation, Creedy adamantly disagrees with that notion.
“Yes, there is as segment of the population that doesn’t care, but it’s smaller than we think,” he said.
More and more families are using a funeral home for a cremation and later arranging a service on their own at their local church, a VFW, a park or some other venue, Jefferson said.
“If you didn’t know they were going to do that and you find out later, that is wrong,” Jefferson declared. “If people are using your service for disposition and holding something else later on … and people have read the obituary at your website and they get there and no one from Smith Funeral Home is there … you got a problem.”
Some funeral homes will give discounts indiscriminately for $500 to $2,000, and Creedy is simply aghast.
“What that signals to me is you are not thinking through the impact on that,” he said, noting that he once had a client who came to him because they were struggling. A thorough investigation revealed that his dire situation was the result of two big things: his retail strategy was all wrong and he’d give discounts to virtually everyone.
“I can understand a $500 discount on a $10,000 burial, but I can’t understand a $500 discount on a $1,500 cremation,” Creedy said.
To learn more about Creedy and Jefferson’s insights on pricing and discounts, listen to the latest episode of “Two Guys and a Question.”