FDLIC Corporate Officers blog about current issues in the preneed industry and in funeral service, providing insight, commentary, and news updates.
Why Settle for "Good" When You Can Be GREAT?
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
"Whenever an individual or a business decides that success has been attained, progress stops." -- Thomas Watson, founder of IBM
In his book, "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't," author Jim Collins discusses the concept of how "good is the enemy of great." It's so easy to settle for simply being "good." Why not aspire for greatness? How many times have you seen this occur and in how many different aspects of life?
To avoid moving toward a state of apathy, Collins suggests that "greatness is a matter of conscious choice and discipline." Five simple ideas come to mind when reflecting upon how to move from "good" to "great":
- Remain humble. It's not about you, it's about serving others.
- Life is about people. It's not "what," it's "who."
- Remain disciplined. We aren't perfect, neither is the world.
- Be patient. Greatness is never built by a single event.
- Don't settle for the status quo. What you do really matters.
At FDLIC, we are committed to helping our client funeral homes achieve greatness and I am a firm believer in the role that marketing plays in accomplishing this objective.
Community-Centered Marketing: You must have a plan for success!
Through community-centered marketing, we show our clients how to engage the people of their communities with information, services, advice and support. We are able to empower others to seek out information and become educated in a variety of areas. The types of programs we offer demonstrate the funeral home's deep commitment to the community they serve. When people see how you care about them, a bond of trust will be built which will benefit all involved.
As we stand on the threshold of the fourth-quarter of the year, now would be a perfect time to develop a community-centered marketing plan for 2011.
Here are a few questions to consider that might help in designing a marketing plan:
- How effective do you think your firm has been at understanding and meeting the needs of the community?
- Overall, how has your market share changed in the last 5 years?
- How do you feel about your firm's at-need call volume currently?
- What about preneed? Do you have an active preneed marketing program? If so, how is it working for you? If no, are you curious about what it would take to get one set up?
- What is your annual budget for marketing? What kind of lead generation programs are you currently using and how are they working out?
- How satisfied are you with the image you have established with your lead generation and marketing programs? How do you feel that your firm is perceived in the community?
- What differentiates you from your competition? How are you maximizing on your firm's unique and valuable contribution?
- Ideally, what words would you like to spring into the public's mind when they think of your firm?
- What are your three main objectives for 2011?
- Are there any immediate concerns that need to be addressed?
If you want to take that step beyond "good" marketing to "great" marketing, our community-centered programs are perfect for you. First, they place an emphasis on serving others. Second, they are about connecting in real and meaningful ways with people in your community. Third, a marketing plan will keep you on a consistent, disciplined track all year long. Fourth, our marketing programs have a cumulative effect. Over the course of the year, you might personally come into contact with hundreds of interested prospective customers. And fifth, in the long run, you will have the privilege of seeing how these programs and events really do make a difference in the lives of people.
Best of all, you don't have to do it alone. We have the resources of caring sales managers and a full-service marketing department to help guide and support you in developing your marketing plan for 2011. Simply give us a call to put your plan in motion!