Ivy Hurley
Vice President
Primrose Funeral Service
Lytle, Devine, & Pearsall, TX
Average call volume: 300 calls/year

Your funeral home’s top priority is caring for families in need. To do that effectively, you need to ensure you have the right solutions to serve families properly and manage your business.

But caring for families takes time and doesn’t leave you with many opportunities to explore new and efficient ways to run your funeral home.

Ivy Hurley and Primrose Funeral Service experienced this issue firsthand.

However, all that changed when Ivy discovered Funeral Directors Life (FDL) and started saving time in all areas of her business.

“Before FDL, I was stressed. Our business was a mess, and we barely held everything together. Now, things are so much better, and we’re no longer running around in circles.”

Find out how FDL provided Primrose Funeral Service with a one-stop-shop solution for all its preneed, marketing, aftercare, and financial needs.

How did you first learn about FDL’s services and offerings?

We’ve been with FDL since 2019, and an acquaintance in the funeral industry introduced us. He told my husband (Evan Hurley, President of Primrose Funeral Services) and I how FDL handles all these different responsibilities for funeral homes and could save us time. I was immediately on board because we needed the help. At the time, many of our processes were outdated, we weren’t tracking our information, and it felt like we were still in the 1980s.

We needed to be more streamlined and modernized, so discovering FDL was a big deal.

What FDL services does Primrose Funeral Service use?

When we joined FDL, we wanted to go all in with the partnership. We signed up for several services: preneed, accounting, digital marketing, aftercare, livestreaming, and insurance assignments, to name a few. Each service has been outstanding and taken a lot of responsibility off our plates.

How difficult was it to get started with all of FDL’s services?

When we first signed up, I thought it would be chaotic and stressful. I figured it would take some time and patience before we got settled and comfortable using all these new services. But the process was a lot easier than I expected! Everyone at FDL made our setup painless and went above and beyond to ensure we succeeded. That process showed us what kind of people work at FDL and how incredible their customer service is.

Are there any FDL services that have become an irreplaceable part of your business?

I couldn’t imagine managing our funeral homes without FDL’s preneed and accounting services. I can’t go back to the days before we had them.

Our preneed specialist, [FDL Select Producer] David Nix, is incredible. He gives us a reliable and steady preneed channel in the community. We love what he has been able to do! He’s done a lot to get the word out in the community, and he never hesitates to do whatever is necessary to meet with a family or reach out to a local business.

And our accounting has seen a complete turnaround. Before FDL, we had very little bookkeeping. Now, I never worry about misinformation being reported to the IRS. If there’s a question about our finances, I can simply turn to the reports FDL provides us. Plus, FDL’s accounting service has freed us so much of my time that I can help in other parts of our funeral homes, not just the business management side. FDL has everything we need covered.

You also mentioned that you use FDL for your digital marketing. Have you seen any positive results?

We’ve seen some great results from our marketing. Our funeral homes have more of a presence around town and online. In fact, our Chamber of Commerce has started sharing many of our social media posts, which never used to happen.

A big reason we’ve seen results is because FDL shares a lot of informational and educational content for us. Our main goal is to educate families, and families appreciate information and resources about funeral topics. We’ve seen more likes and engagement from families on our social media, especially educational posts.

Before FDL, our social media presence was nonexistent. It has been great to go from that to having people compliment us on our social media.

How has FDL’s digital marketing helped your funeral home stand out online?

The content FDL posts helps us stand out online – especially our videos! The FDL A/V team came to our funeral homes and took great videos of our funeral home, staff, services, mission statement, and more. The best part is that these videos are specific to us and show how we’re different than other funeral homes. They also show that we’re heavily involved in the community and that our biggest concern is caring for families. Video is a big part of FDL’s digital marketing service, and for us, it’s a service that has boosted our business.

Offering families livestreaming is another way funeral homes can stand out. What have families thought about your livestreaming service?

We’ve heard a lot of positive feedback from families who use livestreaming. FDL’s livestreaming service is simple, easy to use, and reliable. We did not try to livestream our funerals before FDL. We didn’t know how to livestream or the best livestreaming practices. But FDL allowed us to offer families a unique service that not all funeral homes can. Livestreaming has been a great gift we can offer families who have loved ones throughout the country.

How would you describe your experience with FDL’s digital aftercare service?

We appreciate the great job FDL does with aftercare. That’s an important part of our business, and now we have a reliable system for following up with families after the funeral.

Our aftercare used to be us sending out signed cards to families, but that was challenging and turned into a mess. FDL’s digital aftercare lets us stay in contact with families, offers helpful grief resources, and keeps us fresh in their minds. Our families feel like we really do care about them, and it helps us fight the stigma that funeral homes don’t care about families once the funeral has been paid for.

FDL’s digital aftercare has also helped us serve families multiple times. We can keep the communication channels open with families we’ve cared for, and they’ve turned to us again because they know we’re here and ready to serve. That’s been very helpful for our business.

Are there any benefits to using one partner for all your needs and services?

Having all our funeral home services under one roof and with one company is amazing. I know that whether I have a question about preneed, livestreaming, marketing, or anything else, I can reach out to one person at FDL, and they’ll answer my question. I have one email and phone number I can call to get answers, and I don’t have to worry about calling multiple people or finding the contact info for various companies. FDL has allowed me to save time so I can focus more on serving families, which has greatly improved our funeral homes’ reputation in our community.

Streamlining all our services with one company has given us a lot of relief and peace of mind. FDL has brought our funeral homes into the modern age, and I would tell anyone interested in FDL to absolutely go for it! FDL’s services, expertise, and people have been a massive boon for our daily operations. They relieve so much day-to-day stress for our owners and funeral directors.

Experience the benefits of having all your services under one roof.

Request a consultation today to get started!

Or learn more about how our services can help you help families.

Learn more about preneed.

Learn more about digital marketing.

Learn more about accounting.

Learn more about livestreaming.