Are your families logical or emotional consumers?

Karen Darby-Ritz,
Advance Planning Manager,
Camino del Sol Funeral
Chapel & Cremation Center

Do you remember why you bought your last car? Was it because of the pretty color? Or was it something more logical? If you ask someone why they bought their car, they will more than likely explain their logical reasoning such as the gas mileage, the safety rating and the affordability.

The same goes for funerals. If you ask someone why they chose your funeral home, they will likely say the convenient location, the affordable prices and the service options. Are these the only motivators?

More times than not, consumers think they are making decisions based on research and facts alone. But actually, there are many other unconscious factors in play such as:

• What others are using or doing
• Personal biases
• Fear of losing out on a product
• Personal drive

It’s not that they’re lying about their choice, it’s because they want to believe the logical reasons that back up their decisions. We all have a need to be able to defend our actions to ourselves and to others.

You might buy a cherry red sedan because it subconsciously reminds you of the cool convertible you had as a teenager, but you’ll likely buy it because of the safety rating.

So, to best present our funeral home’s products and services, we need to paint the full picture for them. Whether it’s a price shopper on the phone or a family deciding between urn vaults, it’s not enough to tell them what we think they want to know. We have to reach them on both an emotional level and a logical level. Sure, you can explain tensile strength or warranty details, but you also need to talk about peace of mind. When you can reach a family on both levels, you are proving to them you have real value.

This article originally appeared in Trigard Tuesdays, our weekly electronic newsletter featuring information for the funeral industry. Sign up for your free subscription at http://www.trigard.com/tuesdays.