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OCTOBER 2013
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS
S ec t i on A
Great news! We now have a web store where you
can shop at your convenience, 24 hours a day.
If you prefer to talk to a live person call us
800-452-2249
Either way, fast delivery and great customer service!
JOHNSTOWN HEARSE RENTAL
& FUNERAL SUPPLIES
We offer a full line of funeral supplies: Acknowledgement Cards
Crosses & Crucifixes – Prayer Cards – Prep Room Supplies
Register Books – Service Records – Cremation Items
800-452-2249 M– F, 8am – 5pm est
jtownhearse@hotmail.com
SERVING THE FUNERAL INDUSTRY FOR 60 YEARS
October
Special!
PRAYER
CARDS
$49.50 per pack
3 or more packs
$47.00 per pack
6 or more packs
$44.50 per pack
CREMATION DIVISION
Jonas A. Zahn is the president and founder of Northwoods Cas-
ket Co., a manufacturer of environmentally friendly caskets made
in Wisconsin. He has been involved in casket-making since build-
ing a casket for his Grandfather in 2004 and now distributes sus-
tainable caskets to funeral homes throughout the United States.
Jonas has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from
the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Jonas can be reached by
email at jonas.zahn@NorthwoodsCasket.com. Visit Northwoods
Casket online a
By Jonas A. Zahn
Greening
the Funeral
Industry
tomers will have a profound impact on both their atten-
tion span and their loyalty.
So maybe you get the Gold, but where’s the Green in
the Black? I illustrate with my own experience. I don’t
build caskets to make money – there are a lot of other
ways I could make money, and some are far easier than
making caskets. And I don’t just make caskets. I make
sustainable, eco-friendly, non-toxic, locally sourced, car-
bon-negative caskets because I am fascinated by the chal-
lenge of building a business on Smarter Planet ideas. I
plant lots and lots of trees because I believe that nobody
can argue that planting trees isn’t a great thing. I source
raw materials and manufacture with local talent so that
I can create jobs in my community. This is my passion.
Before listening toMr. Sinek, I was shy about my passion
and kept my motivations private. I now realize that not
only was there no need to hide my motivation, but in-
stead making myself transparent has only helped to build
trust in personal relationships, longer attention spans,
and true loyalty from our customers.
I invite you to find the why in your motivation. Yes,
I admit Green is arguably an already over-played mar-
keting moniker and trend. It is no longer relevant to a
consumer to tout our wares as simply Green – that’s not
good enough. Go for the Gold and tell your custom-
ers why you do what you do. If you can sprinkle a little
Green into that Gold I assure you will find yourself a
whole new Black.
Could Green + Gold Be The
New Black?
There’s been an awful lot of talk in the last several years
about keeping the funeral industry out of The Red. Busi-
ness is changing due to all kinds of trends: decreasing death
rate, increasing cremation rate, rising employer costs, ris-
ing cost of health care, decreasing asset to debt ratios, and
more. Every one of these topics is the subject of news ar-
ticles and op-ed pieces in every publication on- or off-line
from which we opt to fill our minds. There’s no shortage of
opinions on the profitability (or lack thereof ) in death care
service or where the industry is headed next. One thing for
sure is that for those fifth and sixth generation funeral di-
rectors, operating a funeral service business today is noth-
ing like it was five generations ago when cash and bartering
were the primary means of transacting business.
Last year in this column I wrote about the Golden Cir-
cle of Motivation as presented by Simon Sinek in a TED
talk. In about ten minutes Mr. Sinek makes a compelling
argument for any commercial business to re-invent our
marketing message to focus on why we do what we do.
Answers like “to make money” are not valid. A business
makes money to exist, it does not exist to make money.
Mr. Sinek uses breathing as an analogy. We breathe to live,
not the other way around. Typically most employees in a
business can explain what they do. Very few can explain
how they do it. And even fewer know why. For some firms,
nobody can articulate why their firm exists. But those who
can explain why, and can explain effectively, already have
their go-to-market message.
In these contemporary times of volatile markets, political
challenges, and ever-rising cost of doing business, it is hard
enough to keep a business in The Black. Add to our chal-
lenges this new breed of consumer with the loyalty of Bene-
dict Arnold and the attention span of Sponge Bob inhaling
more information in a minute today than our forefathers
consumed in an entire month. Could Green and Gold be
the new Black?
Nine years ago, I built my first casket. Eight years ago I sold
my first “green” casket. About five years ago I discovered, al-
most by accident, that people were more interested in why I
build caskets than how I build them (the “what”
has always
been obvious)
. Like many businesses, I had a website that de-
scribed what I was selling. For a short period I thought I was
clever in describing how I was achieving the what but I bored
every sorry chap that read my web pages. Then about two
years ago I listened to Simon Sinek’s TED talk and things
haven’t been the same since. Sales have more than doubled in
each of the two years since I have re-focused my go-to-market
messaging on why I build environmentally friendly caskets.
I share this with you and anyone interested enough to re-
think their marketing message. For those of you who are
5th or 6th generation funeral directors, I applaud you. For
those of you just entering this industry, I applaud you. You
are both likely very close to explaining “why” you have re-
mained in, or have recently chosen, this profession. As for
the rest of us… can we quickly and effectively explain “why
does my firm exist” or “why am I a funeral director” to a 10
year-old? Keep in mind that “make money” is a cop-out an-
swer. Not everyone’s answer is the same – and need not be.
Your answer is your own – it is your Golden Circle of Mo-
tivation. Making your motivation transparent for your cus-
10’ x 12’ walk-in cooler
Family room/viewing room
Twinwood Mortuary
Services Commercial
Embalming Facility
tions. There she was trained and mentored by excellent
embalmers and funeral directors with over 60 years of
combined experience.
After leaving Earthman as it was taken over by
SCI
, Ju-
lie worked for several other commercial embalmers, but
she knew that to ever have a work environment similar to
her days at Earthman she would have to build it herself.
Twinwood is an independent, built to serve the needs of
other independents, and to offer personalized service cus-
tom tailored to suit each individual client.
A fully furnished family room was built so that I.D. views
Stewart Shareholders
Approve Merger between
SCI/Stewart
HOUSTON,TX—
Service
Corporation Internation-
al
(SCI) and
Stewart En-
terprises, Inc.
(STEI) have
each received a request for
additional information from
the Federal Trade Commis-
sion in connection with its
review of SCI’s pending ac-
quisition of Stewart.
On August 13, 2013 Stew-
art reported that its share-
holders have approved the
Agreement and Plan of
Merger, dated as of May 28,
2013, by and among SCI,
Rio Acquisition Corp. and
Stewart. Over 99% of votes
were cast in favor of propos-
al, which represents 83% of
total voting power.
Both Stewart Enterprises,
Inc. and Service Corpora-
tion International have re-
ported their quarterly cash
dividends and third quarter
results.
STEI and its Board of Di-
rectors have declared a reg-
ular quarterly cash dividend
of $0.045 per share. This
dividend was payable on
July 30, 2013 to holders of
record of Class A and Class
B Common Stock as of the
close of business on July 22,
2013.
Net earnings for the third
quarter 2013 are $8.3 mil-
lion with $.10 per diluted
share.
Thomas M. Kitch-
en
, President and Chief
Executive Officer, stated,
“The third quarter of 2013
proved to be a challenging
period for the Company,
with the pending merger
with SCI and continued re-
finements to our sales initia-
tives. We continue to believe
that the new structure will
improve customer service
and increase preneed sales
over time...” For complete
results visit www.stei.com.
SCI reported that its quar-
terly cash dividend of $0.07
per share was payable on
September 30, 2013 to
shareholders of record at the
close of business on Septem-
ber 13, 2013. While the
Company intends to pay
regular quarterly cash div-
idends for the foreseeable
future, all subsequent div-
idends, and the establish-
ment of record and payment
dates, are subject to final de-
termination by the Board of
Directors each quarter after
its review of the Company's
financial performance. For
complete results visit www.
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