Step 1: A Different View of the Most Important Event We Plan
8-9 a.m.

Paul Seyler, president, Competitive Resources

Everywhere we turn we’re being told to create a better customer experience. But the one experience most critical to our bottom line is the one we manage the least – the arrangement conference.

Paul Seyler, president of Competitive Resources, compares making arrangements to a mysterious black box. We send grieving families there, but instead of getting what they want – they get disappointed.

In this session, Seyler helps you transform disappointing business results and unhappy families into meaningful profits and loud advocates. Learn how:

   •   Disney World would design the ultimate
        cremation arrangement conference.
   •   Top-performing firms design an experience to deliver
        powerful messages and results.
   •   Managing the arrangement conference can immediately boost
        your bottom line.

Seyler encourages you to think in new ways and stop conducting business as usual. By doing so, you’ll help your families and your firm.

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Step 2: Enforcing Procedures and Troubleshooting Problems
9:15-10:15 a.m.

Chris Farmer, general counsel of CANA

Chris Farmer, general counsel of CANA and the Texas Funeral Directors Association, has handled hundreds of lawsuits targeting funeral homes, crematories and cemeteries.

Many death-care professionals approach Farmer after being sued, but you could save your business a bundle – perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars – by seeking his guidance now.

Whether you own a crematory or work with a third party, you need to enforce proper procedures to minimize problems. With Farmer as your guide, you’ll learn how to:

   •    Document the right things.
   •    Get your staff to buy into proper procedures.
   •    Respond to formal and informal investigations.
   •    Determine when you need to hire a lawyer.

   •    Learn from your mistakes.

Farmer normally bills clients hundreds of dollars an hour for his expert guidance, so this session alone is worth the cost of your registration.

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Step 3: Pricing in the Cremation Economy
10:15-11:15 a.m.

David Nixon, owner of Nixon Consulting

Before you know it, more than half your families will be opting for cremation – if you haven’t crossed that threshold already. But many firms continue to set prices as though cremation families are out of tune.

David Nixon wants you to ask yourself this: Does your pricing require burial families to subsidize cremation families? Does it bother you that this approach may be ethically wrong? Does it concern you that you’re setting your business up for a big fall?

Telling it like it is, Nixon examines the pricing of products and services from top to bottom. You’ll discover how to:

   •   Break through the cremation brick wall.
   •   Take different approaches to cremation, including upselling
        versus value pricing.
   •   Right-size expenses to income – and boost profits!
   •   Reaffirm the cremation choice knowing that your business
       will benefit.
   •   Develop a pricing strategy matrix that’s fair and profitable.

Improve and build a game plan to succeed next year and beyond with one of the top thinkers in the death-care profession.

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Step 4: Boosting Business with Pet Cremation
11:15-12:15 p.m.

Coleen Ellis, founder of the Two Hearts Pet Loss Center

Demand for pet memorialization continues to explode, and while a number of funeral homes and crematories serve this niche, there are still a tremendous number of families whose needs aren’t being met.

That’s good news for you because you can build or expand an existing pet loss program to enhance goodwill in your community, boost profits and complement your human business.

After this session, you’ll walk away knowing how to:

   •    Turn pet families into customers for your human business.
   •    Generate more referrals by helping families with pets.
   •    Offer more products and services by serving this niche.
   •    Earn positive media exposure and get free publicity.

Get the tools you need to expand market share and help your community in the process by focusing on pet cremation.

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Step 5: Competing in a Rapidly Changing Cremation Market
1:15-2:15 p.m.

Christine Hunsaker, senior vice president of cremation, Stewart Enterprises

Cremation is growing in every segment of the funeral and cemetery industry. So are the liabilities, responsibilities and opportunities.

Christine Hunsaker showcases real-life examples of what works and what doesn’t. You’ll learn how to:

   •    Grow revenue and build market share.
   •    Run a top-shelf cremation company while protecting yourself
         against liability.
   •    Take advantage of big opportunities in the cemetery market.
   •    Help families preserve their long-term heritage.

Take responsibility for your business and find the opportunities that families want and that your competitors are ignoring.

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Step 6: The Future is Now … and It’s Time to ACT
2:15-3 p.m.

Jason Burlage, vice president and general manager of Strategic Business Units at Batesville Casket Co., teams up with Nectar Ramirez, director of sales at Options by Batesville, to deliver insights on how the death rate, cremation rate and consumer attitudes will affect the future of the death-care profession.

In this session, you’ll learn how to

   •    Take ACTion to demonstrate the importance of the “why” of the funeral.
   •    Modify they way you do business to meet the changing
         needs of consumers.
   •    Sell value that will boost revenue per call for cremation.

Jason and Nectar provide real data to back up their ideas so you can motivate your staff and improve family satisfaction

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Special Reception: Lake Lawn Funeral Home and Cemeteries
3 p.m.

Join your peers on a private tour and reception at the funeral home and cemeteries, which are among the most popular tourist attractions in New Orleans. Learn More.