When was the last time you put yourself first?It might sound strange to put yourself first, especially when there are so many people who need you. However, in order to best care for grieving families, your staff, and your business, you have to first care for yourself.Host Rob Davidson welcomes back Madison Miller, former Miss Ohio winner and daughter of a funeral home owner. Madison shares takeaways from her thought-provoking presentation “5 Fundamentals of Funeral Directing by a Non-Funeral Director” and explains how answering 4 specific questions can help you find balance in caring for yourself, your business, and your families.

Did you know that according to a survey by the Department of Veterans Affairs, only 29% of veterans understand the burial benefits available to them?Your funeral home can play a key role in educating and building relationships with local veterans. In this episode, host Rob Davidson and Madison Miller, former Miss Ohio winner and daughter of a funeral home owner, discuss how funeral homes can connect with veterans. Madison shares her experience growing up in the funeral profession and why funeral homes should support veterans in their community. 

Funeral directors do a lot for their businesses and families. But sometimes, all their responsibilities pile up and lead to workplace stress, which can cause lasting burnout. Fortunately, emotional intelligence can help you lower workplace stress and improve your service to families.Host Rob Davidson sits down with Dr. Melanie Carr, author of Emotional Intelligence for Funeral Directors: The Secret to Less Stress and Burnout at Work, to discuss the importance of emotional intelligence and what you can do to grow in this area.

As a funeral professional, you are responsible for leading families during their greatest times of need. That’s why you must be a leader worth following. Host Rob Davidson welcomes Kris Seale, President and Chief Executive Officer of Funeral Directors Life, back to FD Talks. Kris shares advice he's learned after nearly 40 years of leading people and what helped him grow his leadership skills.Find out how to become the leader your funeral home and families need you to be.

What would happen if you gave your funeral home’s staff a 30-day sabbatical?Your staff needs to be rested and focused to best serve families, which can be challenging after long seasons of stress and burnout. But if your funeral home operates with a small staff, you may not think your funeral professionals can be gone for weeks at a time.In this episode of FD Talks, host Rob Davidson and Kris Seale, President and Chief Executive Officer of Funeral Directors Life (FDL), discuss the benefits of giving funeral professionals a sabbatical.Learn how giving your staff time to rest could improve your care for families.   Visit www.dig.family to learn more.

Can a custom website help you increase your preneed leads? Will it rank you higher on Google and improve your ability to reach new families? What’s at risk if you don’t prioritize your website?The latest FD Talks podcast covers all this and more as host Rob Davidson continues the conversation on funeral home websites. Drew Seale, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Funeral Directors Life, and Curtis Funk, Chief Executive Officer at Tukios, are back to offer their insights and share how funeral homes have found success using their website.Learn more about prioritizing your website here: https://www.funeraldirectorslife.com/services/marketing-services/   

As more consumers turn to the internet with questions about funerals, your website should easily offer answers.But it's not enough for your website to educate and connect with families – it should turn curious visitors into consistent leads for your funeral home.The newest FD Talks dives into the importance of funeral home websites and their role in improving your service and growing your business. Host Rob Davidson is joined by Drew Seale, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Funeral Directors Life, and Curtis Funk, Chief Executive Officer at Tukios, to discuss the benefits of a quality and custom website in part one of this two-part series.Discover how to make your website your new digital storefront here: https://www.funeraldirectorslife.com/services/marketing-services/

There were so many great guests featured on FD Talks this year, and each one had helpful tips on how to best serve families and manage your funeral home.In the final episode of 2023, we recap the seven most important lessons we learned on the podcast this year. Hear from funeral experts on how to prepare for another year of caring for families by meeting your community’s needs, using a digital marketing strategy, growing as a funeral professional, and more.See how these lessons can help make 2024 a year to remember for your funeral home, and thank you for making 2023 a great year for FD Talks!If you’d like to learn more about a topic you heard on this podcast, request a consultation here: https://www.funeraldirectorslife.com/request-consultation/

Do you know how quickly most families think a funeral should occur after the death? What about if most families think a funeral is necessary with cremation?The answers may surprise you.The latest FD Talks podcast continues the conversation about common disconnects between funeral homes and families revealed in a recent consumer study. Host Rob Davidson welcomes back Todd Carlson, Executive Vice President and Chief Sales Officer at Funeral Directors Life, as the pair dive deeper into what funeral directors need to understand about families to avoid unintentional dissatisfaction.Download the free report below to gain more insights to help you make more informed decisions about your funeral business here: https://www.funeraldirectorslife.com/report/

“If you want to sell Mrs. Jones what Mrs. Jones buys, you need to see Mrs. Jones through Mrs. Jones' eyes.”When it comes to funerals, families' knowledge and preferences have changed. And in order to best serve your community, you need to understand how families view funerals and what they expect from you.In part one of this FD Talks two-part series, host Rob Davidson welcomes Todd Carlson, Executive Vice President and Chief Sales Officer at Funeral Directors Life. The two discuss common disconnects between families and funeral homes and how these disconnects can unintentionally cause dissatisfaction.Learn how understanding families' assumptions about funeral options, prices, timelines, technology, and more can help you provide the best care to families and adapt to their changing needs.

When a family searches “funeral home near me,” they likely use Google and follow Google’s suggestions. That means if your business isn’t one of Google’s first results, you may miss out on serving them. Host Rob Davidson welcomes Haley Laurence, Digital Marketing Supervisor at Funeral Directors Life, to the FD Talks podcast to discuss the importance of promoting your business with Google Ads. Get answers to common questions like:What are Google Ads?How can you be the top Google result?Is Google advertising cost-effective?And more!Find out how Google Ads can help you reach families first.And download your free copy of the Digital Marketing 101 eBook to learn more: https://www.funeraldirectorslife.com/digital-marketing-101-ebook/

More and more families today are interested in starting the preplanning search online. Do you have a plan to reach them there? This FD Talks episode features Rob Davidson’s discussion with John Davenport, Vice President of Sales for Service Group of Oklahoma, and R.T. Delhomme, Vice President of Operations at Martin & Castille Funeral Home in Louisiana, about new marketing strategies that can help grow your preneed program.Learn how you can increase your brand awareness, grow your market share, receive a higher return on your marketing investment, and more with these proven strategies.For more funeral home marketing tips, download our eBook: https://www.funeraldirectorslife.com/digital-marketing-101-ebook/ 

According to the World Bank, 92% of Americans use the internet. That means reaching consumers online is the best way to spread awareness about your funeral home’s services.But how should you do that?Rob sits down with Mitchell McLean, Vice President of Digital Marketing at Funeral Directors Life, to discuss the state of digital marketing for funeral homes today.Learn how an effective marketing strategy can grow your preneed program and discover the surprising social media platform that’s generating high return for funeral home clients.To learn more about digital marketing, download our eBook: https://www.funeraldirectorslife.com/digital-marketing-101-ebook/ 

The average funeral consumer falls into 1 of 7 categories. And each group has different expectations of how funerals should be…and how they expect you to interact with them. Josh McQueen, Vice President of Marketing & Product at Directors Investment Group (DIG), returns to the FD Talks podcast to identify these 7 consumer segments, based on a recent study done by McKee Wallwork + Co. and DIG. They discuss:How families have changed in the last decadeImportant information about the 7 types of consumersHow you can discover which segments live in your communityAnd more!Get more insights in this free report that you can use to help you make better, more informed decisions about your funeral business. >> The New Funeral Consumer Report - FDLIC 

One of the biggest problems funeral directors face today is the evolving needs of families. In order to adapt to them, you need to grow in your craft.In this FD Talks episode, Rob Davidson sits down with Gary Freytag, President and CEO of Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum and the current ICCFA president, and Kevin Gaffney, Chairman of the Membership Committee Board at ICCFA, to discuss growth in the profession. They cover the importance of trying new ideas, the benefits of an ICCFA membership, and more. Listen now to start growing today!To learn more about an ICCFA membership, contact Cindy at cindy@iccfa.org or visit https://iccfa.com/join/. 

You’ve likely heard that cremation rates are at an all-time high. But did you know that in the last decade, family preference for cremation has only risen 2.3%? Host Rob Davidson sits down with Josh McQueen, Vice President of Marketing & Product at Directors Investment Group (DIG), to uncover 5 crucial findings about funeral consumers and their preferences, based on a recent study done by McKee Wallwork + Co. and DIG. They break down statistics and data to reveal how families really feel about:The funeral profession as a wholeComfort around planning onlineDisposition optionsAnd more!Get more insights in this free report that you can use to help you make better, more informed decisions about your funeral business. >> https://www.funeraldirectorslife.com/report/ 

Funeral livestreaming isn’t going away anytime soon. In fact, 42% of people feel comfortable attending a funeral online. That’s why you need to offer a livestreaming option now.Host Rob Davidson sits down with Tyler Ward, Digital Sales Manager with Encore Livestreaming, on the FD Talks podcast to discuss 10 dos and don’ts of funeral livestreaming. They cover:What equipment to useHow to use livestreaming as a competitive advantageThe problems with “free” livestreaming platformsAnd more!If you want to try livestreaming on your own, download the livestreaming “Quick Start Guide” here: https://www.funeraldirectorslife.com/fdtalks/25/#guideOr learn more about Encore livestreaming here:  https://www.funeraldirectorslife.com/encore 

The interest rate environment is on the rise (along with prices and inflation), but what does that mean for your funeral home? And what can you do about it? Host Rob Davidson invited Todd Carlson, Executive Vice President of Sales and Chief Sales Officer of Funeral Directors Life, to FD Talks to discuss:A special announcement from Funeral Directors Life about our preneed funeral growth ratesHow to choose the right preneed product for your funeral homeInflation mitigation strategiesYou can take this information and apply it to your funeral home today!

Funeral Directors Life Insurance Company (FDLIC) recently finalized the acquisition of American Life & Annuity Company (ALAC) in Hot Springs, Arkansas. President and CEO of FDLIC Kris Seale and ALAC President Claude Holloway join FD Talks host Rob Davidson for a conversation about the acquisition process, including how it came to be and what’s next for both companies.

According to a report by the National Funeral Directors Association, one of the most common funeral home needs is an increase in staff. Many funeral directors believe that finding the right people will be their greatest challenge over the next five years. As a result, the Journey to Serve campaign was created to help funeral homes recruit veterans and lead them from one selfless position of service to another.On the latest installment of FD Talks, host Rob Davidson speaks with Lee Wiensch, CFRE and Executive Director at Funeral Service Foundation, and Jim Price, President of ICCFA Educational Foundation. The three discuss:What makes veterans a great fit for the funeral professionHow Journey to Serve was created and how it’s being received in the funeral professionHow funeral homes can use these tools to welcome veterans to their staffAnd more!