2024 CONNECTING DIRECTORS DEATHCARE SURVEY

ABOUT YOU

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* 1. What is your PRIMARY role in the deathcare profession? (If more than one, please mark only your primary role)

Funeral home owner

Funeral home manager

Funeral director

Embalmer

Funeral services assistant

Crematory operator

Cemetery operator

Preneed counselor/sales

Student

Educator or lecturer

Product supplier/distributor (caskets, software, urns, etc.)

Service provider (legal, marketing, grief counseling, etc.)

Retired

Other (please specify)

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* 2. What is your gender?

Male

Female

Nonbinary

Do not wish to disclose

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* 3. What is your age?

27 or younger

28 – 43

44 – 59

60 – 69

70 or older

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* 4. Where are the majority of your facilities, or your main/home office, located?

State/Province

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* 5. What is your AVERAGE annual number of calls in each location?

2000

Clear

i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

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* 6. What is your cremation rate?

100%

Clear

i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

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* 7. How would you best categorize the majority of the services you provide?

Traditional

Contemporary

Flexible based on family requests

Other (please specify)

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* 8. What were your top professional challenges in 2023? Please select no more than five.

Recruiting or retaining talent

Personnel management/difficult coworkers/generational differences

Time management

Revenue generation

Marketing/attracting at-need calls

Marketing/attracting pre-need calls

Communicating value to families

Educating families and the public at large

Collections/getting paid on time

Difficult/dysfunctional families

Rising cremation rates

Competition

Community involvement

Selling/displaying/managing product inventory

Compassion fatigue or general mental health

Succession management, selling, or acquisition decisions

Potential for regulatory issues (FTC phone sweeps, etc.)

Bad/negative press

Other (please specify)

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* 9. Which SINGLE activity do you wish you could spend LESS TIME DOING?

Data entry/re-entry

Filing/processing paperwork

Problem employees/coworkers

Marketing efforts

Social media

Cleaning/maintenance

Understanding/learning/fixing technology

Answering phone calls/emails

Dealing with partners (doctors, government officials, cemeteries/FHs, etc.)

Dealing with vendors/suppliers

Nothing! I love everything about my job!

Other (please specify)