Why We'll Still Need Funeral Directors 100 Years From Now

BY CHASE DOWNS

Technology disrupts every industry, and we’ve all been witnesses to it — old GPS systems, replaced by Apple Maps and Google Maps. Production and fulfillment workers, replaced by robotic systems. Old cameras, replaced by iPhones. Blockbuster, replaced by streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. Taxis, replaced by Uber. The golden question stands — will funeral directors ever be replaced?

No, and we’ll explain to you why.

Families Need Human Support When Grieving Funeral directors are far more than just people who take care of the deceased. They play an important role in helping families process the loss of a loved one. As a result, funeral directors also play the role of helping people learn how to grieve in moments of loss. According to a study that was reported by Amerispeak, WebMD, and our friends over at Eterneva, around 57% of Americans are grieving the loss of someone close to them 3 years later.

The moral of the story? Grieving is not finite. It doesn’t ever really just end. Instead, we learn how to navigate grief over time.

There are a few important factors that technology will never be able to truly automate or pin down:

• Everyone handles grief differently

• Everyone needs different forms of support

• Every family dynamic is different

• Every culture offers different, niche traditions that vary from others

The only people who are able to manage these different dynamics are funeral directors. Funeral directors are the people that hold the hands of grieving family members to provide comfort. Funeral directors are the ones who choose to be physically present, offer support, and guide families through the process of loss when no one else wants to.

Emma Seminoff, one of the licensed funeral directors on staff with industry provider Gather, said it best with this concept:

“My favorite part about being a funeral director was the first calls. It’s the family’s first interaction with you and the intimacy of going into a stranger’s home in the middle of the night into people’s bedrooms is something they never forget.

"Families become very attached to the first person they encounter in this process because they have seen them at their most vulnerable [moments], in their home, and it’s the first person to tell them that they’ll take good care of their loved one.

"That moment never gets a redo, and it’s a core memory for so many. I think that’s another thing that technology can never do.”

Genuine Community Involvement Can’t Be Automated or

Scaled

Bottom line, most funeral directors didn’t get into the profession for the money. These people are passionate about helping others through some of the worst moments in their lives.

Plus, according to the NFDA, nearly 90% of all funeral homes in the U.S. are family-owned. These funeral homes and funeral directors have built long-standing legacies and have been heavily involved with their communities for hundreds of years.

These locally owned and operated funeral homes take the time to help create obituaries that will serve as personal, intimate keepsakes that live forever in the memory of their loved ones.

While technology can aid the arrangement process, it cannot simply replicate the physical, emotional, and meaningful experiences that funeral directors provide to families.

Consumer Preferences Revolve Around Education, Not Digitalization

Yes, consumer preferences change every day. We can even see that in our industry with more people opting in for cremation nowadays.

We can also see that trickle into many other industries — people are engaged with technology more now than ever before.

But it goes a step further than that. What really provides more comfort to people is education:

• More education

• Better education

• Easier-to-understand education

In the deathcare industry, families are looking for a supporter, a guide, and an educator to help them navigate their journey of losing a loved one.

More times than not, families will appreciate and remember real interactions that they have with a funeral director — not the e-commerce platform that lets them self-checkout to complete their loved one’s cremation.

Education, education, education. That’s where the real value is.

People Desire The Best Experience Possible

People want the best, most intimate experience possible in anything they do. How do funeral directors help deliver that? Trust, reputation, and honest connection.

Trust and reputation for funeral directors and funeral services are built through genuine connections and relationships.

Families want to trust that:

• Their loved one is in good hands to be cared for

• Their loved one matters to the community

• Their grief is valid and understood

• They will receive dedicated help throughout the entire process of losing their loved one

In a lot of ways, an automated, 100% digitalized solution can’t meet these experiential needs for families. But funeral directors can. Funeral directors serve an invaluable role in helping provide peace of mind to families in one of the most difficult experiences in their life.

No matter how fast the pace of technology marches on, one thing will never change: when you lose a loved one, you need another human to help you navigate the difficult days ahead. FBS

Chase Downs joined Gather in 2022 as a funeral service and death care advocate. He's excited to help share Gather's incredible story. He's been featured in several funeral service publications on a variety of subjects including software, marketing, technology, and funeral service. Reach him via email at chase.downs@ gather.app, or learn more about Gather by visiting https://gather.app.

Who is Element and what product and/or service do they provide?

Based in Colorado, Element by The Living Urn® is committed to offering funeral homes best-of-class U.S. made biodegradable and traditional urns, keepsakes, and memorial options that are more meaningful and personal. Its market leading product offering includes the patented Living Urn®, the leading bio urn and planting system designed to grow a tree with cremated remains, multiple indoor planting urns, a line of eco-friendly scattering and burial urns, fingerprint jewelry, cremation jewelry, glass art keepsakes, and more! With its premium product line and state-of-the-art virtual urn store for funeral homes with real-time personalization proofing, families can honor a loved one with an urn and memorial experience that helps tell their loved one’s story.

How did Element by the Living Urn get involved in the industry?

The Living Urn® was the initial product – it was inspired by the founders’ childhood classmate who lost his father and a tree was planted in his memory. Thirty years later the tree is still growing and thriving! The founders’ loved the idea of planting a living tree in memory and wanted to take the concept a step further and integrate cremated remains into a unique biodegradable planting system – something that they developed, patented and named The Living Urn®. Since the launch of The Living Urn® in 2015, the company has continued to expand each year and create new and unique urns and memorial experiences.

Company Spotlight

Element by the Living Urn (855) 777-URNS (8767) www.ElementCatalog.com info@ElementUrns.com

What makes Element unique?

The company’s products are truly unique with patents covering their inventions. Their world class urn and keepsake lines are offered to funeral homes with the highest quality and service at a reasonable price. In addition, many of their urns and keepsakes are produced and personalized at their production facility in Colorado - giving funeral homes a quick turnaround on orders and any personalization required.

What are the benefits to funeral homes using Element?

Element by The Living Urn® provides funeral homes with a one-stop shop for their urn and keepsake needs (everything from traditional urns to proprietary biodegradable urns and keepsakes!). Additional benefits includes highly competitive pricing, same day shipping, and a state-of-the-art virtual urn store with real-time personalization proofing.

How does Element provide a solution for Funeral Homes?

The company offers unique high-quality products at the best price. Having production in Colorado gives them control over the quality and end result. They also have a top-notch Denver-based customer service team available and ready to help funeral directors anytime. In addition, they offer a custom urn store to their funeral home customers at no charge!

How would a funeral home contact Element for more information on your products?

To learn more, Element by The Living Urn® can be reached at (855) 777-URNS (8767), or info@ElementUrns.com. And, to check out their catalog visit: www.ElementCatalog.com

One of the revelations of the Funeral Service Foundation’s research “Breaking the Consumer Code” was the common perception among consumers that conventional funeral facilities are, in their words, perceived as “lonely lifeless tombs.” Here is an actual image the respondents selected to express their opinion: