FrontRunner Announces New $1.6-Million Dollar Training Facility to Help Funeral Professionals Learn, Grow and Better Their Businesses

As the technological demands on funeral professionals continue to evolve, FrontRunner Professional is creating an opportunity to jump ahead of the curve. Clients will have the opportunity to strategically position themselves to conquer new challenges and meet their communities’ expectations.

FrontRunner has acquired a new 6,500 square foot, $1.6-million dollar facility that will house the new Technology and Training Center. The center represents Frontrunner’s ongoing commitment to set a higher standard, and provides all the tools and resources to help clients truly excel in today’s market.

Password Strategies and How to Keep Your Data Secure

Most everyone by now has heard of Heartbleed and we all recognize that’s it’s not a good thing. But for many of us, we don’t have a clue about what it is and what we should be doing about it. Even when Heartbleed became the top news story, there were conflicting reports on what the average person should do to protect their personal information that is stored online.

It doesn’t help that when you ask a more technically-inclined person to explain this worldwide phenomenon, they tend to roll their eyes at you when you stare blankly at their answer. And, if you look at all the tech websites and blogs out there, their cartoon depictions that were created to explain everything to us ‘dummies’, make me feel even dumber!

So, I’ve gone to the programmers at FrontRunner and asked them to explain this so everyone understands. Thankfully, they are patient and keep the eye-rolling to a minimum or they at least wait until I’ve left the room.

Sympathy Stores: Hip or Hype?

You have undoubtedly been hit up at one time or another by the hype of promised profits through the use of sympathy stores and other online selling tools. Before you put your firm’s reputation on the line, there are a few things that you need to know.

 

 

Have You Googled Yourself Lately? Your Reputation is on the Line

Once upon a time, just for fun, all of us would search our own names in Google just to see how we ranked. The act of ego-surfing was done on the sly so we didn’t come across as  caring whether we could find anything about ourselves in the first few pages of the rankings.

Today, not taking the time to Google ourselves and our companies is simply irresponsible. Controlling what searchers find and claiming your business name on the major search engines is part of an effective online reputation management (ORM) plan and makes perfect business sense.

So where should you begin? The first step is actually knowing how your firm looks online when families are searching for you. This is the initial stage of your ORM Plan. Yes, this takes more than a few minutes and can be quite extensive but the following steps can help get you started to assess your current online reputation and determine what needs to be done to improve your online presence.

The Noise: What it is and how it could be killing your business

A recent study suggested that the typical funeral home in North America receives an average of 19 unsolicited sales contacts per day. Being in the technology space, I am saddened to say that in today’s market, most of these contacts involve someone trying to sell some form of technology.

We live in a new world of digital phone service with unlimited calling, email blasts, digital fax machines, and social media. Many technology companies use these techniques because they require little to no investment in advertising and no personal contact. Most don’t know anything about the funeral profession because their sales ‘experience’ has focused on everything from vacuum cleaners and photocopiers to used cars. The noise they generate can be relentless and deafening.

Be Smart about Social Media

Ashley Montroy, FrontRunner Professional’s Marketing and Social Media Manager spoke with Lauren Moore for her article Be Smart about Social Media. The article is published in the March 2014 issue of American Funeral Director Magazine.

The Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, which has been studying  online adults’ social networking site use since 2005, found that last year, 73 percent of adults that are online are using social networking sites. Like it or not, your customers – and your employees – are using social media, probably on a daily basis. It’s crucial, then, that you consider implementing a social media policy for your funeral home.

Technology Roundtable for the Funeral Professional

FrontRunner Professional CEO and Founder, Kevin Montroy, participated in a Technology Roundtable. The following article by Patti Martin Bartsche was published in the March 2014 issue of American Funeral Director Magazine.

There’s no question businesses – including funeral homes – are operating in a rapidly changing technological environment. What worked five years ago is now considered antiquated and not in tune with the times. But how do funeral professionals determine the right time to upgrade, what technology tools best fit their business model and how to protect themselves from security breaches? We turn to three industry leaders: Wes Johnson, president and CEO of Continental Computer Inc.; Kevin Montroy, founder and CEO of FrontRunner Professional; and Kimberly Simons, vice president of SRS Computing, to get the answers.

Take Control of Your Website

I recently read an expression describing websites as living, breathing entities. Or at least, that’s how websites are described when they are relevant and dynamic. So, how do you figure out if your website is relevant and dynamic or in other words… interesting – engaging – informative – current? And, if you realize that your website needs some changes, where do you begin to pump some life into it?

Electronic Guest Books: Lead Generator or Business Shredder?

There is a lot of hype these days about electronic guest books and most of the hype, of course, is coming from the technology companies producing them.

As the CEO of a technology company, this latest fad serves to remind me that when it comes to technology, just because we can, doesn’t mean we should. And, as more and more funeral homes seek to be the ‘leading’ funeral home in their communities, being on the front line gives them a greater chance of being shot.

Fight Back to Protect Your Obituaries

Since the release of last week’s blog post Why Would Anyone Commit Obituary Piracy?, there has been an overwhelming response from FrontRunner clients who 1. had no idea that this was actually happening and 2. didn’t think they could do anything to prevent obituaries from falling in the hands of third party marketers that are out to profit off the copyrighted notices.

ObitSafe.com

Obituary theft occurs when a company (third party marketer, rival funeral home, newspaper) copies an obituary off of your funeral home website and places it on their website. This practice not only takes revenue away from your funeral firm, it undermines your credibility with the families you serve in your community. Every obituary posted within the Book of Memories includes a link to a the ObitSafe.com disclaimer. It states the following: