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Cremation - Baby Boomers - Generations X, Y and ??? - Event Planning - Food and Beverage Receptions - Demographics and Ethnic Groups - Technology - Profit: Products vs. Services - Memorialization - New Competition - Foreign Suppliers - Religion (and lack thereof) - Consumer Preferences - Affiliates - Lead, Follow or Stay Put?
A SURVEY PROJECT SPONSORED BY THE
INTERNATIONAL CEMETERY AND FUNERAL ASSOCIATION
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SURVEY.
This is the first part of a multi-phase project the ICFA will be conducting over the next few years. The purpose of this first portion is to provide a vehicle for industry members to share observations about where our profession is headed based on current trends and future projections.
To that end we are seeking input from industry members by asking them to reflect on the past, take stock of the present, explain the short term adjustments they're making now, and take the long view of changes that may have to be made down the road.
We realize this is a tall order: We all have different perspectives based on our interests, philosophies and positions within the industry. And of course, not every crystal ball is crystal clear. By soliciting responses from a wide range of people, however, and inviting each to focus on the areas that interest them most, we believe this project will yield a valuable collection of data useful both for provoking thought about the future and providing guidance for the present.
We invite you to participate in this project by thinking about and answering a few of the questions below.
We request that you answer all of the questions in the first section, if possible, and then answer at least two of the questions in the following section. Your answers can be as long or short as you desire. Please feel free to dedicate more words to the sections that interest you the most, or if none of these qualify then please give us your perspective under 'Other' - the goal is that your own viewpoint be expressed in whatever direction you think is most important.
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SURVEY. (Instructions for returning the survey to ICFA are included in the MS Word file).
Responses may be reprinted in International Cemetery and Funeral Management magazine (with attribution if we have your permission; otherwise without attribution) and may be incorporated into discussions and research data to be presented at future ICFA Conferences.
Remember the words of the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer:
'The task is not so much to see what no one yet has seen, but to think what nobody yet has thought about that which everybody sees.'
Ray Frew, CCFE, ICFA President
Gregg Williamson, CCE, Chairman, ICFA Ad Hoc Future of the Industry Committee
PLEASE ANSWER EACH OF THESE QUESTIONS IF POSSIBLE:
1-A). What would you tell your children or grandchildren if you were giving them advice on either entering the funeral service and memorialization profession, or starting their own funeral home or cemetery?
1-B). From your perspective, what are the differences in what customers selected five years ago versus what they are selecting today?
1-C). Given the chance, what changes would you make in our industry that could improve what we do and how it is done?
1-D). What are your biggest business concerns, the worries that keep you up at night?
PLEASE ANSWER AT LEAST TWO OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
2). You have returned 15 years into the past of your organization: What changes would you make and how would you expect those changes to affect the operation of your company today?
3). It is now 15 years in the future: What questions would you like to have the answer to and how would those answers affect your organization today?
4). What compromises have been interpreted as 'the nature of the business,' for which there aren't any cost-effective solutions, and are currently being tolerated by customers?
5). What are the 'Why can't you give us this?' complaints most heard from your customers, and what, if anything, are you doing to respond to these potential trends to be better positioned in the future?
6). We have all noticed changes in how the next generation of employees treat their jobs: How do you see funeral/cemetery staffs operating differently over the next 20 years and how will that effect your operation?
7). There are currently quite a number of trade associations in our marketplace. Where do you see the future of the associations in 20 years?
8). How do you see future facility changes and how can we (or do we?) adjust our current buildings and businesses to meet consumer demands?
9). What OTHER observations or predictions would you like to make about the funeral service and cemetery industry?
PLEASE PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION FOR CLASSIFICATION PURPOSES:
Type of company you work for, own or operate:
Your job title:
Location: (City, State/Province, Country):
Number of years you have worked in this industry:
IDENTIFICATION (optional)
Name:
Title:
Company:
___ Please check here if you wish to be consulted before your name is used in the presentation of the results of this survey.
___ Please check here if you specifically DO NOT want your name used in any presentation of the results of this survey.
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