You work hard to provide thoughtful, essential services to the families in your community. You bring your best when families experience their toughest time. But how do you build and maintain a strong relationship with those client families and others in your community? Those relationships are crucial for the long-term success and reputation of your firm.
Below, we share ways you can use your current resources to attract and retain client families in your community. You may not even realize that you have free resources around you every day.
Dozens of partnership opportunities exist in your community – some that you might not yet know about. Network to find the right partners who can help elevate your brand. This could be local attorneys, hospice providers, Veterans groups, the local rotary club or the chamber of commerce.
Your past client families are likely your top ambassadors. You’re not only there for a death in the family; you can also be present during life’s celebratory times. You have a unique service you provide for your community, and you have free and easy resources at your fingertips to connect with and retain client families.
1. Your Building
When you aren’t hosting a funeral service, your building can be an integral asset to your community. Allow client families to use your building space when it’s available. This won’t be a source of revenue for you but will be an easy way to attract client families. Use your space to host grief groups, quilting groups or a first responders’ appreciation day. Even your parking lot can be used to host a classic car show.
2. Your Team
Your staff are your strongest brand ambassadors. Help them take pride in their work by providing them with branded items like shirts, portfolios, phone cases, etc. They can be a walking advertisement for your firm. Invest in them by offering professional development such as sending them to a funeral conference or utilizing our preneed training classes.
3. Your Talent
You are the leader of a small business who wears many business hats. How else can you lend your talents and leadership skills to the community? Network among local rotary clubs or leadership organizations. Making those connections creates valuable name recognition for you and your firm.
Other easy ways to connect are to volunteer for local organizations, host a fundraising event, sponsor a local event or provide charitable donations.
We dive deeper into ways you can use your talents to help your community in this blog post.
4. Your Data
You may not realize the free data available to help you retain client families. We wrote about this topic in a past blog post. You can watch your social media posts or website analytics to see what content your community engages with the most. Let that data inform the outreach decisions you make.
You don’t have to do it all. Focus on one way you can connect with your community. Eventually, it will become part of your regular business practice. It will take time, but this outreach will sustain your firm’s reputation.
Comment below and share with us ways that you connect with your community!
