Selecting Your Funeral Home

Maxwell-Tobie Funeral Home and Cremation Service serves our Community daily, both in and outside the funeral home. A funeral is a life event. Unlike other life events, you only get one chance at planning this event for yourself or your loved one.

When a death occurs, there are many decisions to be made, first and foremost, is selection of the funeral home you will entrust. Some communities have many choices of funeral homes to choose from, some only a few. The most common question asked is “how much?” Again, here you will find different answers when you make inquires to area funeral homes. So why is pricing different when the final result is the same? True, when all is done, that person will be buried, entombed or cremated. However, it’s not the end result that you pay a funeral home for, it is what happens in between that first call to the funeral home up to the end result. The key to understanding price is understanding the VALUE of what you are paying for.

So then, how do you know who to contact when the time arrives? Here are some considerations for you to use as a guideline:

• Ask friends, neighbors, who have been through the experience, for referrals. They can provide valuable feedback on their experience.
  
• Provide your own referral. Have you visited a funeral home recently for services? What was your review? Were the facilities attractive, spacious, welcoming? Was there ample parking? Friendly, helping staff? And of course, how was the deceased appearance? As in any business or any activity for that matter, some will just exceed in certain areas more than others. Value here cannot be overestimated.
  
• Is the funeral home family owned or is it “corporate?" At our funeral home, when you meet with a funeral director, you are meeting with the owner of the business not a corporate employee. If you are not sure who you are speaking with, ask.
  
• Is your love one being cared for at the funeral home or at an off-site facility?
  
• Unusually lower prices will usually indicate that they must rely on high volume to maintain profitability. This can result in inferior customer service and a feeling of being “rushed”. Also, some of these facilities may be smaller in size with limited parking (lower overhead, lower pricing) and may not be your choice to accommodate your family and friends.
  
• In lieu of just an inquiring phone call, I recommend visiting the funeral homes you are considering. Meet with the owner/manager, ask questions and tour the facility. You will get a sense of the person you are entrusting with your loved one or yourself, as well as seeing the location and if it meets your expectations. Ask yourself, “do I feel comfortable and will my family and guests have the best care”.
  

These are some considerations in preparation for or planning for funeral services. I encourage you to do research, reach out and visit with the funeral homes in the area and do not just rely on the lowest price. Know the value in what you are getting for dollars you are spending. For a consultation, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time.

Family-Owned or Corporate?

To start with, when corporations offer discounts attributed to their big-scale buying power, the value of their goods or services is questionable. Remember, they have to make a profit. If they lower the price, they have to lower other costs. Quality is often the first compromise.

Local companies offset all or most of any corporate buying power advantage because they know their community, doing business with local suppliers and businesses. So, their operations are more efficient and capable of delivering value.

Family owned businesses tend to treat their employees like extended family. As a result, people who work for family owned companies take ownership of the service and value they deliver. They care about their company, their community and their customers.

Both corporate and local businesses spend money with local suppliers and contractors, and some corporations even hire some local employees. But family owned businesses are part of their community’s financial circulatory system, keeping 100 percent of their revenue in the local economy, paying taxes, making responsible contributions to area charities, buying local goods and services and investing right here at home.

Perhaps the most compelling reason to do business with local, family owned businesses is the simplest: They’re your neighbors, and their reputation in their community is at stake. People who own and work for family owned businesses see customers as more than a contract or a job. They see friends they’ll run into at kids’ ballgames and at the grocery store. They know you, and you know them. They want you to do well, to flourish and to grow. So, they’ll go to great lengths to deliver the best possible service and value when you do business with them. It’s only natural to treat your friends well.

The bottom line is that you help build your community and get more for your money when you patronize local, family owned businesses.