From family life planning to emotional support, there are many things a funeral home offers to grieving family.
While streamlining your marketing and investing in funeral home management software are important components for a successful death care business, none of your top-tier service offerings can shine through if they are presented in a dismal space. Creating a place where people can connect, creating an atmosphere, is a major part of building a thriving funeral home business. The goal should be to create environment that feels warm, inviting and soothing to help families feel comfortable and at ease throughout the grieving and planning process.
To this end, here are a few tips to create an appealing environment in your funeral home:
Offer Tea and Coffee
A warm cup of tea or coffee can feel being hugged from the inside out. Even just the smell of spices and coffee grounds brewing the air can create a comforting feel to the space. Offering a fresh cup of coffee or tea to families when they come to visit can make a world of difference in terms of making them feel at ease. A one-time investment in a Keurig or a coffee maker and water boiler will pay for itself many times over.
And, it’s the simple touches that can go a long way. Use real mugs to serve your beverages to save money and the environment. You can even use mugs with funny, comforting or thought-provoking quotes to lighten the mood or create conversation. Using real mugs also lends a personal touch to the exchange and can help to make families feel more comfortable throughout the planning process.
Curate Your Playlist
As you may have noticed, the right music can help to make or break the mood. Curating a soothing playlist of instrumental music to play throughout the day can majorly uplift your space. Stick to tranquil instrumental music instead of hymns or songs with lyrics. Try a mix of massage music, classical and comforting tones to offer variety while staying consistent with the theme of calm. If you’re not sure where to start, try searching tranquil or soothing instrumental playlists on YouTube or Spotify and go from there.
Lighten Up
Your funeral home should be as bright and naturally lit, with as little dark space as possible. Natural light subconsciously brightens the atmosphere of a space and offers comfort as opposed to the emotion that darkness conjures up. Open the curtains and consider rearranging the floorplan to let in as much sunlight possible. For the spaces that are still in shadow opt for soft, white lighting to brighten them up. Avoid using fluorescent bulbs as they can have a harsh effect, both on the eyes and the mind.
Hire a Professional
A well-thought-out floor plan with tasteful furniture can completely transform the atmosphere of a space. If it’s in the budget, hiring a professional interior designer to update the furniture and floor plan can go a long way. While it may seem extraneous, they are experts at opening up spaces and the atmosphere they create will pay off in comfortable customers. Make sure the furniture isn’t just for show though – you want everything to be both functional and fashionable. And make sure you include plenty of comfortable seating for a cozy yet curated space.
Since our inception, Osiris Software has been helping funeral homes, cemetery and crematory businesses prosper through innovative solutions and world class customer service.
