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Hi Charles,
Hope you are well and in fine feckle. Can I ask from what source did you unearth this interesting and alarming fact?
Liam
Charles
very dire indeed – I know that Dignity are big up there
regards
andrew
Liam, the Yellow Pages is all you need for this task. It’s how I worked out that, down here in South Devon, we have 12 independents, 12 members of (three) local groups, 4 Dignity members and 19 Co-ops. So Independents, if I include the small groups in that category (a dubious practice, seeing the way they’re headed), score 52% of the total. Individual businesses, or sole traders, comprise a mere 25% and falling. The Co-op? 40%. And a curious observation is that Dignity has the remaining 8%, by far the smallest share in this area. Anyone else with a calculator… Read more »
It’s a sad fact that in many areas, the smaller firms are under real pressure. The recession means families are finding it harder to pay funeral directors and spending less on funeral services. Despite this, frustratingly ‘shopping around’ is still not seen to be ‘the done thing’ by the majority of people, and so in many areas, £2,500 has become the standard Dignity/ Venture Capitalist Group funeral charge. The Co-op are usually only a little behind this figure. My average spend is under £1,800, up to £700 less than my rivals. With both a sympathetic disposition, for those without money… Read more »
David, I’m sad to read your comment. What you say about the conglomerates with their economies of scale is very true, of course. But we have to counter this with the knowledge that we provide an infinitely better, more personal service, as I’m sure your clients testify. Knowledge doesn’t make money, and for sure, every time we throw a bit of money into advertising or marketing, our competitors do the same and it doesn’t even make a hole in their pockets, but we mustn’t give up. Every client who has good service from us will recommend us to their friends.… Read more »
Jonathan The Co-op do of course dominate in your area owing to the existence of the Plymouth & South Devon Co-op and despite the funeral business now being run (I believe) by funeralcare, there will a considerable amount of loyalty sadly remaining towards the Co-op for many years ahead. There is also the ‘perceived’ (sic) discount element available to existing Co-op shareholders to sweeten the bill too, unfortunate but there it is, since the discount really isn’t ‘worth a candle’ imo As a former native of Devon, I have watched the decline of the Dignity operation for at least the… Read more »
David You must NOT start to loose any enthusiasm, please. You may wonder why I blog on here, a fairly long story it is but I am an extremely passionate supporter of independent family firms My suggestion is, is that as part of whatever local media advertising that you go in for, that you very much ‘up the stakes’. I have not seen any ads for your business, just your website Looking at your area, I see this in relation to ‘potenitally’ your nearest independent rival independent:- a) North of you, no one until Crowthorne; b) West – an absence… Read more »
Andrew (KIngfisher) I’ve just now much enjoyed ‘revisiting’ your site, where I see that you’ve very much taken ‘it to’ your two local rivals in highlighting the differences in cost. I’d imagine that Lodge are starting to feel the pinch in the St Neots area, with it almost entirely being their sole territory before Anglia and yourself opened up To me, there is absolutely no reason why such costs shouldn’t be demonstrated on a website – you also have your own Ceremony Room/Service Chapel which I am a real enthusiast of, something that more Independent firms should aim towards imo… Read more »
Thanks everyone! I haven’t lost heart, I just get frustrated that in order to do the marketing I would like to means busting my limited budget. I know the big firms close to me are charging high prices, I will redouble my efforts to get my ‘best service/lower cost’ message out. I constantly talk to as many people locally as possible, but can their be a more difficult business to ‘promote’ than a funeral business? NB My website is also very frustrating – despite pressure, it’s still not yet ready to go! I want my prices on there – I… Read more »
David
– it’s ‘a must’ to get your prices online – something that errrr Dignity and funeralcare are positively opposed to
take it to them, just as AW Lymm, for one, do
regards
andrew