Replaced by LH

[gordon112]

This is the dirty little secret weapon that LH is combating to keep business on the book while agents and the client really don't understand what the plan really is or does.

I am betting they even use this to bait clients into insurance policies telling them all the planning is done for them, just get the higher priced turd FE coverage and you will get the service you wanted.

 

[rousemark]

A funeral preneed needs to be funded with a policy that grows to keep up with inflation. You can "preplan" with anything from any life insurance policy to an old car title or a bunch of chickens. It doesn't matter because the funeral home doesn't guarantee anything unless you really prepay into a true funeral insurance plan.

The FCGS doesn't have anything to do with beneficiaries. They are not the beneficiary. They can just call around and price shop the funeral for the beneficiaries.

If I were a funeral director in this area, my response to them would be "Get lost.. First of all, you don't have enough business around here to affect me one way or another and in the second place, I got the body (assuming I had transported it from the place of death).. What have you got?"

I can't see that FCGS serves any purpose at all.

 

[benefits365]

I happen to have a preneed funded entirely with chickens.

I was half cocked when I made that decision.

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Half cocked, I said. Get it?

Is this thing on?

 

[WinoBlues]

I happen to have a preneed funded entirely with chickens.

I was half cocked when I made that decision.

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Half cocked, I said. Get it?

Is this thing on?

That's what she said.

 

[Newby]

I happen to have a preneed funded entirely with chickens.

I was half cocked when I made that decision.

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Half cocked, I said. Get it?

Is this thing on?

Their threat to the funeral homes is that they can have the family order a cheap casket from China if they don't drop their prices. The part that doesn't work for them is funeral homes can also order cheap caskets from China.

 

[jdeasy]

Their threat to the funeral homes is that they can have the family order a cheap casket from China if they don't drop their prices. The part that doesn't work for them is funeral homes can also order cheap caskets from China.

I was explaining that a couple this afternoon. They asked me if I knew you could buy caskets from Walmart. I told them I did. They said they got a 10% discount at Walmart so they ight do that. I explained to them that the funeral home had to accept delivery of the casket and could not charge them any fees for using it.

They said that was great. I said I suppose it is but it's a non issue since almost any funeral home will sell them the casket for whatever price they find since they would rather make something than nothing. They said they had never thought of it that way.

That really is the reason that funeral homes have had their way for centuries. people do not shop funerals. I would guess that the information age has had a real chilling effect on funeral homes?

 

[Newby]

I was explaining that a couple this afternoon. They asked me if I knew you could buy caskets from Walmart. I told them I did. They said they got a 10% discount at Walmart so they ight do that. I explained to them that the funeral home had to accept delivery of the casket and could not charge them any fees for using it.

They said that was great. I said I suppose it is but it's a non issue since almost any funeral home will sell them the casket for whatever price they find since they would rather make something than nothing. They said they had never thought of it that way.

That really is the reason that funeral homes have had their way for centuries. people do not shop funerals. I would guess that the information age has had a real chilling effect on funeral homes?

It's still very, very rare for a family to purchase a casket away from the funeral home. I've talked to a hundred funeral homes in the mid west about this and it's just not a problem for them. The exception is the Catholics buying the Monk replica caskets from Abbey in St Meinrad. They will have around 15% of the Catholic families buying those.

I noticed that Senior Life is selling cheap caskets as an extra benefit of their FE policy now. That's not a bad idea that other FE companies could also do. It seems like a value add to the consumer.

The truth is, most funeral homes have adjusted their prices to allow them to make all the profit they need off their service charge. If they sell the casket, it's just bonus. They do like the bonus of the casket sale but they don't care that much like they did when all the profit was built into the casket sale.

 

[cladams]

Meeting with the client on Monday to switch back - thanks for the help!

I will sell the idea of the client completing the "funeral planning guide," keeping the guide with the policy, and letting the bene know that it's there. In the future I will prep the client that this is the extent of what they would get with FCGS, only their bene would make a couple more phone calls. "With the guide complete you have helped your "son/daughter" to know what you want, and you haven't paid excess premiums for 15-20yrs."


Thanks again!