Bling bling has no place in funeral business!

Here's one of my least favorite attributes of some of our esteemed colleagues... Bling, bling. Overdressing. No matter how successful you are (or want to appear to be) you should give serious consideration to the amount/style/visibility of the jewelry you choose to wear. The same goes for designer clothes and luxury cars. It's very hard to argue that funeral costs are not out of whack when the funeral home owner drives a Rolls-Royce, wears giant flashy rings/necklaces/earrings and brags about what was paid for his/her suit, etc.

Plain and simple-it's UNPROFESSIONAL.

Before too many of you get fired up, let me state that I have no argument with anyone enjoying the fruits of their successful business. You work hard, and you deserve it. However, the families you serve should not have their noses rubbed in the obvious fact that you are wealthy and they may not be.

Lest any of you think I'm exaggerating-come on, we all know of one (and probably more) funeral associate or colleague that fits this mold.

If you think that this sort of thing is acceptable, just try and place yourself in the families position. Your mom has just died, you're worried about whether or not the small life insurance policy is going to cover her funeral costs, and all of the sudden a swaggering character dripping in jewelry and wearing clothes that cost more than your last mortgage payment is trying to feed you a line about "just being here to help you."

And you're thinking, "Bull crap. This guy's going to try and take me to the cleaners."

An immediate sense of distrust is forming in your mind, and will color your opinion of the firm
that will simply be reinforced each time you see this person over the next few days. Even if the funeral director is the most honest and trustworthy person, their lack of judgement on professional attire torpedoes that image every time.

So the next time you're dressing for work, think about what message you want to send to your clients. Are you here to help them? Or is your manner of dress telling them that you really here to help yourself to their money?

Thanks for stopping by. You stay classy, funeral service!

Best,

Dan Heaman, CFSP
The Guerrilla Director
www.guerrilladirector.com