Being a funeral director in a small town comes with an extra set of challenges. Any funeral director is called upon to offer attentive and professional care whenever a family is grieving a loved one. Calls and requests come in at any time of the day or night, and small town funeral directors, in particular, may feel personally responsible for responding to each one.

Small towns, where most everyone knows each other, are like families, and when one member loses a loved one, the grief can be widespread. Funeral directors, who are already expected to uphold the traditional values of compassionate and personalized service, feel even more responsible for providing the most dedicated attention. But too often this leads to unrealistic expectations and compassion fatigue.

Even with an in-house staff to share the workload, it just isn’t humanly possible to answer every call or request at all times of the day or night. The effort to do so leaves directors and their staff unable to focus fully on the day-to-day tasks of attending to families who are planning funerals or end-of-life celebratory services. But today’s telecommunications solutions that specialize in the funeral home industry are helping directors conduct their business more efficiently and compassionately.

Now when a small town funeral director needs to step away from answering the office phone or their cell phone, they can forward calls to a live voice answering service that’s staffed with receptionists who operate as extensions of the business. Whether the director needs to turn over calls for an hour during a staff meeting, or while attending to a funeral in progress, or for the evening so he or she can spend uninterrupted time with family, the answering service receptionists handle all calls promptly and professionally.

The answering service receptionists handling the calls are trained to know about the funeral home’s business, as well as the town it’s located in. Callers assume they’re speaking with someone locally or even someone on staff at the funeral home.

With the same degree of empathy and professionalism, the receptionists are trained to know which calls are urgent, and which can wait until normal business hours resume. All calls are recorded and are accessible by a web portal to the funeral director at any time. Answering services are adequately staffed to effortlessly answer all calls, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The answering service receptionists also save the staff time by becoming a 24/7 communications hub for specific questions about visitation and service details, donations, where and how to send flowers, and what to expect regarding the type of service.

The small town funeral director is able to take a deep breath, knowing that his or her community is being attended to with same dedicated and caring personal attention the funeral home promises to deliver—just like family.

If you’d like to learn more about how compassionate receptionists who specialize in the funeral home industry can serve you and your customers, contact Voice Link of Columbus, Inc. Customized communication solutions, secure HIPAA/HiTech messaging, and appointment scheduling can save you time and money while optimizing customer care.

Our excellent reputation with an 82% referral rate, expert staff, and state-of-the-art technology will exceed your expectations. Request information online or call us at (800) 262-2799 for a free consultation.