Welcome back…I hope your year is starting off on the right foot!  With the recent weather conditions in most states, you can’t help but wonder if there is something you must consider about the predictions from Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog! Feel free to go to www.punxsutawneyphil.com if you really want the scoop!

Anyway, with the ICCFA convention around the corner and study groups meeting in the near future, I felt this issue to be great timing for getting us thinking about our businesses and what we want to accomplish this year. How many of you budget?  How many of you have goals?  How many of you know where you want to be one year from now, five years from now, ten years from now?  Sometimes we get so caught up in what we have to do in a day that we can forget to stop every once in a while and analyze  whether or not what we are doing is the right thing for us and our families.  I leave those thoughts for you to think about.  Keep a good direction and best of wishes in the new year!

We hope you enjoy this issue…

Survey

As with every newsletter, we like to put together a survey and then anonymously share it in our next newsletter.  Follow this link to the survey.  http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFZTbDBWdTV4RThITmlQNUVYUHMzanc6MA

Succession Planning

Brooks Cowles (JCG Field Representative)
Succession planning for your business really is like a puzzle in many ways.  For one, there are many pieces that have to fit together.  Depending on your view, it can look impossibly confusing or deceptively simple.  The fact is, just the basic elements present in every plan, including valuation, structure and documentation, present many challenges.  Succession planning for funeral home owners has changed a lot over the last several years.  Most established businesses still have excellent prospects to provide the owner and their family with a secure future.  And there are many capable purchasers out there.  Most of their last names are not “Inc.” or “Group” or “International” anymore.  But overly-high values are a thing of the past, and financing is almost always…(Click here to view the full article->http://www.johnsonconsulting.com/brooks-cowles-succession-planning-article)

Financing

Jake Johnson (JCG President)

Tax Update

Quotes and Blogs

Company News

Recent JCG Business / Clients

From the Chairman’s desk:

Welcome back. Happy Thanksgiving. It’s truly a time for us to give thanks for our families, friends, associates and all the blessings bestowed upon us. We, at Johnson Consulting, are very fortunate to have the many clients and friends that we work with each day and throughout the year.

Our year has been a very busy one. We relocated our corporate offices to give us additional space to better serve our clients and make room for our product enhancements and some new innovative products that have been well received in the marketplace.

We are very fortunate and excited to have added three widely recognized individuals as new associates to the Johnson Consulting Group: Alan Creedy, Rich Sells and Manny Francisco. Rich and Manny’s highly successful careers in pre need funeral and cemetery marketing and operations have given us the opportunity to expand our services in this area. Our first client is a large cemetery operation in Mexico.

2009 has been a very interesting year for us in funeral service. Our economy has had some effect on average funeral value. Cremations are still increasing. Credit is beginning to loosen up, but not back to where it needs to be. Our new Loan Sourcing Program has helped several of our clients. We had an excellent year in our M&A division, but it came more from quality than quantity. And then there is Wal-Mart entering the casket business. If they win, we only have ourselves to blame.

A few issues ago, we added a survey to our newsletter and we received an excellent response from our first one. Last issue we ask just one question: “This summer our nation lost two very influential and trusted public figures, Walter Cronkite and Ted Kennedy. We ask you: Who, in your estimation, is the most influential living person in the funeral service industry today?”

I must be candid: our responses were underwhelming to say the least which may have said a lot. “I just cannot think of “the person” The one that got the most votes was nameless but a very powerful and influential individual in our society: THE CONSUMER. We better all listen to what they are saying.

Since we are fortunate to have a large subscriber list that is made up of both funeral home owners and associates as well as suppliers, we thought we would ask you to respond to a few questions pertaining to the supply side. We will again make it short and easy to reply. We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to respond.

As we begin to close out the year 2009 and put it in the record books, my perspective will be that it was a challenging, but productive year. We worked with several firms that made a commitment to change and make improvements to their operations. Their potential worst of times turned into much better times and for them the best is yet to come. Doing more with less and doing the right things, right will make all the difference.

We hope you enjoy this issue …

Regards,

Tom Johnson
Chairman

Year end tax tips from our tax service partners

Johnson Consulting does not provide tax advice, but relies solely on the experience and expertise of:

Tax Services

As the year end approaches, now is the time to start planning for your 2009 income taxes. Conventional tax planning calls for deferring income into 2010 and accelerating tax deductions into 2009. However, these are anything but conventional economic times. With large federal deficits and an expanding federal debt, we see increased tax rates in the future. The only question is how high and when will these tax increases take effect. Much will depend on how the economy performs in 2010. If the economy continues to struggle in 2010, we feel that the tax cuts scheduled to expire at the end of 2010 will simply be allowed to expire. However, if the economy improves during 2010, we think that we could see increases as early as 2010.

Most taxpayers have thus far experienced lower taxable incomes in 2009. Many taxpayers have large capital losses generated in 2008 that are being carried over to 2009. Investment income in 2009 will most likely be lower. This means that for many taxpayers, their marginal tax rates will be lower in 2009 than they expect to have in 2010. Therefore, it may make sense this year to accelerate income into 2009 and defer deductions into 2010. When looking at any tax strategy, the alternative minimum tax should be considered. Continue Reading Funeral Home Tax Tips>>>

Feature article

Johnson Consulting highly recommends that you survey your families that you have served. It is a gold mine of valuable information that will help you formulate your marketing plans and strategies….

2010 – THE BIG QUESTION – “DO WE REALLY KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON?” Todd Van Beck

This is a powerhouse of a question for funeral service and cemetery work. Do we really know what is going on out in the world? Of course we do, certainly we keep tabs on how the community is changing, we keep our fingers on the pulse of the funeral/cemetery environment; of course we do, been doing it for years.

These responses are predictable and totally natural and understandable. However they do not answer the question – do we know, really know what is going on out there? It might be that we don’t know precisely the details, and the realities, and nay the unpleasant news that might be, could be, and is most probably is floating around our communities about you and me.

Here is an example. I once had occasion to perform a focus group for a particular funeral home. Most everything was changing for this particular funeral home and unfortunately the owners were in psychological denial. In other words they truly and honestly “thought” they knew what was happening but in reality there were many gaps in their “knowledge” base. So they asked for a focus group. Continue Reading about the value of Funeral Home Surveys

Product Highlights for 2009 and What we will be featuring in 2010 ….

2009

1. JCGPerformanceTracker™ Web-Based Customer Survey and Sales Analysis Program
2. Accounting Services Growth
3. Management Service Growth
4. Expanded services in Preneed Consulting Through Rich Sells and Manny Francisco Coming on board
5. New Enhanced website with client portal
6. Introduced our Funeral Business Performance Analysis and Improvement Package along with Summary Strategic Plan
7. Busiest year ever at Johnson Consulting for Private funeral home acquisitions and divestitures

2010

1. Web-based client access and interactive menu for reviewing funeral business customer ratings and sales performance
2. Summit Meeting in early 2010 (March)
3. Johnson Consulting Group’s (Memorial Classic Golf Tournament in Las Vegas, NV)
4. Monthly benchmarking reports for our accounting clients (new enhancement to accounting)
5. Johnson Consulting Group funeral study group financial analysis package for study group’s wishing to make the most of their financial discussions
6. Expansion of the already extensive training library

From all of us to all of you have a great Holiday Season

From the Chairman’s desk:

Welcome back. This will be a summer to remember. It has brought record high temperatures in the west and northwest and record low temperatures in the Midwest. The rain fall in the mid west has been way above average. July was a record month for the stock market. Our economy has shown some positive signs of recovery although we have a way to go. When we close the books on 2009, the year will be one for many record books.

Fortunately, we have been very busy this summer bringing on new clients for our Accounting, Tax Services, Management Services and M&A. We have two new services, Sales Analysis Program and Families Surveys that will be ready to introduce in Boston at the NFDA Convention. Our M&A activities have picked up considerably and we are experiencing good results working with the buyers and financial institutions.

We want to thank our hundreds of subscribers for giving us valuable feedback on how we can better serve you and the many of our subscribers that participated in the Survey we did in the last issue. Bill Bischoff has summarized the results and highlighted the answers to the two questions we asked.

What is the greatest challenge to your business?

What new products or services have you introduced that have achieved success?

We did not see any real surprises, but there is no doubt that the economy and the growth of cremation are a big concern to many. There appeared to be a high degree of pessimism in the responses. What was encouraging for us at JCG is the fact that we have been there with clients and we have helped them significantly improve their situation. We did some very interesting work with funeral homes that had these concerns, especially in the areas of account receivables, accounting, and improving their operational efficiencies.

Last month I wrote an article on this very subject which I want to share with you in this newsletter. Most firms that we talk with have some idea of what they need to do, but they just don’t know how to do it. And then, there are times when we do a thorough Performance Analysis, we both discovery that what we thought was needed was entirely different. The exciting thing is that the results have been excellent and we all had a lot of fun making the necessary improvements and bring more dollars to the bottom line.

See an excerpt of my article below

We hope you enjoy this issue. We feel we are making progress, in everything we do, as we strive for perfection. We sincerely appreciate all of your feedback.

Until next time… the best to you and your family.

Regards,

Tom Johnson
Chairman

We Value Your Opinion…

(Do to the tremendous response to the Industry Survey from the last newsletter, we are going to seek your opinion on various topics in the future, and we are usually looking for a response of just a few words.)

This months question:

* This summer our nation lost two very influential and trusted public figures, Walter Cronkite and Ted Kennedy. We ask you: Who, in your estimation, is the most influential living person in the funeral service industry today?

Click here to fill out the online form: Monthly Survey

http://www.johnsonconsulting.com/funeral-service-industry-survey/

Or simply press REPLY to this email and let us know.

When the right Improvements are made… the Worst of times can become the Best of times…

We have heard the expressions to determine if one is an optimist or a pessimist; ‘Is the glass half full or half empty?… If you have lemons you make lemonade …when the pessimists sell the optimists make money… and so on.’

Our economy is struggling, unemployment is at an all time high, businesses are closing their doors, banks have stopped lending, cremation is on the rise and families are becoming more conservative in selecting a funeral service. Does that mean the glass is half empty? I definitely do not think so …Well then – what do I think?

Continue Reading Here…

Funeral Service Industry Survey Results

Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey, to see the results to the following questions, please visit:
http://www.johnsonconsulting.com/survey-results-summer-2009

1. What is the greatest challenge to your business?
2. Has the death rate in your market area….
3. Do you see the current decline in the national death rate as a blip or a trend?
4. Have you had to lay-off employees?
5. Has your receivables increased?
6. Are traditional families choosing cremation or spending down on merchandise and services because of the current economic conditions?
7. Are Green Burials becoming a part of your service offerings?
8. What new products or services have you introduced this year that have achieved success?
9. Do you see Chinese caskets growing or declining in the USA?
10. Do you see Costco growing or getting out of the casket business?
11. Will other Big Box discounts enter the casket business?
12. Has your preneed sales suffered in this economy?
13. How do your preneed fulfillments compare to your current at need sales?
14. Where do you see your revenues in the next 5 years?
15. Does your firm have a succession plan in place

http://www.johnsonconsulting.com/survey-results-summer-2009

Exceeding our Client’s Expectations’:

Danville, VA. – Swicegood Funeral Home and Barker Funeral Home, both of Danville, VA, have been sold to a new firm managed by A.J. Daoud of Cox Needham Funeral Home in Pilot Mountain, NC. After operating the firms for many years after the death of his father, Turner Swicegood decided that it was time to find someone else to carry on the tradition of the firms.

Brooks Cowles of the Johnson Consulting Group represented Turner Swicegood in the transaction, which closed on August 3, 2009. Turner Swicegood says, “Brooks has advised me on various planning and estate matters for many years. When I decided to consider a sale, I knew that’s who I wanted to advise me. From advice on value, marketing and negotiation, Brooks and the team at the Johnson Consulting Group were there every step of the way, including finding the final buyer, who I had not previously known.”

As an experienced operator, with other locations nearby, A.J. Daoud plans to build on the traditions of these firms to continue as the market leader in Danville and Pittsylvania County. “I am excited about joining the Swicegood – Barker family and especially want to thank Brooks Cowles for seeing through a complex deal to conclusion.”

From the Chairman’s desk:

Welcome back! July is upon us and summer is officially here. Our economy is still fighting its way back but we have a long way to go to regain the confidence needed to get all segments on the same page, “Singing from the same hymnal”, as the saying goes. … But we do see signs of improvement.

Our government intervention in the main stays of our economy like banking, automotive and healthcare has certainly the potential to change the dynamics and the rules of the game. I will reserve my comments for a later issue.

What I read and learn from listening to individuals from all parts of our industry is that revenues are down in both the supplier and provider side of the business and the outlook for the immediate future is more uncertainty than optimism.

Here at Johnson Consulting, our Financing Division has seen first hand how the economy has impacted banks’ ability to finance or refinance funeral home businesses. In this issue, we have included an article on this very subject. We have identified the “Hurdles” that exist between the start and the finish line as to what is required and how to best prepare to jump over each one.

Unemployment is currently above 9% and is forecasted to exceed 10% before we begin to see a decline. Our industry is somewhat unique in the fact that our challenge is retaining mortuary school graduates. One mortuary school dean gave me a startling statistic a while back that over 80% of the graduates leave the profession after two years because of the long hours and weekend work requirements. Yet good well-qualified funeral directors are hard to find. We have also included an article in this issue on “Attracting Great Employees”.

Johnson Consulting is very privileged to have over a 1000 subscribers to our newsletter. Many are our industry’s “Thought leaders”. Bill Bischoff, the Editor of our newsletter, thought it would be interesting and insightful for us to send along a brief 15 question survey to get your thoughts and business perspectives on today’s economy and the impact it is having on your business. Our goal is to get a very high percentage return. We sincerely appreciate your response. You can be assured all responses will be kept confidential.  We will write a summary report of the results and publish the findings in our next issue.

We want to call your attention to our newest program which we are featuring in this issue. It is a state of the art sales tracking and analysis system that will give you timely and vital information to best manage your business. The system will also provide you with a score card to see how your business compares to others in the industry.

In closing, we hope you enjoy this issue and we hope you will take the time to complete our survey. …Until next time “The best to you and your families…”

Regards,

Tom Johnson

Chairman

.. The hurdles may have been raised, but not insurmountable … It just takes a different approach …

Dating back to the Great Depression, banks have viewed funeral home businesses as low risk borrowers of money. Whether it was for renovating an existing funeral home, building a new location, or even purchasing an established business from another funeral director – banks always felt that lending to the funeral business was a safe bet.

Over the last two decades, the landscape of the “funeral business” changed. Mergers and Acquisitions went into over drive – with the likes of SCI, Loewen, Stewart, Carriage, and other private acquisition firms. PreNeed’s hyper-growth initially changed the future financial outlook of a firm and now may in some cases be seen as a liability. Now, with the current economy and tightened lending practices, the situation has heightened.

This isn’t meant to be all Doom and Gloom, but with a picture painted like that, how else would outsiders see our industry without our rose-colored glasses. Like it or not, we have to overcome the high lending hurdles that we helped erect. But there is hope…

If you are looking for financing for renovations, expansion or acquisitions, you will need to deal with each of these 7 lending challenges [hurdles] in a new and creative way. We can help you, as we have helped other clients come out on the winning side, with financing in hand! It’s all about the process, knowing what the banks are looking for and how to best present your case. A well thought out plan, carefully crafted with sound and factual data will greatly enhance your chances of securing that needed capital.

Now you can have an essential and extremely valuable management tool that gives you up to date sales analysis on your business, both pre need fullfillments and at need, and how your business compares to others in the industry. It can also be used to track pre need sales mix and average sales as well.

This revolutionary system is all web-based and gives you 24/7 access. It provides accurate analysis and pinpoints your areas of strengths and weaknesses, gives you a trend line by month, quarter, year to date and last year’s results.

http://www.johnsonconsulting.com/survey-program/

-in 2009 it’s more challenging than ever before

Synopsis: Despite the economic downturn and widespread unemployment it’s still a “seller’s market” for those with experience in funeral service. Learn more about the challenges owners face and potential solutions for locating and hiring outstanding funeral directors and managers.

http://www.johnsonconsulting.com/attracting-great-employees-mark-jorgensen/

Virginia Lorenzen, June 15th, 2009

Dear Mr. Johnson:

First of all thank you for sending me your letter of engagement so promptly…I also wanted to let you know that your valuation report was outstanding in helping me resolve many issues. Your report was invaluable and used by the Public Guardian attorneys and our CPA in establishing a value for the mortuary and the basis for trying to work out a settlement with the contingent beneficiaries. Opposing counsel accepted your report without any major disagreements. I am confident had I not had your report my team would not have been able to reach a suitable agreement…I believe you and your company’s work was outstanding and cannot express my appreciation and gratitude for your support. I especially appreciate my interaction with you and your staff. It has been a pleasure working with you.

Sincerely,

Lucille Lyon

Division Chief

http://www.johnsonconsulting.com/lucille-lyon-says/

From the Chairman’s desk:

Welcome back… Spring is definitely in the air with the flowers and tress in bloom and the farmers in the fields signaling the start of a new growing season. Our economy seems to have stabilized somewhat. Many of the major banks are reporting fairly strong first quarter profits which should begin to loosen up the credit market. We are seeing some positive signs.

I always look forward to Spring, not only for the weather, but it is the time I can look at my businesses and get a good idea of the kind of year we will have. The first fiscal quarter is now behind us and as we know in funeral service: As the first quarter goes often times, so goes the year. But what is also great about this time of year is the fact that I have the time to change some things, make needed adjustments and get my staff involved in those changes.

This issue we will devote to some ideas on how you might think about doing your spring house cleaning a little differently this year. What I find is we are all guilty to some degree of doing the same things the same way and not taking the time to see if we can, in fact, do it differently and better. It falls in the category of “Complacency.” Yet we should have that attitude of “Continuous Improvement.” Large corporations today actually have a senior management position titled “Lean Management”. That position is focused full time on findings ways to eliminate waste and to do things better and more efficiently.

We hope you had a chance to tune in to our webinar this week on our Management Services Division. With our economy where it, many businesses are experiencing a sharp decline in revenues. For that reason, our Management Services Division is experiencing a very strong first quarter growth. If you missed the webinar, you can go to our website and listen in at your convenience.

Watch the Replay Here

This issue we will feature two articles: one on “Kaizen” the Japanese word for continuous improve and how you may apply it to your business. John Prentice offers some thoughts and ideas. Our Work Flowing Analysis and Better Solutions is our answer to Kaizen.

In addition, our associate Bill Bischoff has written a thought provoking article on Family Surveys. At Johnson Consulting, we use client surveys and at our funeral homes we follow up with every family we serve. It is truly a gold mine of information from consumers that know you best: clients that have used your services.

We hope you find this issue informative and most importantly useful in your business. We are here to help. We find most businesses that we work with do not need a complete overhaul of their operations. They just need a tune up and perhaps, a new set of plugs. We are confident we can put the spark back in your business.

In closing, I leave with this simple quote from B C Forbes:

It is only the farmer who faithfully plants seeds in the Spring, who reaps a harvest in the Autumn.

Let us help you with your Spring planting…. Until next time

Regards,

Tom Johnson
Chairman

Kaizen Your Way to Dramatic Results

There is a New Paradigm for Profit

There’s a new sheriff in town, and you’ve met him. It is the new paradigm for making a profit. It used to be that you would add a markup to your cost, baking in your profit, and that would be your selling price. “Cost plus profit equals price.” Not any more. Today the market sets the price, you subtract your cost. Your profit is what’s left over, if anything. “Price (market driven) minus cost equals profit.” For funeral products and services today that are highly competitive, the way to profit is to reduce cost. That’s the pressure you’ve been feeling.

To read the rest of the article, visit:

http://www.johnsonconsulting.com/kaizen-your-way-dramatic-results-john-prentice/

Just When You Thought You had all the Answers, They Changed the Questions…

The challenges of running a successful business today require a different approach and skill sets than perhaps the past generations. The answers to current challenges come from a different set of questions than were asked in the past.

I have consulted with funeral homes owners and managers for many years and the first question I always ask about their operations is, “Why do you it that way?” The standard answer is [you guessed it], “We have always done it that way…” This leads me to the conclusion that they probably achieve the same good or poor results over and over again.

To read the rest of the article, visit:

http://www.johnsonconsulting.com/just-when-you-thought-you-had-all-the-answers-they-changed-the-questions-bill-bischoff/

Bill Bischoff is an associate partner with the Johnson Consulting Group located in Scottsdale, Arizona. He has spent his last 33 years in senior level management positions with the leading suppliers to funeral homes and cemeteries.

From the Chairman’s desk:

Welcome back! It’s a new year and the operative word certainly is “new”. New in the sense that our economy and the state of the nation are definitely in “new” and unchartered waters. We are a strong and resilient nation and I am confident we will pull out of our current economic situation as we have in the past.

So you may ask…What is Johnson Consulting Group doing in these challenging times?

We have been very busy and making great strives in several areas. Let me list some of our recent and current initiatives:

• We moved to new facilities to accommodate our growth and to better serve our clients as we expand our service offerings. We want you to be the first to read our announcement and see pictures of our new Headquarters.
• Reviewed all of our current processes and have streamlined them by taking out things that add little to no value, but have a cost associated. This has allowed us to offer some of our services at an even better value than before to our potential clients.
• Formed a strategic alliance with a very competent and qualified tax service company to provide those valuable services to our accounting customers.
• Initiated a loan procurement program to help our clients find the best and most alternatives for their financing needs.
• We have brought on several new clients in all areas of our business and our clients have given us rave reviews which we are grateful and appreciative.
• The most important corporate initiative that we undertake each day is coming to work with a positive approach in everything we do and reminding ourselves what we said we will do for our clients in our Mission Statement.

In this issue we will feature an article that was written by one of our seasoned and successful associates, Brooks Cowles. We encourage you to read it and if you have questions or need more information, by all means, pick up the phone or send us an email.

As winter turns to spring, the flowers begin to bloom and the birds are once again making the sounds of a new season, I am confident that our economy will have that same experience. Hope you enjoy this issue and the best to you until next time.

Regards,

Tom Johnson
Chairman

Johnson Consulting Group dedicates new offices to their clients’ success …

MISSION STATEMENT

We strive to provide our clients the highest degree of quality products and services so that we are the most highly regarded firm in our profession. Our objective is to provide creative, innovative, state of the art services that deliver to our valued clients the tools and methodology to achieve optimum levels of client family satisfaction and productivity. Through innovation, dedication, integrity and teamwork, our ultimate goal is to be your Total Solutions Company.

Johnson Consulting Group, a Total Solutions Company and Market Leader, Is proud to announce the opening of their offices in Scottsdale, Arizona. Record organic and acquisitive growth over the past two years has necessitated the move to support their growth, expanded product offerings, and market potential and demand.

Tom Johnson, Chairman, commented: “We believe in reinvesting in our businesses with state of the art technology, innovative business solutions and modern facilitates. Our most important and valued asset is what walks through our front doors everyday.

They are our valued associates and our clients. Our team has empathy for our client’s needs, are highly educated, experienced, and several are licensed funeral directors that have the practical experience.”

Jake Johnson, President, commented: “We are privileged to serve all size businesses in the funeral and cemetery industry. Our goal is to listen first to our client’s needs and then respond with solutions that are crafted and customized to meet and exceed their expectations. We also pride ourselves and are deeply committed to offering all of our services at very competitive prices.”

The Johnson Consulting Group would like to extend a personal and open invitation to visit us if your plans call for you to be in our area.

Should I Sell My Funeral Home in the Current Economy: Brooks Cowles

As brokers and valuation experts, we are hearing this question a lot. As always, the first consideration is whether your heart is still in your business, and whether you see yourself continuing to enjoy your work for the next five years, at least. If you cannot answer that question affirmatively, you need to consider whether now is the time to sell (or buy).

There are four major factors affecting succession planning right now, all of which are awash with generally bad news: Taxes, the U.S. economy, the credit markets, and the stock market. For funeral homes, however, there are unique opportunities among this dismal news, especially for those active in either buying or selling:

1. Taxes, 2. Economy, 3. Credit Markets, 4. Stock Market

To read the rest of the article, visit:

http://www.johnsonconsulting.com/sell-funeral-home-current-economy/

The Johnson Consulting Funeral Industry Stimulus Package

In light of the current economic landscape, we want to give you five resources that you can use to give you a bit of a boost! Let me introduce to you our . . .

FUNERAL INDUSTRY STIMULUS PACKAGE

This is a collection of some of our Best Tools and Advice from our areas of expertise in the funeral industry:

1. Funeral Industry Specific Chart of Accounts
2. Family Satisfaction Survey
3. Best Practices for Funeral Home Payment Policies – Interview
4. Funeral Home Financing – Video
5. Case Study: Funeral Home Gets Financing Against the Odds – Interview

Get immediate access to all of these resources at:

http://www.johnsonconsulting.com/stimulus-package/

If you think that these resources would be helpful to other funeral professionals, please forward this link to them.

Exceeding Your Expectations:

Hi Todd,

Just wanted to express to you the positive impressions you left with our staff and how they are complimenting one another on jobs well done. We never experienced interoffice compliments like this before.

Just last night upon my return to Beverly all three of the newest staff, Francine, Virginia and Coreen and Brandy who’s been here about 6 months voiced their excitement of your presence, delivery of the presentation and how they were overall captivated by your knowledge. At this morning’s staff meeting and reemphasized that everybody in the room put themselves in the position of the grieving family’s pain and to keep their professionalism in the care center where we are always on the phone because the phone is the critical lifeline of our business.

Thanks to you and the entire Johnson staff, I have so much to work with and realistically implement on a daily basis. Thanks again and your friendship is truly valued.

Regards,

Anthony P. Guerra, Guerra & Gutierrez Mortuary, Los Angeles, CA

Until Next Time:

Improving Funeral Home Management Online Seminar – April 2009

In early April, our Management Services Team will be presenting an online seminar about Funeral Home Management including:

• Performance Analysis
• Training
• Customer Surveys
• Having the right people doing the right things
• Employee Surveys
• Management Improvement programs
• Increasing Profit

More details to follow – check your Inbox in the next few weeks.

Join the Evolution (& Johnson Consulting) at the ICCFA Convention

April 20-23, 2009 at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, please stop by our booth, 105 during the Exposition.

Welcome back. It’s November, 2008. My day is like many of your days … busy with too much to do. When you receive this newsletter we will have a new President, Congress and Senate. We can only hope our new leaders will bring leadership and the wisdom necessary to lead our great nation back to more prosperous times. Enough on politics …

We have been busy and as a result we have many new and exciting things to share with you.

Thanks to all of our many clients and the support they have given us, we will be moving to a new office building this month. A formal announcement with all the details will be coming your way soon.

For those contemplating our accounting services, we are now offering stand alone traditional monthly accounting service. You may continue to use your existing management software, i.e. TDAW, Mortware, Mims etc. You would capture your expenses with our QuickBooks Enterprise edition. We are also adding a new independent tax service to enhance our accounting services to our clients.

We have listened to clients and the market place and have now responded with even more services as your Total Solutions Company.

This issue we will highlight all of our services to explain what they are “how they work”  and most importantly how each service ties to the other to provide a Total Solutions Approach for our clients:

We hope you find this issue informative and helpful in knowing whom we are and what we are all about. As you review our flow chart below, you will see how a Total Solutions Approach makes sense and the value-added we can provide from understanding the entire process is unmatched in the funeral industry.

In closing this message, I want to take this opportunity to wish you and you family the best of the Holiday Season.

Call us or reply to us if you have questions, we look forward to hearing from you.

Accounting Services

Legacy Management and Accounting Services, a Johnson Consulting Group company is one of the few companies offering a complete web-based accounting solution to the funeral professional. Drawing from our own experiences and past processes, we have developed an accounting service and system that allows access to the accounting software to the client. This allows total flexibility to our clients who wish to have reporting capabilities at their fingertips. Along with our service, comes a financial statement designed with the funeral professional in mind. Average sale, call counts, a cash flow line (EBITDA), and benchmarked sections to our 100’s of clients doesn’t leave you guessing on how well you are achieving your goals. This service is for all sizes of firms at a fraction of the cost of hiring an accountant internally or outside of the business. Call today for a free assessment to see if Johnson Consulting Group can help you with your goals!

Management Services

How will you know how you compare with other organizations without a Performance Analysis. This Johnson Consulting service looks at all areas of your business, not just the financial side, to determine if your company’s processes and structure is maximizing your success in the Marketplace, Workplace, Customer Service, and Financial Management. After this assessment, we offer a strategic plan with specific tactical actions that are customized to improving your firms operating performance. We have proven success in enhancing the business environment, which ultimately affects the bottom line. The following is a short list of some of our offerings.

• Current Operating Performance Analysis
• Customer Service Assessment
• Workflow Analysis
• Competitive Marketplace Assessment
• Financial Analysis
• Web-based Family Satisfaction Survey and Sales Analysis reporting
• Customer Service Training
• Arranger Training
• Collections Training
• Management Development Training
• Employee Development Training
• Accountability Management Programs
• Employee Satisfaction Survey
• Customized Incentive Plans
• Employee Recognition Programs
• Phone Shopping Survey
• SWOT Analysis
• Marketplace Price Comparison Matrix
• Market Share Trends Analysis
• Master Marketing Plan
• Revenue Analysis
• Expense analysis
• Accounts Receivable Analysis
• Cash Management Strategies
• Strategic Pricing Plans
• Annual Business Operating Plans
• Strategic Planning
• Monthly Performance and Accountability Management Meetings

Business Valuation

“If you can not afford a valuation, you can not afford to be in business” Most people have a better understanding of what their personal stock and cash values are than their own business value in which their life’s work is involved. Having a detailed valuation and assessment of the financial and market conditions of the business is key to successful business decision making.

Johnson Consulting Group is quickly becoming the leader in the business valuation arena. We have analysts on staff who are creating business valuation packages for both funeral homes and cemeteries daily. Our strength comes from our experience and processes. Having bought, sold, operated, and started our own funeral businesses in the past, we have a keen sense of how funeral businesses are operated. From this experience we also assess the “non monetary” values of a business that can make one business more valuable than another. We call it the Johnson Consulting Value Matrix. With our involvement in Mergers and Acquisitions, we have a daily perspective on business values and what the market is willing to sell or buy a business for. We go yet one step deeper through our underwriting experience to help determine how financing constraints can affect the value on a firm. Through our proprietary web-based datasite, we can show you a demonstration of our valuation package. Call today for a free assessment to see if Johnson Consulting Group can help you with your goals!

Mergers and Acquisitions

“You’ve worked hard for every penny, so don’t leave any on the table” Whether a company is expanding through acquiring other business or selling their business, professional advice on value and structure is critical.

Johnson Consulting Group is the leader in the Mergers and Acquisitions arena having completed 100’s of transactions both on the funeral home and cemetery side. Our strength comes from our experience and processes. Having bought and sold our own businesses in the past, we have a keen sense of the gives and takes of transaction negotiating. We also utilize our proprietary web-based marketing data site to ensure a streamlined and confidential process that ensures that the transaction is completed in a timely manner. Our ability to find financing for buyers also greatly assists us with acquisition assistance as well as bringing forth qualified buyers to our selling clients. Call today for a free assessment to see if Johnson Consulting Group can help you with your goals!

Expanding and growing businesses is one of the indicators of a successful business. How a company expands can be the difference between great success and failure. Typically, funeral professionals operate businesses that have been with the family for generations. Due to this, they are in a debt position that is more conservative than in a new venture. When acquiring a new business, it is paramount to know what the fair market value is and create the right structure for success. Determining the correct loan size and the forecast or budget for years to come is critical to success.

Divestitures

When selling, It isn’t just about finding the right buyers, it’s about knowing what the fair market value is and developing a structure that will maximize what the seller wants! This is the single most important transaction the seller will be involved in. Wouldn’t it be smart to have a company on your side that has helped hundreds of sellers in this situation? You Bet!

Succession Planning

Transferring a funeral business to family members or key employees has been occurring for many years. Setting up that structure correctly to ensure success of the next generation while still maximizing value for the seller is critical. Structure in a transfer such as this is very important.

Tax Services

It’s just good business to have your taxes prepared by a firm that specializes in tax work and has a clear understanding, in depth knowledge and experience working with small businesses. Our accounting system and reports have been tailored to provide a very smooth and easy transfer of the quarterly and yearend financials to help expedite the preparation and filings.

Until Next Time

Now is the time to think about what you want to achieve for 2009 .

It’s pretty simple: if you are not satisfied with your results, but you keep doing the same things, it is almost guaranteed you will get the same disappointing results. We have help hundreds of funeral homes achieve their desired success. We can help your achieve your desired results and more .

We hope you found this issue informative, helpful and useful if you are contemplating taking the right steps to improve your performance and productivity.

From our perspective here at Johnson Consulting, there has never been a better time to be in funeral service than today.

Sincerely,

Jake & Tom Johnson

]]> http://www.johnsonconsulting.com/november-2008-management-insights-newsletter/feed/ 0 http://www.johnsonconsulting.com/september-2008-management-insights-newsletter/ http://www.johnsonconsulting.com/september-2008-management-insights-newsletter/#comments Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:14:09 +0000 JCGAdmin http://www.johnsonconsulting.com/?p=94 Johnson Consulting Group | Funeral Home Cemetery Consultants of Scottsdale, Arizona: information regarding September 2008 Management Insights Newsletter

From the Chairman’s desk:

Welcome back! Our subscriber list is growing. We have now welcomed over 700 subscribers and we continue to get good responses on our format and more importantly our content.

In my years of operating funeral homes on a national scope, July was the month of our fiscal year that served as the benchmark and indicator for how well we were performing against our annual plan. The results of the first two quarters are usually a good indicator to how we would finish the year. When we were behind the curve, the good news was we had time to make adjustments where it was necessary and we were fortunate to have the financial reports to pinpoint our weak areas and take corrective action. Today, we employ the same successful processes, not only for our own locations, but also for our many valued accounting clients.

In this issue, we will share with you our thoughts on what we feel are the critical features of an accounting system. We have chosen to pose our “Top 10 Questions” to ask to evaluate your current account system. Immediate access to current financials is not only important; it is critical to managing a successful business. Receiving a summary analysis of the key financial drivers with industry benchmarks to compare, we feel, is a must have. Our philosophy here at Johnson Consulting is straightforward: you deserve more than a monthly financial report card, you need that, but in addition, a management tool to identify where you need to focus.

In addition to our focus on accounting, we have asked Glenn Gould, CEO of MKJ Marketing, to share his thoughts on another critical information source that a funeral home operation needs when contemplating an expansion or building a new facility. Doing your homework, asking the right questions are the wise first steps before starting to draw up the plans.

In closing, we leave you with this quote from Francis Bacon:

“A prudent question is one half of wisdom.”

At Johnson Consulting, we believe we have the other half  the answers. We hope you enjoy this issue and find it informative and helpful. If we can answer any questions or assist in any way, give us a call. We are here to help.

Regards,

Tom Johnson
Chairman

Top 10 Questions you should ask about your current accounting system:

10. Does your accountant know and understand the funeral business?

9. How detailed is your annual budget?

8. How detailed are your monthly reports showing your results against the budget?

7. Does your system break out each location and give you a consolidated report?

6. Does your accountant offer management services to improve your financial results?

5. Do you have to wade through rims of paper to get the monthly results?

4. What’s the average time it takes to get month end financials?

3. Do you have 24/7 access from anywhere to see your current financials?

2. Is your system constantly updated throughout the month?

1. Is your biggest resistance to change the perceived hassle and disruption?

You can find the answers to these questions and a complete description of our accounting program here >>>

~ Al Asta

The cost of marketing-by-assumption can be enormously high, particularly when an organized market profile study can easily prevent mistakes. When people know rather than assume they will make significantly better decisions. Market research will pin-point consumer groups who may not be aware of your funeral firm or could be attracted to patronize a particular funeral home if they were made aware of the special services provided, such as on-site crematories, reception and children’s rooms. Creating advertising that will impact decision making is far easier once the consumer’s hot buttons have been identified.

Another benefit of a market analysis for existing facilities is to determine the importance of certain criteria in the selection of a funeral home. In some regions, consumers are very familiar with their funeral home options and are likely to refer to their own experience when selecting a funeral home. But, in a highly mobile society where as much as 20% of residents relocate annually, there are many consumers with no local funeral home experience upon which to base a decision. In these cases, it is important to have an understanding of the role the clergy, yellow pages, internet, print and broadcast media advertising play in funeral home selection.

You can read Glenn’s explanation about making better decisions based on having better information here >>>

The Johnson Consulting Group has been extremely helpful and supportive in helping me to understand how to manage my business and to work within a budget.

The Johnson accounting system has provided me with the type of real time record keeping that I need to run my business. With a very specific funeral industry chart of accounts I am able to get important details that I would not get with any other accounting company. It is important to me to know where my cash balances are at all times and this system helps me to manage that as well.

The support staff at Johnsons is all outstanding. They are all very knowledgeable, industry trained people. We can call them any time and get instant answers to any questions we may have.

One of the big benefits they provide is a month end review and analysis of my financial statements. I am able to go line item by line item with an operations specialist and learn to use these statements to manage and make decisions for my business.

I know that my style of managing a company has been different to say the least. I can appreciate the fact that as owners and managers of Funeral Homes, the Johnson Consulting Group has seen and heard it all and has a solution to most of what I will encounter. I respect the Johnson Consulting Group.

- Linda Mitchell, Black and Clark Funeral Home, Dallas, Tx

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

After purchasing my funeral home in 2006 I chose Johnson Consulting to handle my funeral business accounting needs. I needed a partner that understood the funeral industry that would provide me with accurate and timely reporting and Johnson Consulting does just that. The monthly reports that I receive give me the proper information to help me make decisions and run my company. I am able to focus on growing and managing my funeral home and not be bogged down with paper work for accounting. The professional staff at Johnson Consulting has taken care of me and my funeral home and I look forward to a long partnership with them.

- Jason McDougal, McDougal’s Caldwell Chapel, Safford, AZ

If you wondering how a blog could help you connect with your community, Robin Heppell (the architect of JCG website / blog / newsletter), together with 3 other funeral bloggers are hosting a free Funeral Blogging 101 teleseminar on July 30. Visit here to register >>>

We believe so strongly in the need to have an annual plan and an accounting system that ties to that plan. A system that provides ontime data, tracks the results and pinpoints the areas to focus.

Yogi may have said it best:

“If you don’t know where you are going you’ll end up some place else.”

Enjoy the days of summer.

Sincerely,

Jake & Tom Johnson

From the Chairman’s desk:
Welcome! The month of May has come and gone and we are back with our June issue of Management Insights. We sincerely appreciate all the favorable feedback and comments we received from several of our subscribers last month. We feel our launch accomplished our goal of providing valuable and useful information. That’s the course we have chosen.

Now on to this month’s issue… Our economy continues to struggle and it would appear we are going to be challenged for quite sometime. But it is in these times when we are forced to take a harder look at our operations and evaluate what we are doing and how we can possibly do it better and more efficiently. That is the good news of a challenging economy. It compels us to question what we do and what value it has to our clients and families. Is there a better way?

The many calls on this subject that come in to us are fairly common: “I know I have to make some changes, but I don’t know where to start or how to go about it.” At Johnson Consulting, we have developed over the years a very thorough and productive tool to help our clients in this area. Our Performance Analysis process identifies the areas of your total operation that need attention and by applying proven techniques can produce amazing results in a very short period of time.

Clients ask us how we differ from our competition. Our answer is simple and straight forward:We fix what is wrong and keep in place what is working well. Our staff is comprised of funeral directors who have been there and done that … Believe me, that is a huge difference.

Call us if we can help…

Regards,

Tom Johnson
Chairman

Our philosophy is simple: We fix what is broken, not what is working. We use a bottom up approach where we engage the staff – get their input and build their confidence and trust. Other companies employ top down approaches which results in less staff involvement and a low buy in. This usually results in short term solutions that are not sustainable.

Read the entire description of our Management Services Program here …>>

Van Beck laments the fact that the graduate school of funeral service management does not yet exit, and he relays an interesting story concerning a confrontation he witnessed between a government regulator and a courageous funeral director at a large funeral directors convention.

The article ends with identifying Johnson Consulting as being an advocate of funeral service management which is made up of no funeral service “outsiders.” If you have ever gone to work and sat down at the desk and thought “What now?” this article is something to read.

Read the entire article here – - >>

With the ability to draw on the diverse backgrounds of all the Johnson Consulting Group, they are able to address all of our challenges and growing needs.

The advice of the group has been invaluable in providing concrete ideas, new processes and methods of improving and growing our business that propel us strongly into the future. It is our pleasure and privilege to have them as part of our organization.

- Carlos Guerra, of Los Angeles, California

Johnson Consulting was a bright spot in the acquisition process of my funeral home. I was new to the process. JCG took a personal interest in me and my funeral home. Every question was answered and every document was supplied me before I made my bid all in a two week span. They made a hectic time into a somewhat pleasant experience which I am very grateful. The bank was pleased at the information that was provided in a timely fashion. I would recommend that anyone interested in buying or selling use Johnson Consulting for the transaction if nothing else but for the expertise in their field.

- Robert H. Bell of Springfield, Tennessee

We leave you with these words of wisdom from two proven business leaders. They apply to all of us that have the desire and objective to maximizing our productivity and achieving superior results:

“The most serious mistakes are not being made as a result of wrong answers. The truly dangerous thing is asking the wrong question.” – Peter Drucker

“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion. We know where most of the creativity, the innovation, the stuff that drives productivity lies – in the minds of those closest to the work.” – Jack Welch

At the Johnson Group we ask the right questions and involve the entire staff …

Sincerely,

Jake & Tom Johnson