Make localfuneral.co.uk part of your team
Meet the experts behind the site supporting funeral directors now and into the future…
More than 1,600 independent funeral directors have already taken advantage of the free service created by Golden Charter for all businesses affiliated with SAIF, the NAFD and the IAFD.
localfuneral.co.uk offers businesses across the UK the opportunity to connect directly with families at need, to showcase their services and offer a range of additional extras.
While you are probably familiar with the site, in light of the CMA’s provisional report it’s timely to take a look at how localfuneral.co.uk can help you meet any recommendations that may become regulations down the line.
The team behind the site uses customer and funeral director insight to shape its responsiveness and ease of use and make it a highly engaging platform which offers benefits for everyone using the direct to market tool.
With investment in digital a top priority for Golden Charter, SAIFInsight goes behind the scenes to learn about the workings of the service through the eyes of the experts on the Product & Innovation team.
JONNY SHEARER
Role Product Innovation Manager
Area of expertise Maximising customers’ and funeral directors’ experience
“This is an exciting time for localfuneral. co.uk as the CMA’s provisional report has highlighted price transparency as an issue and, of course, the site offers funeral directors a way to make it easier for customers to understand the potential costs upfront. Not only does the website connect families in need with a funeral director in their local area, it puts funeral directors in control of their listings, services and prices and offers opportunities for them to add value for the families they serve.
More than 1,600 independent funeral directors are now listed on the site. As it is available exclusively to independent funeral directors who are members of SAIF, the NAFD and the IAFD, we know that price transparency and breakdown of pricing is increasingly important.
Through customer research and government guidance, we developed a Simple Funeral package that allows funeral directors to provide a breakdown of what is included with this type of funeral and the costs. The package we’re using at this time is the same for every funeral director, meaning families can compare prices easily.
localfuneral.co.uk is a nimble platform as we have the expertise in-house – everything from communications to development and tech is under one roof. We start with a hypothesis, test it, gather user feedback and then either iterate what we have learned or change course and re-test. Our learning always informs our next steps.”
MOHAMED BAKRI
Role Commercial & Operations Analyst
Area of expertise Gathers, analyses and presents data to help the team make informed product decisions
“Our mission is to ensure families can find a funeral director when they need one, so it is important to me that we identify any gaps in localfuneral. co.uk’s network of funeral directors. I deliver daily, weekly and monthly reports to stakeholders to make sure the site is performing well and identify any opportunities that will enhance funeral directors’ and end users’ customer experience.
For instance, when we launched our Funeral Notice feature, we only had the option to leave a text based ‘memory’. Our funeral directors quickly identified that if we added the option for someone to leave an image (Mark of Respect) on the notice, we’d get even more people interacting with the feature. Now 60% of the interactions with Funeral Notices are Marks of Respect and 40% are written Memories.
By using data to understand how families and businesses interact with the site, we can ensure it remains more than just a place that provides enquiries for Independents.”
BILLY MOAT
Role Lead UX/UI Software Developer
Area of expertise Providing the best user experience for funeral directors and families
“My job is to please both sets of users – to help customers get the most out of the site and also to enable funeral directors to get what they’re looking for from the product.
We are continuously designing and developing the site based on feedback and data analysis. We test everything and retest every iteration. First, we use ‘hallway testing’ – getting feedback from colleagues outside our team – then we randomly test different scenarios with colleagues using Microsoft Teams so we can monitor how easy they find it. This helps us fine tune useability before we open the site amendments up to a third party for independent testing.
We then view video of those testers and analyse how easy they have found the journey through the pages and features. That gives us great confidence in the product and offers funeral directors assurance on its quality.”
Michael Hart Abbott of A Abbott & Sons in Northamptonshire
“It is easy to set up a listing – very easy indeed. It’s a simple way to provide transparency and to offer the customer a choice of services available. We are required to be fair to customers and wish to be attractive and meet customer needs, so this is a way of showing prices to potential customers. It demonstrates that you wish to have your prices freely available.
I like the fact that you have updates from the site when a customer calls you. It is great to see that our new and regular customers are using this service and I am pleased to provide a variety of service choices. Some families now know which service they prefer and have done their homework before their interview. Our website and localfuneral. co.uk presence must be helping in this regard.”
JOANNA MCLEOD
Role Business Support Administrator
Area of expertise Stakeholder engagement
“I work with funeral directors to ensure they are getting the most benefit from being on localfuneral.co.uk and answer any questions they may have. We always follow up with an email to make sure we have helped, too.
The site is very clever and streamlined, so we can analyse the full customer journey, from the moment someone finds us from Google, to the point where they contact a funeral director. Armed with that information, I can explain features and offer assistance on how businesses can modify listings to their advantage. For instance, our Business Insight tool reveals how they are performing on the site. We display the number of searches the business has appeared in, all the way through to the number of enquiries received, plus the local average cost of a Simple Funeral.
Because we speak to funeral directors so regularly, we were able to react quickly at the start of the pandemic, adding features which enabled funeral directors to add video calls or online appointments to their list of services.
I really enjoy speaking to our funeral directors about how they can get the most out of the site and getting feedback so we know the site is doing what it should be.”
Key Features
New to localfuneral.co.uk? Here’s what to expect when you sign in to the funeral director content management pages…
HOME PAGE
Easy to navigate
Funeral directors see this screen when they sign in. They can use the categories on the left hand side of the page or the tiles on the main screen to navigate through the different features of the site. To upload Services and Prices, the funeral director would opt their branch in to appear on the site. If a funeral director has multiple branches, these will appear on this screen and can also be opted in.
Neil Williams of Ernest Heal & Sons, Gloucestershire
“It’s a very easy and intuitive system which allows the user to upload company details, a photograph and the all-important information regarding the cost of a simple funeral. Listing our prices on localfuneral. co.uk gives prospective clients a starting point – they can compare like for like but can also deviate from the Simple Funeral option and explore upgraded options.
I would recommend localfuneral.co.uk as engagement between the client and funeral director is far more likely if there’s a starting point. I believe that if a client is looking for a price, they are least likely to engage with a company that does not display their costs clearly.”
FUNERAL NOTICE
Reduces stress for families and offers added value
Funeral directors can work with families to produce a simple and free Funeral Notice that they can share with their family and friends. It takes just 10 minutes to create and publish this, so it offers added value to families and reduces stress as the obituary, funeral arrangements with maps and directions, and funeral director information can be easily shared via social media or email.
Families also have the option of adding a photo of their loved one and the notice also provides a hub where visitors can post a memory, view any family requests and link to any donations website the family has chosen.
PRICING
Done in minutes
It takes just two minutes per branch to upload a price for a Simple Funeral. The funeral director follows a step-by step approach asking them to input prices for certain elements of the funeral. They can then select a crematorium as part of the funeral cost. Price is calculated automatically. To differentiate themselves from other funeral directors, they can also list up to four descriptions in the “Why Choose Us” section.
Examples funeral directors use are:
- Description of fleet
- History
- Qualifications held
- Standing in the community
SERVICES
Personalises your business offering
At the Services page, funeral directors can tailor their offering for their business or branch by toggling the category on or off for each option. This will take around two minutes for each branch.
To list your business for free, or for support with any of localfuneral.co.uk’s features, call 0141 938 6384 or email.
Tags: digital, expertise, Golden Charter, LocalFuneral, LocalFuneral.co.uk, online, pricing, staff, team, website