Abbreviation of the article from NFDA’s Memorial Business Journal based on
Zack Garbow’s presentation at NFDA’s convention, USA
ost
people
would
agree
that
technology is necessary to enhance
a business. Some embrace the tech
wholeheartedly, but there are those as
well who see technology as a necessary
evil. The thing about technology, too, is
there’s a whole lot of it. So how do you
decide what you need?
At the NFDA International Convention & Expo
last year, Zack Garbow, co-founder of Funeral
Innovations, presented a seminar to help sort all
that out for attendees. The presentation looked
at an assortment of technology to discuss and
evaluate what funeral directors should be doing
for their business and what they should be
looking to adopt. One of them is e-Commerce.
[...]
Over the last few years, the technology adopted
in the funeral industry has skyrocketed. “We’re
in this always online world now, especially
because of the pandemic that just accelerated
everything,” said Garbow. “People who were
hesitant to accept and adopt technology have
really been doing so because they’ve been
forced to do so.” Things like video chat services,
telehealth and online grocery ordering, he said,
have existed for a long time, but it’s only recently
that people have felt comfortable trying some of
the tech.
And because the public has become more
comfortable, software and technology have
become key to every profession. The number of
tech solutions in the marketplace can certainly be
overwhelming. So how should you as a business
professional evaluate the solutions your firm
should be using?
Good and bad technology
Good technology offers some very positive
benefits, and efficiency is a big one. “Technology
should make you more efficient. It should
create new capabilities and offerings you can
provide to families to make the funeral service
more special,” Garbow said. “It should open up
new revenue and simplify and automate your
business.”
While there are many benefits to good technology,
Garbow warned, there is also bad technology. “You
want to make sure that technology is working for
you and you’re not working for it,” he said. Everyone,
at one time or another, has been in a situation in
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No. 102 – SUMMER 2023 | THANOS MAGAZINE
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