By Joey Haas
Transcription: Interview with Zack Garbow and Greg Young from Funeral Innovations
Megan:
Welcome and thanks for joining us at Funeral Innovations: Trends, Tips and Tech. In these videos we chat with industry leaders, discuss marketing trends, technology innovation, and discuss how digital marketing helps you better serve your families. I’m Megan and I am a client success manager here at Funeral Innovations.
Heather:
And I’m Heather and I’m the director of marketing at Funeral Innovation.
Megan:
So today we’re pleased to have our very own co-founders, Zack Garbow and Greg Young. Zack is in our Colorado office and Greg is here at our Des Moines location. So we wanted to speak with them today about how Funeral Innovations got started, the changes they’ve seen in the industry and what they expect in the coming months. So thanks Greg and Zack for joining us today.
Greg:
Me pleasure.
Megan:
Yeah. So to get started, why don’t you each tell us a little bit about yourself and how Funeral Innovations came to be.
Zack:
Why don’t you go ahead, Greg.
Greg:
Yeah, well, my name’s Greg Young. I live here in Des Moines Iowa. And the way, the way that this came to be is we’re actually celebrating our 12th year of serving the funeral industry. This year and technically Funeral Innovations started in 2008 but it actually began in 2007 when Zack and I, we had met through the invention process within IBM and we both shared a passion for entrepreneurship and we both had the desire to own our own company one day. We weren’t quite sure what that would be, but in early 2008, Zack was going to California for Quiet Combinator and he had already kind of started the process. But I moved back to Des Moines to live closer to family in 2008 and in doing so, just the luck of timing, my good friend Scott Erickson came back to help with his local funeral home and help us out as a funeral director. And then while Zack was in California at Quiet Combinator, I just started to hang out with Scott and learn more about just the funeral profession. And in doing so you know, you get a lot of respect for how much compassion they have and how funeral professionals really care about their communities. And that level of service was really interesting to me. And as Zack and I continue to talk, the thing that we became clear though is the technology that was available to the profession was not supporting and enabling them to be that full capability of service they provide to communities. So we set out to provide technology to help the profession. Once Zack got done with Quiet Combinator, we really focused on building technology to enable and empower the funeral homes to reach that full level of service and to help their communities in every way possible.
Zack:
Yeah, I think neither of us says young professionals IBM envisioned, hey, one day we’ll maybe be in the funeral industry. But you know, just because of the coincidence and, and Greg’s relationship with Scott, it was a good opportunity and it was an awesome fit for us. Something that I’d never considered, but because the funeral industry was kind of behind in terms of how they use technology and the way they serve their families, it wasn’t real modern. It was a great opportunity for us to do something and use our skills and our knowledge and technology to actually make a difference. So it’s been very fulfilling in that sense.
Megan:
Great. Thank you both for sharing that. You know, talking about how Funeral Innovations came to be, can you either of you talk about, you know, what is the mission of Funeral Innovations and how are we different from others?
Zack:
Yeah. I think one of the interesting things that Greg touched on how we came together is Greg and I actually met through the IBM invention process working on patents. And the reason that really stands out to me is because our company funeral industry innovations is all about that word “innovations”. That’s how it started, right? We’re literally inventing and innovating at IBM. That’s what brought us together and that’s the unique aspect that we bring to this industry. We try to bring new ideas to the funeral industry, not necessarily just sticking with what has already occurred or how people already do things in this industry. We like to take the best ideas from outside of the industry that we see going on in other industries that are working regardless of the type of company and take those ideas and distill them and find ways that they can benefit funeral homes and the families they serve.
Heather:
That’s great. Greg, do you have anything you want to add to that about how you think we’re different or things that we do differently?
Greg:
Yeah, I think that the core is, it is technology and it, it is kind of just looking at it as how can we raise that level of service and how can we provide the technology that like going back to the roots of the days when I was back at my hometown of how can we help these funeral directors that were so many hats and they do so many things on a day to day basis where a lot of times are so focused on the inside of their business and within the walls, they don’t think about what’s happening outside and we want to be the voice and we want to be able to build technology that helps bridge that gap so that their presence outside is just as strong as it is inside.
Heather:
Can you talk just a little bit more about how you think technology allows funeral directors to do just that, to focus on what’s important for them or, or their part of the business and technology can do some of the other things?
Greg:
Yeah, I think the technology has evolved greatly over time. I think it started where one of the first things we built was a monument design software. And we were one of the first ones that built that. And that was more focused on providing a better experience to the consume, but as the consumers evolve that things are, technology is become more and more important in this space because the cause, because consumers want an experience at the end of the day. So it’s our job and our duty to continue to enhance that experience and engage them in ways online as their behaviors change and they’ve gone more online and it’s just meeting that need of what is the consumer looking for and how can our technology meet them where they’re at.
Heather:
That makes total sense. And so our next question is how has the industry changed since you guys started Funeral Innovations? What things have you seen evolve?
Zack:
I think it’s changed a lot in, in terms of the mindset and the eagerness to adopt technology. When we started there was a lot of hesitancy and push back and I think people didn’t necessarily want it do new things or try new things. They wanted to stick with the way they had always done everything. So it was hard to talk about more modern approaches to marketing and reaching out to consumers. And you know, I, I felt like sometimes we were, you know, just yelling into a storm and no one could hear us. But over the years I’ve seen a lot of you know, firms are now more eager to try new things. They want to see what’s next. They want to hear about what’s working in other industries and how they can do new things that will help their families. So I think that openness to trying new things and adopting technology has, has really changed over the years that we’ve been involved. Have you noticed that Greg?
Greg:
Yeah. Yeah. I think, I think the, the change is equal if not greater from a consumer perspective, which is forcing the funeral homes to adapt to and the industry to change. So as people evolve online and are looking to get more just familiar with technology. I think what’s happening is the consumer’s looking for different things in the, in their communities and is requiring the funeral home to adapt. And some of that being maybe Facebook, maybe the web, it’s a wide variety of topics, but also from a cremation perspective as we’ve seen the cremation rates rise and maybe some of those services that traditionally being held go down a little bit. It’s required the funeral homes to be more efficient as well. And that’s, that’s having them embrace technology.
Megan:
Great. So you know, you’ve just talked about how the industry has changed over time. Can you just talk about, you know, in the last few months how the pandemic has affected Funeral Innovations and how we’ve had to respond and adapt?
Zack:
I think it’s forcing a lot of funeral homes to really challenge their assumptions on what’s possible, how they can serve their families best because it’s, you know, these, these lockdowns and the restrictions on the number of people you can have at services has, has really changed everything. And now everyone is just scrambling to see how they can actually help these families rather than having these preconceived notions of what’s the right way to do things? What’s, what’s the wrong way? And as a case in point before this pandemic, very few, if any funeral homes, did Facebook live right, they all assumed that, you know, Facebook live is, you know, it’s going to be public. We don’t want to deal with that. You know, that’s not what families want, but because of the, these lockdowns they had to adapt really quickly and all of a sudden Facebook live they found was a really popular solution to the challenge they were facing. And it’s easy to use. The, the families are able to access it very quickly and without trouble because they’re accustomed to Facebook. So this assumption that, you know, Facebook live isn’t the right way to do funeral streaming was actually challenged and we found out that it, it’s a great solution for a lot of funeral homes and a lot of people. So we are seeing that you know, with these challenges of the past few months. And I think moving forward, all those assumptions that we’ve made are, are being challenged and you know, we’re, we’re forcing to all look at using technology specifically to meet this challenge and try new things.
Heather:
Well I think that’s a great point Zack. And in the interviews that Megan and I have done, we’ve also heard a lot that, you know, the funeral directors are more willing to try new things, but their families are forced to try new things too. So maybe in the past, someone who didn’t want to come to a zoom meeting or didn’t want to go figure out how Facebook worked, now the funeral directors are explaining that to them. And it’s just such a great opportunity for the funeral directors to meet that need in the community. Because as one of our previous interviews pointed out, grief just can’t wait. You can’t put that off until later.
Greg:
And to expand on that a little bit, I think it emphasizes the power of Facebook and social media and putting your brand out there because traditionally were so relying on people walking in your doors and talking to them. Well now you’re able to meet the moment and put yourself out there and educate through these platforms that have been built, but there’d be through email marketing or through Facebook or any way you can reach your community. The people who had, you know, more thriving Facebook presences of things, it was easier for them to quickly connect with their audiences where those who didn’t, it was a little more difficult.
Zack:
Yeah. I think that goes even beyond Facebook, frankly. I mean, we’re seeing the same with email marketing where it used to be the having a newsletter list, right, is the really, you know, it was a nice thing to have. You could stay in touch with people, but with everything that’s going on now, it’s almost essential, right. To, to keep up to date, to let them know what you’re doing, how the different laws and restrictions affect you. So that having all those different communication channels has really been even more important during this pandemic than it was before.
Megan:
Okay. Definitely. So, kind of just going off of that question as well, where do you see the company going and just the industry in general?
Zack:
Go ahead Greg. I’ll let you take a first crack.
Greg:
You know, I, I think, I think the importance of your presence online is just going to grow more and more over time. And I think it’s been expedited because of the pandemic and everything. So I think the, the vision of our company and the industry as a whole will be how, how do you continue to offer experiences through your online presence and how do you continue to kind of delight your community with what you’re offering them online so that you’re not as dependent on them actually walking through your door and before you had that first impression. And I think that as a company we’ll continue to push forward of how can we help the funeral funeral homes kinda empower them to be more efficient but also to help them educate and inform people and engage them online. And even raised the bar versus where we are today.
Zack:
Yeah. I think even as this country, you know, starts opening back up and people have more restrictions and we get the, or fewer restrictions and we get beyond all this the acceptance of everyone to use technology and to do more of their everyday tasks online. I don’t think it’s going away. I think that’s kind of accelerated a trend we had already seen, but that, that progress has been made. And I think people, including older demographics have, you know, really just accepted that hey, there’s a lot of conveniences that come from technology and using the internet for things that they maybe wouldn’t have considered doing before. And I think that mindset has changed. And because of that they’re going to continue to be more willing to do things online and engage with brands and interact with, with firms. And just do more of their life online. So we’re going to continue to adapt to meet that that moment as well.
Heather:
And something I know we talk about a lot internally is that part of our function is to creating those social interactions is just building that connection, building that relationship, being a greater support and of service to the community. That’s kind of the function that a lot of this technology allows funeral homes to do is to really build those relationships with people.
Zack:
Yeah. And it’s interesting how technology has really taking the place of or, or enhance a lot of previously in-person kind of activities. I hear a lot of people that are doing now Zoom meetups with their friends. People are doing Zoom dinners, Zoom happy hours. So I, you know, while they won’t always do that necessarily to completely replace those in person events, it definitely has changed the mindset. And it also shows, I think to a lot of people that you can enhance some of these, you know, existing activities or experiences with technology.
Megan:
Awesome. Okay. Thank you both. We have one final question for each of you that we like to ask everyone as we have our conversation, so what’s the biggest thing you’ve learned while serving in this industry and just you know, serving funeral homes in these past 12 years?
Zack:
This is probably going to be flattering to a lot of the people. I might watch this, but I think coming into the industry, you know, you come in with a kind of preconceived notion of what a funeral director is like. And I’ve just come to realize after 12 years doing this, just how empathetic, how kind, how compassionate, how caring funeral directors are. And it’s not just me. Basically everyone who comes to work with Funeral Innovations, you know, at first they’re like, I didn’t really think I’d be working in the funeral industry, but yes. I’m like, okay, so what, what have you thought? How has it, it kind of met your expectations? And that’s the biggest theme is people are always surprised by just how much they enjoy working with funeral directors and working for a funeral home. And making that impact with the families as well. So that’s, that’s been something I’ve really enjoyed about being in this industry.
Greg:
Yeah, I would agree. I think the impact that the funeral homes have in knowing that, you know, every day, especially as you know funeral homes share, they forward the emails that they get or the little little, little part that we play in raising that level of service and helping people out in a very difficult time in their life. It, it really makes it motivating to wake up each day and continue to push forward and drive forward knowing that, you know, obviously the funeral directors do a majority of it, but our technology back to where we started 12 years ago with that mission of helping the funeral homes help families and the fact that we’re kind of following through that and our technology is doing it. It’s one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is how appreciative the families are for all the efforts that the funeral homes give day in, day out.
Heather:
Those are both terrific answers and I wholeheartedly agree with both of you. And I’m so grateful that you have this company and that I can be a part of it for some of those exact reasons. And I want to echo what Greg said with the the letters that we get from families or that funeral directors forward us from content they’ve gotten from us that families have sent thank you’s back. It’s just amazing the impact that a little bit of that sort of aftercare using technology can really have on somebody who’s experienced with a funeral home. And heartwarming that it’s helping people.
Zack:
Yeah, absolutely.
Greg:
Absolutely.
Heather:
So, Zack and Greg, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re really glad that you got to hop on for people watching the recording later. We’ll have this available on YouTube, on our blog, on our Facebook page. If anybody has ideas that they’d like to see discussed or people they want to see interviewed, just put it in the comments and Megan and I will work on making that happen. And if you need to get ahold of us, you can visit us at funeralinnovations.com or email us at info@funeralinnovations.com so thanks so much you guys. We really appreciate you being here from home.
