“Hollerbach Funeral Home”, “Amigone Funeral Home”, “Burns Funeral Home and Crematory”, “Staab Polk Funeral Home”, and yes even “Ronald McDonald Funeral Home”, just some of the real names of funeral homes out there that bring a chuckle when you mention them. Of course, there is also the quintessential “Dye Funeral Home”.
It is amazing the power that lies in a name. And it is not just funeral service, it is in everything we see today, from cars to food, stores to political parties. Every name we encounter in life has meaning and with it come perceived as well as experienced expectations. Companies know this and spend billions every year on their name. In 2016, Pampers budgeted over 8 BILLION dollars for advertising, Coca-Cola budgeted 4 billion dollars, and Verizon budgeted 2.7 billion dollars. By way of perspective, the 2018 annual budget for the City of Charlotte is 2.4 billion dollars, less than any one of these companies spend just on advertising!
Perhaps it was advertising about my name that led me to meet a lovely couple back in 2014. We had numerous interactions as they began the process of planning ahead for their own funeral services and end of life details. When she passed away, I met with her husband on Father’s Day to finalize those plans. He was grateful that with the size of my own family, I was taking time on that special day to meet with him. I explained to him that since I had known he and his wife for a few years now, I was not meeting a client, I was meeting a friend to take care of another friend. I would have it no other way.
As we go through life living, laughing and loving, we are faced with many names every day. Whether shopping, dining, or other activities, names can play a big part. For something as important as caring for a loved one, I encourage you to go beyond a name. Take the time to meet those who will personally care for you. With that, you will then see that the power of friendship is more powerful than any name and the comfort you feel is not that which comes from advertising. I am proud of our Lowe-Neddo Funeral Home name, but more proud of the living, laughing and loving with the friends I am privileged to meet through it.
