THE FUNERAL PLANNER

Chapter Eight Part 1: Competitive Landscape - History Repeats Itself

Chapter 8 Part 1

The Funeral Trade Show in Las Vegas is filled with ex­hibitors displaying their wares. There are wall-to-wall items related to one’s time of need and the afterlife, and the room is jam-packed with owners and employees of funeral homes from across the country and its allied industries, as well.

My booth is in the low-rent district away from the main thoroughfare, a cost-conscious move on my part. A large banner boldly hangs above the booth baring the name Lights Out Enterprises. I did, however, give in to Sierra’s suggestions and display a forty-five-inch television monitor playing clips of the life bio videos in an ongoing loop, including scenes of Maurice LeSarde singing live at Uncle Sam’s tribute.

Pajama tops and novelty flashlights with the name Lights Out on them are giveaway items. And on display is the customized gravestone by the renowned French sculptor Davide. It is an extraordinary patina sculpture of Uncle Sam fishing. The artist cleverly placed the fishing line’s hook and lure in a round empty watering hole where visitors can leave a memento. There’s also an attachable video monitor inside a matching patina sculpture in the shape of a fishing tackle box. When you open the tackle box, the life bio video au­tomatically plays with sound. There’s also a button to push on the sculpted fishing lure that plays the melody to “Fish­ing Free.” At the base of the sculpture Uncle Sam’s name is engraved along with his dates and a small inscription that reads “It’s a beee-utiful day.”

I also included samples of Andy’s now-framed leaf art with poetic words about loss, loss and more loss written by Daniel Banks.

Crowds stand and gawk at the sculpture and the videos.

Sierra fiddles with the projector to make sure the image on screen is crystal clear. More and more people stop by. I conduct a series of miniseminars outlining the offerings of Lights Out with a PowerPoint presentation. And on two sep­arate monitors at either end of the booth the Web site is prominently displayed.

Sierra motions to me that she’s going to check out the show. She signals that she’ll be back in ten minutes. I nod and con­tinue my speech to the group in front of me. “And so you see...”I explain, “Lights Out Enterprises offers strategic part­nerships with funeral home directors so you can enhance your services to your communities. You supply the pre-need clients and we’ll take care of all the details. Are there any questions?”

A man raises his hand. “How are you different from Trib­ute in a Box?”

“Tribute in a Box,” I repeat. “I’m sorry. I’m not familiar with them. What do they do?”

“Seems like they do exactly what you do,” a woman replies. “And they guarantee celebrities will perform at the funeral, I mean tribute.”

I’m baffled.

“They’re right around the corner,” says another man. “And their price points are lower than yours.”

On those words the crowd begins to disperse. Sierra re­turns wearing a concerned expression on her face as she shuf­fles through the exodus to me. She places a copy of the Financial Street Journal in my hands.

“Maddy. Today’s journal,” says Sierra. “Read and breathe. And whatever you do, don’t go around the corner unless you want to short circuit your own lights.”

I look down. There on the front page is a cover story:

Derek Rogers resurfaces with “Tribute in a Box.” Derek Rogers’s latest and greatest venture: prefab customized tributes for all. Since leaving Palette Enterprises, Mr. Rogers has quickly and quietly amassed ownership of 1,000 publicly traded funeral homes offering after-fu­neral services, estate planning, legal advice, grief coun­seling and now, Mr. Rogers’s latest product, Tribute in a Box, specialized funeral services aimed at the baby-boomer generation. The consortium of funeral homes also offers accrued interest earned in prepaid plans. Tribute in a Box rolls out its offering at the Funeral Trade Show in Las Vegas with exceptionally low price points due to volume-based business incentives...