Consulting Services
Funeral Direction works with funeral directors and industry suppliers across Australia on a range of strategic, operational and marketing projects, many of whom engage us to play an ongoing advisory role.
As an experienced industry peer, Martin Tobin is well-placed to play a valuable sounding board role for his industry clients.
Details of some of Funeral Direction’s most sought-after consulting processes, which are fully tailored to the needs of your business and market, are outlined below.
Strategy Formulation
Funeral Direction offers a comprehensive Strategic Planning process, which typically involves:
- Research into and familiarisation with your business and market
- Facilitation of a structured planning workshop
- Preparation of a written Business Plan
- Communication of the Plan to you and your key staff
- Assistance with implementation of the Plan
- Ongoing advice & support to help you stay on track.
Business Health Check
We offer a comprehensive business diagnostic service, which typically involves:
- Research into and familiarisation with your business and market
- A full or half day visit to closely assess all aspects of your business
- Preparation of a report identifying areas for improved performance & profitability
- Assistance with implementation of measures designed to address the issues identified.
People Development
In addition to staff training, Funeral Direction offers a range of people development services, including:
- Mentoring and executive coaching
- Formulation of a preferred employer framework
- Career development planning for key staff and future leaders
- Enterprise Agreement advice.
Recruitment
Funeral Direction can assist with the recruitment of key staff, which can save you and your business considerable time and money. This process typically involves:
- Developing a detailed Position Description
- Assessing and short-listing all applications
- Assisting with short-list interviews
- Pre-employment assessment and testing
- Reference checking and other procedural steps
- Preparing employment letters.
Advisory Board
An Advisory Board is a process which enables suitably qualified external/independent people to provide advice and support to the owners/directors and senior managers of a business.
Advisory Boards generally provide non-binding direction/advice, rather than formal governance and decision-making, and therefore tend to be slightly less formal than a Board of Directors, and don’t operate under the same strict legal framework.
Martin Tobin has helped several Australian funeral companies establish a fully functional Advisory Board, which enables him to provide ongoing family business advice and direction.
The role of the Advisory Boards Martin is involved in is to:
- Provide owners/directors and senior managers with access to external and independent advice/insights on important, strategic issues
- Provide a forum for the development of a strategic/business plan, and to help keep the management team accountable to the effective and timely implementation of the plan
- Ensure management prioritises between a range of competing opportunities, and adheres to the owner’s desired growth/profitability objectives
- Provide informal/indirect mentoring and support for key managers and family members
- Take some of the internal emotion and politics (that often exists within family businesses) out of the decision-making process.
Marketing & Business Development
Funeral Direction offers a range of creative marketing and business development services, including:
- Facilitation of a brand clarification & alignment workshop
- Preparation of a written Marketing Plan
- Opportunities for service innovation
- Formulation of business development strategies
- Assistance with development of advertising livery/collateral.
Cemeteries & Industry Suppliers
Given the strong parallels between the funeral industry and the cemetery sector, we also provide training and consulting services to a range of cemeteries across Australia.
Similarly, given our industry experience, market intelligence and extensive contact base, we also work with funeral industry suppliers by:
- Providing strategic, operational or marketing advice
- Assisting them to take new or innovative products and services to the market
- Facilitating meetings/dialogue with key industry players.