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PreNeed and Perpetual Care Trusts can be complicated and what you don't know can hurt you. It's our promise to keep you informed with all the latest developments, trends, and legislation. What we know, you'll know. Please check out the FSI Digital Brochure explaining the different services we offer. [Digital Brochure]
As deathcare firms navigate economic challenges, businesses are wise to leverage preneed as a revenue driver. For insights on how to use data-driven insights to increase your preneed revenue potential, read our recent article in Memento Mori here.
Like most areas of your firm's business, your preneed program will benefit from a tune-up to maximize the revenue and income potential of trust assets. For insights on where to start, read Michael Faherty's recent article in American Funeral Director's August issue here
How will tomorrow's Funeral Directors transform their businesses? Between evolutions in technology and consumer preferences, the funeral industry is sure to look considerably different tomorrow than it does today. In a recent issue of FCCFA's The Chronicle magazine, FSI's Bill Williams highlights how Funeral Directors may adapt to shifting winds.
In the July issue of Southern Funeral Director, Bill Williams shares key strategies to increase your firm's preneed sales as cremation rates continue to rise. Although trends show us that consumers are seeking lower-cost options, there are opportunities to drive additional revenue for your firm. To find out how, read more here.
In the June issue of The Director, Bill Williams highlights four ways your firm can benefit from an online storefront. An online storefront should be mutually-beneficial: It helps your firm facilitate a seamless digital purchase process for your customers, and allows your customers to easily find the information they need and complete their purchase on their own terms. Read more for insights on digital storefronts here.
When exploring a funding method for your funeral home's preneed program, you have two choices: trust or insurance. There are pros and cons to both, which FSI's Bill Williams explored in the April issue of Southern Funeral Director. Read more here for insights on which may be the best fit for your firm.
As the number of families opting for cremation continues to rise, there are several ways for cremation providers and cemeteries to leverage the trend for long-term growth. In the March issue of American Cemetery & Cremation, FSI's Paul White reveals three strategies cremation facilities can use to jumpstart their preneed sales. Read more here.
Now more than ever, it's essential to establish and build trust with consumers. One of the best ways to do so is through technology. Smart investments in technology, including providing educational resources and easy access to preneed services, will help individuals see you as a trusted source of information during their time of need. Read more about how you can build consumer trust through technology at FuneralVision.
Looking for ways to enhance revenue generation for your preneed trust program? In the January issue of American Funeral Director, we discuss the impact a robust preneed program can have on your firm's bottom line. Read more here.
We have all heard that it's time for deathcare firms to tap into technology to provide families with the digital resources they need. But where should a funeral home start? In the January issue of Southern Funeral Director, FSI CEO Bill Williams outlines 4 steps to create a strong digital presence that matches what today's consumers are looking for.
In the December issue of American Funeral Director, FSI's Bill Williams and Argent Financial Group's Steve Jackson share financial planning tips to position your funeral home for success. Get insights on how to sell preneed and how to get a better handle on your operating costs and trust fund performance here.
In a column with NFDA's The Director magazine, FSI CEO Bill Williams explains several strategies to maintain or boost preneed sales – ultimately setting up firms with a strong plan to navigate stubborn inflation and low sales volume as we enter 2024.
In the October issue of Memento Mori, FSI's Paul White and WRW Legal's Wendy Russell Wiener, Esq. discuss travel protection: what it is, how its regulated and the future of travel protection agreements. Dive into the in's and out's here.
How Do You Measure Business Growth: In the July issue of Memento Mori, FSI CEO Bill Williams answers the age-old question: how do you measure success for your firm? Read more for an in-depth look at key performance indicators your firm should be tracking.
More States Need to Permit Unitrusts: Unitrusts are an essential resource to assist in funding cemetery and cemetery garden maintenance, but only 17 states permit their use. FSI CEO Bill Williams and WRW Legal Managing Member Wendy Russell Wiener explain why more states need to get on board with unitrust, and how cemeteries can benefit from this resource.
Why Preneed Programs are a Must for Developing a Long-term Strategic Plan for Funeral Homes and Cemeteries: When conducting your strategic plan, don't overlook a preneed program. Read more for guidance on how preneed programs influence business valuations.
Too many cemeteries struggle with the problem of funding forever upkeep of their properties. Luckily, there is help available in the 17 states which permit a solution called a total return trust, or unitrust. To learn the in's and out's of how this solution works and how to adopt the model for your cemetery, read more from Bill Williams and Wendy Russell Wiener in FuneralVision.org.
In the May issue of Funeral Home & Cemetery News, FSI CEO Bill Williams explores ways that firms can invest in technology to improve efficiencies during a recession. While it's natural to want to pull back when revenues are down and inflation is up, firms are smart to make strategic investments that will ultimately improve their bottom line.
In the April issue of Southern Funeral Director, FSI President Bill Williams shares the best kept secret to increase preneed sales: inspiration funds. By offering inspiration funds, consumers benefit from end-of-life celebration flexibility and funeral homes capture revenue that may have otherwise been lost.
In the March issue of The Director magazine, FSI's Paul White explains the power of a new trend: inspiration funds. And how the funds can help increase sales of nontraditional services. Learn more about this new revenue-generating idea here.
In the February issue of Memento Mori, FSI CEO Bill Williams discusses digital customer journeys for funeral homes. Equipping decision makers with the actionable steps needed to have a strong online presence, Bill breaks down the process into an achievable strategy.
The new year is upon us, so now is an ideal time to review your pre-need trust program to make sure it is operating – administratively and financially – at peak performance. Read more from experts at FSI and Argent Financial Group in the January issue of American Funeral Director.
In the November issue of The Director, FSI CEO Bill Williams shares practical knowledge of how funeral directors can better serve families and their bottom line. Through the use of new technology, we can keep up with the vast changes in consumer preferences.
FSI, the leading deathcare trust administrator for preneed and perpetual care trusts, announced that it has been acquired by Argent Financial Group, a leading deathcare trustee and fiduciary wealth management group. What does this mean for the deathcare industry?
In the October issue of Memento Mori, FSI General Counsel Wendy Russell Wiener discusses how deathcare firms can avoid litigation with proper identification of the dead, one of the most common issues in disciplinary civil cases. With Wendy’s insights, your business can avoid this issue and its legal repercussions.
In the September issue of Southern Funeral Director, FSI CEO Bill Williams discusses ways funeral home directors can leverage proven strategies from the hospitality industry to improve celebration of life service opportunities.
Bill Williams explores how adopting today’s digital tools can lessen the cost of rising inflation while providing families with superior service during their time of need.
It’s no longer a question of if inflation will continue to increase, but how much, which means funeral businesses will need to aggressively manage expenses while looking for ways to boost revenue. Fortunately, we have a strategy you can implement to navigate inflation through single-pay preneed. Read more from FSI’s Paul White in Southern Funeral Director’s April issue.
In the first quarter issue of The Cremationist of North America, FSI CEO Bill Williams and WRW Legal’s Wendy Russell Wiener examine three ways crematories can grow revenue as cremation rates rise. From leveraging technology to re-examining Preneed to adding new services, the article walks readers through actionable steps to grow their business.
In the February issue of Memento Mori, FSI’s Senior Vice President of Client Development and Marketing, Paul White, provides guidance on growth strategies for 2022. For funeral homes and cemeteries, many choices exist to grow their businesses in the long term and even increase existing investments – if they know where to look. Read more for guidance to grow your business in 2022.
As consumers increasingly turn to cremation over burial, the deathcare industry has an opportunity to explore proactive tools to maintain – and even grow – returns. In this article with The Director, FSI CEO Bill Williams explore a strategic path forward.
Deathcare establishments that have their forms regularly reviewed can spend less time managing forms and more time serving their families and communities. In the latest issue of ICCFA Magazine, Memento Mori, WRW Legal’s Wendy Russell Wiener highlights how updating documents can be a simple step to improve compliance.
Tech and digital tools are a dynamic ally for deathcare firms investing in growth through acquisitions and consolidation. In the latest issue of America Funeral Director, FSI’s President and CEO, Bill Williams, offers three ways to help deathcare professionals improve the management of preneed trusts and sales programs for multi-location operations.
The pandemic has taught deathcare professionals several lessons on how
embracing technology can better help serve families in need. In the latest
issue of Catholic Cemetery Magazine, FSI’s Senior Vice President of Client
Development and Marketing, Paul White, focuses on three ways that an
increased digital approach can support the assistance Catholic cemeteries
are providing to their communities.
In the latest issue of American Funeral Director magazine, FSI’s Bill Williams and WRW Legal’s Wendy Russell Wiener joined Oregon Funeral Directors Association leaders Wally Ordeman and Marc Lund in an in-depth Q&A about how FSI’s technology is helping OFDA members.
Today’s new technology can help state associations improve their Frontline and back-office employees are the heart and soul of every successful funeral home or cemetery, but do they have the necessary digital tools to provide first-class service to your families? In the July issue of The Director, FSI President & CEO Bill Williams highlights three ways to enhance employee job satisfaction and company culture through effective trust and sales program administration and technology.
Today’s new technology can help state associations improve their recordkeeping and administration. In the Oregon Funeral Directors Association’s (OFDA) recent newsletter, Bill Williams discusses how OFDA members can utilize FSI’s technology, including our tools that allow professionals to generate and sign mathematically error-free, compliant preneed contracts digitally and manage an entire trust program and its contracts in one location, 24/7.
More audits and inspections are expected to be scheduled throughout 2021 as the industry begins to overcome the peak challenges of the pandemic. In the latest issue of ICCFA's magazine, Memento Mori, Bill Williams and WRW Legal’s Wendy Russell Wiener provide insight into how improving your internal controls and procedures can enhance administrative and financial operations.
Accelerating the integration of new digital tools can help deathcare professionals better serve their families. In the latest issue of the Chronicle, the quarterly magazine of the Florida Cemetery Cremation and Funeral Association, Bill Williams discusses four ways deathcare professionals can use digital technology to enhance interaction.
You have a preneed sales program or are starting a new one. What funding method should you offer your clients: trust or insurance? Bill Williams and Wendy Russell Wiener, Esq. break down both options in the latest issue of ICCFA Magazine.
It's likely you are serving families digitally more than ever due to the coronavirus pandemic, which means your company data may be at risk. In the latest issue of Funeral Service Insider, Bill Williams provides six tips on how funeral directors and cemeterians can protect their company's confidential data from cyber criminals.
Unclaimed property laws reunite individuals and businesses with funds that were unintentionally abandoned or not acknowledged. However, when applied to deathcare, issues related to money owed to a firm arise. Wendy Russell Wiener and Bill Williams explain and offer a better solution in the latest issue of ICCFA Magazine.
Now more than ever, deathcare firms must find ways to integrate technology into their time-tested practices – a small change in philosophy that can help you better serve families and provide greater sustainability both during and after COVID-19. Learn more in Bill Williams’ op-ed that was published in Memorial Business Journal.
Deathcare professionals are under immense pressure in today's landscape to serve families and communities that are experiencing overwhelming loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. To help serve those who may be uncomfortable visiting a facility at this time, Palms West Funeral Home and Crematory utilized FSI's eContract and eRemote software to enable staff and families to seamlessly execute and process preneed contracts digitally. Learn more in the latest issue from Funeral Service Insider.
Wendy Russell Wiener, Esq., a deathcare regulatory attorney and FSI's current general counsel, recently formed her own boutique law firm to serve the deathcare profession. American Funeral Director interviewed Wendy and profiled her new firm in its latest issue.
In the April issue of American Funeral Director, FSI and WRW Legal break down the necessities during the process of acquiring and consolidating several funeral homes and cemeteries at once. These necessities include how proper (or improper) records consolidation as well as the legal process can impact your bottom line.
In its issue featuring female leaders in the deathcare profession, Meiko Whitfield answered questions from The Director on her 30 years serving the industry. As the second female VP in FSI’s history, Meiko has helped grow FSI’s operations from its headquarters in Florida to nearly half of the states across the U.S.
In the November issue of American Funeral Director, FSI President and CEO Bill Williams offers insight for business leaders on financial savings for a “rainy day.”
Data breaches are becoming less avoidable in today’s society - even the largest corporations like Equifax fall victim to such breaches. FSI President and CEO Bill Williams shares a few lessons that can be learned from the Equifax Breach and best practices for funeral and cemetery owners and operators to take to avoid a potential data breach.
According to Smartsheet, more than 40 percent of employees spend at least a quarter of their workweek on manual and repetitive tasks, such as data collection and data entry. FSI’s Vice President of Client Development and Marketing, Paul White, and FSI’s General Counsel, Wendy Russell Wiener, Esq. share their insights in the November issue of ICCFA Magazine on how automation can lead to efficiency and compliance in your preneed sales.
Strategic mergers and acquisitions can serve as one of the most significant means of growth for a deathcare business. But, more than 83% of them fail. FSI and other industry experts shared insights in the November issue of The Director to help you ensure your next deal is successful.
In the October issue of American Cemetery, FSI President and CEO Bill Williams shares his insight on what the future holds for the unitrust distribution method on the 10 year anniversary of unitrust being enacted in the deathcare profession.
FSI’s Vice President of Client Development and Marketing, Paul White, shares in the October issue of The Director why it is time to rethink the traditional funeral service to attract today’s consumers, while still maintaining a sustainable and successful business model.
Ask Paul White, a Licensed Funeral Director and Vice President of Client Development and Marketing for Funeral Services Inc., how he found his way into funeral service and you're likely to hear, “It started with my hands wrapped around the handle of a lawnmower.”.
While each state has various unclaimed property laws that differ from one another, the operation of those laws for PreNeed trust funds is not entirely appropriate, putting trustees and licensees in an impossible position. Read more from Wendy Russell Wiener, General Counsel of FSI and Partner at Nelson Mullins Broad & Cassel, in this month's edition of The Director.
April is known as National Records and Information Management Month, which exists to emphasize the critical importance of keeping the books of your business properly reconciled, organized and secure. To kick off the month, FSI President and CEO Bill Williams shares best practices for recordkeeping that can help automate workflow, enhance efficiency and keep you out of regulatory hot water.
Each day, firms that utilize FSI as a servicing agent mail FSI transmittal reports and checks for processing. So long as those mailings are received by FSI within the timeframe set out in law for deposit of funds to trust, the deposits are made and are considered timely. However, the delay resulting from use of “snail” mail can be detrimental to you from a regulatory and compliance perspective. Wendy Russell Wiener, general counsel of FSI and partner at Nelson Mullins Broad & Cassel, shares insight on how online submission of transmittal reports equals compliance for your sales programs.
In the latest issue of Catholic Cemetery Magazine, FSI President and CEO Bill Williams and Wendy Wiener, Esq. of Nelson Mullins Broad & Cassel provide an in–depth look at the unitrust model – a trust distribution method that focuses on increasing the trust’s total value and creating a higher annual return.
FSI President and CEO Bill Williams shares insight on doing business in the Cloud and how it represents a giant step into the future of business..
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We get it. At Funeral Services, Inc., we conduct a service called trust administration every day, which offers more benefits to your business than what initially meets the eye.
FSI President & CEO Bill Williams helps you understand these benefits by navigating you through the myths and realities of trust administration in the article,"Is it fact, or fiction? " published in American Funeral Director.
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The good news for you is that there's a solution: a trust administrator. But who is that, exactly? FSI President & CEO Bill Williams explains in The Director.
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For many licensees, a notice from the state that a regulatory audit is coming up strikes fear in the heart. . .but it doesn't have to be that way. FSI President & CEO Bill Williams & Wendy Wiener, Esq., partner at Broad & Cassel, explain in the latest issue of American Funeral Director.
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FSI President & CEO Bill Williams & Wendy Wiener, Esq., partner at Broad & Cassel, discuss little-known regulations that all industry professionals should be aware of in the latest issue of The Director.
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Register today to learn how you PreNeed and Perpetual Care program can add value to your bottom line.
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In the July/August 2013 issue of Funeral Business Advisor, FSI President and CEO, W.H. "Bill" Williams outlines the basics of both trust and insurance funding mechanisms and offers guidance on what funeral service professionals should consider when selecting a program for their firm.
This is the second article in a three part series titled "Perfecting PreNeed Programs."
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