“You’ve got this.” That’s exactly how a great funeral director makes a family feel. They possess the ability to make all the little problems disappear for every family they serve. But this is no simple task – it takes a lot of work, energy, and compassion.

This is exactly what Lance, owner of Nelson Family Mortuary, preaches. With a considerable background in the funeral industry, it’s no wonder he offers exceptional service to families.

Lance Nelsons’ Experience in Funeral Service

Many funeral industry professionals gain their first experience as part of a family business. Though Lance shares this common ground, he actually got his start caring for the local cemetery with his father. At 13 years old, he was digging graves, but he didn’t yet know that deathcare extended far beyond cemetery burials. 

When Lance’s grandma passed away, he attended his first funeral. This eye-opening experience helped Lance realize what a funeral service really entailed, and just how meaningful they can be. As Lance details, he immediately knew that this was something he wanted to be a part of.

The Legacy of Nelson Family Mortuary

Once Lance completed several funeral home internships, he opened his first funeral home in Spanish Fork, Utah in 2010. For five years, Lance and Tiffany (his wife) operated the business by themselves. After managing nearly 300 cases a year during this time, they found an opportunity to help them grow. 

Lance discovered a property that he felt was perfect for what he called his “dream mortuary”. This dream mortuary comprised all the things he wanted in a mortuary based on his previous experience working in funeral homes.

Lance prioritized the idea of creating a functional and beautiful space to serve the community. Ultimately, they decided to sell their previous location and dedicate their time and resources to the new mortuary everyone loved.

With Changing Family Preferences, Experience-Driven Service Means Everything

Nelson Family Mortuary was born because Lance committed to serving his community and giving families the experience they deserved.

Creating this considerate experience consists of taking the time to get to know families, improving the behind-the-scenes processes, and providing for any possible needs that may arise.

Lance believes that for many families there are two clear funeral home offerings moving forward. One being a simple direct cremation and the second being a more involved direct cremation with a celebration of life. As he points out, younger generations are leaning away from traditional services, and funeral directors won’t be funeral directors anymore, they’ll be event planners. 

To keep up with evolving needs, Nelson Family Mortuary’s future is focused on constantly improving the funeral home experience while utilizing new technology.

How Gather Has Impacted Business

Lance notes how Gather has helped Nelson Family Mortuary offer innovative and exceptional services.

Gather Simplifies Task Lists and Revenue Collection 

Since employing Gather’s case management platform, Lance noted a few ways Gather has helped them address common pain points in the funeral business.

• Customizable Task Lists: “I’m able to manage all of our tasks seamlessly, and it’s just so much more efficient to be able to have a task assigned to staff here and for them to accomplish that task every morning when they get in without me having to review it. So I literally have to meet with families, and I can meet with them and put all the task lists together. But then I can assign those tasks and things get done and I don’t have to worry about coming in the next day as an owner.”
  
• Easier Contract Creation: ”So I no longer have to sit in front of the families and tell them they need to sign this contract. Because we basically put it together, show it to them, and then say, we’ll send it to you in an email so you can sign it later after you’ve reviewed it. And so it becomes way more personable as a funeral director to meet with the family and I don’t have to talk about money or collecting money.”

Gather Streamlines Funeral Arrangements

Lance recommends Gather because “if it was just the time savings for an arrangement, it’s worth it. But it’s not just the time savings. It’s everything else attached to it. The webcasting, the way that looks, the websites, the task list, the managing of your invoices, the collection of the payments, the help on writing obituaries through AI, the program details, the aftercare task list for families.”

Take Your Funeral Home to the Next Level With Gather

If you’re interested in saving 70% of your time on arrangements, just like Lance, Gather would love to help. Schedule a demo with our team and learn how you can leverage Gather to streamline funeral arrangements, give your team better tools, create a better family experience, and take your funeral home to the next level.