Partner Spotlight: Zieren Funeral Home

People are different, and that’s what makes this world so special. It’s also what makes the funeral service industry so fun. Andy Zieren and his team at Zieren Funeral Home truly take the time to understand and cater to the unique needs of every family. Learn about his story, and how he’s leveraged Gather to make funeral service work fun again.

Andy Zieren’s Start in The Funeral Service Industry

Married with two kids who love to play sports, Andy Zieren is a simple man, with simple values. He takes pride in his work. He takes the time to understand the unique needs of every family he serves.

Growing up, he didn’t originally plan to inherit his family’s funeral home business. But after discovering that healthcare administration was not a path he wanted to take, he helped his father with a few services at Zieren Funeral Home, which has been serving the community of Carlyle, Illinois since 1913.

Over 21 years later, and Andy now operates the funeral home as a 4th generation funeral director in his family.

No day is ever the same either, and that’s what he truly loves about the profession.

“What gets me through those tough days is the satisfaction at the end of the day that I helped someone and they appreciated it.”

Why Embracing Change is Important to Zieren

It’s no secret – helping families is what drives Andy and his team at Zieren Funeral Home.

But it goes beyond that for him. In an industry caught in a vortex between older generations and younger generations of funeral directors, Zieren challenges people to embrace change, new ideas, and new technology.

”Technology seems like it’s always geared towards making things easier, especially in the funeral industry.”

Furthermore, Zieren acknowledges that there (as with any industry) will continue to be more challenges in the industry.

Nowadays with increases in cremation rates, it’s more difficult for people to see the traditional value of funerals. But Andy also recognizes that:

• Everyone has different values
• Everyone grieves differently
• Everyone has vastly different experiences

“As funeral directors, we need to stop trying to fight it. That’s something that’s changing in our industry – not everyone is traditional, go to church, have the service. People are different these days, and we just need to accept that and embrace it. The younger generation is open to change and new ideas. Just because a family has bought wood caskets for the last 4 funerals in the family, it doesn’t mean it always has to be.”

More than anything, people want to work with others who treat them like a human being and listen to their unique feelings.

Zieren strives to be his authentic self, regardless of whether he’s in the funeral home or his local Walmart. Families appreciate the fact that when they see him in public, he’s a person just like they are.

By embracing change and differences in consumer preferences within the funeral service industry, Andy has been able to lead Zieren Funeral Home to continued success.

Zieren Funeral Home Needed New Technology

After using the same system for several years, Andy was searching for a new funeral home management solution that:

• Gave him the ability to involve families more during and after arrangement conferences
• Made the funeral arrangement and aftercare process easier for families
• Had a modern user interface that was simpler to navigate

Luckily, in a Google Search from 2019, he stumbled upon Gather. From there, the rest is history.

How Gather Has Impacted Business

Take a look at what Andy has to say about Gather and how it’s helped take Zieren Funeral Home to the next level.

Zieren Funeral Home Saves Space and Time

Since switching to Gather’s case management platform, Andy noted a few particular benefits particularly when it comes to data management and time savings:

• Simple Navigation: “I liked the layout of things. I thought it was visually appealing.”
  
• Stronger Organization: “I liked that I could create checklists to keep myself organized. It’s nice that everything’s real-time, where if I enter information, anyone else with our funeral home can go on and see it, as far as our employees.”
  
• More Accessibility: “I can hop on my phone and I can be putting in service information. I can be doing that wherever I am, I don’t have to be sitting at my computer putting all of that information in. I can save space as well as time.”
  
• Onboarding, Support, and Training: “Onboarding was super easy. It’s pretty straightforward and very easy to use. The support from your staff has been really helpful.”

Zieren mentioned that there would be times at 10 PM when he used to run to the funeral home because he couldn’t remember if he called the gravedigger (which, every time he did call).

But with Gather, he could look at his checklists from his phone at home and prevent multiple late-night trips to the funeral home. Pretty awesome, right?

Zieren Funeral Home Offers a Better Experience For Families

More importantly, Andy cares about creating an easier experience for families, and he’s successfully achieved that goal with Gather:

• Aftercare Tasks: “I like the aftercare things that families have access to like canceling accounts and contacting people, finding unclaimed property.”
  
• Obituary Edits: “It has been nice. I get the obituary typed up, they can go on there and view the obituary. They can make changes and save the changes.”
• Form Signatures: “It’s very easy for families to get in there, print the forms out, send the forms off. It’s making things easy.”
  

Change Can Be Scary, But We Help You Embrace It At Gather

Andy Zieren understands that he and Zieren Funeral Home must adapt to changes over time. And as he mentions, it’s not always easy. But with changing preferences in the funeral service industry, you may consider talking to Andy and asking for his expert advice.

At Gather, we’re here to help you embrace change and new technology every step of the way.

Talk with our team today and see how your funeral home can leverage Gather to its fullest potential.