Near the beginning of the 19th century, the first register book was developed and used by funeral homes. The main purpose of the register book was to provide basic information about the funeral and to give guests the opportunity to document their attendance and support at the funeral by signing their names in the book.

In the early days of the register book, funeral homes would “personalize” the book by  typewriter or by hand, either typing or writing the pertinent information into the book. Since this was the only way to personalize the book, companies producing register books could create nearly any size book/page they desired.

In the 1990’s, however, more and more funeral homes started incorporating computers into their day-to-day operations.  As part of this increased reliance on computers, many funeral homes wanted to begin implementing the computer into more aspects of their business. And before long a number of different software systems were introduced to help funeral homes become more efficient.

Before I begin, I want to challenge you to think outside of the box. Forget about what you have done with your register book for the last hundred years. That was the past.   We are now in the future and moving forward.

First, we had to identity the main reasons why the family puts the register book in the closet. Our research was simple and showed three main points. One, the front of every single funeral register book looks just like that, a funeral register book! Who wants to display a funeral register book in their home? Not me, not you, and obviously not nearly 100% of your families who put the current book in the closet. The second reason the register book goes into the closet pertains to the contents of the book. Most funeral homes have some of the basic, traditional pages such as the “In Memory” page, “Final Resting” page, as well as pages for guest signatures. Who really wants to go back and look at that information in the future?  But funeral homes have faced many difficulties in creating a more memorable book that families would revisit more often. 

Most funeral homes, even those who are more technologically advanced, still have an extremely difficult time trying to print register book pages. Why you might ask? The answer lies in the fact that not one stationary company has come out with a more modern book that works better with today’s technology – the computer and printer. With some printers out there today it is very difficult to print on an odd sized register book page.  And with some printers it is impossible. There are of course a handful of printers that can do it with no problems. However, if your stationery supplier provides you blank pages with three holes punched down the side you will never be able to print over the top of those holes and you will always have big white borders all the way around the page.  Providing blank pages was their idea of a “quick fix” to make their books more compatible with today’s technology but the result leaves something to be desired. Please read on to learn what’s available today to solve the register book problem (destination – the closet) and how doing so will help you in the future.

First, every funeral home in the country needs to have a good personalization software program. Here is a tip, go to www.frazerconsultants.com and on the homepage at the bottom there is a software program called Easy Print 2008.  This software is free of charge to anyone who wants to download and install it and it allows you to print register books, prayer cards, thank you notes, book marks, tribute candles, etc. In all, the software contains over fifteen different in-house personalization products.

Second, you need a line of register books that are “photo-framed” based. If you were to walk into a family’s house and see this “photo-framed” book, you would think it was just a photo frame. That is what we want. The reason is because every family in the country knows how to display a photo frame in their house. Therefore, if your book looks like a photo frame, we guarantee the family will not put it in the closet. To get the most unique photo framed books in the funeral industry go to www.frazerconsultants.com , click on products, then Meaningful Stationery.

Third, you need a book that allows you to not only print the “traditional” pages, but gives you the ability to add custom memory pages. These memory pages will include several additional pictures and text about the honorees’ life. If you have already scanned in pictures for a Tribute Video, you can use those same pictures for your book with very minimal extra work. (As a side note, I would like to add that the custom memory pages are not necessarily for every family that you deal with. The truth is, not every family is into personalization. However, the ones that are, and you provide additional personalization to them, are the families that tell everyone in the community about the services you provide.) Go to www.frazerconsultants.com and download Easy Print to see the full line of custom memory pages that are included in the FREE Easy Print Software.

Fourth, you want to know how a memory book verses a register book can help your bottom line? If you start changing your families’ perceptions about the “register book” so that they now view it as a “memory book,” guess what is going to happen when there are several brother’s and sisters involved? Who is going to take home the memory book? The Answer, EVERYONE! That means an additional revenue opportunity for your funeral home.

Fifth, guess why your families are going to adopt this new idea of a memory book so quickly? I bet you have heard of something called scrapbooking. Every city in America now has several scrapbook stores. As a matter of fact, even in rural America, scrapbooking is catching on just as fast. The baby boomer generation is responsible for making this industry explode. And guess who is mostly arranging the funerals for their parents?  You got it – the baby boomers.  As such, now is the time to incorporate the scrapbooking idea into your funeral home.  Doing so will not only create additional value for the families you serve and save the register book from its demise in the closet but it will also increase your bottom line.  

We hope that you have found some great value in this article and it has changed the way you think about your funeral home register book. If you would like more information about the products/services we provide, please feel free to call us at 866-372-9372

Matt Frazer, President
Frazer Consultants, LLC
532 Vanderbilt Dr.
Waunakee, WI  53597
Direct Line: 608-467-1494
Cell Phone: 608-697-0641