Modernisation in Manchester
'I consider Eulogica an asset to my company which has allowed my team to benefit from lower stress levels and to also become more involved with the business' says Michael Kennedy at Michael Kennedy Funeral Service. 'They now see and deal with matters they were never able to find the time to analyse before.” The company has been serving bereaved families in the Greater Manchester area since 1986. Michael grew up in the area and so knows the community very well.
'As the business grew', comments Michael, 'we wanted the funeral information to be stored efficiently with easy access. We knew this meant looking to some form of funeral software and we started looking at the various available systems. We had a demonstration from Eulogica and liked how it could be tailored to suit our way of working.'
Mr David Wright, Client Support Manager at Eulogica, visited the company to start looking at their requirements. 'David spent time with my clerical staff, Gemma and Julie, and also with my Administration Manager, Marion McGuire', continues Michael. 'Whilst looking at our requirements, we found his knowledge of the funeral industry to be a great help.'
Michael was quick to understand that proper training of the staff would be crucial to making the project a success for the business. They decided that Marion, the Administration Manager, would first have full training from Eulogica. She would then train the other staff members as time permitted.
Michael believes the system has helped immensely when it comes to storage of funeral details. This allows for swift and quick response to enquiries, no matter which branch a call may be received at. Efficient issuing of funeral invoices is also important to ensure prompt payments from clients.
Another benefit for Marion has been the availability of up to date payment information, no matter which branch she is working at. 'Working out of different offices used to mean I had to carry the account information around with me on a USB stick,' says Marion. 'But with Eulogica now in place at all our branches, it is much easier. With a few clicks of the mouse I can see who has paid and what is owing. Furthermore, if somebody comes into one of our branches to pay an account, it can be immediately entered onto Eulogica and our staff can see this information at other branches. This has been a great help for me!'
As with all new systems, there were some teething problems in the early days. 'But the support from Eulogica Ltd has been great,' says Marion. 'No problem has been so big that it could not be resolved within a matter of hours and not days.'
'This Winter Eulogica also helped us produce the invitations for our yearly memorial service,' says Marion. 'We send this to clients we have served over the past year - which normally takes us many weeks to sort out. But this year we used Eulogica to prepare and personalise invitations to all our clients. We had them all printed in an afternoon. Unfortunately Eulogica was not able to fold the invitations and put them in the envelopes for us!'
Michael finishes, 'I would recommend Eulogica to any Funeral Director who is considering updating their systems. Once Eulogica is up and running, it will feel like a great burden has been lifted!'
The photograph shows Julie and Gemma from Michael Kennedy's, with Eulogica's David Wright