Why Corporate Metrics Don't Translate

The Hearth Core — Metrics That Actually Work

The Pace Mismatch

Corporate funeral chains borrow their sales playbook from industries where speed and volume are king. Call centers. Insurance agencies. Real estate firms. In those worlds, the math is simple: more calls equal more closes, and more closes equal more revenue.

But in a family funeral home, a single conversation with a grieving widow might take 45 minutes -- and it should. There is no shortcut through genuine compassion. There is no speed-dial version of sitting with someone who just lost the person they have loved for fifty years.

And here is the part the corporate playbook never captures: the relationship built in that single 45-minute conversation might lead to pre-need planning for her entire extended family over the next decade. Her children. Her siblings. Her neighbors who saw how your home cared for their friend.

That is not a transaction. That is a legacy.

The Math Corporate Metrics Miss

When you measure a counselor by weekly call volume, you are measuring velocity. But the value in funeral services is not in velocity -- it is in depth. One deeply held conversation that leads to a multi-generational relationship is worth more than a hundred rushed check-ins that lead nowhere.

The corporate playbook counts the calls. The independent home should be counting the connections.

Reframing the Goal

The goal is not to eliminate metrics. It is to build a system where the numbers reflect what actually matters: depth of relationship, quality of engagement, and long-term pipeline health. When you measure what matters, the people doing the work feel seen -- and they stay.

Why This Matters for Retention

Remember the story from the opening? Two of three counselors quit in four months. That was not because they lacked work ethic or skill. It was because the measurement system told them -- every single day -- that the way they naturally wanted to serve families was wrong.

When a compassionate person is forced to choose between hitting a number and honoring a moment, they will honor the moment. And then they will leave the job that punished them for doing so.

The metrics system you design is not just a management tool. It is a retention strategy. It is a message to your team about what you truly value.

The Pace Mismatch

A counselor spends 45 minutes in a single conversation with a grieving widow. From the perspective of a corporate call-volume metric, this looks like poor performance. Why is that assessment misleading?

Because the counselor should have spent even more time to ensure a policy was signed Because that one deep conversation could lead to multi-generational relationships worth far more than dozens of rushed calls Because 45 minutes is actually the industry-standard call length for pre-need conversations Because corporate metrics were designed for funeral homes and simply need minor adjustments

What Independent Homes Should Measure

Corporate metrics focus on speed and volume. What should independent funeral homes focus on measuring instead?

The number of outbound calls completed each day How quickly counselors can move families from first contact to signed policy Depth of relationship, quality of engagement, and long-term pipeline health The total number of community events attended regardless of outcomes

Metrics as a Retention Strategy

Why is your metrics system also a retention strategy?

Because counselors who hit their numbers receive bonuses that keep them from leaving Because tracking more data points gives managers better leverage during performance reviews Because the metrics you choose send a message about what you truly value, and compassionate people stay where their real work is recognized Because a strict metrics system weeds out underperformers before they become a retention problem