HOW IT WORKS

The informed consumer has the power of choice.

The informed public is today looking for simpler, dignified, and more affordable choices in dealing with their final arrangements. Grave Solutions was created to give the consumer a choice. You have the right to select products from someone other than the funeral home or cemetery that you have chosen for the service. The funeral home or cemetery may not refuse or charge a fee for handling a product that you purchased elsewhere. They will charge you the fees for installation of the product the same as they would their own customer. The cost of products can be as much as 50 to 70% of the total arrangements. Purchasing products from an outside source that are beyond the control of the funeral home or cemetery can significantly lower your total expenditure for funeral arrangements without diminishing the quality of the products or arrangements.

With Grave Solutions you have an opportunity to save hundreds or even thousands of dollars when making final arrangements.

Grave Solutions has developed a Resale Program for the sale of cemetery property which private individuals no longer have a need for. It is estimated that there are over a million cemetery spaces available nationwide. Until now, families have had little opportunity to market that property except to place a costly ad in their local paper obituary column. With electronic commerce available, Grave Solutions’ “Resale Program” is the proper format to assist in the sale and transfer of cemetery property at prices which will be, generally, much lower than the best promotional prices that the cemetery charges.

Grave Solutions has developed “The National Funeral Plan” which is a discounted, packaged funeral plan that is fulfilled by our nationwide network of affiliated Funeral Homes. Most Funeral Homes are prohibited from offering a discount from their general price list but are able to offer packages that offer substantial savings to the client family. By using Grave Solutions’ “National Funeral Plan” the family can shop for the best price at different funeral homes from wherever they may be when it comes time to make arrangements. Once a funeral home is selected, the family can print out the packages or other promotional prices that the funeral home is offering and present this information to the funeral home – avoiding the hassle of negotiations or the embarrassment of asking for discounts at a time of emotional distress. This also provides written documentation to enable comparative shopping without having to locate, call, or visit multiple funeral homes.

Grave Solutions will soon be opening the “Memorial Store” where you can select the bronze memorial of your choice and purchase unique memorialization products that are not generally available from traditional sources.

HISTORY

Grave Solutions is a business designed to give consumers reasonable and economic alternatives in the choice and selection of funeral and cemetery products and services. Operated by National Cemetery Marketing Associates, Inc., the company was founded in 1996 by Mr. Kenneth W. Brant. Mr. Brant was employed for 18 years by the largest company in the funeral/cemetery business, holding positions such as Sales Manager, Regional Sales Manager, Assistant Regional Vice President of Sales, and Director of Sales and Marketing. His tenure included six years on his employer’s National Marketing Committee. He supervised territories covering seven states, including as many as 75 cemeteries, and his sales teams sold over $100,000,000.00 worth of cemetery property, products, and services. Mr. Brant experienced firsthand the needs of families at the time of loss by personally serving them on an almost daily basis over his 18-year tenure. Many creative ideas and marketing programs he designed are in use nationwide today. As a Real Estate Broker from 1970 to 1981, Mr. Brant also developed a For Sale By Owner real estate business concept, which is still widely used.

INDUSTRY

The death care industry is a $20 billion-a-year business controlled almost exclusively by funeral homes and cemeteries. The business consists of services and products. The funeral home provides the service of recovery, preparation, and disposal of human remains, while cemeteries offer services such as grave opening and closing, installation of memorialization and funeral products, and grave maintenance. Major products include the burial container (casket or urn) sold by the funeral home, the outer burial container (vault or grave liner) sold by either the funeral home or cemetery, the memorialization product (upright monuments or bronze and granite memorials mounted flush with the ground) typically sold by the cemetery, and the interment right (ground space or mausoleum crypt) sold by the cemetery.

The death care business has existed since ancient times. Early references include those in the Bible – for example, Abraham purchased a cave at the time of his wife Sarah’s passing to serve as the family burial ground. Hundreds of years later, Joseph’s remains were interred in the same burial ground after being removed from Egypt during the Exodus.