Business Management and Consulting
- Owns and operates successful funeral planning and consulting company (www.heppell.com & www.FuneralFuturist.com)
- Develops and improves effective business process solutions for funeral home operations
- Facilitated and managed multi-million dollar trust rollovers
- Consults for companies in marketing and promotion (both funeral and general business)
- Instructs Business Management courses at the Canadian College of Funeral Service
- Contributes thought-provoking articles for Mortuary Management & the Canadian Funeral News
- Presents ‘In-Person’ Continuing Education seminars for funeral directors in the areas of Business & Pricing Strategies, Preneed, Technologies, and Marketing
- Holds Bachelor of Commerce Degree (Entrepreneurial Management), Royal Roads University
Advance Funeral Planning Sales and Management
- Successful pre-need experience in both management and sales
- Rated in the Top 10 in sales in North America for NSM’s Monumental Life Plan every year and no. 1 in 1997 despite having the lowest cost per funeral average of all participants (75% cremation)
- In-depth knowledge of current market pre-need products
- Performs analysis and audits of pre-need programs for various funeral homes
- Supervises and trains funeral directors, sales reps and support staff in all areas of pre-need
Funeral Home and Business Marketing
- Responsible for all marketing of McCall Bros. Funeral Directors Ltd. (www.mccallbros.com)
- Canadian component of NSM pre-need marketing group for 4 years
- Familiar with all forms of marketing media: direct mail, print, radio, television, Internet, etc.
- Experience in column / article writing and press release submission
- Funeral Sector Member of the Funeral Profession Coalition Council of Canada
Funeral Directing and Embalming
- Twenty years experience as a licensed funeral director and embalmer
- Extensive background in all facets of the funeral and cemetery industry
- Fourth generation funeral director
Funeral Home Software – Development, Implementation and Support
- Designed and developed a user-friendly at-need / pre-need database system. The system produces all documentation for at-need funerals, tracks and converts all pre-need files and provides extensive monthly and annual reporting
- Responsible for system installation and trouble-shooting, training funeral directors and clerical staff and Enhancing system based on end-user and government requirements
- Contracted by an independent funeral home for the purchase and implementation of this funeral home software. Duties included: program installation, trouble-shooting, and resulting modification; training funeral directors and clerical staff; and purchase, installation and set-up of 15 additional workstations, complete with networking, file sharing and security issues
Computer / Technology
- Intermediate to advanced skills in the following:
- New Media Expert in Web 2.0 services including Blogger, YouTube, & iTunes
- Windows 98, 2000, XP, & Small Business Server 2003
- MS Word, Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook & Outlook Express
- Google’s Docs & Speadsheets, Calendar, Alerts, Gmail, & Google Talk
- Corel WordPerfect, Quattro Pro, Presentations, & Borland Paradox
- Maximizer & ACT (Contact Management Systems)
- Adobe’s Photoshop, Premiere Elements, Flash Video
- Blackberry (synchronization & efficiencies)
Work Experience
- Owner / Consultant Heppell Funeral Planning Ltd. (Victoria, BC) 1998 – Present
- Sales Representative Aldor Solutions Corporation (Frisco, TX) 2002 – 2006
- Funeral Director / Embalmer McCall Bros. Funeral Directors Ltd., (Victoria, BC) 1986 – 1998
- Funeral Assistant Egan Funeral Home Ltd., (Bolton, ON) 1986
Education & Certification
Academy of Professional Funeral Service: CFSP – Certified Funeral Service Practitioner 2006
PO Box 2275, Westerville, OH 43086-2275 · tel. 1-866-431-2377 · www.apfsp.com
- Successful candidates for certification in the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice may use the designation CFSP (Certified Funeral Service Practitioner)
Royal Roads University: Bachelor of Commerce (Entrepreneurial Management) 2002 – 2004
2005 Sooke Road, Victoria, BC V9B 5Y2 – tel. 250-391-2511 – www.royalroads.ca
- This is a two year on-line program which consists of: Business Communications, People At Work, Managerial Accounting & Control, Sustainable Development, Marketing, Entrepreneurial Expertise, Information & Technology Management, International Business, Finance & Investments, Organizational Change, Business Strategy, plus an Entrepreneurial Project
- Member of the four person Case Competition Team that represented Royal Roads at their International Case Competition in the Spring of 2004. This involved reading and analyzing a case study then creating a recommendation within a three hour time period, after which the recommendation was proposed to a simulated board of directors of the particular company
In-Sight Institute: Certified Celebrant 2003
PO Box 42467, Oklahoma City, OK 73123 – tel: 800-658-9262 – www.insightbooks.com
- A Celebrant is a person who has been trained and certified through the In-Sight Institute to meet the needs of families during their time of loss. They serve by providing a funeral service or tribute that is personalized to reflect the personality and lifestyle of the deceased.
CAIFA (Canadian Assoc. of Insurance & Financial Advisors): IFATC 101, 102, 103 1999 – 2000
41 Lesmill Road, North York, ON M3B 2T3 – tel. 800-563-5822 – www.caifa.com
- These courses are the necessary requirements to become a Level ll Life Insurance Broker
Advanced Education & Training (B.C.): Funeral Directing & Embalming Apprenticeship 1987 – 1989
- Two year apprenticeship with two months of in class instruction and twenty-two months of correspondence courses and on-the-job training (at McCall Bros. Funeral Directors)
Connect with me in Google + +Robin Heppell