One message that can be taken from the FAMIC’s Talk of a Lifetime campaign is that funeral directors need to re-think their prearrangement procedures.  Perhaps too much emphasis has been given to preneed, and not enough to the planning process.  Prearrangement marketing and procedures have often been crafted by the funeral home’s preneed funding agent.  What went unspoken in the MBJ article was the impact of poor investment performance on funeral directors’ motivation to promote preneed.  Insurance and trusts are not keeping pace with the costs to perform those contracts.  All funeral directors understand the need to engage families in the talk of a lifetime, but many are not happy with their preneed funding options. Those directors may be reluctant initiating a conversation that will ultimately lead to the topic of preneed.