It's always great to see firsthand that your advertising is working. Especially with funeral directors. That's just what happened when I received a letter from Dwayne Spence, an Ohio funeral director and past president of the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA).

As many know, thanks to the support of Asocolflores to the SAF PR Fund, the industry is benefitting from an open letter to funeral directors ad in 12 consecutive issues of NFDA's magazine, The Director. In response to the FIRST placement of that ad this year (May), Dwayne gushed over the benefits of flowers to the bereaved, and spoke wholeheartedly in support of alternative phrasing to "in lieu of flowers." Music to our industry ears. And the best part is, he didn't just whip off an e-mail or leave a Voicemail, he took the time to write a letter the old fashioned way -- that tells me he really meant it.

The goal of this campaign is to plant the seed to funeral directors and get them thinking about, and appreciating, the unique role of sympathy flowers -- and make the point that there is a better way to honor a family's request for memorial contributions than that negative phrase. It's obviously working but that won't solve the problem. What will truly get the point across is florists taking the next grassroots step in contacting their local funeral directors. Establish a dialogue, form a relationship built on mutual respect and common objectives -- to help grieving families get through a hard time in their lives with services that provide comfort and reassurance that their needs are being taken care of. Positive experiences create loyalty.

SAF provides all the tools, you just need to make the effort: www.safnow.org/sympathy.

When was the last time you had a conversation with your funeral director? Dwayne's letter could be a great ice breaker.

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