A family loses somebody on a Sunday. By Tuesday they are being asked about registration, documents, certificates and how many copies they need, by three different organisations, none of whom explain why.
Nobody in the family has done this before. They are making administrative decisions while barely able to think.
Step 1: publish a first week page
What happens, in order, in the days following a death. It is the most read page a funeral director has and it should be written for somebody who cannot concentrate.
Step 2: explain what happens first
That the medical documentation comes before registration, and that the timing depends on circumstances. Families do not know there is an order.
Step 3: explain the coroner situation
That some deaths are referred, what that means for timing, that it is routine rather than alarming and that the director will keep them informed.
Step 4: explain the registration appointment
Who can register, whether an appointment is needed, what to take and how long it takes. Families arrive unprepared and have to return.
Step 5: say what information they will be asked for
Details about the person, which somebody will need to gather. Knowing in advance makes a difficult appointment considerably easier.
Step 6: explain the certificates
What is issued, what each is for, how many copies are typically needed and what they cost. Families order one and spend weeks requesting more.
Step 7: explain who needs to be told
Banks, pensions, utilities, employers and others, and whether any single notification service exists locally. Families do this one organisation at a time for months.
Step 8: explain what the director handles
Which arrangements, which documentation and what the family still does themselves. The division is unclear and families assume either everything or nothing.
Step 9: explain the timing constraints
What must happen before a funeral can be arranged and how that affects the date. Families choose a date and discover it is not possible.
Step 10: explain what happens with a death abroad
Because it is entirely different and families have no idea where to begin.
Step 11: point to the probate stage
Without attempting it, as a later and separate matter, as in probate questions from families after a death.
Step 12: keep it practical rather than legal
A director explains the process and helps coordinate it. Anything requiring legal or financial advice belongs elsewhere and should be signposted.
Step 13: publish a printable checklist
Because families work from a kitchen table with a pile of letters, and something they can tick off is worth more than any web page.
Step 13b: explain what the director needs from the family
Clothing, photographs, music choices, names for the order of service and decisions about who speaks. Listing it early means a family gathers things gradually over a week rather than being asked for everything in one meeting they are not ready for.
Step 14: answer process questions at any hour
Because these arise at four in the morning, and anything personal reaches a person, which is the routing in how to handle sensitive questions in your chatbot, alongside the first contact care in families contacting a funeral director for the first time and the arrangements in service format and venue questions families ask.
Getting started
Publish a first week sequence with a printable checklist and what you handle, then answer process questions at any hour with a person always available. SpideyChat for funeral directors answers from your published pages. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about routing on the features page.