For Funeral Homes

Christy Ann Saracino partners with funeral homes to expand and support their pre-need and at-need services. For pre-need, she acts as a Pre-Need Sales Counseloron your behalf – contacting leads (including those from Homesteaders/PFP marketing), meeting with families to arrange prepaid funerals, and handling all insurance paperwork for funding. She essentially runs a turn-key pre-need program so the funeral home can serve more families in advance without needing full-time staff for it. On the at-need side, Christy can serve as a trade funeral director or referral partner: she coordinates funerals for cases you might refer to her (for example, if a family needs bilingual assistance or is outside your immediate area, etc.), and ensures those families are then served through your funeral home, with Christy assisting. Additionally, Christy offers community outreach and education – she can represent your firm at seminars, senior groups, or other events to promote advance planning. In summary, her services include pre-need arrangement sales, insurance processing, marketing support, and on-call help with at-need cases as needed.

Partnering with Christy can significantly grow your funeral home’s pre-need businessand lighten your staff’s load. She brings specialized expertise in pre-need planning and insurance, which means more families will pre-arrange with your firm – increasing your future call volume and revenue. Christy is skilled at building relationships with families, attorneys, and community groups, which can widen your referral network. From an operational standpoint, having Christy handle pre-need arrangements allows your funeral directors to focus on at-need services without neglecting advance-planning opportunities. It’s like gaining a dedicated pre-need department without the overhead of hiring a full-time employee. Moreover, Christy’s involvement can enhance your funeral home’s reputation: families appreciate that a knowledgeable, licensed professional is guiding them through pre-planning in a personalized way. In short, the funeral home benefits through increased pre-need sales, stronger community outreach, and an extension of your team with someone who upholds the same professional standards and care that you do.

There is no upfront costto partner with Christy. She typically works on a commission basis and through revenue-sharing arrangements that are allowed by law. For example, when she sells a pre-need insurance policy for your funeral home, her compensation comes from the insurance company’s commission – the funeral home doesn’t pay her salary. If she refers or coordinates an at-need case to your firm, as a licensed funeral director she may receive an agreed-upon portion of the service fee, but this is from the funeral proceeds, not an extra charge to you or the family. Essentially, Christy only gets paid when business is generated for your funeral home. This aligns her interests with yours – she succeeds when your funeral home succeeds in serving a family. There’s minimal risk: you’re not adding fixed payroll, and you can scale the relationship as needed. Christy also carries her own licenses and professional liability coverage through her LLC, so she operates responsibly under her own credentials. The partnership is designed to be a win-win, expanding your services at no financial risk.

Christy is affiliated with Homesteaders Life Company, one of the nation’s leading pre-need funeral insurance providers. Through Homesteaders and their marketing partner PreNeed Funeral Program (PFP), she has access to excellent pre-need insurance products that are approved in New Jersey. Homesteaders Life specializes in policies for funeral funding, offering features like payment plans and growth to cover rising costs. Many NJ funeral homes are familiar with Homesteaders, as it’s a trusted name in the industry. If your funeral home already uses a different trust fund or insurance program (such as the Funeral Planning CHOICES trust through NJFDEA), Christy can work with those as well – she is flexible and will accommodate your preferred funding vehicle. However, her primary tools are Homesteaders insurance policies, because they allow families to securely fund their arrangements and they align with NJ’s requirement that such policies be sold by a licensed funeral director/insurance agent. She’ll ensure that whatever funding method is used, it’s fully compliant and suits your funeral home’s business model.

Getting started is simple. First, you’d have a conversation with Christy Ann Saracino to discuss your funeral home’s needs – whether you want help with pre-need sales, at-need referrals, or both. She will explain the partnership arrangements and gather any necessary information about your firm. Legally, the main step is to register Christy as an agent of your funeral homewith the New Jersey State Board of Mortuary Science. This is a straightforward paperwork process that Christy will handle (it basically notifies the state that Christy is authorized to make pre-need arrangements under your funeral home’s name). There’s no cost to register her; it just ensures compliance. Once that’s done, Christy can start working with your team: she can train with your staff on protocols, review any existing lead lists, and start reaching out to families under your banner. In summary, a short meeting and a bit of paperwork are all it takes to begin – and Christy will guide you through every step of onboarding to make it hassle-free.