Alan McGrew
Title: Senior Account Manager & Trainer/Coach
With Graystone since: 2011
Years in the profession: 25
Role at Graystone: Alan’s main areas of focus includes training both, new and existing clients. He is one of Graystone’s Senior Account Managers. He also oversees the development and management of our CARE CONTACT® call management system. Alan also contributes to the development of Graystone training materials and new content creation.
What Clients Say: One of Alan’s key attributes is his constant desire to help them improve, no matter their needs. From staff development, to more general operational and/or financial issues related to the management of their business, Alan is always willing and able to dive-in and assist. Clients also value Alan’s prior experiences. Whether leaning on his time spent within the funeral profession or his exposure to different industries and roles.
Expertise: Alan’s specific areas of expertise come from many years working in funeral homes. Alan also led, operated and managed a variety of teams — both in and out of the funeral profession. Alan’s strengths include: talent/personnel development, applying Caliper® evaluations and growing from the results, merchandising, Support & Follow Up® techniques, including managing Graystone’s proprietary CARE CONTACT® call management system.
Passion for the Work: Anyone working with Alan can easily see his passion for this profession, as well as those associated with it. He openly shares his experiences gained outside the funeral profession, as well. Still proud of those accomplishments and of the new skills he learned outside of the funeral profession— Alan quickly realized he missed working in the funeral home environment and was excited to join Graystone. Furthermore, Alan feels incredibly gratified when he looks back in time, with his clients, and sees the progress achieved. Moreover, he feels a strong connection between himself and those that work directly with the families served. Even though Alan’s current role affords very little direct contact with grieving families, he feels a tremendous reward knowing that he can contribute as part of an important process that benefits families served — through the client partners with whom he has the opportunity to work.
Prior to Graystone: Alan grew up the son of an owner of a funeral home supply company, Monarch Resources. Even as a child, he learned the importance of a strong work ethic and developed a passion for delivering strong customer service. Alan graduated from the University of North Texas with a B. A. in Business Administration with a focus in marketing. In 1998, Alan left the vendor side of this business and began working directly in and with funeral homes, serving in a variety of roles. Some of Alan’s role-highlights include serving as the manager of a cluster of five funeral homes and two cemeteries, working as the Director of Training & Development, and later promoted to Regional Manager of Operations. In his brief time away from the profession, Alan worked as General Manage of Starlite Sign, a premier national sign manufacturer and brand manager. With this vast exposure to multiple business environments, Alan is able to help his clients succeed no matter the challenges presented.