A Practitioner Who Consults — Not the Other Way Around.

A Career Built in the Field

Duane Cutlip began his preneed career over 20 years ago — not in a consulting firm or a corporate office, but on the floor of funeral homes across North Carolina. He has personally written thousands of preneed policies, trained hundreds of counselors, built programs from zero, and helped funeral homes navigate carrier transitions, compliance examinations, and program turnarounds.

He still works with families and funeral homes every week. That's not incidental — it's the foundation of everything he consults on. When Duane recommends a sales process, it's one he uses. When he teaches an objection response, he's used it himself this year. When he advises on carrier selection, it's based on current first-hand experience with those carriers' products, claims handling, and service.

Dual-State Licensed

Duane holds preneed funeral director licenses in both North Carolina and South Carolina — a distinction that matters for funeral homes near the border, groups with locations in both states, and anyone who wants a consultant with genuine regulatory depth in the Southeast. NC and SC have different preneed statutes, different oversight bodies, and different examination procedures. Duane knows both.

His NC career spans the Triangle, eastern NC, and the Piedmont. He has worked with funeral homes from Granville County and Oxford to Roanoke Rapids, from Chatham County to Fayetteville — understanding the regional market differences that a national consultant simply can't offer.

Carrier-Agnostic

Duane is not employed by, affiliated with, or under contract with any preneed insurance carrier. He has worked with Homesteaders, Great Western (Wellabe), NGL, FDLIC, and others. His carrier recommendations are based entirely on what serves the funeral home's families and business interests — the product's growth rate, flexibility, portability, claims handling, and fit with the funeral home's specific demographic.

This independence is increasingly rare in the preneed industry, where carrier reps double as "consultants" and marketing firms have preferred-carrier relationships. When Duane recommends a carrier, there is no commission driving that recommendation.

Technology and Business Operations

Before entering the funeral profession, Duane was a small business owner with a background in corporate finance and business operations. He has since stayed current with the technology transformation reshaping the industry — from AI-powered CRM systems to digital lead generation and online preneed inquiry flows.

He bridges two worlds that rarely meet in the funeral profession: deep industry and regulatory knowledge on one side, and modern business systems and technology on the other.

Personal

Duane has lived in the greater Triangle area for over 30 years, raising two daughters with his wife Angie. He is an active member of his church and an ARRL Volunteer Examiner — giving his time to help community members earn their amateur radio licenses at no cost.

He believes that preparation is an act of care — whether it's a family planning ahead for a funeral, or a funeral home building a preneed program that will still be running well in 20 years.