Educate families about alternatives to scattering

Blake Swinford,
Project Manager

For a lot of us in the funeral profession, scattering can be a taboo subject. When we hear of families scattering their loved ones' cremated remains without creating a permanent place of memorialization, it breaks our hearts. It breaks my heart in particular because I know, first hand, the consequences of scattering.

When my mom passed away, we scattered her cremated remains. Years down the road, I came to the realization that I needed a place to bring my family to honor the life of my mother. It was too late to include her cremated remains with her memorial, but I could still create a place to visit and share memories. I placed a memorial bench at Sunset Memorial Park, and now my children have a place to go to talk about grandma.

As supporters of permanent memorialization, we need to educate the families we serve about scattering alternatives. We never know what will happen to the beautiful field their loved one is scattered in. It could be a shopping center a few years from now.

If you're struggling with cremation memorialization options, check out the products that we offer. You can also call our Customer Service team at 800.798.4900 for more ideas. 
 
This article originally appeared in Modern Memorialization, Trigard Memorials' weekly electronic newsletter featuring information for the funeral industry. Sign up for your free subscription at http://www.trigard.com/thursdays.

Help us say farewell

Ethan Darby,
Director of Business
Development

Transition is a constant in any business setting. We transition between products, procedures and sometimes employees. And in this time of transition at Trigard, we say goodbye to a valued employee.

Kelli Nesbitt, Customer Service Manager, has been a great asset to our company. We want to thank her for her 16 years of service. I know she will be missed by the many customers she has touched over the years, but I am excited to be filling her shoes. Her last day with us will be August 28.

Please help us say farewell to Kelli and thank her for all she has done. 


This article originally appeared in Modern Memorialization, Trigard Memorials' weekly electronic newsletter featuring information for the funeral industry. Sign up for your free subscription at http://www.trigard.com/thursdays.

3 things every cemetery sales person should know

Jason Murphy,
Director of Family Services,
Sunset Memorial Park

When you add a new member to your cemetery sales team, there's a lot to teach. Most of the time they will be coming from another industry. So, where do you start?

I always start training by emphasizing our cemetery's rules and regulations. It is important that every sales staff member understands these from day one, in order to make sure that they are selling products that fall within the guidelines of the cemetery. 

Obviously, product knowledge is a large part of sales training. This includes everything from the different options you offer to the processes for how each item is produced.

Lastly, you should spend a large amount of training time on the sales presentation. Nothing should ever seem scripted in a presentation, even though training with scripts is a great tool to help new sales staff to learn the verbiage and techniques without sounding like a robot.

What else is on your new staff training list? Email your ideas to marketing@trigard.com. You may seen them in a future newsletter. 


This article originally appeared in Modern Memorialization, Trigard Memorials' weekly electronic newsletter featuring information for the funeral industry. Sign up for your free subscription at http://www.trigard.com/thursdays.

Do you need a budget?

Beth VadeBonCoeur,
Accountant

Many small companies believe budgets are only used by corporations or government entities. However, budgeting can be a useful tool for companies of all size and individuals as well. Estimating and matching expenses to revenue is important because it helps small business owners determine whether they have enough cash flow to fund operations, expand the business and generate income for the owners.

A budget is a detailed statement of expected revenue and expenses. It can help management to identify their plans for the next financial year and allows them to see the impact of their plans on their financial statement. The budgeting process should be started a few months before your new fiscal year starts. Management should start with actual numbers from the current year and adjust them for changes that are anticipated in the next fiscal year. 

Developing good budgeting skills can help you:

• Forecast future revenues and expenses
• Identify opportunities for cost cutting
• Ensure you have enough cash flow to cover upcoming expenses
• Determine a break-even point
• Identify opportunities to be more efficient and productive

Once a budget is created, the next step is to review actual results to the budget each month. Variances or differences need to be explained and reviewed. This process will help you to understand your business better and can help you to make better decisions.

This article originally appeared in Modern Memorialization, Trigard Memorials' weekly electronic newsletter featuring information for the funeral industry. Sign up for your free subscription at http://www.trigard.com/thursdays.