Will families really pay more for personalization?

Drew Edwards,
General Manager,
Sunset Funeral Home

Cemeteries and funeral homes are always looking for better ways to serve our client families. We always want to provide services and products that rise above their expectations.

At Sunset Funeral Home, we recently swapped out a couple of caskets in our selection room. These new caskets had more features that allowed for more personalization than our standard line of caskets. These caskets had all the bells and whistles, but also a larger price tag. In order for us to hold our margin, we had to price these caskets higher than other caskets made of the same material.

At first, I wasn't sure if we would ever sell one of these new caskets. Would families be willing to pay $400 - 500 more, even though the basic casket was same as others? Would they be willing to pay more to personalize?

To my surprise, the answer was yes. This leads me to believe that whether selling caskets or beautiful bronze memorials, we need to offer as many products with as much personalization as we can. We have to set our own preferences and assumptions to the side and give families options. After all, if we don’t offer it to them, someone else will.

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.

Top 3 most requested resources

We often receive requests from our customers for different resources, so we decided to compile a list of the "Top 3 most requested resources."

1. Order forms are a big part of the communication process between you and our graphic designers. Every year, we update our order forms to enhance your ordering experience. You can find the most recent version of our order forms in the dealer resources section of our website.

2. How do you explain the options and styles of memorials you offer the families you serve? Our product literature clearly spells out options, styles, fonts and so much more. Call to request copies of our product literature.

3. Are you designing a new website? Call Customer Service at 800.798.4900 to order a CD of images to help enhance the look of your website.

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.

What is your plan for when you retire?

Sheryl Baumeister,
Human Resources

Having just returned from vacation to see our son and his family in Texas, the thought of retiring there, when the time comes, is pretty appealing. However, retirement doesn’t just happen.  It takes planning and commitment and, yes, money.

Have you calculated how much you will need for retirement? The average American spends twenty years in retirement. Putting money away for retirement is a habit we can all live with. Remember, saving matters.

If you are not saving, it’s time to get started. Start small if you have to and increase the amount you save each quarter. The sooner you start, the more time your money has to grow.

If your employer offers a retirement plan, such as a 401k, sign up and contribute as much as you can. Your taxes will be lower, and some companies offer matching funds. Learn about investment options and ask questions. Put your savings in different types of funds to reduce your risk and improve your return. Your investment mix may change over time depending on a number of factors, including your age, goals and financial circumstances. Financial security and knowledge go hand-in-hand.

Once you begin putting money into a retirement plan, don’t touch it. If you withdraw your retirement savings at any time, you’ll lose principal and interest. You may even lose tax benefits or have to pay withdrawal penalties. If you change jobs, leave your savings invested in your current plan or roll them over to an IRA or your new employer’s plan.

It’s never too late or too early to save. Any funds you can put away will benefit you in retirement.


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.

Can your memorial design win you $150?

Donna Darby-Walthall,
Chief Financial Officer

Have you ever taken the time to walk through your local cemetery, stopped to look at the grave memorial and tried to learn about the people's lives? What does their memorial say about them? Can you tell if they were married, had children, grandchildren or even a favorite pet?

In years past, many memorials didn't have a lot of intricate designs and they especially didn't have colorful images. Typically, the only kind of grave memorials you saw were simple with names and dates. While there is nothing wrong with simplicity, today we have so many more options. Today, you can tell a person’s life story by looking at their memorial. It’s so amazing how far we have come. It makes me think about what to put on my memorial. I know it will need to be big, because I have a lot to tell the people strolling through the cemetery. It’s also important that my great-grandkids know about my life.

It’s so important to remember our loved ones, and to make sure future generations have a way to remember them, too. My sister, Linda, always talks about lost generations. I think it could be true if we don’t take the time to tell the stories and pass on our legacies to our future generations.

At Trigard, we are always interested in hearing your stories, and we would like to hear about some of the unique memorials you have helped design. All you have to do is write down a story about the design of a memorial, and how it affected the family you served. Email it to me at DonnaW@trigard.com by April 1 to enter for a chance to win a $150 Visa gift card. If you would like to include a photo with the story, please be sure you have the family’s permission beforehand. Good luck and I can’t wait to read all of your stories.

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.