Because it won't fit in the pan

Julia Sullivan,
Creative Director

Have you ever heard the old story about cutting off the ends of a roast? There are many versions of this legend, but they all involve someone making a roast and cutting off the ends before putting it in the pan. When asked about it, the woman explains that her mother always did it that way. The tradition is followed up the family tree. Finally, a great-grandmother explains that she started cutting off the ends of her roasts because that was the only way it would fit in her pan.

I wonder how many things you do every day in your business that are only because that’s how you’ve always done them. These things are especially tricky to spot when things are going well. If there’s a problem, suddenly everything is on the table, right? You’re desperate to find the problem and patch it. But when things are going smoothly, that’s really the time to take a good look at how – and why – you work the way you work.

That’s exactly what we’ve been doing at Trigard over the past few months. We’ve been mapping out our processes, finding opportunities to do them better, and questioning everything. All of our changes and decisions are filtered through what we believe will be the most valuable to you, our customer.

You may have already seen some of our changes in action. We’re getting you proofs even faster than before, and our Customer Service team is able to track your order more accurately through production. There are even more things on the horizon, and we can’t wait to share them with you.

But what about your business? What are the things that you do every day because that’s your business tradition? Is there a way to do things that would give your customers even more value?

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.