It's time to spring into action

Blake Swinford,
Project Manager

Spring is in the air. The sun is shining. Flowers are blooming, the grass is turning green again and families are visiting cemeteries to spend time with their loved ones. Are you ready?

With Memorial Day right around the corner, your cemetery grounds will be full of families visiting and sharing memories. They may be interested in restoring their loved one's existing memorial, adding a medallion for extra personalization or even upgrading to something new. Talk and share stories with them during their visit. This is a great opportunity for you get to know the families in your community and learn how you can better help them.

If you are a memorial company, this time of year is a great opportunity to visit your customers as well. Go see them and talk to them about your products. Learn more about their business and how you can help them grow. If there is an opportunity to introduce a new product to them, see if you can help them start including it in their product selection before Memorial Day. You have been cooped up all winter, get out there and enjoy the weather.

And, as always, if you have any questions about the products we offer, call Customer Service at 800.798.4900.

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.

Honor thy neighbor with a bronze memorial

John Albers,
Plant Manager

Memorialization doesn’t just occur in our cemeteries. It appears in parks and schools, government buildings and grounds from municipal to federal. Memorials are dedicated by family, friends, shipmates, classmates and teammates.

Recently, I helped a group of elderly men, a morning coffee group, design and set a small bronze memorial at the base of a flag pole which stood in a neighborhood park. The plaque included the gentleman’s name and the quote, “Keeper of the Flag.” Obviously, this departed friend had seen to it that Old Glory was always in good shape and displayed properly. The dedication was an informal ceremony. A half dozen gentlemen, some of their wives and the widow of the deceased were present. There was immense pride on the faces of everyone in attendance. The name of their friend, who they loved and appreciated so much, was now a permanent reminder of the memories they shared while building and caring for the park.

I hope you’re always finding new ways to build bridges between your business and the community. It could create opportunities for people to keep memories alive and honor those that had such great impacts on their lives.

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.

How flexible are you?

Scott Darby,
Media Manager and
Certified Funeral Celebrant,
Camino del Sol Funeral Chapel
and Cremation Center

I am the last of my generation to join the family business. Before training to become a funeral celebrant, I had a thirty-year career experience that consisted of performance, theatre technology and finally event coordination. I consider myself to be somewhat of a Renaissance man, having had my hands in several pots along my career trajectory. I have lived in Chicago, New York City, Austin, and currently Phoenix. I come from the worlds of audience satisfaction and customer service.

We’ve all read the trade magazines and it’s no secret that cremation has taken over as the preferred method of disposition. This may not be great news to many of us in the business of memorialization. Me? I see it as a challenge. Coming from theatre and hospitality, I am used to hearing, “This is what we need. How do we make it happen?” I want to bring this attitude into the funeral industry. Instead of looking at this information as a hurdle, I challenge you to see it as an opportunity to make memorialization better than it has ever been.

I remember a car drive I recently took with my sister, Karen. We were driving down a palm tree-lined street. It was the beginning of monsoon season. I love a good thunderstorm and was expressing my excitement about the coming weather. The monsoons in Arizona can get pretty severe with high winds, rain, amazing lightning shows and huge claps of thunder.

I said to Karen, “I can’t believe there are so many palm trees around. They must get destroyed during the monsoons.”

“Actually,” she replied, “that’s why they are so tall and thin. They are very flexible and bend with the wind. They do very well in the weather.”

Since we are being honest, I have to let you in on a secret. I’m not supposed to be living in Phoenix. By now, I was supposed to have a very successful career as an actor on Broadway, and be lounging by my pool in the Hollywood Hills, reading scripts for my movie debut. What happened?!?
I tell you this story to drive home the importance of taking risks and being flexible with the results. Be the palm tree that bends in the wind and survives the highest of winds to grow even taller.

People and companies are working differently than they have in the past. The internet has made the mobile workplace not only tangible but successful. Small businesses have to fight for their market share against corporations. There’s no way around it, we have to learn a new ballgame. This sounds daunting, I know. But the way I see it, we have the chance to create an even deeper meaning for memorialization and its importance to society. The world is open to us. It is an exciting time to be in our industry. Let’s shift the paradigm from, “That’s how we’ve always done it,” to “This is what we need. How do we make it happen?”

Cremation is a new frontier and I beg of you, don’t waste this opportunity. I implore you to be willing to take a few curveballs in the face. I promise you, after getting a few in the kisser, you’ll learn how to dodge them.

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.

The power of the process

Ethan Darby,
Director of Business
Development

Do mistakes happen often in your business? Are those mistakes preventable? Do certain tasks seem like they take longer than they should? At the end of the day, do you ever feel like nothing was accomplished? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may want to take a step back and look at your processes.

At Trigard, we recently stepped back and took a good, long look at our own processes. And, I must admit, it can be very difficult to diagnose an issue with the way you do things, especially when you do those things every day.

The route that we took was called Value Stream Mapping, which can be conducted on any type of process, no matter if it is a manufacturing, administrative or service type of process. A Value Stream Map is basically a list of every step of your process, how long that step takes to complete, how accurate that step is, etc. It helps you to understand what steps are adding value that your customer is willing to pay for and which steps are a waste.

You have already seen some of our successes due to a recent Value Stream Map that we conducted on our bronze order process. Now, you are receiving proofs a lot quicker than before; and Customer Service can better track orders throughout our plant.

If you think your company would see some value in doing a Value Stream Map exercise with your staff, I highly encourage you to do it. For one, your staff knows the processes better than you do and they can provide you with solutions that they believe in. At Trigard, we cut our lead times in half and greatly decreased the number of mistakes we make. I encourage you to give it a try. We have seen the value, and we hope you do too.



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.

The importance of sharing your vision

Jason Murphy,
Director of Family Services,
Sunset Memorial Park

As a manager, your responsibility as a leader is very important and is sometimes easy to overlook. That responsibility is to share your vision of the future of your company with your staff. We all get busy with our everyday routines and get caught up in the whirlwind. But, great leaders make the time to share their vision with their staff.

Why is this important? Because your staff needs direction. Your staff needs to know where you want them to go. If someone has no guidance and no goals to shoot for, then they may never know if their work is meeting or exceeding your expectations. How can we improve on this in our own organizations?

• Set both short-term and long-term goals individually and as a group. It’s easy to throw out a long term goal, but it’s much more difficult to establish a plan to get there. That’s why it is so important to set smaller, short-term goals that lead to your ultimate goal or your long-term goal. These short-term goals are easier for your staff to refer back to, and will give them quicker feedback on whether or not they are on track to reach their long-term goal.  
• Conduct mini employee reviews throughout the year. At times, managers may notice poor performance, but choose not to correct the issue at that point in time. Rather, they wait until an annual review to unload all of the employee’s mistakes. This leaves the employee feeling discouraged and worried about their performance. Touch base with your employee’s on a regular basis to review their progress and make any adjustments that are needed. This may ensure you to stay on track to your long-term goal. Plus, your employee will feel encouraged along the way because they feel supported. 

If you want the best results, then it is up to you to create an environment that can breed the results you desire. Communicate your vision with your staff and refer to it on a consistent basis. It is your job to make sure that everyone stays on track and keeps the organization's vision in sight.

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 believe in what you sell?

Drew Edwards,
General Manager,
Sunset Funeral Homes

At Sunset Funeral Homes, we often times meet with cremation families that want to host a gathering or memorial service without the help of the funeral home. Many times, they go this route in hopes of saving some money. Although their intentions are great, they almost always end up adding a lot of stress to an already stressful situation, and at the same time end up with a sub-par service of remembrance. But, since we provided the cremation services, our name gets tacked onto their memorial celebration anyway. 

How do we overcome situations like this? Simply put, we are the professionals and we have to make sure our families know that. After all, we do this every day. We know the logistics, seating and printed materials like the back of our hand. Can you imagine how good a mechanic would be if every time a vehicle broke down he asked the customer to do the diagnostics?

No matter if we are selling a bronze memorial, an upright granite memorial or a memorial service at a church, we have to remember to continue to educate the families we serve and provide them with options. We have to remember that we are the professionals and we know what they need to begin a journey to healthy healing. Believe in what you sell, and you will find that both you and the families you serve will benefit in the end. 

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.

Let technology help prevent a lost generation

This article originally appeared in the January 2016 issue of American Cemetery & Cremation.
By Ethan Darby, Director of Business Development, Trigard

Do you remember life without cell phones? How about getting your first computer? Do you remember when we had to rewind VHS and cassette tapes? In the last twenty years, technology has changed the way we live. We carry pocket-sized computers (our smartphones) everywhere. Any information we need is just a Google search away. And, we can watch movies and listen to music without rewinding the tapes when we’re finished.

Technology has also advanced memorialization. Direct-to-metal technology and laser engraving can capture incredible detail on all kinds of materials. But the technology isn’t just advancing the products. One recent change, GIS mapping, has really caught the eye of cemeterians. If you’ve never heard of it, then you should Google it. (See what I did there?)

According to the National Geographic, GIS mapping, or Geographic Information System mapping, “is a computer system used for capturing, storing, checking and displaying data related to positions on Earth’s surface.” It helps cemeterians keep track of their cemeteries’ information in case of fires, floods, or deteriorating paperwork, and helps families locate their loved ones within the cemetery.

Become a genealogical resource
Cemeteries are a snapshot of our community’s historical timeline, a proud and permanent museum for those who came before us. Walking into a cemetery is like walking into your community’s history book and is a valuable resource when conducting genealogical research. While public records are handy, memorials in a cemetery are vital for anyone doing genealogical research, and GIS mapping has made that even easier.

With the help of GIS mapping, fifty years from now when a family’s descendants want to learn about their heritage, they will have easy access to their ancestor’s direct location. And, once they find their loved one, their permanent memorial can help tell their story to their descendants.

But, what happens if someone chooses not to be memorialized in a cemetery or memorial park? What if they just want to be “scattered over the hill” without any kind of permanent memorial? They run the risk of them becoming part of a lost and forgotten generation.

Preventing a lost generation
As memorialization professionals, it is our job to prevent generations from being forgotten. It is our job to educate the families we serve on the importance of memorializing their loved ones. It is just another component in the way we care for them. A permanent memorial not only helps the healing process, but it also provides families a place to visit and to share memories for years to come. When you let a family walk out the door without understanding the benefits of memorialization, you are robbing them of the experience of having a place to honor their loved one, share their legacy with future generations and ensure they are not forgotten.

This is also where technology can come into play. The next generation of consumers may not identify with a yellowing cemetery map on a wall, but I guarantee they’ll be enthusiastic about a smartphone app that uses GIS mapping to help them locate a special space for their loved one in your cemetery. Traditional bronze memorials with limited personalization may not be attractive to younger consumers, but they’ll quickly get involved designing a full-color memorial with family photographs.

I encourage you to be a resource for families. Educate yourself about not only the newest memorialization options but also the new advancements in technology within our industry. Go to conventions, read industry publications and ask your suppliers for more ideas. Be an asset to this industry and help every generation be remembered.

Do you have an effective employee handbook?

Sheryl Baumeister,
Human Resources

As the Human Resources Manager, I live and breathe the contents of the employee handbook. It's one of the most important documents you can create for your organization. It can say a lot about your culture and your brand, especially to new employees. It lays out how the employer wants employees to be treated and how they are expected to behave.

Employee handbooks can include a lot of information, which can be overwhelming at times. But, it does not need to include every detail of an employer's policies or every provision of the laws impacting the workplace. For instance, it's best to leave out the details of a severance policy (if you have one) and avoid speculating on future changes to overtime pay rules.

In order to give your employees an effective handbook, you need to:

• Be Concise – If you want your employees to read the handbook, don’t fill it with legal jargon they can’t understand. 
• Be Original – Use your own language and don’t borrow the wording for policies and procedures from other organizations. 
• Be Careful – Before you distribute it to your employees, ask your legal counsel to review it. This protects your company and your employees. 

If you have multiple locations in different states, there are several options for you. You can publish a single handbook that includes all state and local variations in topical sections. You can tailor multiple versions to each company location. Or finally, you can take a back-end approach and have state-specific addenda in the back of the handbook.

Whatever option you choose, keep in mind the handbook is a living document that needs to be updated constantly. As new laws and work trends change, you need to make sure your handbook is current with the times.

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.

Mother Nature has what we need

Erin Brodbeck, LCSW, CT,
Director of Grief Services,
Sunset Funeral Home

With the recent February weather being in the 70s here in our part of Illinois, I am beginning to get a touch of spring fever. The warm weather has got me thinking about spending time outside and its ability to aid in the grief process. I recently read a few articles that discussed the therapeutic abilities of nature and its tendencies to reduce stress.

When a family is grieving after the loss of a loved one, their stress levels are more than likely skyrocketing. By utilizing the healing powers of Mother Nature and her many different resources as ways of memorialization, we can help the families we serve to reduce their stress levels.

• Plant a tree in honor of a loved one.
• Dedicate a favorite hiking spot by placing a plaque or memorial in their honor.
• Design a memorial by incorporating images of nature’s beauty or decorate a grave with some beautiful flowers.
• Host a nature walk or presentation in your cemetery to educate the community about our natural resources. At Sunset Memorial Park, we host an Arbor Day celebration at the end of April for area schools to learn about its history and plant a tree.

The combination of memorialization and nature can be a great way to help the families we serve in their journey to healthy healing.

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 have laser focus?

Rich Darby,
Chief Operating Officer

Does your company have a strategy in place for creating new growth? At Trigard, we are currently going through a major exercise of continuous improvement. We have spent many hours in meetings, brought in experts in several different fields and put together a major plan to create a new focus. We have learned a lot about our company throughout this process, but one thing is for sure, we must have a laser focus on the things that we do best.

Often times, as we explore new sales strategies, we get excited about the possibilities to offer a bunch of new products and solutions to our customers. The more the merrier, right? Well, that may not be the correct answer.

As we head into the spring months, I challenge you to focus on your core competencies and work on a growth strategy based on what you do best. What advantages do you offer over your competition other than price? What can you highlight and what value-added services can you bring to the table that set you apart from your competition? Yes, the price is important, but someone is always going to come in and do it cheaper. Come up with a laser focused strategy that is realistic, obtainable, and one that is guaranteed to complement your strengths. Many small wins are much better than an occasional home run.

If you are reading this article, that means you have a strong company and have survived some hard times. Your company has its strengths and is good at something. I encourage you to go back to your roots and begin growing from there. You may not be able to do it exactly the same way you have always done it, but a new spin on an old product or process just may be the ticket. 

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.