03.27.10
Posted in Green burials, cemetery awareness, cemetery news, news alerts at 11:52 am by Administrator
Per my title of this post, I am speaking to my personal (not professional) dislikes toward green burials. My first question is: Is this a fad, or is it here to stay? My second question here is: Do the families that are having this marketed to them understand the difference between green and traditional burial? ALL the differences?
To answer the first question: Green burials are great if you are into getting back to the old ways of performing burials. No casket expense, no vault expense, no memorial expense because in a true green burial space no memorial is allowed. This for a burial business means little or no streams of revenue to keep the cemetery profitable and in business. In 20 years, when the business is no longer solvent what happens to those burials? Who looks after the properties and maintains any record of those burials? I offer this as a brain teaser to this question: Many pioneer cemeteries and other old non marked cemeteries are disturbed annually with new road construction, new housing developments, etc. etc. I see this as a repeat of those same issues, 50 or 100 years from now. So for those who preach green, I want to know how they intend to protect the sanctity of these “new” green burial places for generations to come? Or, does that matter?
I just read an article out of the Midwest about a green burial cemetery that was just approved. I noticed a local funeral director had spoken about “green embalming fluids”, and unless something new has come about; I have never heard of such a thing. Embalming is one of the items taken off the list of expenses with a green burial. I want to know where these “green embalming fluids” are being purchased. If they exist, it sure isn’t industry wide knowledge. The funeral directors I know have heard nothing about these either and I have asked. I also have found no reference to this in industry trade magazines. I have seen the new biodegradeable wicker looking baskets for burial and other items of that nature, but nothing relative to green fluids for embalming. I’ll look again, but if such a thing exists someone post a comment on this and let me know where to look this up.
For my second question, and this will surely upset the green folks, but if this was MY family being buried I would want to know: If I am not allowed the option of a casket, or a burial vault, what happens to my loved ones body when the burial is complete and a couple of tons of dirt are dumped on their body? This is a viable question, considering I buried my Dad, Grandmother, and Grandfather some years back and would not care for the visual this gives me. Personally, I like the idea that my loved ones weren’t crushed by the weight of the dirt during backfill. That gives ME peace of mind. And unless I have completely missed something, I remember the entire reason for the ceremony or funeral is for the living, not the dead, which means I have to remember what – when the time comes for me to make those decisions again?
I am not prepared to speak professionally about how this green movement will play out. I, like many, have more questions than answers. As long as I have questions, I will continue to lean on the side of traditional.
I am open for debate on this topic, and as I have shared in this article I am not expressing professional opinion/s on this matter. I am curious and apprehensive, and have many questions. I am concerned that families are not getting the complete story when they are being given this as an option. For now, I call it a fad. Only time will tell whether I was full of it or not.
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03.13.10
Posted in cemetery awareness, cemetery management, cemetery news, cemetery publications at 6:03 pm by Administrator
IT’S SPRINGTIME!!!!!! Are you excited or worried at your cemetery?
April 26, 2009 on 4:39 am In Sound Off No Comments
A subject not often approached, is the attitude in cemeteries when springtime finally rolls around. It’s no longer cold, the snow and ice are gone, the trees are coming alive, the grass is turning green, it just seems like the good Mother Earth is coming alive once again. A reason to feel excited, unless you have done a poor job of preparing for it.
You may be thinking, “what in the heck is this about”?
It’s simple. Along with all the beauty that comes with spring, also comes all the visitations by family and friends to your cemetery grounds. They come and leave decorations, figurines, and many other momentos on the graves of those they dearly miss. Many of these folks have not been able to get out to the cemetery for months, due to the road conditions or weather. So they are coming out in force this time of year. So what is wrong with this, you may ask? Nothing would be my response, as long as you have kept EVERY LOT OWNER UP TO DATE WITH THE FLORAL RULES AND REGULATIONS OF YOUR CEMETERY.
Why the caps on this? Already, I have responded to three articles this spring, regarding families upset about cemetery floral rules and missing items from graves. In these articles, the families feel disregarded and the cemetery feels the families are being unreasonable. In one article out of Michigan, families stated they picked a particular municipal cemetery over others in the area, simply for their lack of rules on the matter. Now guess what. Someone has complained about how messy the place looks, and the city has decided to either enforce non existant rules, make new rules and enforce them, or just clean the place up. Whichever case it is, communications was obviously not existant! And the latest out of Kentucky, where the rules and regulations HAVE been in force, with posted signs in the cemetery and still they are taking hits from the client families because those posted rules and regulations have not been enforced consistently in the past. It’s a delicate balance, enforcing rules and continuing to satisfy the needs of your client families. It seldom is comfortable for either side, but it is necessary.
I have personally witnessed for years, a fairly sizeable lack of concern for passing out floral regulations in cemeteries. The Family Service Counselors or Cemetery Sales Staff are asked to pass these rules out to every family they sell cemetery property to, whether it is on a preneed or atneed basis. I can tell you, it just doesn’t happen on any level of consistency. The Family Service folks don’t get paid to do this, they are generally commission only. In order to make commissions, they have to sell stuff. They can’t sell stuff (they think), if they push rules and regulations on people. That is #1 in this perennial problem. Problem #2, is when it is known they don’t pass these out regularly, it isn’t seen to it that someone else does.
Now, it really hurts to be on the maintenance crew. They are out in the cemetery, maintaining the grounds. They make little money, and are charged with the task of making the cemetery look nice at all times. They have to perform burials, and keep the area safe at all times, as well. They take the initial flak for the missing items from gravesites, most times accused of being the ones to steal the items. Items that are hardly of value to anyone beyond the families that left them for their loved ones. If they are leaving things of real value, then what do they expect? These are public thoroughfares, and valuables will disappear if left in plain site. That is seldom the case though.
My wish for the spring of 2009 & now 2010? Everyone get along. Everyone talk to each other. If there is a problem, go to the management and speak with them in a tone that would cause everyone to want to make things right. Management team, do the same. Family Service, don’t sherk this duty of passing out the regs. It is critical to the emotional well being of the families you make a living from serving. Maintenance, if you see an item that looks like it is valuable, talk to your manager about possibly boxing or bagging the item respectfully and tagging it with the deceased name and storing for a period of time so the family can retrieve it intact. The largest complaint I hear from families is when they find their items in a “pile” in the back of the cemetery. Bottom line, they feel they and their departed loved one have been disrespected. Everyone working in the cemetery has the ability to positively impact that perception.
That is my wish. In 2009 and now 2010 let’s all do a better job of communicating our needs and expectations. In 2009 and now 2010 let’s start the process of eliminating the spring time blues. Spring time should be a time of great joy, it’s so much more beautiful out than a month ago. It is up to us all to keep it that way, and together we can do it.
Have a Great Spring!!!!!
I have reprinted this post over the years in the hopes of finding common ground between all the parties involved in cemeteries. Still, the news agencies report upset families and the cemetery shows reluctance to fully speak to the media about the reasons for removing decorations in the early spring. There are many valid reasons to perform this clean up, the least of which is appearance. The first and formost reason is safety, but seldom do you hear this spoken about. Why? Unless the cemetery being complained about has suffered a legal loss due to personal inury from flying debris or read about another, they just don’t talk about it. I hope the instance of media events on cemetery spring cleanup drops this year. I hope communications improves among the interested parties. It’s a new day and I hope for a new way.
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02.20.10
Posted in cemetery awareness, cemetery consulting, cemetery litigation, cemetery management at 11:59 pm by Administrator
CemOps has launched on its website: http://www.cemops.com A complaint form designed as a tool for everyone. Whether you are: A consumer and have had little fortune getting answers to your questions or concerns - An employee who has tried to get management to listen to you about concerns – A manager who is overwhelmed by constant complaints and feeling you just can’t find the answers for them all – An owner who just doesn’t seem to be able to put a finger on the sky rocketing costs associated with today’s operating environment while maintenance and employee costs continue to climb in tough times – and you all feel you need answers.
On CemOps website, we now offer the complaints form page to help answer some of the pressing issues facing anyone involved in the cemetery, funeral, and crematory industries. And finally, someone willing to address those concerns from ALL the partners who make up the success or failure of a death care business venture.
You can access this new page at: http://www.cemops.com/complaints_form.html
Your personal information will be held in the strictest of confidence, and is only needed for the purposes of contact by us once we have made our determinations. If you wish us to contact a cemetery, funeral home, or crematory on your behalf we will not share your personal information without your permissions. If you are an owner we will check out your concerns and report directly back to you and nobody else, insuring your privacy and the integrity of your needs. If you are a manager or employee we will protect you from any possible retaliation by not reporting your identity.
The purpose of this page, is to help slow some of the news items making headlines that continue to erode the trust placed on us by families in need. To help employees and managers become stronger by communicating helpful methodology in facing complaints, and determining the severity of their concerns. And to help owners and families work together to correct issues to the satisfaction of all involved, helping to slow the increasing negative media attention and court dockets and rebuilding the faith in our profession.
At the end of each year, Cemops will publish a report on the website, categorizing the type of complaints received – any geographical tendencies – cooperative efforts on the parts of the parties involved, or the lack thereof – violations of state or federal law statistics useful – and training efforts to further strengthen our profession in the eyes of our consumers and onlookers.
It is our sincere desire that everyone who is vested will use this form. There is no cost for using this complaint form, and this can only help improve relations that continue to be strained by both internal and external sources. We expect to be able to communicate with all parties via email, which will keep this free. It makes sense that if we can keep our costs down, we can continue to provide this service at no charge. So take advantage of this offer. Light up your keyboards and let us know what is on your minds and hearts.
This is the first of it’s kind, considering the number of search engine hits available telling you the procedures for filing a complaint in states. Here, the only procedure or step needed is simply filling out our form. We will take it from there with no further need of following lengthy procedure or burdensome steps. We will do that for you.
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01.13.10
Posted in cemetery awareness, cemetery litigation, cemetery news at 7:03 pm by Administrator
Latest in the string of negative media accounts, is the scandal out of Chicago at Burr Oak Cemetery. We have read 29 separate media accounts on this one cemetery scandal, being reported locally-regionally, and now nationwide. Every news organization is covering it now, and the owners of Perpetua are missing in action.
Where it may be a wise choice to distance themselves, in their opinion-the news agencies and sheriff department are pulverizing them at every turn. Most recently, a sheriff department audit reveals there are possibly 9,000 more bodies buried in this cemetery than it can accomodate at full capacity. Perpetua has done nothing to publicly combat this, and the idea of there being that many beyond capacity just doesn’t add up. Recent statements in those same media articles relate burials are taking place without event, and no new disturbances of old graves are taking place.
If you consider both these completely contradictory items being stated in the same article, you would think a spokesperson from Perpetua or their legal firm would be taking the opportunity to speak out. To date, nothing. All that is coming out about this company is they have filed for bankruptcy protection. No damage control will be disastrous for this company. People have no choice but to believe what they read, because nobody else is giving them any information to the contrary.
The other concern with this and a number of other issues in the cemetery, funeral and crematory industries is who is watching over these locations? How could this have gone on without notice, if anyone was ever showing up from the headquarters? What about the previous owners? If there is truly thousands of burials more than the cemetery can hold, why isn’t there any mention of previous owners and their possible roles? Calculating 9,000 burials overage, if the cemetery is performing 350 burials annually would mean this has been ongoing for over two decades. If the news stories are anywhere close to true, and the sheriff has truly audited the location properly-how could this go on for over two decades without being caught? Baffling, isn’t it?
CemOps has long offered to be the eyes and ears of ownership. To be the ones that go into locations and discover improper operating issues for the owners and report back so things can be corrected and kept in house. To be the ones that assist owners of any size in discovering weaknesses and building on principles to turn them into strengths.
Cemetery, crematory and funeral companies spend tens of millions every year on legal fees to defend themselves in court, pay for their legal departments, and/or develop policies and procedures that are obviously not being followed consistently globally. We have offered as a professional aid to help with the front end of this and save these companies countless millions by identifying issues for correction long before they become of interest to the media. Self regulation if you will.
We have seen the fiscal destruction of businesses and family/community trust when nobody is apparently watching. Companies buy out cemeteries from each other, keep the existing employees with little of no further reference or background checks. A few visits take place in the beginning (sometimes) then these locations go on the clock. If there are employees kept who are not upright (re: Burr Oak), the new owner gets the surprise of their lives when the lawsuits and media accounts hit. A little due diligence, another offering of CemOps, and followup will route out most of these type concerns long before reason for news or court coverage. There is your value, if you are willing to take advantage of it.
Finally, how can anyone believe in the case of Burr Oak, a sheriff has the necessary tools and skill sets to audit a cemetery? No offense intended, but a complete forensic inspection is in order now that these numbers have been reported, as it is highly unlikely this sheriff knows how to differenciate the different type burials, which could affect numbers and space or acreage/availability or recognition of poor records keeping/fraud on the part of the four indicted in this story. It takes industry knowledge to get to the bottom of this, and industry savvy of having learned discovery in difficult circumstances and record keeping practices of both healthy and unhealthy operations.
CemOps is still here. Still watching. Still waiting for the industry to understand the value that is CemOps. Our fees represent a small fraction of the costs associated with these claims. Our fees discover these issues before anyone else so they can be corrected and the families are no longer negatively impacted. Beyond the legal fees and destruction of reputation, the entire industry suffers at the hands of such items.
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01.01.10
Posted in cemetery awareness, cemetery law, cemetery litigation, cemetery management, cemetery news at 11:12 am by Administrator
Another Avoidable Lawsuit
February 15, 2009 on 12:53 am In Sound Off No Comments
Reported in November, in California. $420,000.00 in awards is upheld by the California Court of Appeals, from a lawsuit again dealing with the proper way to deal with a family when a cemetery resold two graves. The cemetery staff involved, kept the resale secret from the original purchasers. In 1986, this family purchased two grave spaces, when records were kept manually. When the cemetery converted to a computerized system in 2000, the error was discovered. Error #1. Instead of notifying the purchasers of the mistake, the cemetery staff chose to not resolve the situation because additional spaces were not available at the time. When plaintiff’s husband passed away in 2005, the cemetery provided two spaces elsewhere with the assurance that a nearby roadway would not be extended. Some time later the road was extended, which becomes error #2.
The courts determined the liability existed, when it has ratified “an intent to adopt or approve oppresive, fraudulent, or malicious behavior by an employee in performance of their duties.” The employer was found to be guilty of this, and the actions of the employee were found to be the liability of the employer, due to employers knowledge of this event.
The base issue here is simple. Telling the truth at the time of discovery would have precluded this size of judgement, if not completely eliminating the lawsuit altogether. Telling lies, or lying by ommission, is exactly what caused this lawsuit and subsequent award.
When will those in this profession learn, that covering up this type item will only come back to haunt? When will this industry start using the expertise of companies like CemOps to train their employees on the proper handling of such situations? Clearly, many employers in this profession don’t take this seriously until they have lost a lawsuit, but training still doesn’t take place on any consistent basis.
Was this employee involved terminated? Were the rest of the employees at this location trained on the proper methods of dealing with such and other issues, to preclude further occurence? Or, were the employees simply expected to learn from this mistake with no follow–up?
Clearly there is a value to outside involvement in investigative, auditory, or training assistance to strengthen weak areas in our operations environments. This one is definitely unnecesssary. So are so many that we read about every day in the media. Once again, CemOps and other companies like it are out there to help. The lawsuits can slow or stop, with the proper training and policies/procedures in place. Or——–just keep going to court and paying the costs in high jury awards and the negative publicity that comes with it, which also has a negative impact in the communities affected.
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09.25.09
Posted in cemetery awareness, cemetery law at 12:47 am by Administrator
Bobby Rush, Democrat from Illinois, is posing federal legislation to further regulate cemeteries in the United States. This, from the most recent cases in Illinois including Burr Oak Cemetery. Illinois has been trampled with the Burr Oak case, the IFDA case, and other closely related instances of violations of law and all that our profession stands for.
CemOps has been warning for years now this would happen, and with an industry determined to continue giving negative media and court accounts to feed on, it is happening.
This is an industry that needs to get engaged immediately in self regulation that will satisfy these most recent calls for federal regulation, or expect further regulation that will only set back an industry that continues to ignore all the signs of being included in new federal law.
The arrogance of the cemetery profession, thinking they will continue to escape the long arm of federal legislation, is about to come face to face with reality. We have communicated on numerous occassions with varying officers of corporations, regional and private operators, and not for profits, who have thought they would be left unencumbered as not very important to federal interests.
It is apparent now this is no longer the case. There are so many fresh cases involved now, and mounting cases, that the head of steam toward further regulation cannot be ignored any further.
Reference our website: http://www.cemops.com
You will see this has been warned against for some time now. We are here to help and continue to be the best resource a cemetery owner could have, whether private; religious; public; or municipal. Years of experience and tribulation have taught us best practices and needed policy and procedure no matter the size of your company.
Google news alerts come across the internet many times daily with issues in our industry. If we are seeing them, others are too. Congressman Rush, among others, have seen enough. They are now acting and the time for correction of present policy is now. We are here to help. We cannot help if you do not contact us. We have offices in the Southeast United States, in the Midwest, and in the Western Region.
Our message is clear. We hope you are finally hearing it.
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09.17.09
Posted in cemetery awareness, cemetery consulting, cemetery management, cemetery news at 11:29 pm by Administrator
Trust but Verify is the title of this post, as in the news of late so many companies out there don’t.
The Burr Oak Cemetery scandal in Chicago, the newest out of LA, and the list goes on and on. If these companies understood this simple principle, the negative news accounts would not be happening.
CemOps has been contacting companies for years now, offering services before and when news breaks, to lessen the occurences that are now nationwide news. If these companies that own locations nationwide would simply perform more on site investigations, these issues would not be so prevelant. Many times it takes an outside agency to get to the root of troubles, and when everything is handled internally, friendships and blind trust can get in the way of good business principles.
The only answer to this is to “trust but verify.”
You may have all the faith in your local management group in the world. But if you seldom visit the location, you have no idea whether operations are proper or not. If you have those in charge of these locations that make you comfortable, but never check to see if they are truly doing their jobs, then you have no defense when these occurences hit the news.
Too many times, issues arise when those trusted persons are in charge, and you just know things are being handled in the proper manner. If you trust this with no execution of periodic due diligence, you get exactly what you deserve. If you blindly allow operations to take place with no periodic investigation because you are comfortable with location or area management, and a news item appears, then you get exactly what you deserve.
CemOps has been here conveying this message now for years, and it has fallen on deaf ears. The news articles continue to grow in numbers and horror, but the messages fall on deaf ears. An outside, disinterested party is what it takes to uncover these items and fix them before the news media or courts are necessary. But those in power continue to ignore the messages and fall into their comfort zones until something breaks like the latest two in Chicago and Los Angeles.
There is help out here for those who wish to pull in their egos and use the professional help available. There is help out here that is considerably less expensive than class action lawsuits that cost millions of unnecessary dollars to defend. There is help out here for insuring your well thought out policies and procedures are actually being followed. There is help out here……………..
Think you don’t need it? Set yourself up some google alerts and read every night like we do, the accounts of events that shake this death care industry to the core. Set up google alerts for cemetery, funeral homes in financial trouble, cemetery news alerts, etc. You will see there is a need for more diligence in this industry.
If you aren’t willing to do this, then call those out here that are set up to help. Or, continue to suffer the consequences when it is discovered you aren’t protecting yourselves and the families you serve to the fullest extent. It’s your choice, which to date is not working, or the accounts would have stopped a long time ago.
There is nothing more frustrating than to have the expertise necessary and be ignored. If this industry is not willing to correct itself, then the government will surely step in. As you read this, Illinois is calling for more legislative controls. Other states are showing similar interests, yet the industry continues to ignore the inevitable. It is only inevitable due to the lack of true interest of assurance in this industry.
This is a wake up call. Maybe the final one.
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09.06.09
Posted in cemetery awareness, cemetery law, cemetery litigation, cemetery news at 6:05 pm by Administrator
Another Avoidable Lawsuit
February 15, 2009 on 12:53 am In Sound Off No Comments
Reported in November, in California. $420,000.00 in awards is upheld by the California Court of Appeals, from a lawsuit again dealing with the proper way to deal with a family when a cemetery resold two graves. The cemetery staff involved, kept the resale secret from the original purchasers. In 1986, this family purchased two grave spaces, when records were kept manually. When the cemetery converted to a computerized system in 2000, the error was discovered. Error #1. Instead of notifying the purchasers of the mistake, the cemetery staff chose to not resolve the situation because additional spaces were not available at the time. When plaintiff’s husband passed away in 2005, the cemetery provided two spaces elsewhere with the assurance that a nearby roadway would not be extended. Some time later the road was extended, which becomes error #2.
The courts determined the liability existed, when it has ratified “an intent to adopt or approve oppresive, fraudulent, or malicious behavior by an employee in performance of their duties.” The employer was found to be guilty of this, and the actions of the employee were found to be the liability of the employer, due to employers knowledge of this event.
The base issue here is simple. Telling the truth at the time of discovery would have precluded this size of judgement, if not completely eliminating the lawsuit altogether. Telling lies, or lying by ommission, is exactly what caused this lawsuit and subsequent award.
When will those in this profession learn, that covering up this type item will only come back to haunt? When will this industry start using the expertise of companies like CemOps to train their employees on the proper handling of such situations? Clearly, many employers in this profession don’t take this seriously until they have lost a lawsuit, but training still doesn’t take place on any consistent basis.
Was this employee involved terminated? Were the rest of the employees at this location trained on the proper methods of dealing with such and other issues, to preclude further occurence? Or, were the employees simply expected to learn from this mistake with no follow–up?
Clearly there is a value to outside involvement in investigative, auditory, or training assistance to strengthen weak areas in our operations environments. This one is definitely unnecesssary. So are so many that we read about every day in the media. Once again, CemOps and other companies like it are out there to help. The lawsuits can slow or stop, with the proper training and policies/procedures in place. Or——–just keep going to court and paying the costs in high jury awards and the negative publicity that comes with it, which also has a negative impact in the communities affected.
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Posted in cemetery awareness, cemetery management, cemetery news at 6:03 pm by Administrator
Why CemOps Happened (The story)
December 5, 2007 on 7:02 pm In Sound Off
There have been enough emails to CemOps, some supportive-some critical, that makes telling this story worthwhile. I apologize if this goes into a lengthy read, but stay with me, please.
To begin with, I must say, that EVERY cemetery I have been involved with has had issues from the past. Some severe, some not so severe. But issues, nonetheless, that needed to be addressed. Small issues tend to become larger issues left unattended.
It all started when with a large corporation, when I was offered the opportunity to take over a couple of cemeteries. My boss at that time, informed me this was a recent purchase and the location had some “challenges” to overcome. That particular location underwent a full remediation that took 18 months to complete. The good news is, that company was proactive in discovering and correcting those issues. Many would argue that was self serving on their parts, to prevent lawsuits. Regardless, they chose to do the right thing and fix the problems. That was quite a learning experience. The changes in management structure is the only reason I am no longer there. A “restructuring” occured. I survived that one, but doubted I would survive many more.
Like many, I made my way through the corporations while climbing the ladder. The next company I worked for, knew of my experience. When I found numerous issues with their cemetery, they chose to ignore them. On two pages, I informed them of the issues, the corrections suggested and the implications should they choose not to be proactive. To date, no action has been taken on those issues. I am proud to say I am no longer with that company. I was not willing to jeapordize my reputation by staying. Someday, those issues will come to light and it will be their’s to deal with. Yes, I documented everything and protected my interests. Everyone else involved just takes a wait and see approach, including the state involved. Like most states, they don’t have the resources available to investigate.
Many managers “log” their daily activities to cover themselves in the event they are fired. Many managers are afraid to call up any issues they find. Certain corporations in this industry don’t appear to want to know what they have, choosing to ignore the problems for now. Clearly “for now”, is the operative error here. These issues will not stay hidden forever. And, the longer they stay hidden, the more liability for the company if a lawsuit occurs. A good attorney worth their salt, will uncover if these issues were known prior to. A jury will award based on action or the lack thereof. With the emotion involved in our industry, burying your head in the sand is not a good idea. If you know of problems and don’t come forward, you now shoulder ALL the responsibility. If you do come forward and are instructed to ignore them, that would be a good time to start documenting things to protect yourself. But doing nothing is a prescription for personal disaster.
After the number of locations managed, the number of issues corrected, the number of fellow managers that came with their issues for assistance. It occured to me this is what I wanted for my legacy, and that I could make this my lifes’ work. And get paid for it all at the same time. Imagine doing what you love and being paid for it, too. Managing a cemetery pays fairly well, don’t get me wrong. But the expertise it takes to uncover issues, communicate those issues to the appropriate people, and face the families and correct them is no easy chore. Many managers are not capable or willing to put themselves in this position.
Now, since the early 2000’s, operations managers have become an endangered species. The industry has become, once again, all about sales. Granted, no operation can exist without sales. But instead of keeping operations intact while the sales push is on, operations management has been cut back. Almost all the issues I have dealt with over the years have been related to the sales pushes. You look today at all the advertisements for this industry, and all you see is sales opportunities.
If there is nobody to educate the sales force about the implications of sales without sound operations, then in about 10 years you will see once again, a push for operations managers. This will be to correct the issues presented from the sales push without operations knowledge or best practices. AND, the lack of proper management within the locations.
It may sound like I am picking on sales. Please, that is not the case. I am picking on the lack of commitment by companies and owners to insure the overall integrity of their locations by concentrating on one or the other. BOTH areas need equal attention, all the time.
In the first mentioned circumstance, the former owners of the cemetery were considered pillars of the community. Many of the mistakes were caused by ignorance regarding cemetery law or cemetery operations in general. But, hiring decisions were made in management and sales that bordered off ignorance and fell into the legal categories. An owner surely wouldn’t go for years not knowing what is happening in their businesses…….. But this particular owner sold the location to a corporation, signed a non-compete, and then served on the board of a competing city cemetery. Was that ignorance? You be the judge. But we chose to identify, confirm, confess, and correct. Not only did we protect the community and the families we served, we also protected our company by doing the right thing. The families appreciated our commitment and concern. Hundreds involved. Not one lawsuit. Not one visit from the media.
There are many more examples, however, this post would become far too lengthy if I were to continue.
You have a choice when taking on a cemetery with issues, which they all have.
You can be proactive and step up to the plate and address the issues, clearly positioning yourself as the one that didn’t create the problems, but the one that will deal with and correct those issues.
You can ignore the issues and “hope they stay hidden”, which equates to a bad decision. As the cemeteries gardens fill to capacity, the issues cannot stay hidden. At some point, they must be dealt with. Will it be now? Will it be later?
Certainly CemOps cannot make that choice for you. But CemOps is here to help you through the process, should you decide to do the right thing. Here to train your management team. Here to be hands on, if you choose. Here, nonetheless. It’s up to you to call.
So that, is the story of CemOps. Driven by a passion of cemetery operations excellence. A passion of knowing how powerful doing the right thing is. How not doing the right can come back to haunt. Daily, I receive email notifications of issues all over the world. The past practices are now coming back to be dealt with. CemOps will be here to meet or assist you in meeting those challenges. All you have to do is pick up the phone, or visit the website and fill out the appropriate form/s.
Regardless of your personal experience, CemOps can help. Nobody knows everything about cemeteries. Everyone needs assistance from time to time. Hence, CemOps.
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Posted in cemetery awareness, cemetery management, cemetery news at 5:56 pm by Administrator
Memorial Parks vs Upright Priviledge Parks or GardensJune 2, 2007 on 8:02 pm In Sound Off 1 Comment
I marvel at the history of the memorial park design. I read an article a couple of years ago, about the memorial park design. I agreed wholly with the ideal that the memorial park design set memorialization back 100 years. The maintenance savings touted with this design can be argued easily, but more importantly, the loss of the revenue stream from upright monuments as well as the loss of the artform of the upright memorialization is a shame for the industry.
First, the supposed savings in maintaining a cemetery with flat granite or bronze on granite is a total farce. Yes, you can mow directly over the flat marker, but you still have to go back and weedeat all four sides of the flat marker to keep it clean and viewable. There is no less maintenance. In fact, there is more. The turn under vases require constant maintenance, as they get knocked over by mowers, foot traffic, etc. And quite frankly, I think memorial parks are boring. And let’s face it, there is only so much you can say in memorialization on a small, flat piece of granite or bronze.
The upright marker cemetery offers more options for telling a story, there is just more room on that granite to say things about the family or loved one interred there. The upright marker lends more character to the cemetery and is more easily noticed.
In every instance where I have opened a garden in a cemetery, allowing upright priviledge, sales have been brisk. This is, more than not, what people want in a cemetery. So why, does the industry as a whole not listen to their clientelle and give them what they want and are willing to pay for?
The cremation rate may be ever increasing, and that is another subject entirely, I truly believe some of the fault is on the parts of cemeteries that have become flat, boring, unoriginal landscapes that offer nothing to draw interest or creativity. Yes, pricing within the industry plays heavily in the cremation rate, but I feel if people are given the options they desire, they are more inclined to go that direction.
Monument companies offerings used to be handcrafted art works. Now, the flat marker allows more computerization for etchings, taking the personal artform out of the equation. I think we are ignoring too large a desire by enforcing a design that was ill advised to begin with.
Feel free to chime in. I am interested to know varying points of view on this matter.
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