06.11.10
Posted in Uncategorized, cemetery consulting, cemetery management, cemetery news, news alerts at 10:26 am by Administrator
As many times as we have said it, managing and operating a cemetery can be a complex task especially if you don’t hold the expertise necessary or at least have a professional mentor to show you the way. We at CemOps have been fortunate over the years to have the latter, putting us in a position to enjoy the expertise after years of mentoring. Considering the number of problems now apparent at Arlington, and you must consider a lack of professional training or expertise on the part of past management. The Secretary of the Army has stated he finds no grounds for criminal considerations, which is most likely correct. Nobody sets out to bury 230 war heroes in the wrong place, or on top of one another, there just wouldnt’ be anything to gain personally by doing so. There is no money changing hands at a national cemetery, which precludes greed or other criminal actions from occuring. No, this is a simple case of the wrong person being put in charge of the most heralded cemetery in our country. There are perhaps a handful of folks with the appropriate credentials in this country to properly manage such a cemetery, which begs the question of the selection process when the former manager was hired.
Now, they say there may be more trouble and have ordered a thorough investigation. Now the real tough questions: 1) Who will perform this investigation, and what expertise do they possess to insure this investigation is in fact thorough? 2) Will this investigation take place as an independent one, with absolutely no interference from federal sources? 3)Who has the appropriate expertise to effect change beyond the investigation and put in place policy and procedures to insure this cannot occur in the future? 4) What is in place now, to allow for corrections later without disturbing an inordinate number of burials, in essence perpetuating a problem already in existence?
CemOps has many more questions than answers at this point in time. We hope to have meaningful conversations in the near term to answer some of these and hopefully be invited on the ground to assist. Our nations war dead deserve better. Their families deserve better. We have the right to expect more of the folks we entrust our national burial grounds to.
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05.12.10
Posted in cemetery consultant, cemetery consulting, cemetery law, cemetery litigation, cemetery management, cemetery news at 7:37 pm by Administrator
After having conversations with a couple of other cemetery and crematory consultants regarding the slowing of utilization of operations, governance, and compliance expertise; a concerning trend is developing that will have negative consequences in the future if it continues. The death care industry typically goes through cycles. Cycle one is the unfettered sales path. This is when sales are ramped up to fever pitch, with little or no accountability toward governance and compliance. Cycle two has been the operations mode, when the consolidators bring more managers (governance and compliance) back into the fold to correct the mistakes made during the sales ramp up cycle.
The successful sales cycle brings as much revenue into the businesses as possible in the shortest amount of time allowable. The successful operations cycle corrects the mistakes made during the sales cycle, and is deemed a success if the result of this second cycle completes with no new litigation or legislation. It generally appears as a constant circular path.
This cyclic path we find the industry on now, is changing. By typical standards, the operations cycle should have begun about a year ago however, the sales cycle continues to grow and the operations cycle is slowing ever further. Restructuring is occuring and operations managers are being downsized or eliminated in favor of sales management and/or General Manager/Sales Manager positions. The difference is there are only a handful of experienced individuals in the industry who are truly capable of wearing both hats, and with emphasis on the sales aspect are given precious little time or resources to insure operational integrity.
Presently there are hundreds of positions advertised for sales people, sales managers, sales executives, and the like. You will find presently not one operations management position posted on any of the job boards, trade boards, or corporate websites. This is a concerning, if not disturbing, trend for the experts in operations.
It would be believed that operations consultants would become busier with this trend, saving the corporations a lot of money by utilizing talent that is not their responsibility. They would not be required to pay for benefits, fica match, or any of the other items necessary for an employee while experiencing a higher level of operational integrity. But this is not the case, and is curious to us all.
It is clearly understood the ramifications of sales. Sales bring in money, and operations cost money with no immediate direct additional benefit to the bottom line. Operations insures the money accrued during sales ramps are spent properly and budgeted for the future, while insuring carefully thought out policies and procedures are honored to eliminate liabilities. I personally know of two such consultants that are about to leave the industry entirely, due to lack of work. These two individuals have worked diligently over the course of their careers to make the death care profession a better place for employees and better experience for the consumers. It will be a loss if they move on, and we lose their passionate approach to an industry they love.
CemOps won’t be far behind, if the present trend continues. Without sustainable business, a business cannot sustain. We believe the industry should keep close tabs on both sides of this equation, and never let their guard down. There is a marriage of the two that should take place, but no marriage can take place or survive with just one partner getting all the attention. Here’s hoping for a brighter future for the ops minded professionals out there. You can’t restructure your business model completely away from compliance, without risking the business. At the end of the day, a lack of rules will cause utter chaos.
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03.07.10
Posted in cemetery consulting, cemetery law, cemetery management at 4:45 pm by Administrator
Over the weekend, Mississippi has news coming out about cemetery merchandise and service funds being misapropriated. These news items, as stated many times before, can do nothing but harm the death care industry consumer faith and give ammunition to those special groups that would like to see the death care industry fail.
Never covered in any of these news accounts or blogs, is the simple poor method of performing audits at the company or state level, and the lack of tools/training invested in these groups. The auditors are simply accoutants hired to look over documentation requested, usually a percentage of contracts and burial records from the previous year, then those findings are put against accounting records from a home office or accounting firm. This is hardly the type audit necessary to discover anything beyond “surface” issues.
The set up for a cemetery or funeral home or crematory inspection or audit is where the problem begins. Days or weeks in advance the location is notified of a pending audit. With that notification, there are items marked to have ready for the auditor. The auditor comes in, looks over those items pulled for inspection and if nothing seems out of order that is the end of the audit. Too many times, in the few states that actually perform inspections of crematories, the inspector doesn’t want to pry. If a crematory is presently in use, the inspector schedules another day to come back. This is a bad mistake.
In the cemetery or funeral audit, the inspector has precious little time to commit to one location. These state agencies are historically understaffed and under funded, and have many more locations to cover than people to cover them. The agency they work for has to watch their budgets very closely, as they come from the general fund of the state. These agencies can be trained properly to become self supporting, which would also afford them better training and tools; but this is a tough sell when old ways are hard to break. Or the states need to consider privatizing the audit/inspection capacities. Privatization would cost them less, and gain them much better control over issues present. Privatization would also raise accountabilities and reduce the desire or ability to misapropriate funds or manage poorly.
Here’s wishing for a time when everyone cares to do things right every time on both sides of this issue. Here’s wishing for a time when both sides will open their minds to better methods and accountabilities. http://www.cemops.com
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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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02.05.10
Posted in cemetery consulting, cemetery law at 4:09 pm by Administrator
Today, I read an article from my google alerts, regarding the fact that employee theft and fraud is a definite problem in the cemetery and funeral industry. This article was written by a law firm, with a fraud department that has litigated cases of this nature.
We at CemOps have discussed this very concern with industry ownership, and to date we find little interest in pursuing the issue. The crime described by this post, is a crime not of greed mostly but of need. In the most recent 13 cases I have been involved with each of those events of theft by employee eminated from cemetery sales people who are payed commission only. Of those commission only folks, most do not make it 6 months in the profession. There are many reasons for their failure, some their fault and some the fault of those who hired them, but the clear accelerant for theft by employees is usually need. Folks called Family Service Counselors (commission only sales people), must sell in order to receive a paycheck. After weeks or months of no money, they can be trapped in the desparate cycle of needing to pay rent, utilities, etc. Put a person in a desparate situation and what can you expect?
Don’t misunderstand, we have no pity for them and when we catch them we prosecute to the fullest. The industry as a whole has the ability to stop this, and some of the companies have, by paying hourly wages AND bonuses or commissions. Take away the desparation and you take away the temptation.
Then you have office personnel who are the last ones to handle monies. What controls do you have in place to insure every dime of that money makes it into your bank account? We can teach you those controls and put them in place. We can also teach you what to look for that will tell you if your people are stealing from you. This type theft is generally very sneaky, and done by people you trust on a daily basis. People you would swear would never do that to you. They are the most dangerous of them all. They hide behind your wall of trust, while they steal from you. If this is happening to your operation you owe it to yourself to find out. If it is not, you can look at the investigation as confirmation you have the best people you could possibly have.
Reality? In the past 13 locations I have managed there has been at least one instance of theft by employee. One of those employees weren’t even stealing from the company we worked for. They stole from another funeral home, but end result we had to make the family whole to maintain our reputation. This particular employee used documents from another funeral home to sell a family, as a representative of our establishment. In this instance, the owner did the right thing. They put their reputation ahead of their bank account and took care of the family. But what if this hadn’t been discovered? What if nothing came up until the family suffered a death 20 years from now?
That is exactly what a rogue employee is counting on. They are counting on the fact they will be long gone before anything ever comes of it. If you want to know if you are a victim of this crime, call us. Not only will your business reputation be protected, but you will not have to worry about your bottom line being affected by such crime.
You will also have the comfort of knowing you don’t have those people in your midst anymore, in front of your families. Peace of mind in this arena is key.
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01.06.10
Posted in cemetery consultant, cemetery consulting, cemetery management at 8:09 pm by Administrator
CemOps, as it states in our about us page, is a group of professionals in the industry who are actively involved in making the industry a better, stronger, more trusted group.
Founder, Bob Roberts-who could be considered the junior member of the group in terms of years, developed CemOps while recuperating from cancer treatments in 2005. After having fixed a multitude of problems in cemeteries and crematories for owners including the large corporations. Bob is not known in all circles, having been the manager on the ground to fix or remediate issues locally or regionally. He never sought out or obtained nationwide status while with the corporations, feeling his best place was moving from cemetery to cemetery and fixing the problems and training employees on best practices. Those who know him will tell you he is the go to guy when you have problems, and that he has never caused media or legal attention to become trouble for owners. In fact, his calm means of operations and compliance have never garnered a single news item or legal event. Further, he has saved companies millions by insuring families were well served, properly treated, problems addressed and corrected, preventing the need for any legal or media involvement. He believed this same knowledge and experience should be utilized by all operations throughout the country. Bob has 15 years total in the death care industry, spanning from funeral service as a growing young man, to cemeteries and crematories later in life. A businessman in other industries and former professional golfer, Bob has chosen to dedicate his working life to this end. It takes a passion, and a calling to be successful in this profession and it matters less to Bob how many years you have in the business but more importantly what you have done with that time, and lessons and talent obtained. Having developed CemOps, Bob communicated with his former Regional VP at a corporation about his website and ideas. Bruce Seagrave then became interested and integrated into the fold. With the idea of being able to help any and all funeral, cemetery, and crematory businesses become stronger and more compliant-and more profitable by doing things right the first time, instead of trying to do them over after mistakes are found, Bruce considered his involvement a natural fit. Bruce brings 36 years industry experience to CemOps and is a respected member of the professional community. Not only has he spent that amount of time in the profession, he has achieved many good things for those companies and families he has served. For those interested in time in service, Bruce offers that and much, much more.
There will be further announcements as to those involved with CemOps, bringing total experience levels to over 100 years. Most important is the combined desire to assist owners and regional managers in becoming more proficient and aware of their areas of responsibilities compliance with company requirements and applicable laws governing their respective business locations.
Watch our website and blog for further announcements regarding the growing group which comprises CemOps. And look for exciting upcoming information for 2010.
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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 consultant, cemetery consulting, cemetery management, cemetery news at 6:05 pm by Administrator
CemOps comes from a time when…………….
January 26, 2009 on 1:06 am In Sound Off No Comments
Do you remember when the funeral, cemetery, and crematory profession was much simpler to operate within? Do you remember this profession prior to the advent of the FTC Funeral Rule? Do you remember this profession prior to discussions of further legislation? Do you remember this profession prior to so many negative media accounts from persons doing things against normal ethics? Do you remember this profession before the large class action lawsuits and jury awards? Do you wish for the days back before all these events occured? Before there were consumer activist groups in our profession? Before funeral directors, cemeterians, and sales people vied for the business?
The answer is simple on the surface, and embroiled within the ranks of those that came into this profession in the late 1970’s through the 1980’s. The days when ethics ruled our consciences and business decisions before profits and bottom line thinking. The days when those in the profession trusted each other and there was no infighting about who is in control.
This same atmosphere that has been lost over time can be ours again. We can continue business and have the successes we desire, with all departments-as long as we are willing to accept our weaknesses and strenthen areas that have allowed us to relax our ethics, which is the cause of the funeral rule and other regulatory interests that have made this profession so complex. Changing the items that have caused these new rules is the best way to decrease future need for legislation and regain control of our profession not only in the eyes of those who make the rules, but our client families, as well.
CemOps comes from the time when we did things right the first time and every time. We find it amazing how with all the exercises to become more profitable and successful, many of the businesses in our profession have actually become less successful or profitable. All the fancy operations ideals and sales scripts just haven’t really provided the increased profitability everyone thought it would, and the ethics of the profession have been compromised on a number of fronts, as reflected by the negative media accounts, the involvement of legislators, and the move toward cremation and other options from the clients we attempt to direct.
If we could prove to you there is another way, would you agree to try it? If we could prove you could reduce costs and increase market share and profitability, and increase ethics without compromising service or your bottom line, would you listen? If we tell you we tried a new system and achieved 146% of quota by turning the clock back a bit, and prove it to you, will you listen to us?
We are writing a manual on the system we tried. We are expecting to roll this out soon, and with it we know that training (or retraining) will be necessary. It will require those in the profession willing to take an open look at a new approach. It shouldn’t mean anyone will have to leave the profession, as long as they are willing to open their minds to proven past ideals, they will just need to open their minds to another way.
With this, we can build much better synergy among all departments and stop the struggles of control. We can make our profession a better environment for everybody, including our client families. At the present, there are many who are attempting to change our profession, and actually eliminate our profession by alternative means. If this profession ignores this, as they did the rising cremations of yesterday-history will simply repeat itself and we will become so antiquated we will cease to exist.
Call us. We can provide all the items including training, to get us back to prominence.
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01.18.09
Posted in cemetery awareness, cemetery consultant, cemetery consulting, cemetery law, cemetery litigation, cemetery management, cemetery news, cemetery publications, cemetery white paper at 7:25 am by Administrator
CemOps White Paper
3445 Marino Dr. SE
Rio Rancho, NM. 87124
(505) 918-8002
http://www.cemops.com/broberts@cemops.com
Cemetery Challenges and Solutions Through Consultative Resources
Bob Roberts – Principal
Introduction
Cemetery businesses and operations are possibly among the most complex environments in business today. The laws, the operating principles, necessary policies and procedures, accounting requirements, and day to day operations become increasingly involved and vary from state to state. Keeping up with the changing laws can be a task in itself, and the wise cemetery owner is constantly abreast of the changing requirements.
Many news accounts and lawsuits in the United States over the past two decades have proven that many avoidable poor business decisions could have been made; some by lack of knowledge, some by failing to insure personnel are following prescribed policies and procedures, and yes-some from obvious disregard for the laws and best operating practices.
The purpose of this paper is identifying groups and the challenges present in such a complex business environment, offering the need for comprehensive solutions and where to go for the assistance necessary to insure the integrity of the cemeteries involved and the futures of the businesses for those who have invested a great deal of time and resources to own such cemetery properties.
Ownership & Challenges
The varying ownership groups whether private, municipal, religious or corporate all have unique challenges in operating their day to day businesses. Each of these differing classifications has completely different operating requirements, laws, and purposes of operation. Municipal and religious cemeteries may or may not be regulated by governmental law, except the endowment care funds. Private and corporate cemeteries are considered “for profit” for the most part, and are guided where laws are present based on accounting principles and operating expectations by the locales they are in.
Ownership of a cemetery is an expensive proposition, regardless of the category assigned. All cemeteries require a great deal of maintenance, and the associated labor and equipment can be overwhelming for the operating entity if they are not prepared or knowledgeable. This has proven to be the downfall of many businesses, and has been the main reason cemetery abandonment has become an increasing problem. Best practices for cemetery operations, are not well known by a good many owners. The mistakes made that have caused these practices to be adopted are held by those companies who have developed excellent day to day cemetery operations policies and procedures.
Expectations from the client families these cemetery groups serve can further challenge even the best in the business. Every different religious group, ethnic group, nationality, or special interest group has a different idea of what they need and expect from their cemetery owners. To be a successful cemetery, you must find that balance to accompany all the differing families who will use your cemetery and buy your services and merchandise.
Solutions
Finding solutions to improve your cemetery operations and protect your investment is not difficult. Realizing the benefit of involving an outside consultant or expert is difficult for many to come to terms with. With an open mind, you can save numerous unnecessary additional expenditures, avoid negative press, gain the confidence of those you serve, and lessen your exposure to liabilities that could end up in court with huge legal expenses.
The cost of hiring an onsite audit or inspection with CemOps is a fraction the cost of drawn out legal expenses defending against accusations, founded or not. There isn’t a cemetery in the country that cannot use better operating methods or updated information on the numerous challenges that are met daily.
Most cemeteries do a poor job of insuring OSHA standards are met. Many don’t even know where to find the necessary standards on the OSHA site. There is no header for cemetery, and it requires research to find those applicable requirements. This being the case, seldom do you find a cemetery in full compliance.
Many cemetery owners and managers are not aware of the laws in their states. This is a hazardous situation, and can lead to expensive fines and liabilities. In 2007 and 2008, CemOps has saved 283 negative news articles from around the country. All these circumstances that led to the negative press were avoidable. Now you get to calculate the revenue damage that isn’t handed down by a jury or a government agency. The bad will spread from negative press is as costly as any court judgment, in loss of customer confidence and loyalty.
Not calling CemOps for updates, audit and inspection support, and best practices makes no sense. Ignoring the possibility of better and more consistent methods is like playing Russian roulette with your bank account and future as a cemetery owner.
Large corporations have suffered countless losses due to law suits and consumer loss, even with all the policies and procedures they have in place. The policies and procedures mean nothing if there is nothing in place to insure those items are not only in place, but being followed every day in every location. CemOps also has saved negative press relative to this claim, and again all avoidable. Having worked for the corporations, we can assure you these policies and procedures are not being followed on a consistent basis. It takes an outsider to discover these misses, as sounding the alarm by the location manager or regional manager isn’t going to and doesn’t happen, for obvious reasons. That, coupled with the typical “scheduled” visit allows the location the opportunity to insure items will be missed or glossed over. This happens, and anyone within the large corporations that doesn’t realize or wish to admit it, are part of the problem-not the solution.
CemOps has the solutions you need. It doesn’t cost anything for you to make the call. It costs less than you think to take advantage of the expertise to save your reputation and success in business.
At the end of this white paper you will find some reference information and links to issues relative to costly mistakes made in the industry. Don’t make the mistake of perpetuating the mistakes by not calling for the assistant available.
Your information is always confidential. CemOps is here for you, and the information gleaned from any audit or inspection is yours to keep and use. It will not be shared with anyone else.
Following Solutions
Beyond the visit you schedule with CemOps will be follow up communications and information to insure the value of the visit continues to be used. Documentation will be furnished to show the visit took place and that you cared enough to check your location for weaknesses and strengths.
For those that have found themselves on the unfortunate side of the courts, consider the value of having documentation showing your desire and commitment to insure compliance and education. Those owners that show that level of commitment find themselves defending themselves less and more time strengthening their business models.
http://stores.lulu.com/cemops2007 (My books on the death care industry & grieving)
The thirteen links shared here run the course of some of the things that you can find yourself under the microscope for. These are news article that do no good for the profession, but happen every day. I receive up to 30 news releases each day like the ones shared here. Currently for the years 2007 and 2008, this is just a tiny sample of those articles out there.
All avoidable and could have been dealt with in a positive manner without the expensive legal consequences. Not calling us makes no sense, and only increases what we know is your existing exposure to liability!
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