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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03.27.10
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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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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09.30.09
Posted in cemetery law, cemetery management, cemetery news, cemetery publications, cemetery white paper at 11:46 pm by Administrator
http://www.bereavedconsumersprotectionact.com/?page_id=86
For 4 years now, CemOps has been warning if media and court accounts didn’t slow down, this industry would be called into question.
For 4 years now, CemOps has been offering precompliance assistance with new federal legislation to prepare cemetery companies for what was inevitable.
For 4 years now, cemetery companies have continued to ignore this help, and have continued with the ideal that Senator Dodd failed with his former bill, and no other bill would make it to the floor.
Now it has happened. Precompliance will now become more important than ever. Continuing to ignore this will be risky and ignorant on any cemetery owners part. Read the act as it is written from the above link for yourself. Lately, there continues to be issues hitting the news all over the country giving such a bill the necessary bolstering necessary to make it to the floor for consideration.
Make no mistake about it, this bill has legs and will most likely be passed in some form. It is time to heed the warnings and move toward precompliance. CemOps is here and still capable of helping you get ready for what is coming.
Go to http://www.cemops.com/
Fill out the necessary contact form and let’s get things under control for those companies wishing to get a jump on being ready. We have stated on a number of occassions that this was coming, that the federal government has shown more interest in what we have to offer than the industry has. It is here. It is now. The bill as you read in the above link states that the federal government is going to act, and that states will possibly be preempted in their laws to get this under control.
Companies that choose to continue to ignore this are playing with fire. All the policies and procedures in the world without audit, investigation and enforcement are at risk. We are here to help, and we are capable of making you stronger, better, and more aware of what is truly happening in your locations.
Once again, set up google alerts for cemetery news, cemeteries in trouble, funeral news, funeral homes in financial trouble, etc. etc. You will see the amount of risk that is out there. You will see what the government sees. You will realize this isn’t isolated incidents that mean little. You will see that we have real time problems that need real time solutions.
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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 news at 6:06 pm by Administrator
Recession Proof Industry?
November 19, 2008 on 3:36 am In Sound Off
There is evidence that the death care industry may not be as recession proof as it has thought. An article out of the San Francisco Bay Area tonight, concerning the impact the recession is having on cemeteries there now, touches on the present circumstances of locations that have invested heavily in their cemeteries only to learn with the recession that pre planning has slowed due to the present economy.
Considering the recent wave of layoffs and cutbacks, has it occured to you that at need may also become affected by these trends as well? Payment for at need services may not be available for many, given individual circumstances. The industry has learned from the past that this is required for a reason, but can the industry gamble on this continued practice if our economy continues to slide?
It is CemOps belief that the death care industry should be looking at alternative offerings and plans in the event this contiues for a protracted period of time. Those that find ways to provide the necessary services and make it possible for affected families to pay (other than cash now or nothing) will survive. Those that don’t may find themselves in a position not unlike those families that have been laid off or cut back on salaries, etc.
Another obvious item, is shoring up policies and procedures, and maintenance budgeting and practices to lower costs while maintaining high levels of service at the same time. This is a challenge that isn’t going away anytime soon. It will take creativity and structure to see us through some tough times ahead.
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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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