Getting to the funeral home early for their mother’s wake, the grief-stricken daughters approached her casket. It was definitely their Mom, but it was not her dress. She was in an old, ugly frock they had never seen before. Wrapped in her hands was a beautiful rosary, except she was not Catholic and she never owned a rosary. The decorative cross that was to grace the casket was nowhere to be seen. Even the flower arrangements had not a yellow bloom among the many red roses. They had specifically requested yellow flowers, as this was Mom’s favorite color.
    Upon learning of their mistake, the funeral director went into action. He found the bag containing her items and dressed her properly, placed the family’s cross into the casket, removed the rosary beads and contacted the florist to bring yellow flowers of any type. Five minutes before the wake was scheduled to begin, all was in order. But was it really?
    For years to come all the family will recall of their Mom’s service was what went wrong. Long after the care and compassion they experienced is forgotten, they will think of the ugly dress. Beyond the offer of free copies of the photo DVD, their mind will turn to those rosary beads clutched in their mother’s hands.
    We work in a business where there is only one chance to get it right. It is part of the training of new hires, the goal of in-house communication systems and the source of stress for all. No matter how many funerals or burials you schedule each day, every family must receive the same level of excellence that you promise. Colin Powell said, “If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.”
    Fall is a great time to review your operational systems and see what must be adjusted in the year ahead. From first contact point through the day of the service, each step must be analyzed to determine if it is an error proof method or if there is a more efficient way to accomplish the same task.  Call a staff meeting and gather ideas, talk to IT professionals and learn what the latest technology can do for your company, speak to families you have served to find out how they viewed your service and attend conferences and local professional association meetings to see what others are doing in their companies. It is only by analysis, reflection and a willingness to change that you can achieve excellence every time.
    “I don’t have time to do this,” I can already hear you cry. While it is true that many funeral professionals are glad to just make it through a day with the workload they already have, without adding more to their to-do list, I would counter with a suggestion that “you can’t afford not to do this.” In our ever-changing industry, it is those firms that are proactive in their approach that are growing. Those that drag behind and react to consumer’s shifting demands will soon find themselves wondering why they have too much time on their hands. It seems oxymoronic, but the busiest people always get the most done.
    Whether you work at a funeral home or a cemetery, you have an obligation to create a memorable experience for each family that you serve. It is up to you what that memory will be, so make sure it is a positive one.