First impressions are often the only impressions. The first impression of your business can “make you or break you,” as the saying goes. It can establish a lifetime of referrals and praise, or slowly destroy you.
Every individual has personal standards defining what is proper, acceptable and unacceptable. But some standards are commonplace, at least as far as expectations go.
Certain standards are flatly below respect. And unfortunately, the following conditions are ones I’ve personally witnessed while traveling through hundreds of funeral homes and cemeteries in North America over the years.
• Worse than crickets is silence: Walk into a business and be greeted by no one. Walk around until you find the staff talking in the office or in the break room drinking coffee.
• Dirt: the carpet or flooring is dirty or stained throughout the establishment. It doesn’t cost a lot to rent a carpet cleaner or to purchase a mop and bucket.
• Everyone has dust, but when you can see it you’ve crossed a line beyond reproach. How often are your baseboards, window ledges, tops of coat racks and caskets/urns dusted? Even worse is when someone has obviously dragged a finger through the buildup.
• Do you look forward to bathroom breaks during road trips? Probably not. How about a dirty bathroom in a funeral home? Even worse. Public bathrooms are number one on my list of priorities when it comes to cleaning. Urine on the seat or floor, fecal matter on the toilet or splashed up on the toilet, toilet paper in the corners – they’re all public embarrassments, just like a client informing you the bathroom is out of toilet paper.
• Unpleasant odor attacks the senses and stays in the nostrils. Whether from a dirty establishment, mildew, food from an employee’s lunch or even poor ventilation from the embalming room, odor can stay with the public during their entire visit. Imagine smelling rotting drywall or onions during a funeral.
• When there’s been a death in the family, background noise, whether from loudly talking staff or a music from an office, can be simply intolerable.
• Clutter in the business office or arrangement area tends to reveal disorganization in the firm you are working with.
• Burnt-out light bulbs are the entire staff’s responsibility to replace. Light and electricity are well-established currencies of today’s lifestyle.
• Staff members must wear acceptable business attire. Frayed pant hems, dirty clothes and holes are unacceptable. Standards for employees’ garments must be clearly defined by management.
While these are just a few fails I’ve noticed during my travels, the saddest part is that some firms seriously don’t notice these things until an outsider points it out. Some of these unobservant professionals are otherwise good at their jobs; once recognized through another’s observation, they understand the need for correction.
In these cases, I suggest bringing a spouse or significant other to perform a walk-through, or requesting the entire staff to tour the facility at least once a week to detect issues. After just a few practices, it will be easy to develop a checklist of regular maintenance and cleaning issues.
Bottom line: If your establishment has poor service and dirty facilities, people will take notice. They are likely to talk, which could diminish your area market share. In turn, your bottom line declines, which could affect staffing and the availability of capital features to upgrade the facility.