Crisis Preparedness Service Excellence Opportunity

There has been a lot of press coverage in 2009 about H1N1 Flu, also referred to as Swine Flu. While early predictions about a pandemic have abated, real opportunity remains for cemeteries and funeral service providers to distinguish themselves in their preparation for unforeseen critical events.
Lot holders and those with funeral pre-arrangements can be encouraged to participate in these preparations and thereby gain added peace of mind from knowing these precautions have been taken. Those not having cemetery and funeral pre-arrangements will have an additional reason to address this important matter.
Let's look at one possible crisis situation. Assume 10% of the general population is affected by a debilitating event. This could be environmental, biological, or any hypothetical event causing 10% of the population some level of incapacity. Let's further assume a 10% short-term increase in number of deaths. The net effect of such a situation would be a crisis for cemeteries and funeral service providers, with a 10% increase in activity and only 90% of their normal human resources available.
Some ways you might prepare for such an overload include:

• Cross-training staff
• Updating lot records for future burial information and lot holder contact information
• Confirming details of pre-arranged funerals
• Backing up records to an offsite location with Internet access
• Arranging for outside help for backup
• Evaluating all processes, to determine what can be postponed in a crisis.
• Reviewing procedures to assure clarity and ease of understanding
• Keeping up-to-date on all critical support tasks and record management
• Develop some mock crisis situations and discussing how they would be handled among staff
• Communicating your contingency plans to local officials
• Collaborating with other service providers―including competitors

Communicating Your Message
If you decide to develop a crisis preparedness plan, you likely will be among the top 15% of providers who do so. Having distinguished yourself, you should share this with your constituents. Cemeteries and funeral homes could communicate their planning to lot holders and those with pre-arrangements with a newsletter, preparedness brochure, press releases, and workshops and other community meetings. Visiting nurses associations might be engaged to do free health screening, accompanied by information regarding crisis preparedness. You might conduct seminars at libraries, senior centers, town halls, and churches, to share what action steps you have taken and things the populace can do to protect themselves.
Johnson-Woodford Company
Management Consultants to the Deathcare Industry
Postscript
This post and others on the Johnson-Woodford Blog will be compiled into a Free, downloadable E-book, which will also be available in hard copy. A final thought: We can all learn from one another. Your thoughts, ideas, and sharing are important to us and others. Please send your notes and comments to blogger@johnson-woodford.com or log on to www.johnson-woodford.com.