Funerals Arranged Faster Than A Wikipedia Search Hurt Florists And Funeral Homes
is all hustle and bustle and we find ourselves trying to cram 34
hours of activity into a 24-hour day. To combat our
ever-increasing responsibilities, we look for quicker ways to
accomplish our tasks, like using the Internet site Wikipedia to
gather information on everything from historical events to
current entertainers. Sadly, it seems the want for quick
solutions has even stretched to funeral planning. Now, florists
and funeral directors in Connecticut are working together to
combat the growing trend.
When planning a funeral today, people can actually turn to the
Internet to order caskets and hold super-fast funerals with very
little, if any, interaction with actual professional florists and
funeral homes who help make funerals a beautiful, memorable, and
peaceful closure. In an effort to bring florists and funeral
directors back into the equation, the Connecticut Florists
Association (CFA) and the Connecticut Funeral Directors
Association (CFDA) will begin working together this fall. This
collaboration is necessary because according to John F. Cascio,
CFDA's executive director, "One industry needs the other. We
will have an understanding and an open-door policy...We both want
to serve the families." The two organizations will form a joint
task force consisting of three representatives from each
association.
To further promote traditional funerals, the CFA will produce a
third edition of its Guide to Funeral Homes, which is updated
every six years. Richard Provino of Rodier Flowers in Ridgefield,
Connecticut serves as the chairman of the funeral directors
committee. He said the guide is based on a survey of 300
Connecticut funeral directors and contains information about what
each funeral director requires and prefers. It's intended to
help customers choose the funeral director that will best meet
their wants and needs in the most efficient manner possible.
Manny Gonzales, owner of Tiger Lily floral shop in Charleston,
South Carolina offers proof that when florists and funeral
directors work together, everyone benefits. Gonzales has formed a
partnership with a local funeral home that has been keeping his
fax machine whirring and his staff busy creating beautiful
funeral flowers. In an article by Amanda Temple in the May 2002
issue of Floral Management, Gonzales said, "My wife laughs at me
because I make such a big deal about every funeral order. But
every fax that comes in is just more proof that this
[partnership] is working, that I've earned the funeral
directors' trust and that Tiger Lily is finally in the sympathy
business."
His partnership is really pretty simple. Mark Smith, funeral
director for McAlister-Smith Funeral Home, sat down with Gonzales
to look over books of floral designs and arrangements and set
prices for Smith's customers. Now, funeral directors at
McAlister-Smith ask families who seek their services if they've
found someone to take care of the flowers for them. If they say
"yes," the conversation ends there. However, if they say
"no," the director tells them about Tiger Lily and offers to
place the flower order for them. There's no obligation for the
funeral home to meet a certain percentage of flower sales, but in
return for their support, Gonzales allocates ten percent of their
total flower sales to the funeral home.
In a world of Wikipedia fast information gathering and Internet
funeral planning, a small time and money commitment can really
help florists and funeral directors arrange personal and
meaningful funerals for families in their time of need.
Wesley Berry is member of the American Academy of
Floriculture (AAF) and President of Wesley Berry Flowers
multi-million dollar floral business that was established
in 1946.
Comments