The impersonal nature that is online monument sales
When you think of McDonalds does the word ‘quality’ come to mind? If you had to select a restaurant for an important occasion would Arby’s make the short list? Of course not. Both McDonalds and Arby’s know what they are: fast food establishments.
The key to a fast food restaurant is a quickly replicable product that allows for only minor cosmetic changes. The tastes of the individual are catered to as long as those tastes fit within the bounds of an already created template. So you have freedom to increase the size of your frozen fries but not transmute them into fresh cut potato fries. You’re welcome to remove the pickles but not add cucumbers.
Some things should be ‘fast food’-like. An oil change, for example, is another service that relies on a quickly replicable product that allows for only minor changes (weight of the oil, filter, etc). But what if that model were applied to something living and dynamic? What if you were told you could remember your loved one as long as it fit into an already existing template?
A memorial is a personal thing, it shouldn’t be treated like a car or a hamburger or an oil change. Your memorial should be as personal and different as the person it pays tribute to. We all have different tastes and likes, we each created our own unique footprint. A proper memorial would not only reflect those differences but celebrate them. That type of personalization is virtually impossible to achieve when only sought through virtual means. Just like a proper suit requires your presence so the contours and characteristics of your shape are accented and accounted for, so your presence is necessary to ensure the proper ‘fit’ when it comes to your memorial tribute.
What are some services you should expect from a reputable memorial dealer?
The memorialist should be the one who verifies size and conformity to your cemetery regulations. He/She should be familiar with the sextons and cemetery layout and counsel you on the best memorial for your needs. You should leave feeling informed and educated, confident that you are a partner in the process
A true memorialist begins each memorial with no preconceived memorial shape, size or style in mind and creates something for you. No one was the same in life so why settle for the same template everyone else did?
The manufacture, delivery and placement of your memorial should be covered in the cost. There should never be a question that the price included every detail necessary to complete the memorial.
You should be informed and given the choice to select where your memorial will be manufactured. Some granites are domestically quarried and produced while others are foreign. Time frames and quality of production should be explained to you in order that you may make the proper selection.
You should be able to see and touch some memorials. My wife is a fabulous seamstress and usually doesn’t buy fabric online because the virtual world lacks one major necessity: the ability to feel the fabric. The same can be said of granite. Sometimes there is nothing better than touching and examining the granite you’re going to select.
I am grateful that the lube technician limits my choices of oil I can put in my car; it’s not really important and I’m going to change it again in a few thousand miles. I’m grateful McDonald’s doesn’t allow every customer to create something new every time they order; it would take forever to get a hamburger. But a memorial is something unique – it’s the final gift you give someone that was meaningful in your life. The least you should expect from your memorial dealer is an understanding of that truth.