POTENTIAL
FOR IMPROVEMENT?
HOW QUALITY MEASUREMENT AND QUALITY CONTROL
MAKE SUCCESS SUSTAINABLE
By Antje Bisping, In-house Lawyer at the German Federal Association of Funeral
Directors (BDB) and Dr. Simon J. Walter, Cultural Representative of the German
Burial Culture Foundation
ince the 1950s, the German Federal
Association of Funeral Directors (BDB)
has been discussing and implementing
ways to utilize quality controls to
ensure reliable and comprehensible
standards for funeral homes in both
business and service. While this is an
immediate benefit for customers, it is
also conceived as a way to make the
quality work of funeral directors more
visible to the public – and to help funeral
directors to continuously develop and
adjust their ways of work.
In March this year, we were happy to share some
of our experiences and insights around the so-
called ‘Markenzeichen der Bestatter’, a trademark
that has established itself as an anchor for proven
quality in the funeral business – and as a badge for
colleagues here in Germany who want to showcase
themselves as the best of the best. In this recent
article, we covered the requirements needed to
wear that badge as well as the mechanisms put in
place to ensure that all quality goals are met in the
funeral home. We invite you to read
up on these aspects to familiarize
yourselves with our ‘Markenzeichen’.1
Short-term Benefits
Today, we want to change our
perspective a little bit and talk
about the benefits for those funeral
homes that decide to implement our
quality procedures and thus wear
the ‘Markenzeichen’. Why should I
invest time and money into quality
control when so many colleagues
(apparently) get by just fine without? Why should
we change tested ways of work? When and where
do I feel the impact of these changes? What is the
difference for my customers? These are just some
of the questions we are all too familiar with.
What many funeral directors who decide to implement
quality controls realise almost from the get-go is
the immediate and immense benefit of getting a
professional and comprehensive assessment of
their own company. In our case, this assessment
is provided by ZDH-ZERT, a proven partner for the
certification of trade and mid-tier businesses in
Germany. This alone is a valuable basis to reflect on
internal corporate processes. How are we actually
doing things? Why are we doing certain things in a
certain way? What changes could we implement to
make processes smoother for everyone involved?
Taking the time to answer these (and many more)
questions is almost always a welcome opportunity to
identify areas with potential for improvement. This
allows the funeral home to adjust and streamline
procedures, sometimes on short notice. It is also
a natural moment to get as much
feedback as possible from employees
and partners and to discuss and
(maybe) implement ideas that go
beyond the scope of the quality control
required by the ‘Markenzeichen’.
Long-term Benefits
These kinds of improvements go
a long way – especially if they are
checked upon and further adjusted
in regular sessions (as required by the
‘Markenzeichen’). All aspects of work
© BDB
22
No. 108 – WINTER 2024 | THANOS MAGAZINE
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