Chris Cruger

New data spells out what consumers want from funeral service, but are practitioners listening? Every year, The Foresight Companies takes a hard look at how consumer attitudes and behaviors have evolved regarding funeral service. Unfailingly, we uncover both new insights and repeat challenges. Foresight’s 2025 Funeral and Cemetery Consumer Behavior Study is no different. The data is rich. The insights are clear. The message is urgent: The consumer is changing, but are funeral service practitioners? This year’s study gathered feedback from more than 5,000 consumers and nearly 500 funeral service professionals. This gives us a 90% degree of confidence in the information we gathered, straight from the mouths of consumers and funeral service professionals. The data tells a story of a profession somewhat stuck in neutral while the world around it continues to shift. Consumers are more digital, price-conscious and […]

Embracing innovation while honoring tradition. The funeral service and cemetery professions have always stood at the intersection of tradition and adaptation. From the beginning, their focus has been on providing comfort, care and dignity to families during highly challenging times. Despite this heritage, however, funeral service is similar to other professions and therefore not immune to the rapid advancement of technology. Artificial intelligence (AI) has found applications across various sectors already, and it is now making its way into funeral home and cemetery operations. When I was first approached about the AI concept for funeral service four or five years ago, I confess I didn’t see the fit. I was wrong, however, and now see that AI is transforming the profession. In order to come to that realization, however, I had to understand how such a deeply human-centered vocation – […]

As Foresight’s annual Funeral and Cemetery Consumer Behavior Study has revealed for the past five consecutive years, competition is intensifying and technology is reshaping how funeral and cemetery professionals connect with clients as consumer preferences and expectations evolve. To not just survive but to thrive in this dynamic environment, funeral homes need a robust strategy built on three fundamental pillars: self-awareness, a proactive business plan and a strong, supportive culture. These elements are inextricably linked; together, they create a synergistic approach to success. The Power of Self-awareness Success begins with a multifaceted understanding. In the funeral home context, this requires a keen awareness of three critical areas: yourself, your business and your community. Self-Awareness: The capacity to understand your own emotions, thoughts and behaviors is paramount for effective leadership. For funeral home owners and managers, this translates into a realistic […]

How to assess your current status and plan for success in the final stretch of 2024. As we wrap up summer and head into the final stretch of 2024, it’s time to pause to take inventory of what the first two-thirds of the year brought and assess both what has gone well and the things that haven’t met expectations. In March, this column explored how planning and execution lead to business success. Here, I’m refocusing on that subject to help you position yourself for a successful finish to 2024.  Assess Your Current Status As the challenges in your small business and profession mount, it’s critical to have real information and awareness of your business and the market around you. You need good, consistent data; having little or no information is even more reason to recalibrate for a better finish to the […]