Matt Blackwell

If you’re an independent funeral home or cemetery owner, tracking public company performance might seem like something only Wall Street cares about. But the truth is, these companies influence the entire profession, especially when it comes to how buyers think, how valuations are framed, and what success looks like in today’s market. At Foresight, we maintain a quarterly model that tracks the two dominant public players in the funeral profession: Service Corporation International (SCI) and Carriage Services (CSV). We analyze their financials, monitor their growth, and benchmark their performance against trends we see across the country. The goal isn’t to mimic every move they make. It’s to study what’s working, what’s not, and use it as a reference point for private business owners who want to grow, transition, or better understand their own value. What the Data Reveals We track […]

In funeral service, first impressions aren’t optional — they’re foundational. We don’t get the luxury of a second chance. Whether it’s a family walking through your doors, calling in the middle of the night, or googling you while sitting in an ICU waiting room, that first contact sets the tone for everything that follows. And here’s the kicker: that first impression might happen in the arrangement room — but it probably happens long before that. The family may have already decided to call you before you ever speak. Maybe it was your hearse they saw last year at a neighbor’s service. Maybe it was the way your staff carried themselves at a community event. Maybe it was your website — easy to use, or a mess of outdated links and confusion. Or maybe it was your name coming up in […]

There’s no perfect script for telling your team you’re selling the funeral home—but there is a wrong way. That’s not addressing it head on, keeping things vague, or waiting too long and letting your staff hear it from third parties like their casket rep. In a profession built on trust and relationships, that kind of surprise doesn’t just bruise morale—it can erode the culture you spent a career building. Selling your funeral home isn’t just a transaction. You’re handing over something deeply personal—a community institution, a brand your team helped shape, a space where families found comfort. When staff are kept in the dark until the last second, it stirs panic, invites rumors, and makes buyers wonder if they’re inheriting a team—or a time bomb. Here’s how to do it better. These aren’t just bullet points from a handbook—they’re lessons […]