Johnson Consulting Group Marks 25 Years of Guiding Funeral and Cemetery Businesses Through Change 

Scottsdale, Arizona — October 28, 2025 —Johnson Consulting Group (JCG), a premier consulting firm serving funeral and cemetery professionals nationwide, is celebrating 25 years of helping businesses navigate profession change, growth, and generational transition. This longevity provides great evidence in the satisfaction of JCG customers over the year.

Over the past quarter-century, JCG has grown from a firm focused primarily on succession planning to a full-spectrum consulting partner supporting all stages of the funeral home and cemetery life cycle. Its services now include mergers and acquisitions, operational consulting, accounting and financial management, coaching, leadership development, performance tracking through customer surveying and sales analysis, and technology solutions. 

A Legacy Rooted in Relationships

Founded in 2000 by Tom Johnson, and now led by his son, Jake Johnson, the company marks this milestone with gratitude for its clients, partners, and team members who have supported its growth and evolution. 

“My father loved this profession and his friends,” said Jake Johnson, President and CEO of JCG. “I think it was exciting for him to see that those relationships continue with what he built and to what we have today.” 

From its earliest days, Johnson Consulting built its reputation on deep, trust-based relationships within the funeral profession. Jake recalls growing up meeting funeral home owners through his father’s work and being struck not by the business side, but by the warmth and community of funeral service professionals. 

That relational foundation remains central to JCG’s approach today: Each client engagement is treated as a partnership, with JCG working “hand in glove” with operator teams to tailor strategies that fit their goals and values. 

Key Milestones & Contributions

• Broad national footprint: JCG has provided merger and acquisition advisory and consulting services to funeral and cemetery businesses in every U.S. state and Canada. 
• Billions in transactions: Over its history, the firm has supported well over $3 billion in funeral profession transactions. 
• Service diversification: From its beginnings in valuations and business exit planning, JCG responded to client demand over time by expanding into accounting, consulting, coaching, operational systems, and technology. 
• Profession insight and thought leadership: JCG has adapted alongside major trends — including rising cremation rates, shifting consumer expectations, digitization of operations, and evolving workforce dynamics. 

Jake Johnson points to technology, rising labor costs, and cremation rates as the most transformative forces for funeral businesses in recent years. He notes that funeral homes must balance deeply personal relationship-driven service with modern data-driven systems and efficient operations. 

Looking Ahead: The Next 25 Years

As JCG reflects on its first quarter-century, its leadership is already turning toward the future. The firm pledges to continue evolving in service of its clients:

• Innovate with purpose: JCG will continue developing and improving performance tools that help its clients operate more smoothly while preserving personal service. 
• Deepen coaching and leadership development: Recognizing that people drive long-term success, JCG aims to expand its executive coaching, team training, and leadership development offerings.
• Strategic growth and partnerships: The company continues to explore curated alliances, thought leadership content, and new service models to meet emerging challenges in the funeral and cemetery space.
• Commitment to clients’ futures: Above all, JCG intends to remain a trusted partner to funeral home and cemetery owners as they plan for succession, growth, operations, and market change.

“We’re in this for the long run,” says Johnson. “We honor my father’s founding vision while adapting continuously to serve an industry that never stops changing.” 

About Johnson Consulting Group

A leading funeral profession consulting firm focused on increasing performance, profitability, and success as owners navigate succession planning. Our expert services include succession planning, selling funeral homes and cemeteries, financing solutions, business coaching, accounting services, business performance analysis, customer survey program, customer experience workshops, incentive compensation plans, and Leadership and Management training.

For more information about JCG’s services, thought leadership, or JCG events, visit www.johnsonconsulting.com.

A recent opinion article from Seeking Alpha author Lighting Rock Research concludes that “After two years of deleveraging and portfolio optimization, I think this is a turning point for Carriage Services to pursue acquisitions and grow its core funeral and cemetery businesses.”

Here are a couple of bullet points from the article whereby the author thinks Carriage Services is on an upswing.

• “(Carriage Services is) reflecting stable growth and a turning point after two years of deleveraging.”
• “Carriage’s preneed cemetery strategy and normalized growth post-pandemic support steady cash flow and future profitability.”
• “Balance sheet improvements position the company for strategic M&A, with forecasts of 4% organic revenue growth and incremental margin expansion.”

One dissenting bullet point by the author is such:

• “Key Carriage Services risks include leadership transition, competition from low-cost providers, and the need to further reduce high-cost debt.”

Here are some more bullet points from the article, which you can access here:

• “Carriage Services operates 159 funeral homes and 28 cemeteries in the U.S. market, making it a small competitor to Service Corporation International (SCI). The company has recently focused on debt repayment and optimizing its overall portfolios.”.
• “Carriage Services has generated stable growth over the past years, with a 6% revenue growth and 7.1% adjusted EPS growth.”
• “The key message for the quarter was that the company’s business is back on track after two years of debt repayment and divesting non-core business units.”

Comparisons with SCI —-

The article by Lighting Rock Research was published shortly after Carriage Services 2nd Quarter financial reports.  Lightning Rock Research also published an article shortly after the 2nd Quarter financial report of Service Corporation International.  You can access Funeral Director Daily’s coverage of that article here.

What is interesting about those two articles by the same author is that you can make comparisons on two companies in the Death Care retail business and look for similarities and differences.  For whatever reason, Lightning Rock Research sees, as a percentage, future revenue growth higher with SCI than Carriage.  The Revenue Growth Rate projections as shown on the charts below indicate a slightly over 6% annual rate for SCI and a slightly under 6% annual rate for Carriage Services.

When it comes to Earnings Per Share, the researcher postulates in his projections that SCI will almost triple its profits in the next decade while maintaining that Carriage Services will slightly more than double their Earnings Per Share over the same time period.  At first thought that difference could be seen as SCI using their economies of scale to increase profits. . . . Or, it could be that the author believes that cemeteries will be more profitable than funeral homes over that time period as SCI operates the higher percentage of cemeteries of the two entities.

Here are some charts where you can find some comparative numbers between SCI and Carriage Services that were provided in the articles by Lighting Rock Research:

Current Numbers taken from 10-k report as reported by LIghting Rock Research.  (FCF=Free Cash Flow)

Carriage Services 10-Year Projections from Lighting Rock Research:

Carriage Services Ten-Year Forecast by Lighting Rock Research

Service Corporation International 10-Year Projections from Lighting Rock Research:

Projections of SCI’s Revenue, Operating Profits, Net Profits, and more through 2034 by Lighting Rock Research

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  I always caution myself that when I look at financial reports that the numbers are “one-point, stationary-in-time” numbers.  It is my opinion that to get a good feel on the direction of a company you need to look at “trends over time”.

However, these two fairly current articles by the same researcher give us some type of feel as to how that researcher sees the companies from his point of view.

One difference I have with the research is his opinion that his viewpoint that one risk with Carriage Services is “leadership transition”.  The  founding of the company and the 30-year leadership of Melvin Payne can not be diminished, however, I think that leadership team of the past two years is now in place and will be a strength of Carriage Services moving forward rather than a potential weakness.

Disclaimer — The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily is a shareholder of both Carriage Services and Service Corporation International.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

Funeral Director Daily learned earlier in December that Carriage Services was ranked among the Best Small Business Companies in America for 2024.

In a press release that you can read here, it was announced that Forbes recognized Carriage Services as its #33 company on its list of “Most Successful Small Companies” for 2024.  According to the press release, “This distinction highlights the Company’s continued growth, commitment to innovation, and unwavering dedication to serving families with compassion and care.”

In prepared remarks in the press release, Carriage Services CEO Carlos Quezada made these comments about the recognition, “To be ranked #33 on Forbes’ Most Successful Small Companies list is an extraordinary honor that underscores the passion and commitment of our team. At Carriage, we believe our success stems from the incredible people who dedicate themselves daily to serving families and supporting one another. This recognition is a tribute to their hard work, their drive for excellence, and their belief in our purpose. Together, we’ve built something truly special, and we are just getting started.”

Forbes selects its Most Successful Small Companies based on a rigorous analysis of performance metrics, including revenue growth, profitability, and innovation, as well as qualitative factors such as leadership, impact, and culture. The companies that earn a spot on this exclusive list represent the best of American business, demonstrating an ability to excel in competitive markets while maintaining a strong focus on purpose and people.

Carriage Services, a publicly owned company, operates 162 funeral homes in 26 states and 31 cemeteries in 11 states.

Disclaimer — The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily is a shareholder of Carriage Services.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”