Shaping Tomorrow’s Trust: Reflections from 2025 and a Strong Start to 2026

Thank you to Jack Hirsch, President of Funeral Services, Inc. (FSI) for this timely and informative guest post!

As 2025 quickly draws to a close, one theme has emerged repeatedly across our profession: trust and education remain the defining gaps between deathcare professionals and the families we serve. Recent studies reaffirm what many funeral and cemetery professionals have experienced firsthand: consumers are looking for transparency, reassurance, and direct communication as they navigate preneed and at- need complexities. 

Reflections from 2025

While many in the profession report offering robust education and transparent service to families, according to Foresight’s 2025 Funeral and Cemetery Consumer Behavior Study, fewer than four in ten consumers feel they actually received the guidance needed to make informed decisions. This disconnect can leave families feeling uncertain, diminish trust, and ultimately undermine business growth. 

Ongoing industry studies, including the consumer behavior study and others from associations like NFDA, highlight several persistent trends.

• Transparency remains crucial. Consumers value and expect clear and accessible pricing, online information, and an open discussion of options.
• Digital accessibility is a must. Nearly 80% of consumers research options online before making decisions, where they seek pricing, reviews, and the ability to initiate or fully complete contracts digitally.
• Bridge the education gap. While most professionals believe they are providing sufficient education, consumers consistently report confusion, especially around new service options, memorialization, and preneed planning. 

From Insights to Action: Preparing for 2026

Firms must translate consumer expectations into operational improvements. From digital accessibility to financial transparency, the path forward requires aligning internal processes with the evolving needs of the families we serve. To respond to these shifts and focus on driving growth in 2026, funeral home and cemetery leaders should focus on practical improvements that build trust, meet consumer expectations, and strengthen day-to-day operations.

• Enhance consumer programs: Firms should provide an easy-to-navigate website that features clear product and pricing explanations, and offer online arrangement, payment and contracts so families can interact how and when they choose. We can proactively close the education gap with approachable digital resources, virtual tours, and timely communication throughout the consumer journey. Finally, develop an approach to collect reviews, allowing an opportunity to identify improvement areas and bolster trust. 
• Reassess your investment strategy: Critical approaches to maintaining your investments include consistently receiving and reviewing reports on your trust account and scheduling recurring meetings with your investment manager. Closely analyzing whether your current returns are meeting expectations and whether your portfolio is diversified enough to protect against economic fluctuations is integral to the health of your portfolio.
• Streamline administrative processes: Efficiency in administrative processes is crucial for any deathcare firm looking to optimize its operations, and pre-need trust program, in particular. Investing in recordkeeping software is one way to achieve this. Recordkeeping technology allows your administrative team to easily collect, organize, and manage customer data, reducing the risk of informational or mathematical errors that could have costly consequences. Further, it frees up valuable staff time and ensures that your records are accurate and accessible.
• Review regulatory compliance updates: The success of any deathcare firm is dependent on being compliant with state and federal regulations. Laws governing pre-need contracts, trust fund handling, and consumer protection can evolve, so staying informed is necessary to avoid compliance issues.

Industry research continues to drive home the same message – and one that we at FSI also believe: trust is built at the intersection of education, transparency, and compassion. 

In 2026, the most successful firms will be those that clearly display their offerings, embrace the digital expectations of modern consumers, and foster informed, empowered families. By acting on these lessons, deathcare professionals can meet rising consumer expectations and elevate the reputation of the entire profession.

Tribute Technology Announces Strong Start to 2025, Driven by Innovation and Digital Reach

WAUNAKEE, Wis. – Tribute Technology, the leading provider of technology solutions for the funeral and cemetery profession, announced a strong first half of 2025 with notable year-over-year growth across multiple areas of its business. The company achieved solid increases in both revenue and EBITDA, underscoring how its commitment to helping funeral professionals thrive in a digital world drives growth.

Tribute Technology’s platform continues to serve as an important connection point for families and communities during life’s most meaningful moments. In the first six months of the year, the company recorded more than 550 million obituary visits across client websites, demonstrating the scale and reach of its digital presence as families increasingly turn to online spaces to honor and remember loved ones. This digital reach was bolstered by a 9 percent increase in new funeral home websites launched year over year, expanding the number of firms able to connect with their communities online.

“Everything we do starts with the customer in mind,” said Craig Greenseid, chief executive officer at Tribute Technology. “We’re seeing real momentum across the business, and that’s thanks to the strength of our team, the clarity of our mission, the strong partnerships we’ve built with funeral professionals, and our commitment to delivering powerful technology.”

For Tribute Management Software, new systems launched increased 70 percent for the first half year over year, demonstrating Tribute Technology’s continued leadership in management software for the profession. This also reflects the platform’s expanding role in helping firms streamline operations, manage data more effectively, and provide a seamless experience for families.

Marketing services revenue increased 11 percent year-over-year, underscoring the value of these solutions in helping firms grow and connect with their communities.

Most importantly, eCommerce commissions earned by funeral homes in the first half of 2025 increased 7 percent compared to the same period last year, fulfilling Tribute Technology’s commitment to continually increase earnings for its website customers through optimization.  

Platform Enhancements to Support Funeral Professionals and Fuel Growth

Tribute Technology introduced a series of product and service enhancements in the first half of the year to improve efficiency, personalization, and digital outreach for funeral professionals. Among the highlights was the launch of Obit360, a next-generation obituary platform designed to help funeral homes and families get more value from every obituary. Obit360 offers an improved user experience, increased engagement, and easier access to event details—helping each obituary reach more people and generating increased traffic to funeral home websites. 

Strengthened Service Model and Expanded Partnerships

To better serve its clients, Tribute Technology restructured its support and account management teams, assigning a dedicated account manager to every funeral home partner. In addition, Tribute Technology expanded its partnership with Chptr to scale Tribute Spotlights—a unique feature that broadcasts death notices on local television stations, extending reach within local communities and honoring loved ones in a highly visible and meaningful way. 

Looking to the second half of 2025, Tribute Technology will continue to release AI-powered tools, introduce new features in its management software, and deliver continued enhancements across its product suite. These updates are designed to help funeral professionals operate more efficiently, grow their businesses, and strengthen their connections with families.

Tribute Technology’s strong performance in early 2025 reflects its investment in customer-driven innovation, agile product development, and its mission to help firms build trusted, modern brands within their communities.  This momentum reflects Tribute Technology’s continued growth in its customer base, expansion of its platform, increased adoption of management software and websites, and higher commissions earned by its funeral home partners.

About Tribute Technology:
Tribute Technology is dedicated to empowering funeral professionals with best-in-class technology solutions. Serving more than 9,000 end-of-life providers worldwide, Tribute Technology’s innovative software and services—including website platforms, marketing solutions, management software, online planning, memorial keepsakes, and payment processing—help funeral professionals save time and focus on supporting families.  To learn more, visit www.tributetech.com.

Service Corporation International (SCI) reported their 1st Quarter 2025 financial results last week and in doing so showed an overall revenue increase of 2.8% in year over year results.  Total Revenue for the quarter was $ 1.074.2 billion as compared to the 1st Quarter of 2024 which came in at $ 1.045.4 billion.

Those revenue numbers led to an overall improvement in Operating Income of about $ 19 million for the quarter.  The operating income margin also improved to 23.4% from the 1Q2024 mark of 22.2%.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

In my opinion, what was really strong for the company was the performance of the funeral side of the business.  In what SCI terms “Comparable Funeral Results” — a term for a comparison of the funeral side of businesses that were operating in both comparable quarters — revenues increased a total of 3.9%.  The actual numbers were revenue of $ 625.9 million in 1Q25 as compared to revenues of $ 602.6 million in 1Q24.  (Comparable results don’t include revenue from new acquisitions or disposed of properties)

And, it was a “double-barrel” increase as both the number of services performed increased as did the revenue per service.  SCI reported that the number of services performed in 1Q25 was 95,624 as compared to the number in 1Q24 of 93,967 — a 1.8% increase.

They also reported that the revenue per service grew 2.3% from $ 5,613 per service in 1Q24 to $ 5,743 per service in 1Q25 — that’s an increase of 2.3%

Tom Ryan
SCI CEO

Here’s what SCI CEO Thomas Ryan said in a prepared statement from the 1Q2024 Earnings press release which you can access here, “This was driven by strong performance in our funeral segment with year over year increases in the number of services performed and average revenue per funeral . . . .  . Additionally, effective cost management drove solid gross profit performance and margin expansion.” 

On the flip side of that report, the “Comparable Cemetery” results were not as impressive.  Revenue, gross profit, and gross profit margin all declined from what was reported one year ago in 1Q2024.  The numbers for those categories in 1Q2025 were reported as such:

• Comparable Cemetery Revenue :  $ 432.9 million (Compared to $440.7 million in 1Q2024)
• Comparable Cemetery Gross Profit:  $ 136.8 million (Compared to $142.6 million in 1Q2024)
• Comparable Cemetery Gross Profit Margin:  31.6% (Compared to 32.4% in 1Q2024)

Here’s what CEO Ryan said in a prepared statement that was aimed at the cemetery segment, “In the cemetery segment, we are continuing to focus on production, which will benefit us in future periods, as undeveloped property sold is constructed.”

It should also be noted that Preneed production mostly slipped in 1Q2025 also.  However, it should be pointed out that the preneed sales staff is in the process of moving from a trust based system where some revenue is counted upon early delivery to an insurance based product, with their new alliance with Global Atlantic Insurance, where most of the revenue will not be counted until delivery at need.

I think it will be very difficult to comprehend how the actual preneed numbers are for SCI until they have at least one full year of comparables in the insurance-based operating model under their belts.  At this point they are, in my opinion, in a transitionary process.

On preneed however, SCI did report average preneed contracts moving up 1.1% in dollar volume.  One might wonder, however, if that actually portends a trend of less services being purchased in the future because 1.1% is certainly not keeping up with inflation.

Finally, in CEO Ryan’s opening statement he did mention acquisitions.  Here’s what he said on that subject, “. . . our robust cash flow has allowed us to continue investment toward our extensive pipeline of acquisitions while also providing us the flexibility to be opportunistic with stock repurchases.”

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

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