How does a tree service get customers to call again for pruning?
Most homeowners think about trees only when something falls, so staying in touch is how a one-time job becomes regular work. The homeowner who called about a limb on the garage has other trees in the yard that will need care in the years ahead. The tree service that stays in touch is the one they think of when that time comes, and the one that goes silent is the one they cannot remember.
Why do tree service customers forget who did the job?
During a spring storm, a homeowner's big silver maple dropped a limb on her garage. Your crew came out the next day, cleared it, cleaned up the yard, and she was grateful enough to say so twice. She put your invoice in a drawer and got on with her life.
Three years later she looks up at the oak by the back deck and realizes its branches are hanging over the roof. She wants someone to look at it, and she remembers there was a good crew after that storm, but she cannot remember the name. She searches for tree service in her town, finds a few companies with good reviews, and calls one of them. Your company did everything right on the first job and still lost the second one, because tree work comes around so rarely that a customer has years to forget you in between.
What does a one-time tree job tell you about the next one?
A crew that spent a morning in a customer's yard has seen every tree on the property. They know which ones are growing toward the house, which ones the homeowner mentioned in passing, and which ones will need attention in a few years. That knowledge is the start of the next job, and in many companies it goes home with the crew at the end of the day.
When those observations are written down on the customer's record, they become something the business can use. The next time the company reaches out, the message can be about her trees in particular, and it will mean far more to her than a general reminder that tree service exists. The notes also help the person who answers when she calls back, since they can see what was done and what the crew noticed.
When should a tree service remind a customer about pruning?
The reminder should reach the customer before the work is due, so they hear from you before they think to search for someone. Your crews know when each kind of work makes sense in your area, and the date of the last job tells you when a customer is likely to need you again.
How the reminder itself gets sent, and how it uses the date of the last job, is covered in the article on reminding customers when their next service is due. For a tree service, a customer who hears from you at the right time has your name in front of them when they decide, while a customer who hears nothing often books with whoever turns up first in a search.
How often should a tree service hear from past customers?
A few times a year is enough to stay remembered without becoming a nuisance. A tree customer may go years between jobs, and those light touches in between are what keep your name familiar when the need finally comes. They also keep you in mind for the times a neighbor asks who took care of that limb on the garage.
The article on how often to email or text past customers explains the thinking behind that frequency. What matters for a tree service is that past customers stay on a list the business actually uses, since a customer list that only exists as old invoices cannot remind anyone of anything.
What a fix looks like
In a tree service that has fixed this, the crew's notes from the limb job are on the homeowner's record, including the oak by the back deck with branches reaching toward the roof. When that work is likely to be due, she gets a note from your company that mentions her trees, and she calls you instead of searching. The person who answers can see what the crew did after the storm and what they noticed, so the estimate visit starts where the last job left off.
The Home Service Guild Marketing Operations System sends the service reminders and the notes to past customers from one list, as part of Word of Mouth.
Questions owners also ask
Should the crew mention pruning while they are on a removal job?
If they notice something the homeowner should know about, a short, friendly mention is good service. The more important step is writing it down on the customer's record, so the business can follow up later when the homeowner is ready to think about it.
Can a customer who only had one tree removed become a regular customer?
Yes. They already know your crew and trust your work, so all they need is a reason to think of you and an easy way to book when the time comes.
How do I know how many past customers my tree service has?
If you cannot pull that list up today with names, addresses, and job dates in one place, that is the first thing to fix.
