Today I tried to give a FREE tree service lead to 6 tree service companies and this is what happened. We help tree service companies advertise on our site Arborists Near Me connects people every day to local tree care companies.
If a customer fills out a tree service request 
they are saying to us they want up to 3 quotes from tree service companies. The problem we are having right now is in some of these areas we don’t have companies listed so the customer doesn't see a company then fills out the request form to get quotes. When this happens what I do is reach out to tree service companies that have been in business for a while, that have great reviews on sites like Yelp or Home Advisor to give them a FREE lead. We want to make sure our homeowners are taken care of by professionals that do good work and have a proven track record of great reviews. I went to Home Advisor looked in Birmingham for tree services and found 3 companies, then I went to Yelp found 3 tree service companies there that had good reviews as well. I wanted to talk to someone to give them this FREE lead, I have the customer's information and a text thread of what is communicated with the customer to email them so they can help this homeowner in Vestavia, AL. We verify every lead by phone or text to be sure they are serious and want to talk to someone.
How many of these 6 tree service companies do you believe answered the phone?
Two.
One of them, once I said my name It’s Stephen over at Arborists Near Me shut me down and didn't even let me talk, hung up on me. Even when you try to give something for free you can’t, you can’t even give something away these days.
One of was so busy, he asked me to call back. I didn’t get to say much but my name and that I was with Arborists Near Me, he must have thought I was trying to sell him something. I wonder if I was a customer looking for tree service if he'd said, “Hey, I’m busy call me back.
Fast ahead, 8 hours later, of the alternative 6 tree service companies that I called and left a message asking them if they service Vestavia Hills, AL to call me back. How many of them do you think I heard from?
You guessed it, none!
What if I was a customer a real customer that needed trimming or removal, this could be a $500-$2500 phone call. There is a statistic when a potential customer receives a voicemail, as much as 70% of clients hang-up without leaving a message. There is also a correlation with answering the phone and being profitable. Every phone call is valuable for tree service companies.
Just like meeting someone for the first time, the first impression of your business can go a long way. This goes to show in an extended way them figuring out the degree of confidence they will have in you and sets up expectancies for future engagements, that this will be an ongoing problem.
I’m sure you feel the same way, you just like me are not interested in doing business with a person that can answer the phone when you call, let alone not even go back to listen to a simple message. When — or need to I say “if” — I hear from these 6 tree service companies, my thoughts and perceptions of these companies are already made up. Many customers have already moved on and they have misplaced the possibility of doing business. In my mind in giving them a free lead I’m wondering if they would even be able to take care of the customer or if they signed up to be a partner when customers call from their listing would they answer the phone?
Amazingly 6 of these companies I called and left messages with are paying for marketing. This means they are paying to be in Yelp and paying to be in Home Advisor which makes it even worse. They paid cash to advertise their business on Yelp on Home Advisor, and just when they had been waiting for calls from potential customers they couldn't answer the telephone or give a call back in a reasonable time period. Isn’t this only a baseline business expectation?
If they cannot even call back in eight hours, I question what the buying experience will be from these tree service companies? If they cannot pick up the smartphone when someone needs to hire them, would they answer the phone smartphone when they want to refer them to someone or need customer service?
Certainly, there are reasons that they could not call back, but if you are so busy in which you can't reply to a phone call or message in a single business day — specifically when you are advertising and marketing for new clients — something is seriously wrong when you pay for advertising then you get calls from that advertising and don’t even answer the call. .
No More Excuses; Services That Answer the Phone For You
There is a diffusion of answering services and virtual assistants that can handle this process without little or no installation and minimum costs like answeringservice.com, answerconnect.com, and voicenation.Com
As a small business company, the most valuable asset is your time.
I realize depending on your tree service business if you are an owner-operator you can't for the most part answer the phone for every potential buyer. However, you are smart enough to understand that in case you don’t have someone answering the telephone, you are dropping money. If you want to make the change to make your company and customer experience better. I recommend you answer your phone, check your messages, and emails every hour. If you can’t do it these days, hire a company for a minimal investment to do it for you. One single sale this week probably might pay the monthly fee related to having an answering service. If you don’t need help with answering the phone but maybe need help with closing tree jobs face to face, check out our article on how to close more tree jobs face to face on the 1st visit.
Your Experience
Have you had comparable experience with a company? Probably so. Do you have a hard time answering your phone or responding to customers? We hope not. Arborists Near Me helps people connect with credible tree care companies, we too want to make sure our users have a positive experience when they come to our site looking for companies to call. We both know a phone call can mean a new customer that job could be $500-$$2500 in profit. Discover how to be more profitable as a tree service company, with Arborists Near Me.
To become a partner and get listed with Arborists Near Me a premier listing is just $19.99 per month, if you know 1 job can generate $500-$2500 what are you waiting for.
https://www.arboristsnearme.com/join
