How Effective is Your Safety Program?

by | Aug 27, 2018 | Safety | 0 comments

How Effective Is Your Safety Program?

I’m sure you are like most tree care companies and attempt to provide a safe workplace for your employees by having a written safety program, creating a safety committee and performing regular tailgate safety talks. But how do you know if you are really achieving an effective level of safety awareness within your organization? Use the following to measure how well your safety program is doing.

Define Benchmarks and Goals – OSHA suggests to look at both Lagging and Leading Indicators to determine effectiveness of your safety program. Have your safety committee create a list of these indicators to set the baseline for your safety program. Have these indicators be measurable or quantitative rather than subjective or qualitative. Then as a committee, form realistic goals to improve upon these indicators.

A Lagging Indicator is a statistic from a previous accident or injury. Look at your OSHA 300 log or your insurance policy loss runs to show what has happened in the past. Examples can be simply, the number of work comp claims, the number of auto accidents or number of sick/injured days away from work. These indicators are typically negative events that an effective safety program will look to reduce or eliminate.

A Leading Indicator is a measure of how well your program has been implemented by focusing on preventative actions or behaviors. Examples of Leading Indicators can include, the number of attendees to your safety meetings, number of in-field safety audits, number of employee safety suggestions, or the number of near misses reported. These indicators are typically positive events that your safety program should encourage to grow. A quick word on near misses. You may be thinking why would you want an increase in near misses? You’re right you don’t want more close calls, but you do want to encourage and support the discussion of more near misses in your safety meetings to help others prevent making a similar mistake. Open communication is a pillar of a solid safety culture.

Track Indicators – Appoint someone on your safety committee to be in charge of compiling the data. Using Microsoft Excel is a simple way to store the data and compare it over time. These indicators should be looked at on a monthly basis to actively monitor trends both positive and negative so swift action or rewards can be addressed as soon as possible.

Audit your Program – Verify that the main elements of your safety program have been implemented by:
Asking employees from all departments to explain the procedure for reporting injuries?
Reviewing injury report forms for completeness and verifying that the suggestions to prevent future injuries have been performed.

Requesting to see the documentation from each safety meeting.
Consistently monitoring the indicator data for changes.

Of course a strong safety program will evolve and adapt over time. Use the information gathered from your audits and conversations with your team members to continually improve your program. Rotate the members of your safety committee over time as well so that everyone within your organization feels that they have some ownership in the safe workplace that you are creating. Remember everyone wins with safety!

Written by: Eric Petersen

5 Ways to Combat the Imposter

by | Aug 24, 2018 | Business Strategy | 0 comments

5 Ways to Combat The Imposter

Unfortunately, the tree care industry is an over-commoditized industry. A simple Google search in your area will probably show so many tree services it will make your head spin. So how do you compete against the non-professional guys; the ones that aren’t playing by all of the rules and paying cash for labor, not purchasing insurance, and skipping on safety? It is not an easy thing to do, but below are my 5 ways to combat your competition.

Don’t Create the Price Game – Believe it or not, the price game is created by tree services, not the customers. Companies that come in and say that they’ll do the work cheaper than anyone else are the ones who devalue the work that you do. Fight this by getting to know your customer and what their goals for the property are. Do they want a backyard oasis to play and relax in? Are they concerned about a branch falling on their house or children? Whatever their concerns are, focus your solutions around those. Everyday consumers choose certain brands over others and choose to pay more for those products or services because they believe in the value of it. Tree work can be the same way, but you have to believe in your value and know how to communicate it to the customer.

Specialize – What does your company do particularly well? Are you known for a specific service in your area? If so, concentrate your sales efforts on that service as it is much easier for you to explain why you are the better choice than a non-professional tree service. You also should be able to do the work in your specialty more efficiently than your competitors, thereby increasing the value to your customer.

Use Technology – What does your Customer Journey look like? Have you thought about the experience that your customers have each time they come in contact with you? There are many software programs out there to help you make your business stand out: from automatic follow up emails such as Active Campaign, to video email software like BombBomb, to creating proposals for the customer (while still at their house) using Arborgold. Each of these tools will help showcase the level of professionalism that your company has over your competition.

Use Pictures – Examples of poor tree maintenance are all over the place. With digital cameras in everyone’s pocket these days, you should be able to create a vast library of local trees that have been hacked at by an inexperienced tree service. Use these photos, along with before and after pictures of proper tree care, in your presentation to your customers. Your proposal should not be lengthy and full of technical details, but rather clean and crisp, showing what you intend to do and how it will help the customer reach their property goal.

Promote your Professional Designations – Are you touting your designations? Bragging about your credentials is not something that many people are comfortable doing, however when trying to separate yourself from a low bid competitor, you must be able to do so. ISA and TCIA both have great resources that allow you to show why your education and commitment to your industry makes you the best choice for your customer. When the property owner understands that you invest time and money into improving your own company’s professionalism, they will begin to see the value that your expert opinion brings.

Competing against illegitimate businesses is one of the most common challenges within the tree care industry and unfortunately, this problem is not going away. Use these 5 tips to begin to separate your tree service from the rest.

Written by: Eric Petersen

Unlock Your Potential: 4 Steps to Cross-Sell More Business

by | Aug 24, 2018 | Business Strategy | 0 comments

Unlock Your Potential: 4 Steps to Cross-Sell More Business

One of the most common goals that I hear from our clients is the desire to sell more Plant Health Care work, so I put together my list of 4 steps to effectively cross sell additional services to your customers. Whether you would like to perform more tree risk assessments or sell firewood and mulch to your existing customers, the approach is essentially the same.

Targeted Service – Defining what service you are looking to cross sell to your current customers is the first step. To determine if a particular service is appropriate to begin a cross selling campaign, ask yourself the following:

Is this service a strength for our company? If not, what will help it become a strength?
Can we handle an influx of additional requests for this service?
What challenges could arise if we have increased interest in this service?
Are we known for this service already or do we have to educate our customers?
Does our ideal client need this service on a regular basis?

It Is Not About the Sale – It is very important to understand that cross selling additional services should NOT be strictly about the revenue generated from the new service. Instead, the focus should be on the relationship with the customer. When customers hire your company for more than one service or product you will generate much more customer loyalty. These loyal customers will become your promoters and tell others about your organization, driving growth within your ideal clientele.

Training – Not everyone is meant to be a sales person, however, everyone within your organization that has contact with your customers should have a basic understanding of the services you provide and how it can benefit your customers. From the receptionist to the crew foreman, train your team members on the “why” your services are important. A few ideas to help your employees begin a cross sell conversation are:

Emphasize that healthy trees eliminate hazards to your customers and help increase their property values. Proper tree care is much more than pruning and a Certified Arborist can help your customer determine the course of action for their trees.
Use an Amazon approach: Whatever your cross sale service is, combine that with what your ideal client would also purchase for an easy transition into providing additional services. For example; those that have had their trees pruned, also have their trees fertilized. Or, those that have their trees removed also purchase firewood from us.

Reward employees for cross selling additional services. Create a monetary reward for a team member that goes beyond their normal job duties to cross sell your desired service.

Special Offer or Pricing – If your desired cross sell service is new to your organization or one that your customers rarely request, you probably will have to create a special offer or pricing structure to gain interest in the service. This can be a limited time offering for trunk injections or a multi-service discount if they also purchase mulch from you. Be creative with the offer to engage your customer into taking action with your desired cross sell service.

Cross selling additional services to your current customer base can be the hidden secret to growth for your organization. Use these 4 steps to unlock your company’s cross sell potential.

Written by: Eric Petersen

4 Ways to Tell if your Marketing Strategy is Actually Working

by | Aug 21, 2018 | Marketing | 0 comments

4 Ways to Tell If Your Marketing Strategy Is Actually working

Before I share with you how to know if your marketing strategy is working, you must actually have a marketing strategy. To me, having a marketing strategy means promoting your business in defined direction to achieve growth. This includes a clearly stated revenue goal from a specific set of services and clientele. If you haven’t developed a strategy yet, check out our white paper, 3 Ways to Branch Out Your Marketing. Let’s face it – your strategy won’t be perfect right away and will certainly evolve over time, but establishing a desired result and way to achieve it is vital to begin.

Use the following 4 ways to ensure your marketing strategy is functioning the way you want it to.

Website Visits – The first place someone goes to find out information about your company is your website. It doesn’t matter if they were referred to you or found you through one of your marketing pieces. Your website is your chance for a great first impression. If you are confident about your website, begin to track the number of visitors to your site by using Google Analytics. This tool can break out where the visitors are coming to your site from and how long they stay on it. If you haven’t spent time updating and refreshing your website, check out our 5 Tips for a Better Website and make your website a priority.

Click Throughs – Your website must have a “Call to Action” on it to allow your customers to request a proposal for tree work or purchase firewood/mulch directly. When your website is set up correctly, the number of click throughs are easy to measure. You can also create custom landing pages specific to one service and track results from each specific page.
Closing Ratio – This is more of a management metric than a pure marketing metric, however, if you see that your company is getting more chances at jobs, but you do not see an increase in sold jobs, training of the salesperson may be a solution you need to explore.

Job Analysis – Each month it is very important to look back at the jobs that were finished and analyze them around the questions below. Give a score to each job to track how well these jobs are fitting within your goals for your organization. Each “YES” answer earns 1 point. Your goal is to have as many 3 point jobs as possible.

Was the work performed a targeted service?
Was the client within your targeted clientele profile?
Were the jobs done within the time budget set by the salesperson?

Now that you understand some of the data that will help you determine if your marketing is working, you must start tracking it. Use the current month to establish the benchmark for each of these areas and work towards improving on them every month into the future. After tracking these for a few months, you will begin to see clearly what you need to improve upon. Make sure you share this information with your team so they can take some ownership into improving what they do to move the organization forward.

Of course the ultimate goal is to perform more jobs within your targeted services, for your targeted clientele, and done on time and within budget. When this starts to happen and everyone on your team begins to realize that your company is growing intentionally, you will see the momentum pick up and your business will rise to the next level.

Written by: Eric Petersen

Mentorships: Can They Work for Me?

by | Aug 21, 2018 | Employee Management | 0 comments

Mentorships: Can They Work For Me?

Training new employees can be a difficult task, no matter what industry you’re in. In our office, much like many tree care companies, we’ve utilized a mentorship strategy to bring new employees up to speed as soon as possible. A mentorship program typically includes more individual attention than group training or orientation programs. Often times, situations arise that can’t be learned from a text book. The mentor is there to provide real life experience to fast track the learning process. Below is a conversation from when we had Ryan interview Malcolm and I on how we’ve used the mentorship process within our agency.

Ryan: Why did you choose to implement a mentorship strategy?

Eric: With any new hire, we feel it is critical to establish a solid working partnership that benefits everyone. We utilize a one on one approach to help ensure the employee’s career development within our culture. To us, development goes beyond the professional setting to include the creation of a healthy work/life balance.

Ryan: Malcolm, what have the major advantages been for you with your mentor?

Malcolm: The most obvious benefit is being able to find quick solutions as I gain knowledge important to my role. On top of that, it helps to have someone like Eric who is invested in my success that will ultimately push me in the right direction. When I come up with ideas or pain points in my career, Eric is there to give me support, or play a devil’s advocate role.

Eric: From an employer’s perspective, being able to spend time directly with the new hire has helped our organization in a number of ways. As Malcolm mentioned, it allows the new hire to become better at their position in a much shorter amount of time. Outside of boosting efficiency, we are also able to connect on a personal level which ultimately helps build a culture of employee retention and satisfaction.

Ryan: What challenges have you noticed using this process?

Eric: A critical piece to a successful mentorship program is time management. The mentor needs to hold themselves accountable by ensuring that they are available to the new hire, while also staying on top of their own work. Even though I have had a number of new hires under me over the years, this has remained the largest challenge for me.

Malcolm: For me, a big challenge was determining which tasks I needed to take to Eric and which tasks I should have figured out on my own. I felt the mentor should always be there to answer questions, however, sometimes I was nervous to even ask.

Ryan: How can your mentorship experience translate to the tree care world?

Malcolm: When I see my clients using these programs, I get excited because I know what it will do for their business. I had insurance experience prior to joining Eric’s team, and while the mentorship certainly helped with my insurance knowledge, it also gave me a more personal feel for ArboRisk’s values and overall operations. Because company values are so important in the tree care industry, I think this program is a great way to ensure new hires operate under those values.

Eric: There is no comparison to the individualized attention a mentor can give for the safe and productive development of a great team member. With all of the dangers in the tree care world, learning from your own mistakes may not offer a second chance. A mentor can take a new employee under their wing and help them avoid close calls by sharing their personal stories.

The most successful mentorship programs that I’ve seen in the tree care industry, involve upper management that is dedicated to developing their workforce despite the understanding that not all employees will be with their business forever. These employers are satisfied by helping individuals reach their own goals and developing their professionalism.

Lastly, I’ve witnessed firsthand that if no formal mentorship program is in place, unofficial mentors will become the internal voice of the company, ultimately creating the culture they want rather than the one you want to achieve.

Ryan: What steps should a tree care company take to build a mentorship program?

Eric: I feel there are 4 simple steps that can be followed to develop a mentorship program.

Talk to front line managers and crew leaders to see if they would be willing to serve as a mentor to your new employees.

Ask a recent new hire how their training was and what could be improved upon to help them become proficient in their job faster. Also ask directly if an individual mentor would have been helpful for them.

Start small. Pair the mentors up with the new employees and give them both flexibility in developing the program for your company. This means to allow for time, away from production or other tasks, to ask specific questions or get specific equipment training.

Review with both parties every 30 days to ensure that the additional attention is having a positive impact on the employee’s development.

Written by: Eric Petersen