6 Stages of the Customer Journey

by | Aug 27, 2018 | Marketing | 0 comments

6 Stages of The Customer Journey

We all want more sales, right? The easiest way to do that is to create an endless amount of referrals from your existing customers. To do that you must provide an exceptional customer experience that motivates people to tell others. I wrote on this a while ago, in an article titled 3 Tips for Redefining your Customer Experience. In that article, I talk about focusing your attention on every touch-point with your customers to improve the way your customers feel about your company. I’d like to take this a bit further and share with you the stages of the customer journey to help you and your team enhance the customer experience and turn your current customers into promoters of your business.

Stage 1: Research – The first stage is where the customer gets to know you, and guess what, they are doing this on their own. It’s no secret that the primary research tool today is the internet. Therefore, you must have an attractive, mobile friendly, easy to navigate website that helps the prospective customer answer as many questions about your organization and the services you offer before they contact you. It is estimated that 80% of the sale is done before the prospect reaches out to the business. People do not want to be sold anymore. They will research your company and only contact you if they feel comfortable. You must grab their attention here and provide them with access to reviews and social media accounts to give them a feeling of what they can expect from your company. Also, there must be ample opportunities to contact you on every webpage so when they are ready, they know how to reach you.

Stage 2: Connection – When the prospect does reach out to your organization either via phone call, email/text/chat or in person, the initial conversation is critical. It sets the tone for the entire relationship. Training your team on how to engage with a new prospect is very important. What message do you want to portray? Consistency is the best way to successfully deliver your message. If you use a tag line on your website, make sure everyone uses that in conversations with customers and prospects. This goes for field employees as well since a lot of referral business actually happens on the jobsite when a curious neighbor asks one of your crew members what they are doing. When everyone within your organization talks the same way, the customer experience is heightened.

Stage 3: Decision – Your prospect has completed their research and has either chosen to use your company or not. If they have chosen your organization, celebrate this decision by confirming why they made the proper choice. You can do this verbally, with a hand written thank you card or an automated email. Whichever way you decide to do this, make sure the customer gets an immediate response from you. There is nothing more unnerving than to sign up for a service and not feel like your business is appreciated because you don’t hear from them. If the prospect did not choose your company, institute a follow up procedure to gain insight as to why they chose someone else. This will show the prospect that you truly care about their experiences with you by learning what you could have done better to earn their business.

Stage 4: Define the Experience – Because there are a number of variables that determine when tree work will actually be done, you must set up a realistic expectation for the customer. Tell them what factors come into play and what you will do to notify them of changes or delays in their project. Every tree service has lost a customer because the customer got anxious to have the work done and went with someone else because they didn’t know when you were going to get to it. Eliminate this risk by defining what the customer experience will be right at the time of the sale.

Stage 5: Performing the Work – Now it is time to deliver the promise that has been sold to the customer and perform the work. Because the salesperson is rarely at the job site when the work is being performed, the crew leader must have been informed of any concerns by the customer before the job starts. Internal job briefing is vital to make sure the crew performing the work meets the expectations of the customer.

Stage 6: Review and Promote – Once the job is complete you must check in with your customer to see how satisfied they were. Again, you can do this a number of different ways from an automated email survey to a written card to a phone call whichever fits best with your company. Similar to the lost prospect, by asking the customer to review the services you provided, you gain an opportunity to learn how to improve. Remember to ask all happy customers to give a testimony or direct them to online to give a review. It is in this last stage where you truly see whether or not your customers are enjoying their experience with your organization.

Being able to provide great tree care is expected by your customers and that is why they contacted you. What sets your company apart is mastering the customer journey so they are left feeling fantastic about their decision to choose your company. So take time to dig into each of these stages with your team members and come up with ways you can improve on each stage.

Written by: Eric Petersen

Develop Your Employees, or They’ll Leave

by | Aug 27, 2018 | Employee Management | 0 comments

Develop Your Employees, Or They’ll LEave

Of all of the factors relating to successful employee retention, one of the most important is employee development. An employee that feels secure and proud with how their career is developing will be a loyal employee. Unfortunately, this is an area in which a lot of business owner’s struggle. There are a vast array of reasons that employers do not help their employees achieve their goals. From not knowing what the employee really wants, to not having time to invest in their employee’s career growth, to not wanting their employees to get better and leave to start their own company. Each of these reasons prevent the business owner from conquering the employee retention debacle. In this article, I want to share with you a few ideas to consider when installing an intentional employee development program within your business.

Notice how I said intentional employee development program? The very first step is to commit to forming a definitive plan for your team members. Let go of the fear that your employees will get better than you and leave your organization. Sure this will happen with some, but even then, the former employee will be grateful for their start with your company and return the goodwill to you in unimaginable ways. You must tackle this issue head on and do it with your employee’s benefit in mind.

Individual Career Path – Of course we all know that not everyone in your company will be able to, or want to, progress upwards into management. For this simple reason, you must individualize the career opportunities to the employee’s goals and desires. Start by asking the employee what they want out of their career. What matters most to them? Don’t assume they want to make a lot of money or want to have ownership in the business. If they do, that is fine, but let them tell you that. More and more employees prioritize more time with their friends and families, as opposed to income. Next, look at the current positions within your company and show them how a particular position would satisfy their career desires. Also, share with them what qualities a person must have to be successful in that position. These conversations will lay the groundwork for training and experiences that the employee will need to obtain. With the employee, write down their goals and objectives and review them at each employee evaluation to see how they have progressed or, check to see if their goals have changed.

Support for Training – Once you have discussed where the employee wants to go with their career, it is necessary to engage and support that employee with training. Be as open and supportive as possible when getting a request from an employee to go to a training session. Training is expensive, especially when you take that employee out of production, but it is still a lot cheaper than the costs associated with employee turnover. Sending employees to ISA and TCIA conferences, or to CTSP or TRAQ classes, are all ways to help that employee better their skills and further their career. Make the TCIA Magazine and Reporter available for everyone to read and see what is happening in the industry. You will be surprised how often an employee will want to go to a class they find interesting when they know you will support their career education.

Communication then Creativity – Every employer needs to work on their communication skills. Being able to listen to their team members concerns and suggestions are pivotal in helping each employee reach their potential. Allowing the employees to openly discuss issues they are facing within the company and in their personal life will garner trust between both people. When the employee begins to trust that the employer is looking out for that individual above the company goals, then the magic happens. Creativity begins to grow. When an employee feels comfortable to share ideas on improving their daily work, whether it be exploring new climbing techniques or revising the sales process, that employee’s view on their importance within the company soars. Fostering an environment where the communication throughout the organization supports the development of every individual is the fastest way to organizational success.

Everyone wants to feel that they are part of the winning equation within your organization. Be the leader that your employees want you to be and help them achieve their career goals. If you don’t, they’ll be sure to walk out the door and find an employer that will support them.

Written by: Eric Petersen

What is Your Safety Story?

by | Aug 27, 2018 | Safety | 0 comments

What Is Your Safety Story?

In April of 2018, we hosted a TCIA Safety Round-table in our office. The round-table was facilitated by Scott Jamieson of Bartlett Tree Experts and began with a simple question to all of us in the room; what is your safety story? Scott asked us all to think about that for a moment and write it down before sharing in small groups. It was amazing to see everyone writing almost immediately. We all had one or more defining moments on why safety mattered to us.

For me, my safety story came from when I worked with Milwaukee County Parks as an arborist. I was fresh out of college and didn’t have much experience, but knew enough to perform a proper pruning job. I was pruning a small honey locust and used my hand saw to cut about a 2” diameter branch. I made my under cut, supported the branch with my left hand, then made my top cut and took the cut branch away from me by dropping it off to my side. I never looked below me or called for an all clear and because I was just using my handsaw the ground guy beneath me didn’t know what was coming for him. By the time I heard the thud and a few choice words, it was way too late. I had dropped the branch right on top of my co-worker.

Fortunately, it was a glancing blow off of his hard hat onto his shoulder, but in that moment I was struck with the indescribable feeling of guilt and shame for foolishly working aloft. My co-worker sustained a large bruise on his shoulder and healed fairly quickly, however, this careless act by myself caused him to have to change plans for his daughter’s birthday party that coming weekend.

As each of us shared our personal stories in the roundtable, I realized that while my mistake was a small one compared to others, the impact that my incident had on me was the same as everyone else’s. I could see the pain in their eyes and hear the sorrow in their voices as they shared their stories. We all were saying the same thing; I never want to be responsible for someone else’s injury ever again.

Scott then asked us to dig deeper and create our own personal Safety Vision Statement. Again, we all started writing right away. I began by stating that my responsibility above all else is to promote and provide the safest workplace possible. Refining my statement more I came up with:

Every injury is my fault and no injury is acceptable.

As a leader within your company, your personal safety vision is critical to creating the safety culture that you want. And while this was a simple exercise to do, it was a very powerful way to get each of us to take ownership in safety. Scott challenged each of us to go back to our companies and use this exercise as part of a safety meeting. When everyone ties safety to a personal experience, it becomes very real and very serious. Now it’s my turn to challenge you to use this exercise in your next safety meeting. Thanks Scott for continuing to help every arborist make it home safe each night!

Since ArboRisk’s mission is to get every arborist home safe each night, we’ve designed a specific consulting package to work one-on-one with your organization. Visit our webpage for the Thrive Safety Package to learn more. In addition to the Thrive Safety Package, all ArboRisk clients receive a Safety Culture Assessment that allows you to peer into your safety culture and find areas that need improvement.

Written by: Eric Petersen

4 Tips for Effective Employee Evaluations

by | Aug 27, 2018 | Employee Management | 0 comments

4 Tips for Effective Employee Evaluations

Written By: Eric Petersen, CIC

Why are employee evaluations met with such anxiety for the employee and the manager performing them? I believe it’s because of the way that they traditionally were performed. The manager would have a laundry list of items that the employee can improve upon and felt required to discuss just those items and create goals on how to change their behavior. An evaluation set up like this is doomed to fail from the beginning. In today’s society and especially in the tree care industry, it is imperative to support your employees and help them develop as a person, to truly gain their trust and loyalty to the company. Below are my 4 tips to restructuring your employee evaluations to help maximize the relationship with your team members.

Plan for & Prepare Ahead of Time – Evaluations should never be done spur of the moment. The employees will always feel a little bit of fear before an evaluation, however, scheduling it in advance and letting them know what you will be discussing goes a long way towards having a productive meeting. Make sure that you take notes on their performance throughout the year to supplement the conversation that pops up. Do this by keeping a list of positive and negative behavior that you or the crew leader have noticed throughout the year. The more concrete examples you can use to reinforce the right attitude you are looking for the more accepting the employee will be of the process.

Don’t Call it a Review – Unfortunately, the word ‘review’ carries a negative connotation with it. When an employee hears that they will be having an employee review, a wave a panic almost always will sweep through their body. This puts them into a defensive position and mindset that will be counterproductive to the goals of the meeting. At my agency, we call it a check point. For us, a checkpoint is a time for both the manager and the employee to formally check in with each other. We ask the employee to grade themselves on their proficiency or comfortability levels within their technical skills/knowledge, their customer interaction skills and overall company goals. We then ask how we can help them improve within these categories.

Engage the Employee – This should be a discussion between both parties, not a lecture by the manager. Give the employee a series of questions before the meeting to give them the chance to participate in the conversation. Be as specific as you can for their position. For instance questions for a climber could include:

What is your comfort level with different climbing techniques (SRT vs. DRT)?
What additional skill or piece of equipment would you like to develop competency in?
What is the largest challenge that you face each day and how can we make that better for you?
If you were CEO for a day, what would you do different?

Once a Year is NOT Enough – While performing multiple employee evaluations throughout the year may seem like overkill, just doing one of them is not nearly enough. In this industry where turnover is such a huge issue, consistent feedback from the employee is vital to their happiness and success. Make employee evaluations a quarterly priority for both sides. It will open up communication even greater within your company and gives you a pulse of how that employee is doing so they don’t take another job without you having some indication.

Additionally, a few things you definitely want to avoid in an employee evaluation are:

Making promises that you can’t keep regarding employee development or pay.
Making comparisons between employees.
Pretending to have all of the answers and not being open to suggestions for improvement.

Lastly, think back to when you were an employee, I’m sure you wanted to know how you were doing and what you can improve upon. More importantly, you wanted to know that your employer was truly interested in your individual success. If you succeed in promoting each employee’s individual success, you will see these employee evaluations transform your business in a short time.

If you need additional help with hiring and recruiting quality employees, or developing the leaders within your tree care company, contact our Thrive team today to learn more about our Hiring and Recruiting Thrive Package or our Leadership Development Package!

Work ON Your Business – Not IN It

by | Aug 27, 2018 | Business Strategy | 0 comments

Work On Your Business – Not IN it

Ever feel like you are constantly spinning your wheels with your business, always busy, but not making much progress? Of course you have. Every business owner feels this way, especially in the tree care industry. With all of the responsibilities of owning a business, a successful owner must be able to take a step back and work ON their business not IN it. Because this is extremely hard to do, I want to give you my 6 tips for beginning to work on your business and not in it.

Desire to work ON your business – If you want to achieve large goals for your company, you must have a desire to work on your business. This is an internal motivation that only you can provide and requires daily discipline and energy to stay focused on what is truly important to your organization.

Establishing the vision and core values – After you’ve committed to working on your business, you must get serious about creating a vision and a set of core values for your company. There are a lot of ways to write vision statements and create core values, but don’t get hung up on the exact words or way to do it right now. Start brainstorming what you want your company to look like in the future and what do you want it to stand for. This is a vital exercise that should be done at least once a year to properly evolve as a business. Over time, you will see a crystal clear picture of who your company is and where it is going.

Hire the right people – The only way you can successfully work on your business is to have the right team members to do the tasks that you used to do. I have always been a large proponent of hiring for attitude and culture fit and then training for the job. Sure the employee must have a base level of competency in the position before I hire them, however, it is much easier to teach the right employee than it is to manage an employee that doesn’t fit in. Now, hiring the right employee isn’t that easy. One of your responsibilities as the business owner is to develop a hiring and recruiting process that will eventually create a pipeline of new talent to your organization for years to come.

Delegation and Empowerment – What tasks do you do every day that could be handed off to someone else? Why do you still do these tasks? Are you afraid that they won’t get done the same way that you would do them? Most owners have a difficult time delegating anything to their employees, however time never stands still and the lack of delegation is the surest way to a stale business. Once you have identified what tasks and responsibilities you can delegate, give your employees the power to make decisions for these. It will only be natural to check on them and question their decisions, but resist this urge. If you have communicated your vision and core values well enough to your team, they will earn your trust by being allowed to carry out that vision. No one likes a micro-managing boss, so allow your employees to take ownership in projects and reward them with encouraging feedback when they do a good job. If an employee’s decision or actions do not result in a positive outcome, work with the employee to help them come up with a different solution for the future. Of all of your efforts to work on your business, this is the most important, your team must know that you trust them to make decisions on your behalf and that their job will be secure if they make a mistake.

Training on Standards and Procedures – The best companies build systems that are standardized and allow for employees to enter in and out of the system with minimal interruption. Developing the way your company operates around a process versus a person may seem foreign and a bit intimidating, but is the surest way to building a rock solid organization. Dissect every aspect of your business from the customer experience to the pruning standards to your equipment maintenance schedule. Create standards for each area so that a new employee can come into the company and know what is expected of them. Please don’t try to do this on your own. Part of the delegation and empowerment is getting your team members to help out with this. You will be surprised how much better your standards and procedures are when you involve your team to develop them.

Block out Time – This is my last tip, but really could be listed first. As the owner, you have to block out time to work on your business. This means uninterrupted time where you focus on the most important aspects of your company. Blocking out time is really hard to do if you work out of your home or if you have a busy office, so what works best for me is to schedule time away from my normal desk. This allows me to work on the proactive tasks that I need to do without feeling like I’m ignoring the needs of my team. Find a physical location that you can do some deep work for your business and regularly schedule time to go there.
Starting to work on your business is hard to do, however, by slowly implementing these tips into your work life, you will start to see a transformation within your company.

Written by: Eric Petersen