How to build a client list in the tree business

Building a successful business relies on personal connections, a lesson that I’ve learned in the last ten years while working in arboriculture. Trust and reputation are extremely important in this field, trust mainly brings clients back to your business. In order to increase your client base, having a solid client list is important, but what is a client list? Basically, it is a file of either people or businesses that have previously shown interest in engaging in your services or have done business with you previously. This file usually contains contact information, previous interactions, preferences, other notes, etc. It is not just a list of email addresses but rather a best outline of your most engaged and dedicated customers. 

Making such a list is crucial in building a client base, so how to build a client list? Start with any contacts you already possess: phone calls you have received, inquiries sent via your website, or even people who walked up to your stand at the home and gardening show. As an arborist, I’ve had some success in gathering telephone numbers and emails while conducting free of charge on the spot consultations. You can easily request your clients on social media pages or on your websites if they’d be interested in subscribing to your newsletters. The most important thing is to explain so that they can feel comfortable providing you with consultation. People want to know that you’ll be trustworthy with their information.

Once you have the contacts, make sure to maintain the contact. You may distribute seasonal advice on the maintenance of trees, tell them stories about good pruning tools, or inform them about the appearance of new pests or new tree diseases to be on the lookout for. By giving out interesting information on a regular basis, you are building a real relationship instead of simply selling to them. If done correctly, clients will consider you a resource. And when they require professional assistance with their trees, they will know whom to reach out to. Eventually, your target audience becomes an integral part of your outreach activities and helps ensure that you always have a stream of potential leads that can develop into enduring client relations.

Now some of you might be curious that – what are the advantages of building a client list? Well let us get started, it allows you to reach out directly to those who have a good idea of your services, it fosters a good relationship with them. There is no need to hope that a random customer buys from you because you can reach out to those who have availed your services or wanted to use them. As a result an increase in the open email rates of clients, better marketing strategies and ultimately an increase in client retention is observed. In addition, a properly segmented list will enable you to distribute concentrated selected targets, offers or recommendations to particular segments, for example: a parking lot tree protection recommendation tip aims at a list of commercial clients whereas a seasonal pruning guiding list targets residential clients. Enhancing your strategy like this helps current clients maintain their trust in you.

Over time, this segmented strategy in a way guarantees a good base for referrals and recommendations. Everyday clients recommend your name to neighbours or workmates who require help with the tree-cutting business. People never overestimate the significance of such recommendations, which can only take place if you have kept in touch with your clients consistently.

And for laying the right groundwork from the picture – understanding your target audience, spending some time thinking about it, and always adding value – you promote healthy development whether as a lone tree climber or a larger tree care business operator. 

Education is one of the best techniques that I have implemented in my arboricultural profession. Individuals want to know about their trees, what type it is, how frequently it needs to be pruned and if the branches are likely to damage other trees during the storm season. To provide information, advice and recommendations you are able to earn a reputation, which is a clever and straightforward way of determining how to build a client base (who will have their interests in you in the future).

To start off, consider writing simple blog posts or social media posts to answer frequently asked questions. For example, you could post an article on how to check if a tree is sick or how to prevent the pest invasion at certain times of the year. I also try to send out a very short email newsletter to the people I know with practical information like how to prepare for a drought, or how to protect sensitive species for winter. These content pieces should not be official and very long – they should be sincere, useful, and straightforward. Post some less formal content from your practice such as a photo of a cut branch that was taken to avoid damage to the property or the proper use of climbing equipment so that the client understands what you do on a daily basis.

You can also conduct online webinars or Q&A sessions. This helps you reach more people and also makes it easy for them to engage with you in real time. When a person is able to pose a specific question and get an instant answer, they feel listened to. Eventually, however, the layperson seeking assistance will recall the arborist that devoted several minutes to explaining the issue with oak wilt or the optimal fertilizer for a seedling, among other things. If you're prepared to educate the public, they’re prepared to send you referrals and repeat business. Teaching is just not about passing knowledge, it is also a great way to form relationships that differentiate you within a very competitive industry.

Every time I think about loyalty in arboriculture, I remember an elderly couple who became my clients about ten years back. They were looking for someone to do basic trimming on their mature maples, and since then, they have hired me for everything else including fertilization and storm damage cleanup. It never even crossed my mind to go buying a client list – and let me explain why.  

Buying a client list might appear to be the golden eagle method which guarantees faster growth. Yes, it can pour new email addresses and phone numbers in the database in the morning without a rich database. However, these contacts are often unfamiliar with you and your name. That does tend to cause an embarrassing lack of response and, in the worst case, spam complaints. This industry is based on making and maintaining connections, with a lot of importance placed on local reputation, so a random set of addresses is generally the last thing needed for meaningful ideas to be born. Like my clients; families that return to me year after year are real success, not fake ones!

To build customer loyalty, recognition and rewards can be a great way to start. You could provide your long-time customers discounted packages during certain seasons, or offer them priority scheduling and tokens of appreciation such as branded work gloves and handwritten notes. I also used to organize appreciation events like mini classes on tree planting during which I’d invite my loyal clients first. Although these programs may be deemed as marketing expenses, the amount of goodwill that is created pays back in great proportions. Customers that are appreciative of you are more likely to become your repeat clients and refer you to their family and friends.

As a result, you are not left scrambling through a client list and rewarding those people who give you trust instead, therefore generating new businesses and never-ending relationships from the quality leads that you receive.

Customers tend to see the work process up close and can raise issues that a practitioner may not have thought about. Ask them to comment on everything, as an example, your company’s communication and site cleaning practices after the work is performed. They may prefer receiving more regular updates on the progress of a three-day tree removal job. Or they might know a better way to schedule so as to disturb their usual daily activities less. And you will not know until you ask. For instance, what I have observed that is useful is to send an email a day or two after the job thanking them for using my service and asking for some input. Even something as simple as an online survey can give you helpful information to help improve some aspects of your strategy.

Faithfully, the most important thing is to make changes based on the comments you get. If several clients point out that you may enhance your verbal exchanges, it is best to improve your emails or text updates. But if they praise a service like the use of ground protectors or post job cleanup, it might be an idea to emphasize it in future advertisements, or to the clients. When you demonstrate that you take their comments seriously, you will strengthen your relationship with them and also acquire a reputation for truly giving a thought to your clients' needs. Eventually, this reconsideration broadens the scope: when people give your name to their acquaintances, it is not only your skill in this profession that they mean, but also your ability to hear and reshape.

It is surprisingly about giving value in the end. For instance, I would reach out and explain how to look for drought stressed signs or how to identify insect invaders to the Local Ecosystem and accompany the email with practical advice to do so. I have also prepared seasonal checklists that tell the owners and managers of the property what they can and should do to the trees before they are hit by extreme conditions. It helps to create value if you don’t offer them ‘buy now’ messages but instead tell them yourself you can be helpful to them.

Individualized messaging is the third hidden strength. If you’re able to memorize the simple facts – for instance, which customers own maple trees or live close to a potential pest area – you can tailor your emails. In this manner, the recipients of these pointers are those who will be most beneficial. Some email sequences can also be pre-programmed: for example, a sequence to welcome new clients or simply remind them of the approaching anniversary of check-ups - this way, you keep in touch without killing yourself. Just make sure that every automatic response sent out is realistic and relevant to the situation.

To conclude, it is useful to be brave and expose yourself. If you have a good story about working on a job site or a quick story about rescuing a huge oak tree from serious infestation, explain. When your clients understand the human aspect of your business, they are encouraged to trust your company and are more inclined to look for your services at a later time.

Managing all this communication manually can quickly become overwhelming. This is where using a CRM tool can make a huge difference. A good CRM (like ArboStar) helps arborists streamline communication, stay organized, and personalize client experiences without getting bogged down in admin work. Here’s how a CRM supports the daily operations of a tree care business:

Whether you are working with a family who wants to protect the older Oak tree that has dramatically shaped their home’s character after decades since it was first planted, or with a business owner who wants to use tree planting near the building to create a better impression to his or her customers, your attitude should be full of compassion and understanding.

In order to build deeper customer relationships and help them feel better taken care of, strive to listen more than talk, and seek their concerns before answering. Empathize with the customer’s intent to put up an evergreen because they would want to diversify their yard but intervene when their driveway might need securing because the roots could grow into it. Taking note of the clients who prefer a project site visit in the early morning or sending a hand-written thank you note are minor details that advance the humanization of the relationship but still go a long way. 

Once I hired an architect for us, he overstepped to the point where all he had to do was come up with design sketches, renderings, and models, and send the necessary paperwork to the officials. For consolidating contacts that were constantly changing, I offered to create a unified address book for all the employees of the housing estate.

In hindsight, the friendships that I have forged are what make the hard work and the long hours pay off. At the end of the day, it is all about capturing and retaining relationships. You do not run a corporation whose sole purpose is to go from one task to the other; you are an active partner who appreciates other people and this appreciation and respect really are priceless things which can not be bought by advertising.