How has 2024 treated your company so far? Many tree companies have seen record revenue year over year for the last 10 or 12 years. No one was certain how 2024 would go. Recently, we passed the halfway point for this calendar year. Finishing up the second quarter of the year is an opportune time to take stock of how things are going.

At our little tree company, located in Boerne, Texas, 2024 got off to a bit slower of a start in terms of inbound calls than we are used to. This made everyone in the office a little nervous, including me. It almost felt like people were anticipating that a recession would happen or were cautiously waiting around to see how the year would play out. We were hearing from peers across the nation that they also had slowed down from previous years and felt unsure about how 2024 would go.

It seems like the natural knee-jerk reaction for some is to start discounting existing estimates and to try to cut clients deals simply to get enough jobs approved to fill the pipeline. In our experience, this approach always comes back to bite you. The jobs don’t work out, or, by the time clients accept and you get around to executing the job, you’re busy again, but then you’re stuck doing a job at a cut-rate price.

Try to avoid this pitfall. A better approach is to start deepening relationships with your existing book of business. Start lining up site visits for customers you haven’t worked for in the last one to three years. Offer tree assessments, which, of course, often turn into estimates. If you know historically that you can close a certain percentage of approved estimates – say 65% – then it’s just a matter of getting a considerable number of estimates out there at your normal rate, and they will start coming back approved again, eventually. Just be patient.

Slashing prices is a race to the bottom and typically does not work out for anyone. This affects other tree companies, as you all get caught in this loop of cutting each other’s prices, negatively impacting your local market. It also compromises raising the standards of our industry.

Therefore, we chose to stick to the plan while continuing to hire and train. Instead of relying solely on inbound calls, we strategically leveraged our existing client base and initiated proactive site visits, enhanced our marketing efforts, hosted in-house training days and identified areas in which to optimize our operations so we were ready to run once business picked back up to our norm. This approach, coupled with our unwavering commitment to quality and customer satisfaction, has proven successful.

By avoiding the temptation to reduce prices, we’ve maintained the value of our services and the stability of our local market. As a result, we’ve seen a significant uptick in business and, at the halfway point, we’re back on track to achieve another record year!

Amy Burkett is co-owner, along with her husband, Tyler Burkett, CTSP, of Burkett Arbor Care LLC, an accredited, 10-year TCIA member company based in Boerne, Texas. She also is a member of the TCIA Board of Directors.