Marketing Arboricultural Services

Abstract

Tree care has become more of a science and less of an art during the last two decades. We no longer look at trees as extensions of ourselves, dressing wounds when they are cut or feeding them when we think they are hungry. Yes, our industry has become highly technical, but do not lose sight of the fact that our business is really 20 percent tree care and 80 percent marketing. Many people believe that if they know enough about trees their business can thrive. Nothing is further from the truth. The old adage, "build a better mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door" ignores two important points. How does the world know you have a mouse trap and how do they know it's better? We are in a care profession. We compete in a service, not a product economy. Services are intangibles. The consumer can not touch the "product" before the purchase and in some cases can only sense it afterwards. For services, a purchase is really an act of faith. Two or three companies can not come out and trim the same tree then have the consumer decide which, job was best for the price. Even if this were possible, many consumers do not know how to judge the technical quality of the service. They assume all pruning is the same among companies and the only important variable is price. And far too often this is the marketing strategy of the arborist; how can I lower the price, rather than how do I demonstrate that my service is worth more? The type of service influences the choice of marketing strategies and tactics. What may be appropriate for one type of service may not be for another. You would not expect a funeral home and a medical clinic to have the same types of pro- motions, for example. There are many different ways to classify services. One method is based on the investment needed to provide the service (4). The investment includes training as well as the cost of equipment. Using this approach our industry can be divided into three service types; removal, pruning and health care. As you progress from a removal to a care service, the investment in- creases. Knowledge about trees becomes more essential in a health care service. Equipment needs become more sophisticated. Removal companies often use bucket trucks and chippers. Care companies need these plus sprayers, soil injectors and an array of other pest management and diagnostic equipment. Different marketing strategies become necessary as a company ex- pands from removals to the other types of ser- vices.