Vertical Forestry ‘s team is very familiar with the challenges faced by the tree care industry. As a tree service grows, challenges increase in volume and complexity. Equally difficult is the changing nature of relationships. Small companies may work efficiently with a dual hierarchy; owners and workers. But as the number of employees grows, additional management, incentive programs, and organization become a necessity. Finally, the issue of workforce development changes; young tree companies retain workers as they overcome adversity together, but later companies must grow their workforce using additional tools.
Arboricultural Software
There are now a handful of software companies serving the arboricultural industry, but none of them can help your business like Vertical Forestry’s SalesForce® Integration. Don’t call SalesForce® to inquire, the software is proprietary! This integration is the brainchild of Jessa Boutte, and she created it after managing a tree service for 2 decades and studying the challenges of the tree industry.
Jessa’s main idea was to automate everything she could, create redundancies, provide unlimited reports, and integrate every aspect of the employee experience. All information about the inputs and outputs of the company is accessible to those who need to know. Jessa decided to declare war on “folk knowledge,” which is our term for business information which is jealously guarded by individual employees who may only share it after it is needed! Tsk! Tsk!
Small businesses may use informal internal communication successfully, but with time this approach leads to numerous mistakes and delays. Here are some of the amazing features of Vertical Forestry’s Salesforce integration:
- CRM – Access client, job, or line-item information and create any conceivable report, send any conceivable message, or perform any automation.
- Proposal writing – The proposal process is ideal for tree work – it’s easy to write in the field, easy to sign a contract, and old versions of proposals are stored. The system prevents work which is not authorized and signed by the client from becoming a work order, in addition to providing similar protections with other portions of the workflow.
- PHC & Soil treatments – Incredibly customized system for managing PHC; see above under the PHC section.
- Client communication – Any communication initiated through Salesforce is stored in Salesforce. Furthermore, the system can perform automated or customized communications. Want to send a text to every client who installed a cable in 2019? No problem!
- Work orders – Work Orders are created from contracts and are sent to crew leaders’ phones at 6:00 AM every morning. The work orders include any information – such as special tools – that is needed for the job. Better yet, the work order information is integrated with the pre-job safety checklists. This ensures compliance with safety regulations.
- DOT Compliance – Workers who are assigned a vehicle cannot punch out until they complete the integrated post-trip inspection for their truck in accordance with DOT requirements. This aids mechanics in quickly completing repairs.
- Scheduling jobs – Job scheduling is accomplished with an interactive calendar that allows “drag & drop” functionality with client notification automations. It’s closely integrated with “tasks,” which are the prerequisite conditions of a job, such as a tree removal permit. If tasks can’t be done in time, the job can’t be scheduled. The availability of equipment is also involved in the scheduling process.
- Follow-ups for sales – Salespeople don’t always follow up promptly! Salesforce addressed this with a series of automations that effectively guide the client towards signing a contract without annoying them. Instead, the automations apply pressure to the salesperson, who is ultimately responsible for this side of customer service.
- HR – HR hiring applications, onboarding, discipline, raises, tax filing, benefits, and more are handled through Salesforce or a related app. In addition, each worker’s skill level is tracked through the app.
- Damage Tracking – Tree workers occasionally bend gutters – or worse! The damage resolution process is handled easily through Salesforce. It won’t build a new mailbox for you, but it can place a hold on billing, allow easy tracking of costs or repair status, and shows who was responsible for the damage.
- Safety & Training – All safety training occurs through the worker’s training portal and is documented through Salesforce. You’ll never spend another minute filing training materials again. The safety and training component of this software is incredible, with hundreds of courses and certification customized for the tree care industry already in place!
- Customizable – see something that you “almost” like? No worries – we can get it where you want it.
Data in the Tree care Industry
Understanding and using data is as important as obtaining it. Vertical Forestry’s team includes experts in tree service businesses, financing, and forecasting, and modelling. Vertical Forestry’s revolutionary software can get you data about your tree service, no doubt about that. It can take 6 months or longer to get our Salesforce working to produce data efficiently, but after that, if you need help pulling numbers from the data and making sense of it, we can help.
An example can provide clarity; suppose a tree service which was typically personnel-limited entered a tough market and was starting to run out of work. Without data, it can become difficult to find the source of the problem. The possible solution depends in turn on the exact nature of the problem; are salespeople neglecting their jobs? Should prices be cut to compete in a tough environment? Maybe we need to generate more leads to re-establish a backlog? All of these solutions have merit, but when you can track proposal activity and close rates, quickly determine why clients are (or aren’t) buying, and determine exactly how effective each new lead is, you can respond in exactly the right way. Not only will Vertical Forestry help you do this, but we’ll teach you how to use these tools.
Finding solutions to problems with our partners gives us great satisfaction, and we look forward to every fresh challenge as an opportunity.
Management
Successful owners of a tree service business are usually talented managers themselves, but some of them lack the ability to develop other managers to assist them in running the business. Others have written about business management - we aren’t trying to re-invent the wheel, just make it roll for you! There are many businesses principles which apply to the tree industry, and identifying the correct principle and the way to apply it takes experience and knowledge. To put it simply, if you as the owner of a tree service are ready and willing to develop future leaders for your company, we can help you do it.
KPIs. One important component of good management for the tree service business is the setting of KPIs, or key performance indicators. One problem within the management team is the issue of interference – every manager’s activity and success are impacted in large part by the business. As a leader, you must keep everyone moving in the right direction even as you delegate key roles to others. Managers are often keenly aware of the ways that other parts of the company affect their success but may not see that their own decisions affect the whole. A KPI is used to direct a manger’s efforts to achieve a measurable goal within their own realm of responsibility. This can help prevent their tendency to look at how others are affecting them. The best approach is to use 2-4 KPIs for numerical benchmarks that are within a manager’s control, such as return-per-man-hour, miles-per-gallon, damage-per-crew-leader, and that sort of thing.
Incentive Structures. There are many different incentives structures that can be used to motivate workforces of different kinds in the tree industry. Let’s explore what you’ve used up until now and how we might work with you to change things going forward. We’re familiar with different structures for production, sales, and PHC and can help you optimize results and avoid incentivizing the wrong outcomes.
Recruitment & Retention
Some tree services’ growth is constrained by their workforce. This can be frustrating, especially if an owner sees substantial success on the sales side of their business and is only lacking in the ability to produce work. Vertical Forestry can help solve this problem with you. There are three main components that go into solving the labor problems in a tree service, and they are:
- Develop a strong supply of high-quality entry-level groundworkers.
- Implement training protocols and en EDP which ties wages to specific skillsets.
- Designate and train an on-site trainer with responsibility for safety.
Vertical Forestry can help you implement these if you haven’t already done so or can work with you to refine steps that have already been implemented.
For step 1, which relates to high-quality groundworkers, Vertical Forestry takes a two-pronged approach. First, the culture of partner companies is important. We work to ensure a climber-centric culture. Vertical Forestry partners have a reputation for offering top-of-the-line training and equipment, and this is crucial in attracting good climbers and groundworkers. Secondly, we recruit workers from overseas to fill any gaps we may experience with local recruitment. This recruitment involves relationships with universities in Mexico that have forestry programs. Those universities benefit from our recruitment programs and they in turn allow us to recruit from their pool of graduates. Typically, vertical forestry goes to Mexico for a week at a time with our training team to select the best candidates.
For training materials and systems, we offer our partners a clear path and a proven formula for developing their workforce. From initial onboarding to crane operator certification, from annual CPR training to weekly tailgates, the needed material for training and development is available – and the trainers to implement these trainings. In addition, our software system can greatly reduce the paperwork associated with offering training.
For the last step, the strongest path is to inspire and develop a current employee(s) – rather than relying on outside trainers long-term. This approach builds cohesion within the team, creates consistency in training, and is great for employee development. Vertical understands this dynamic and can work to assist this process.
