8 November 2014 Business Planning Guide www.greenmediaonline.com
PrinciPles and Practices
Professionalism
in Arboriculture
My neighbor is a pretty smart guy. Recently, his little white
terrier, Ivory, got injured and he promptly brought her to
a veterinarian for care. Other than wearing "The Cone of
Shame" for a few days, Ivory's vet provided the expertise
needed to diagnose, prescribe, and treat the issue. Happy
to report, Ivory turned out fine. Not more than three days
later, some gentlemen of questionable credentials came
door-knocking through our neighborhood offering on-
the-spot quotes for tree trimming. I cheerfully mentioned
that I work for a tree care company and they quickly
moved on to the next house. Two days later I came home
from work seeing an unmarked pickup truck in front of
my neighbor's house with a climber wearing no helmet or
ear protection in the tree. The ground guy, wearing shorts
and tennis shoes and also no hardhat, was dragging brush
back to a rusty pickup. They did end up completing the
job without any major safety mishaps, but the tree was
left with a series of stubs and poor cuts.
I started thinking, if the same guys who showed up
to offer tree trimming services arrived at my neighbor's
door moments after his dog got injured and offered
veterinarian services, would he have hired them to
care for Ivory? I think the answer is a resounding
"Yeah, right!" regardless of how the price compared to
his regular vet. I'm sure every tree care company out
there has a story about losing a job to a competitor
they deem less qualified but was under bid. The client
didn't see the value in paying more for greater expertise
and higher quality; or, worse, didn't even know there was
a reason to. So what is the difference in the mind of the
public? They demand a certain level of standards with
experts in some fields, but others, like tree care, do
not earn the same respect. One of the ways we can
look to change this perspective is raise the level of
professionalism in our industry.
Successfully shifting the
client's mindset
■ by Brandon GallaGher Watson
Every one of us
is the face of
our profession.
All photos providEd by rAinbow trEEcArE sciEntific AdvAncEmEnts
