8 questions to ask before you hire a tree service marketing agency

Short answer: before you hire a marketing agency for your tree company, ask eight things: are the leads exclusive, how are homeowners checked, what you get (leads or booked estimates), what bad leads and no-shows cost you, whether there's a setup fee or deposit, how long the contract is, what the guarantee is, and whether they can show results from other tree companies.

The 8 questions

1. "Will any other tree company get the same homeowner?" If yes, you're buying shared leads. See exclusive vs shared leads.
2. "How do you check a homeowner before I get them?" Good answers: they own the house, they're in your area, the job is big enough for your truck, and they're ready now.
3. "Do I get a name and a number, or a booked estimate?" A booked estimate saves your office hours of phone tag.
4. "What do I pay for wrong numbers, no-answers and no-shows?" Get the credit rule in writing. One owner we work with was only credited 10% of his bad leads by another company.
5. "Is there a setup fee, retainer or deposit?" Some agencies ask for a large amount up front. Matthew from Western Washington Tree Service: "I know companies where you have to make a deposit of 1,200 bucks to start the process."
6. "How long am I locked in?" Watch for long contracts before you've seen a single estimate.
7. "What's your guarantee if it doesn't work?" Ask what happens, exactly, in plain numbers.
8. "Can I talk to, or watch, a tree company you work with?" Real owners, real numbers, not just screenshots.

Red flags

• They work with every industry and don't know what a removal is worth compared with a trim.
• They cold-call or cold-text homeowners and sell those as leads. Joe from Joe's Expert Tree and Stump said of his old leads: "They were people that weren't looking for tree work."
• They can't say how many estimates you should expect in your first month.

How Branch Up Digital answers them

• Exclusive: one tree company per area.
• Checked: owns the house, in your area, tree big enough, ready now.
• Booked: the estimate lands on your calendar.
• No-shows and cancellations: you don't pay for them.
• No setup fee and no retainer.
• Guarantee: 25 to 30 pre-qualified, price-verified, exclusive tree removal estimates in 30 days. If we don't deliver in the first 30 days, you pay nothing, and we pay you out of our own pocket for wasting your time.
• Proof: watch Joe and Matthew tell their own stories.