Matthew owns Western Washington Tree Service. He has been in business for about six years, with a trained crew and more than a million dollars in machinery. Before us, he paid other agencies for Facebook ad leads at $95 each, whether the homeowner answered or not.
The problem
"They were charging me 95 bucks a lead. A lot of times clients wouldn't answer their phone or they wouldn't text back, and I would still get charged 95 bucks." When he flagged bad leads, the other company would only credit 10%: "I had like 10 leads, and five of them were bad, and they said we can only credit 10%."
What was different
"With you and your ads, it's a lot more affordable for the risk." And: "You're not so strict on what's qualified and what's not." Matthew also points to how we started: "There's no deposit. None of that."
The result
"I think it's got to be somewhere around 12 grand."
Interview transcript
Lightly edited for reading. Unclear parts are marked […], and strong language is softened.
Branch Up: Say your name and the name of the business.
Matthew: I'm Matthew, I'm the owner. I've been in business for about six years now. I've got more than a million dollars in machinery, and I've got employees: I've got four, I've got a climber, a well-qualified, experienced team.
Branch Up: Before us you worked with another lead generation company. What was your experience?
Matthew: They were doing Facebook ads. I started with one, they were really small, and it took months and months for them to build the strategy. Then I found another two guys that did better, but the quality was up and down, and then it started declining. After they got more clients, they didn't really care about quality, rather quantity, because that's how they get paid: pay per lead.
Now with you and your ads, it's a lot more affordable for the risk. I don't mind paying, but they were charging me 95 bucks a lead. A lot of times clients wouldn't answer their phone or wouldn't text back, and I would still get charged 95 bucks. Getting three calls in one day and nobody answers, it hurts. That's another reason why it's nice to work with you, Moe: the risk isn't so high, and the flexibility on what's credited and what's not is way better. They were only going to give me 10%. One billing week I had like 10 leads, and five of them were bad, and they said we can only credit 10%. So they still charged me almost 800 bucks.
Branch Up: When we reached out, what made you say, I need to fix this and try another company?
Matthew: I can always tell what's good advertising and what's not. I've done good advertising in the past, mostly paid flyers, EDDM marketing. That started to die down because a lot of competitors started doing it. You reached out to me and I said, I'll give this a shot. You never know when you're getting taken advantage of, or what else is out there. I've worked with SEO companies; they all offer different catch phrases, maybe they do it for a month, and then they stop.
Branch Up: Were you skeptical about working with us?
Matthew: I'd say the skeptical part is you can lose trust when it comes to advertising. Most advertisers call you because they want money. I gave it a shot, I risked it, and it was nice. We eased into it.
Branch Up: How much money have you made so far working with us?
Matthew: I think it's got to be somewhere around 12 grand. What's nice about you guys is you credit; you're not so strict on what's qualified and what's not. With the other company I was getting so many bad calls and I just continued to get charged. I'm over there working hard, and it felt like that company was just taking all my money.
Branch Up: If a tree company owner is watching this and they're on the fence, what would you tell them?
Matthew: I would say the risk is very minimal compared to competitors. There are a lot of other advertisers that want a large chunk up front; I know companies where you have to make a deposit of 1,200 bucks to start the process. With Moe, there's none of that. There's no deposit. That's why I'd say, why not? There's minimal risk compared to the rest of the options you have.
These are Matthew's own numbers. They are not typical, and we are not saying you will match them. What you get back depends on your area, your pricing, your crews and how fast you call people back.
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