Tree Huggers Saves Time, Improves Client Communication, & Wins with Seattle Residents
The Customer
Tree Huggers LLC is a locally owned and operated tree service based out of King County, WA. The company specializes in the preservation and necessary removal of large trees and fine pruning of all species.
The Challenge
Tree Huggers used Google calendar as well as QuickBooks to send estimates and invoices and receive payments but ran into various problems, including with client communication. QuickBooks lacked a way for clients to accept proposals and agree to terms and conditions electronically.
“There was a lot of back and forth if clients had questions or wanted to make changes within estimates, such as selecting just a portion of the proposed services. It created additional work for us to follow up and get each estimate exactly how the client wanted to see the work completed.
“Even when proposals were exactly what they wanted, there was no easy way for clients to communicate their acceptance. We also had no way to look at a proposal and know that it had been accepted or scheduled. We were bouncing back and forth with emails and calendars and it got convoluted. When we got busy, we saw confusion setting in,” stated Kristine Crawford, Office Manager, Tree Huggers LLC.
The Solution
Kristine conducted research and narrowed down their options to SingleOps as well as Arborgold, Jobber, Service AutoPilot, and FieldPulse. Tree Huggers chose SingleOps because it’s a web-based, SaaS application that can be used on any device and includes time-tracking, job costing, and chemical tracking. Finally, client communications functionality made SingleOps the winner, including electronic proposal acceptance, electronic payments, and the ability to see if customers have viewed messages.
The Results
“It was a little daunting initially because we made a commitment to invest in SingleOps for one year to decide whether it was a good fit. That was a good decision, versus month-to-month with the option to back out, because it encouraged us to also invest the time to make it a success,” explained Kristine.
Personalized Implementation Support
“The implementation experience far exceeded my expectations. I expected we’d have a few meetings to give us a SingleOps 101, but what I got was much more personal. I worked with Binny, our implementation specialist, and she was very helpful and accessible. There was a little hand holding for me in the beginning, which I needed, and I really appreciated it.
“We jumped in with both feet and started using SingleOps right away and that was also really helpful. It forced me to switch my mindset to our new way of doing things. Within the first week, we had our data moved over and things set up, then made further updates over the next month or two,” stated Kristine.
Integrated Invoicing, Email, and Mobile Functionality
In addition to integrating with QuickBooks for estimating and proposals, Tree Huggers uses SingleOps for time tracking and job costing, as well as scheduling. Tree Huggers team members access the system from wherever they need, including on tablets, phones, and desktop computers.
With the ability to assign various tags to jobs, such as type of work, Tree Huggers can stay organized and easily identify jobs done with subcontractors.
Saving Time and Improving Customer Service
With Tree Hugger’s new integrated client portal powered by SingleOps, clients can request services, accept proposals, and pay invoices all online. “Including optional line items on proposals is huge. Our clients have commented on it. It’s so convenient to be able to choose individual line items without having to do the back and forth. It makes it easy for them to accept the proposals,” stated Kristine.
Having everything in SingleOps enables Tree Huggers to respond quickly to customer needs. Kristine estimates SingleOps saves at least 10 hours a week, and as many as 20 hours weekly.
Driving Client Wins
Using SingleOps has also helped Tree Huggers improve customer communication. The business is now able to quickly and easily retrieve the relevant information, such as email history, work completed, and invoices, so it’s clear what’s being discussed with clients. Communications are clearer and more efficient without having to search email and outgoing sent messages.
“I think our use of SingleOps contributes to clients choosing us. Our proposals are professional and easy to understand, and clients appreciate the electronic communication, and the ability to sign and pay online. It’s a driving factor in client decision making. Part of our client base is in Seattle, headquarters of tech giants such as Microsoft, so they’re highly technical and accustomed to sophisticated systems.”
Facilitating Payments
“My favorite report is ‘Customer Communication.’ If we are invoiced and haven’t heard anything, I can see if they looked at the invoice, which helps me determine if I should reach out a different way and call. Previously, we never knew until we got paid, but now I can reach them where they are.”
Ongoing Improvements
“SingleOps has done a good job continuously making improvements to ensure the application remains user friendly and serves as an all-inclusive ‘Single Operations’ tool. To give SingleOps a lot of credit, things I’ve disliked in the past have largely been addressed. When people provide feedback, SingleOps responds. Feedback is taken to heart and evaluated. There are things I’ve mentioned that are now non-issues for me.”