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Image Caption: Tree Leads Today.<\/em><\/p>\n
“The company is already paying for the lead, and the homeowner has already expressed enough interest in receiving an estimate,\u201d Dowd says. \u201cThe 60 cents or so that you spend on paper and stamps is the best money you could ever spend to turn that lead into a sale.”<\/p>\n
Here are the steps that Dowd lays out to successfully make this system work:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1 – Use a white plain #10 envelope with a first-class stamp. Purchase a large supply of these ahead of time along with enough paper to print out a sufficient number of copies of the letter.<\/p>\n 2 – Customize this letter with your company information.\u00a0 (You can copy it directly from this article or contact Tree Leads Today to get a free copy emailed to you.)<\/p>\n Good Afternoon!<\/em><\/p>\n I recently gave you an estimate for tree services at your residence.\u00a0 If you have any questions or would like more information about the estimate, please don\u2019t hesitate to call me anytime!<\/em><\/p>\n We at COMPANY understand the value of a long-term client.\u00a0 We would love the opportunity to gain your business now and in the future.<\/em><\/p>\n Sincerely,<\/em><\/p>\n NAME<\/em><\/p>\n 3 – Print out a bunch of follow-up letters ahead of time based on the number of estimates you typically do each week\/month. Have your estimator sign each letter personally, then stuff the letter into one of the envelopes.<\/p>\n 4 – Do NOT put your return address on the outside of the envelope. You are not required to put a return address on the envelope if you use a first-class stamp. Not doing so will help ensure that the envelope gets opened.<\/p>\n 5 – At the end of each day, hand-write the name and address of every homeowner who received an estimate that day, place a first-class stamp on the envelopes and mail them. By sending the letters the same day as you did the estimate, the customer will have it in hand usually within 24-48 hours, which is the perfect follow-up timeframe to remind them of your visit.<\/p>\n \u201cMany companies don\u2019t even return calls or show up for an estimate,\u201d Dowd continues. \u201cImplementing this simple follow-up system sets your business up to outshine the competition. At this point, price becomes a lot less of a factor, because the homeowner knows they are dealing with a quality company, one that won\u2019t do shoddy work, leave stuff behind after the job is completed, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n The follow-up letter system is hardly used in the industry, even though it is easy to implement and requires minimal resources. The system can be done by anyone in the company and requires no special skills or training.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it is a larger tree care company, the letters can be prepared in advance and kept in the office, ready to be addressed and sent out each day,\u201d Dowd continues. \u201cFor smaller companies where the owner is the one going out and doing the estimates, for example, you can just keep the envelopes stuffed and on hand in your truck, then hand-write the address on them and mail them out at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n Dowd’s method has been tried and tested in his own tree care business, and many of the tree care companies he works with that are doing well into the 7 figures have also implemented it.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I implemented this system in my own tree care company over two decades ago, I saw a 30% increase in sales virtually overnight, and those results are pretty typical. So for example, if you send 1,000 of these letters, you could potentially land an additional 300 jobs. At $1000 per job, that could add $300,000 in gross revenue to the company from 1,000 estimates and mailings.\u201d<\/p>\n Dowd believes his follow-up mailing system works so well not only because so few companies do it, but also because direct mail is generally a better way to follow up with customers than emails or phone calls.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve found that the personalized letter works more effectively than emailing or calling for doing follow ups after an estimate. Emails can get buried, deleted, or end up in the spam box; and phone calls can seem invasive, especially if you catch somebody at the wrong time. A letter like this will almost always be opened, and it can be opened and read at the recipient\u2019s leisure.\u201d<\/p>\n