How Adam's Apple Tree Service Went From About 42 to Nearly 300 Google Reviews in Under a Year

How does a banker end up owning a tree service in Austin?

Geoff took over Adam’s Apple Tree Service in 2022. The previous owners were ready to retire and needed someone who understood accounting and finance. Geoff was working at a bank and wanted to work with his hands. A mutual contact introduced them, and the deal was simple: he would run the business, and they would teach him trees along the way.

Four years later he is a certified arborist who, in his words, “can’t stop staring at trees everywhere I go.”

His advice for anyone buying a home service business is to expect to do the work. “If you’re not passionate about using your hands, it’s going to be a thousand times harder,” he said. The first six months are about building trust with key employees and vendors, and at some point you will have to get into the attic, under the house, or up the tree.

What did he change first after buying the business?

Very little, on purpose. The company was already doing good work, so Geoff’s goal was to step in without breaking anything.

The one thing he fixed on day one: an owner was still faxing every estimate to the other owner at the end of the night, who scanned it and emailed it to the client. Geoff bought him a phone that could send estimates directly.

How does Adam’s Apple Tree Service keep customers happy as it grows?

By not growing too fast. Geoff has made a few deliberate hires over two years and wants people focused on quality over volume. Whoever sells the job should be on the job when possible.

The process he described:

• Respond within 24 hours (up to 72 over a weekend), by whatever method the customer prefers: call, text or email. Requests come in by phone, text or Jobber’s request form.
• Send an arborist to walk the property, and write a detailed estimate. Reports can run 20 pages so the crew knows exactly which branches are in scope, even if the customer is not home.
• Do a walkthrough before leaving. If the customer is not home, wait two days and check in.
• Invoice only after the customer approves the work. If they notice one more branch later, the crew comes back for it at no charge the next time they are in the neighborhood.
• Ask for a review by text a day or three after the job.

“It just lets clients know we’re not here just for your check,” Geoff said.

Where do new tree service jobs come from?

Google and referrals. Geoff said going from about 42 reviews to 299 in under a year moved the company up in local search, and that Google now also pulls from Reddit, where the company has good reviews. On the referral side, the crew leaves a yard sign or cards when they can and asks customers about neighbors, friends and family who need tree work.

What has been the hardest part?

Seasonality. In July and August the company cannot keep up with demand. From February through April, “we are so slow. It’s like, man, do we know what we’re doing tomorrow?”

The previous owners had warned him, but he bought in December and had acquisition costs they never had. His rules now: save in the fall, make big purchases in August, push flexible jobs from summer to winter, and if you are buying a seasonal business, buy it on the upswing.

The other hard lesson was estimating. It is easy to look at a removal and assume it will come down smoothly. “An underbid will keep you up at night,” he said.

What would he tell an owner who is struggling to grow?

Start with the people who already hired you. When work is slow, the first thing Adam’s Apple Tree Service does is call past customers and ask if they need anything. Often the answer is, “I didn’t know you did that.”

Then ask for the referral and the review while you are there. “It won’t be immediate, but that stuff adds up, and by the second, third year you really start to see the results.”

Next for the company is a wider set of services: tree planting and plant health care, including soil amendments and light fertilization, so it can care for a tree through its whole life.