Tree Work Now
The path to long-term success is rarely straightforward for a small business, but certain best practices can make the journey smoother. Delighting customers, valuing employees, and seeking support – rather than going it alone – are just a few of the key ingredients to success. Evan Keller, founder and CEO of Tree Work Now Inc. in DeLand, Florida, has embraced all three of these proven fundamentals, and with the guidance of the Florida Small Business Development Center at Daytona State College (FSBDC at DSC), a sub-center of the FSBDC at UCF, and its CEO XChange executive roundtable, those strategies have helped propel his company forward.
Tree Work Now is a leader in tree trimming, removal, and comprehensive tree care services. Recently celebrating its 20th anniversary, the company now serves more than 1,500 customers annually across seven Central Florida counties.
“We are really pleased to have over 680 reviews on Google with a 4.9‑star average,” Keller shares proudly. “The way we’ve achieved that is by WOWING every customer with our effort and by being the most trusted tree experts in Central Florida with our certified arborists, very talented crews, and professional office staff. It’s a difficult industry but easy to stand out by adding a little extra professionalism in the way we communicate, in the way we do our work, in the way we clean up afterwards, and in the way we protect our customers’ property. In the end, just WOWING customers every day is what has helped us stand out over the last 20 years.”
Keller believes that exceptional customer service begins with exceptional employee care. “Really the key to our success has been how we treat our employees,” he affirms. “We know that happy employees make happy customers. So creating a family atmosphere by having good benefits, by being flexible with work schedules, by even offering mortgage assistance really shows our employees that we care.” The results are clear: staff turnover is low and many of the company’s 25 employees have been with Tree Work Now for five years or more, with several surpassing a decade.
Just as important as care for customers and employees is the support system Keller has built around himself as a business owner. Alongside his brother – “an amazing partner” who oversees operations – and a seasoned leadership team, Keller has also relied on the FSBDC at DSC’s CEO XChange, a peer-to-peer roundtable of growth-minded business leaders from non-competing companies.
“We’ve been a part of the CEO XChange for almost a decade,” Keller explains, “because there’s been such a supportive network there that help us keep learning and growing, and just having folks that understand what you go through as a business owner has been invaluable. Having a peer network of fellow entrepreneurs running similar sized companies has been a great mutual support both personally and professionally. We really support each other and even coach each other through those challenging things we’re going through. They give you support when you need it and congratulations when you’ve hit a milestone.”
Keller’s commitment to wowing customers, caring for employees, and collaborating with fellow CEOs has paid off. “Over the decade I have worked with the SBDC and have been part of the CEO XChange, our revenues have increased, our customer reviews have more than doubled and I’ve gained confidence in how to grow the company,” he reflects. “It’s been a good journey. I plan to continue with it for as long as I’m here at Tree Work Now.”
For information about Tree Work Now, please visit https://treeworknow.com/.
