A tree CRM that schedules by the bucket truck, the crane day and the climber you have.
A tree job is an estimate visit, a written bid with options, maybe a deposit, a date that depends on which machine and which climber are free, sometimes a permit or a utility clearance, then the job, the cleanup photos, the invoice and a separate stump visit. Generic software has one job type and one crew. We build the whole sequence in.
The estimator sees the tree once, and the crew needs everything he saw
An estimator walks the yard, sizes the tree, notes the drop zone, spots the gas meter under the crown and the dog that will be in the yard, and chooses a method. A week or three later a crew lead shows up who was not there. What gets lost in between is where tree jobs go wrong: the rigging plan, the neighbor's permission to use their driveway, the gate that is narrower than the mini loader. The CRM has to carry the estimator's eyes to the crew, photos and all.
Equipment is the schedule. A removal needs a specific combination of bucket truck, chipper, climber, loader and sometimes a crane with an operator who bills a minimum number of hours and needs the street cleared. Two crews cannot share the grinder on the same morning, a wind forecast cancels a crane day, and a job booked without its machine is a wasted crew. Scheduling has to be by resource, which no dispatch board built for a plumber does.
Then the money. Large removals carry deposits. Crane rentals pass through at cost plus a stated markup. Homeowners file insurance claims and need an itemized invoice with dated photos. Stumps are quoted separately and forgotten. Pruning customers should come back every few years. And after a storm, a queue of urgent, badly described jobs needs sorting by hazard before anyone drives anywhere.
What a tree service CRM has to track
Each record below exists because a crew lead once drove to a job without it.
Bids with the estimator's notes attached
Species, height relative to the house, trunk diameter, targets under the crown, access and gate width, condition (dead, split, decayed), the method chosen, crew size and hours estimated, plus the photos. Options the customer ticks online: removal alone, with the stump, with pruning of the trees beside it.
Scheduling by machine and by person
Trucks, the chipper, the grinder, the crane rental and the climbers with their qualifications are resources. A job cannot be booked without the ones it needs, and the crane vendor's confirmation and minimum hours sit on the job so the office sees what a cancelled crane day costs.
Permits, utility clearance and neighbor access
Tasks per job where they apply: the city removal permit, a street closure for the crane, a request to the utility to clear a line before your crew starts, and written permission from a neighbor for access or for a tree on the boundary. The job stays off the crew calendar until each one is done.
A storm queue ranked by hazard
Calls sorted by what the tree hit, whether it blocks a road or a driveway, and whether a piece is still hanging, mapped so crews can work a neighborhood in one pass, with the caller's photos attached and your storm pricing policy applied the same way to everyone.
Deposits, crane pass-through and claim paperwork
A deposit collected online when a crane job is approved, the crane invoice as its own line against the job, and a final invoice with before and after photos and dates in a format the homeowner can hand to the insurer.
Stumps, chips and the next visit
The stump as a separate scheduled visit with the grinder, where the chips and logs went, the addresses that want free chips, and a reminder for each pruned tree when its next trim comes due by the interval you set for that type.
How we build a tree service CRM
We start with the crew app and the resource calendar, because that is where tree companies lose days.
A crew app for the job briefing
The crew lead opens the job and sees the photos, the hazards, the rigging notes, the utility status and the neighbor note, runs the job briefing checklist on the phone before the first cut, and logs crew hours and machine hours per job as the day goes.
A resource calendar
Jobs placed by the crane, the grinder, the bucket truck and the climbers they need, with conflicts flagged when two jobs want the same machine, and a wind-day reschedule that moves every dependent job together.
The estimator's day
Estimate visits grouped by area, simple stumps and trims priced from photos without a drive, and follow-ups on unsigned bids scheduled automatically, because removal bids get compared and shelved until the next storm scares the homeowner.
Storm mode
A separate board for the storm queue with triage, mapping and a one-tap text to the caller when a crew is dispatched, so the office works the list instead of the phone.
Approvals and payments on the customer's phone
The bid approved online with its options, the deposit paid by card, the final invoice paid the same way, and the claim-ready PDF sent from your own address.
Owner reporting
Hours per job against the estimate, so your production rates come from your own logs; chipper and grinder hours for ownership cost; crane-day margin; bid close rate by estimator; and stumps sold per removal.
What you own on day one.
Every account is opened in your company's name with you as the owner. If you ever leave, you change a password, not your business.
- Domain, hosting and the site files
- Phone numbers and call recordings
- The CRM and its database
- Email and text lists, with consent records
- Google Business Profile and every listing
- Analytics and Search Console
Custom CRM for tree service, answered.
Can it track crane rentals and their minimum hours?
Yes. The vendor, the booked hours, the minimum, the travel charge and the cost sit on the job as a resource and a line item, so the margin on a crane day is visible before the crane arrives and after it leaves.
How do pruning reminders work?
Each pruned tree gets a type and the interval you choose for it. When the interval comes around, the customer gets a message from your number or address, only if they agreed to hear from you, and the estimator sees a list of trees due this season.
Does the CRM deal with the homeowner's insurance company?
No. It produces what the homeowner needs: an itemized invoice, dated photos from before and after, and a record of when each was sent. The homeowner files the claim. We keep you out of the adjuster's business.
Can we price from photos instead of driving to every estimate?
Yes, for the jobs you decide are simple enough. The photo form asks what your estimator would ask, the estimator sets a price or books a visit from the office, and the customer gets the answer the same day.
Will it import from the field software we use now?
Yes. Customers, jobs, invoices and photos come across, and both systems run side by side for a short period. Our comparison pages lay out what the off-the-shelf tools do well before you decide. Our tree pricing guide explains the production rates the reports are built around.
Custom CRM for tree service. Owned by you.
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