setting client expectations

[Joster19]

what have you communicated about the effectiveness of borer/other treatments? do you offer some sort of guarantee? or If say a tree already has borers, do you try to stress that you cannot guarantee effectiveness?
I heard one company will reimburse some (cost of the last treatment's chemical?) if the tree dies after a treatment, but tree death can't necessarily be tied to a single given stress....

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[ATH]

I do try to set expectations based on what we know.
Ash or treatments with little to no dieback before treatment starts or 90% effective. For every bit of canopy dieback I observe, I start scaling that back pretty hard.

Apple scab, as another example I tell them their tree will be green all season... But they still may lose some leaves due to disease. First time client last year called upset because of how many leaves were on the sidewalk. I did give her 50% of the treatment cost back. They renewed this year...

Magnolia scale... I tell them that is a tough one. It will likely take at least two or three treatments to knock it back.

We don't offer a results guarantee. If I look at a tree and think the treatment will work I will tell them that. If I don't think it will work I will tell them that. Sometimes people still want to try. Are guarantee is that we will use the product, method, and rate we know to be most effective. No guarantee beyond the price of treatment. Almost everybody is okay with that when I explain to them that I can't guarantee what nature will or will not do and they have confidence that we know what we are doing.

 

[Joster19]

I appreciate those thoughts, always a blessing when we are working with reasonable people- seems like such an explanation will help them weigh the options and recognize we aren't Just trying to sell snake oil.

another question, what have been the most helpful resources for you as you have developed your own understanding of The nature of these various diseases?

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