“We pride ourselves in working with the latest and best machinery,” says Sylvester.
Tony Sylvester shares insight into their unique marketing approach
UNSURPASSED EQUIPMENT One theme used by S & S to promote its business is the old saying, “You can only be as good as your tools.” That’s why the company continuously upgrades equipment. “We pride ourselves in working with the latest and best machinery,” says Sylvester. “For more than 20 years our tree-care division has used only Vermeer equipment. Other manufacturers have brought out products for us to try; our production guys always reject them, saying nothing runs like a Vermeer machine.”
Today the company has two BC1500 brush chippers, two BC1800XL brush chippers, five stump cutters (SC252, two SC352s, SC652 and SC852), a TG7000 tub grinder and a vibratory plow.
“It’s all about production and what’s going to make you money,” says Sylvester. “We have not found any equipment that will enable us to be as productive as we are with Vermeer machines.”
BIGGER CREWS = MORE DAILY REVENUE Since Vermeer chippers and stump cutters can be used in multiple situations, they fit in perfectly with the typical S & S scheduling system.
“Many firms use three-man crews; we prefer crews with five to seven guys,” says Sylvester. “We base that on the dollar amount assigned to the job. For example, on most residential removals over $700 we send out five workers, because we’ve found that a three-man crew is going to take twice as long. Our three-man crews used to do about $2000 a day. By adding the extra ground guys, we are able to do $5500 or better a day. That’s because after we take down the tree, haul everything away and rake up, we leave two guys behind to grind the stump and haul away the chips and then meet up with the rest of the crew who have already started the next job. That concept works very well.” S & S currently has a database of 27,000 customers, including 8000 to 10,000 that do repeat business with the company. “A big reason many of these customers return year after year is the variety of services we offer,” says Sylvester. “They may not need a tree removed, but they know we can help them in so many different ways.”
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