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Necessary tree trimming can be a hard sell for utility customers. Active listening and strategic communication techniques can mean the difference between a pleasant experience and losing customers鈥� trust for good.

If you鈥檙e not doing the job yourself, it鈥檚 easy to ignore the practical realities of maintaining a reliable electrical grid. Your morning coffee, your television, your computer鈥攊t鈥檚 all made functional by the wonder of modern electrical distribution. We in utility vegetation management know these things to be true. We know that vegetation management is necessary to maintain power for all customers, and important for the safety of line workers and the public.

But your average customer doesn鈥檛鈥攁nd that鈥檚 why they may hear a different message when they hear: 鈥淲e need to prune your tree.鈥�

This is about much more than an isolated unpleasant interaction鈥攊t鈥檚 about the reputation of your utility company. A customer will always remember the time the utility company came and 鈥渂utchered鈥� their tree, and response can come in the form of angry phone calls, threats of litigation, the telling of friends and neighbors, or a call to the local media. Repairing damage can be costly.

And that鈥檚 why arming your utility arborists with the right methods to engage customers about necessary tree work is a significantly valuable investment. It鈥檚 not only our responsibility to ensure proper vegetation management鈥攊t鈥檚 our responsibility to communicate with landowners on when, where and how this work is necessary.

An Uphill Battle

There are more communication mediums today than ever before. Businesses can communicate in a number of channels to customers on social platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, digitally with email and text updates, as well as community events. Even with all of these new platforms for communication, the most effective strategy for advancing a vegetation management program remains face-to-face discussions with your customers.

One of the best strategies a utility can use is to designate ambassadors to communicate the necessities of tree trimming and pruning in person. These ambassadors will treat your customers with respect and professionalism. One-on-one communication obviously demands more resources than any other type of communication, but the results we see are significant. Professional arborists have a common saying, 鈥淩ight Tree, Right Place.鈥� Face-to-face communication is the best way for your customers to understand the depth of this tagline. The task of delivering reliable electricity to millions of homes safely requires that less of the wrong trees are in the wrong places.

Benefits of Active Listening

For your ambassadors to perform their job well, they should be well versed in active listening techniques. The average landowner isn鈥檛 immediately familiar with 鈥淯VM鈥� or why it鈥檚 an important component of a utility鈥檚 responsibility; the ambassador must consider this throughout the interaction.

Example:

Customer:
鈥淚 don鈥檛 understand why this work is necessary. I haven鈥檛 been having any problems with my electricity.鈥�

 

Utility Arborist:
鈥淚 understand that this work may seem unnecessary to you. To be clear, we鈥檙e here to address trees to help make sure you and your neighbors continue to enjoy excellent service.鈥�

This active listening approach makes it clear that you, the listener, have understood the concern being raised by paraphrasing the information back to the customer. In hearing their concerns repeated back to them, landowners can then rationalize the situation and feel that their concerns have been appreciated.

The utility arborist can also check the assumptions of the landowner by confirming information. As an example: 鈥淟et me make sure I have this correct: Your family planted this tree 40 years ago and it鈥檚 important to you.鈥�

To complete the conversation, the active listener should be able to provide a summary of what was just discussed, with the intention of displaying empathy for the landowner with an understanding of his or her thoughts and experiences.

Be Prepared

Of course, not every interaction is going to go this way. Some customer鈥檚 frustration won鈥檛 be immediately defused by active listening, and it鈥檚 important to be just as prepared for those less-than-pleasant conversations.

The most important point to remember in these situations is the source of the customer鈥檚 anger: It鈥檚 not you, it鈥檚 the situation. Therefore, keeping a cool head is critical鈥攁rguing can only make the situation worse. Be prepared to walk away from the situation if necessary. In many cases, one conversation doesn鈥檛 resolve a complex situation.

Better Communication鈥擜ll the Time

Lastly, landowners are far more likely to be receptive to a utility they trust鈥攁nd that鈥檚 why continually building that trust independent of direct, one-to-one conversations can be hugely beneficial.

A good customer relationship takes continual maintenance. Some programs that utilities can consider in fostering a good relationship between itself and its customers include:

• Helpful call centers specific to vegetation management for taking customer questions
• Town-hall-style meetings when a major trimming project (i.e., affecting several properties) is upcoming
• Replanting programs that empower customers to plant the right trees in the right place.

At the end of the day, effective communication is about far more than avoiding an unpleasant interaction when tree trimming needs to occur. It鈥檚 about building a positive message that connects proper tree maintenance with electric reliability and safety. Boosting the public鈥檚 knowledge about these practices with face-to-face interaction has long-term benefits that you can鈥檛 get with a mail insert.