Rob Bergen, Founder of South Okanagan Tree WorksDurable frees up that time to be doing the work you love and not be stuck wondering how to get your product out there.
South Okanagan Tree Works is a tree service based in Penticton, British Columbia, covering the entire South Okanagan. The work is exactly what it sounds like, and none of it is easy: trimming, pruning, removals, stump grinding, plus hazard and storm-damaged tree work.
About 80% of the jobs come from local residents. The other 20% is contract work for government and businesses. When wildfire seasons stretch crews thin, the owner, Rob Bergen, also takes on seasonal contract falling for BC Wildfire through the Danger Tree Falling Program.
He has run the company for seven years, after spending years in forestry, then honing his skills at a local tree company. When his boss decided to sell, Rob bought it.
Today, the large part of his business includes routine maintenance and tree-health jobs. Removals and hazard trees cover everything else. The work is physical, seasonal, and weather-driven, with peaks in spring and fall.
Key Results
- First lead within 13 hours of going live
- 20+ converting leads monthly
- Weekly inquiries up 50%
- 20% increase in revenue, roughly $3,000 to $5,000 (monthly)
- 30 minutes to tweak and launch the site
The Challenge
The business came with a website. That was the problem.
It was built under the previous owner and managed by a local web company. Basic, dated, and doing nothing to signal the quality of the work. "It didn't exude much confidence to clients about the quality of work my company provided," Rob said. He was paying more than $1,000 a year to keep the site running, with no updates, no upgrades, and no leads to show for it.
He wanted a full rebrand: a new logo, a new look, a clean break from the previous owner's vision. But the tech side was never his strength. "My online skills are slim to none," he said. So he did what a lot of busy operators do: nothing. He put it off for years.
Hiring help felt like its own project. He never even collected a quote. Like many non-technical small business owners, he simply didn't have the time.
Why South Okanagan Tree Works Chose Durable
Rob Bergen, Founder of South Okanagan Tree Works."I have even had a few clients mention that my site looks more sophisticated than other competitors in town,"
Rob was introduced to Durable through his wife, who had heard about the AI Website Builder. While the initial website launch was near-instant, it took Rob about 20 minutes to build the foundation of the site.
He spent another 10 to 15 minutes building a new logo and dialing in the color scheme and theme, also leveraging the AI Brand Builder. He didn't require any technical expertise or a designer to build his site.
"To be able to navigate the process in the time it took was pretty shocking," Rob said. It took him 30 minutes to fully launch his site, with a logo, a custom theme, and lead generation forms all built in.
The Results
Rob launched his site around 9 PM. By 10 AM the next morning, his first website inquiry had landed in his inbox.
Weekly inquiries through his site jumped by 50%, and revenue increased by 20%, resulting in an additional $3,000-$5,000 monthly.
Rob manages the site himself, without requiring any technical help or having to work with an agency. The leads route straight to his phone and email, so nothing about his day got more complicated.
For a guy who would rather be 100 feet up a tree than behind a keyboard, that is the whole point. The website handles the part of the business he's not an expert at, but is vitally important, so he can get back to the part he loves.
