With “create raving fans” as a core value, SavATree believes growth will follow when they achieve that goal — and that’s proven true for the company for nearly 50 years.
Landing at No. 9 on Landscape Management’s 2025 LM150 ranking of the industry’s top revenue-generating firms, SavATree’s customers are about 70 percent residential and 30 percent commercial. It provides services like tree/shrub care, lawn care, tick control, landscape design, landscape maintenance, deer control, holiday lighting/decor and natural resource consulting.
Experiencing a 22-percent increase in revenue from the previous year, the company attributes its growth to team members and their commitment to the customer, says Phil DeGisi, chief growth officer of SavATree, headquartered in Bedford Hills, N.Y.
Building solutions
To support their local teams, SavATree invests in various initiatives for things like improved training, technology and communication. For example, the company prioritized rigorous training and ongoing certification for its International Society of Arboriculture-certified arborists and plant health care specialists. It built a comprehensive onboarding and continuous education program that equips its teams with the skills they need for the field.
“This investment has helped drive quality, build trust in our brand and improve retention of clients through better outcomes,” DeGisi says.
To stay ahead with technology, SavATree created a business intelligence reporting suite so its local and district operators can review data across safety, sales, production, fleet and efficiency.
“It’s allowed our teams to make data-driven decisions confidently and efficiently, which in turn is driving growth,” DeGisi says.
The company was also an early adopter of artificial intelligence (AI) with an emphasis on enabling its teams to create schedules more efficiently, find sales opportunities and get answers to questions faster.
“We continue to invest here and see a great deal of opportunity to support our team members with AI, all in the spirit of giving them more time to serve the client,” DeGisi says.
SavATree also has a history of partnering with arboriculture and agronomy companies, and they are now a nationwide company with more than 100 locations.
Growing pains
Along with growth have come some challenges, primarily with communication and training. To ensure all of its team members are set up for success from the start, SavATree recently rolled out a company-wide communications platform, SAT Central, which allows every employee to access information, resources and updates in one place.
“It’s also our hub for peer-to-peer recognition and allows us to deliver consistent, timely messaging across all branches, ensuring that everyone feels valued and aligned as we grow,” DeGisi says.
To improve the company’s training processes, it developed a self-directed advancement program, helping to empower employees to develop their careers and build skills at their own pace. The program is available on demand and is fully mobile accessible, which has been an essential feature for their geographically dispersed, field-based crews.
“By giving team members flexible, easy-to-access learning pathways, we’ve been able to increase consistency, retain more of our valuable team members and support long-term growth,” DeGisi says.
During the past two years, most SavATree branches have grown their teams — including increased sales arborist and field-team capacity — as a result of increased demand for their services. As it looks toward the future, DeGisi says it will continue focusing on its people, products, services and technology to deliver a customer experience that its clients rave about.
“Invest in your people and focus on your customer,” he says.
