PurdueJoe
ArboristSite Operative
Everyone has those "gold clients" that call year after year maybe good for $500 a year or $10,000 but you know you will get that call year in and out. I had sold roughly $3,000 to a client for winter work on a horse farm who I had done work for the last 3 years straight. Nothing fancy just raise a lot of crown raising over fences to bushhog and drop some dead nasty trees. Well I call the the client up and tell him I'm ready to start his work and he then gives me this sob story about how he had this guy that use to work for him( he owns a factory) left him and started a landscaping company and his about to go belly up if he didn't find any work so he came up and took care of MOST of the tree work? The best part is that the most part was stuff that this lawn jockey was to scared to handle like dropping large dead, hollow trees near the property lines with new fences just installed, same style of trees near structures and trees near power lines. So the question is Do I make a point and charge a ton for the remaining work left or eat crow and just do it at a regular rate. I'm so POed that I plan on making a point. When I started in to arboriculture I rode home with an old timer that made one point very clear "There's no loyalty in tree work, you'll do great work for a client one day and then the next day you drive by their place and see another company doing half the quality of work" I didn't believe him then but I guess I had to experience for myself.