Former empoloyee approaching clients

[timber12]

I'm sure some of you have had a former employee go onto your client's property to solicit work. This is happening to me now, I have had 3 people tell me about it this week. So how did you guys handle it?

 

[ropensaddle]

I'm sure some of you have had a former employee go onto your client's property to solicit work. This is happening to me now, I have had 3 people tell me about it this week. So how did you guys handle it?

A loop with thirteen wraps
I think I will listen for better ideas:monkey:

 

[newguy18]

I've never had that happen but I've had my competition come right up to a customer's house while I and purposley under bid me.

 

[John464]

most of my biggest competition in the area has worked for me at one time or another. we were the first tree service in our county. They took what they gained from my company and went out of their own. That is business. Nothing I can do about it. There are a few different approaches to reduce current employees from leaving and starting their own company. You can normally see it coming, once you do, it needs to be discussed.

 

[Husky288XP]

That's life and part of being in business. Hopefully, your customers know that you have a superior service.

 

[newguy18]

Most of the tree services around here couldn't tell you why a tree fails.If it weren't for some of the old timers that had them employed at one time or another they wouldn't be able to start asaw let alone rig the tree.

 

[Sunrise Guy]

You can try having employees sign a non-competition agreement wherein they agree to not open a similar business within one hundred miles of yours for a period of up to five years after they leave your employ. Keep in mind that legal challenges to these agreements have been made and the complaining parties have prevailed, at times.

Other than the above, a good sixth sense about people you hire comes in very handy. Go-getters who want to know everything during their first month with you can be a warning sign that you should watch how open you are with them. In my former profession as a tattooist, I saw shop after shop hire apprentices who, after their first six months on the job, left their employer and proceeded to open their own shop, sometimes literally across the street. The skin biz went from one where you could make $50G's+/yr. working a very easy work week (mine was a grueling eighteen hours) to one where tons of kids, 21-25, were working six days a week and pulling in less than $10G's/yr. because of the glut of shops in town. While the tree biz seems to have room for just about everyone these days, I'm sure that if more and more folks get into it, eventually the pie will be sliced too thin for anyone to make a good living, as happened in the tattoo business.

Ultimately it all comes down to there being too many darn people in the world today. Sooner or later, all businesses/professions get done to death unless they can figure out completely unique ways of doing things and then get legal protection to keep others from doing the same. As I posted in here a while back, all of us in the tree business today should push for ultra-strict rules and regulations to keep hacks out. The legal and medical professions are great at doing that, and that is why they can stick it to the teeming masses, daily, and live in their comfortable mansions.

 

[newguy18]

I completely and totally agree with that.At least when I decided to get into tree work like every other job I've ever done I took the time to learn how to do it right.

 

[TimberMcPherson]

I completely and totally agree with that.At least when I decided to get into tree work like every other job I've ever done I took the time to learn how to do it right.

Arent you 18? How many jobs have you learned to do right in your time?

 

[squad143]

I'm sure some of you have had a former employee go onto your client's property to solicit work. This is happening to me now, I have had 3 people tell me about it this week. So how did you guys handle it?

I think the fact that 3 people (customers?) told you about it shows that they are loyal to you.

I don't think there is any way to stop former employees from doing this. We do live in a free society. All you can do is be more professional and do a better job than the competition (including former employees).

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

You can try having employees sign a non-competition agreement wherein they agree to not open a similar business within one hundred miles of yours for a period of up to five years after they leave your employ.

These are generally seen as too general and as keeping a person form working in their profession. By narrowing it down to having them agree to not approach a known client for 5 years after the depart the company you have a more enforceable agreement.

 

[newguy18]

Arent you 18? How many jobs have you learned to do right in your time?

I learned how to make proper pruning cuts at the branch collar and since I left my last job and me and my dad started our own business I'm climbing quite often.

 

[Canyonbc]

Newguy18...

Good luck with fighting with x employees...business is business

I wanted to ask though if you ever did that tree...dont remeber the detail right now...but it had a lot of controversy with it..if so how did it go any pics???

 

[newguy18]

I obviously don't figth ex employees but there are guys around here whothink they're hot stuff because they own 2 or 3 stihls a 1 ton truck and a trailer.The only thing that makes me differnt is I'm one of the 2 companies that actually climbs.A lot of those guys around here just use buckets and if they can't use thier bucket truck then they won't touch the tree.

 

[tree md]

Back in 2001 I had a guy working for me that I had met soliciting one of the neighborhoods where I frequently worked. He came up to me on one of my jobs and told me he was taking a tree down a couple blocks over and his saw had crapped out on him. He asked me if he could use one of my saws and for a small fee, I let him use one. We rode over to watch him take the tree down. He used no climbing gear or lanyard and took out a chain link fence on his first cut. I was afraid he was going to kill himself so I told him to come down and I would finish taking the tree down. We ended up striking a deal where he would work for me. I would pay him a commission for his sales, pay him for his labor and teach him to climb with gear. The guy worked for me for about a month and I strongly suspected that he was smoking crack (I will not employ or work with crack heads). However, I never caught him doing drugs, he never admitted it and he showed up to work every morning. I let him go after a month because I just got bad vibes from the guy and was afraid he would steal from me. After about a month we landed a large removal for an elderly guy in the same neighborhood to the tune of $3000+. I arranged to have a bobcat delivered to the job Monday morning and planned to use it all week as I had other removals to do on the street. When I went to do the job Monday the old guy backed out on me and said that one of my employees had come by Saturday, had fallen out of the tree and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance. The guy I had let go somehow found out about the removal and tried to sneak in and do it himself with no gear and no ropes on a huge oak that need to be completely roped from over the house and a swimming pool. I was stuck with the Bobcat but ended up at least making my money back with it but lost the large removal.

Talk about pissed!

 

[2muchstuff]

Tree work isnt rocket science, and most anyone with a lick of sence can do it , however its hard work and most people like this get out quickly since its such hard work.


Really nothing you can do about it if it isnt him it will likely be someone else. As far as customer loyalty goes i think $ is the one who are
are
most loyal too.

The best way to keep people is to give them your best price and treat them nice with good work.