kicking myself now!

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treeman82

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Joined
May 2, 2001
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Location
connecticut
hey guys. i am not very happy. here is what happened. about a month ago i had talked to some guys about wanting to get a large tree account nearby. so they did some talking for me and i got an appointment with a manager. i bid the work for just get it to the ground and cut up, they do the rest. that is how my other big account is, because both places have large maintenance crews. so i submitted that. didnt hear from them. went back to check up on how it was goin, she told me what they wanted done. i said to myself, ok just rebid it. well one day lead to two, two lead to three. and then last week i saw somebody there cuttin trees. i talked to the guys who got me the appointment, they told me, "matt, you had your foot in the door there. you were gonna be set" because they see these people almost every day. the account is about 1000 acres. the owner has millions upon millions of dollars. the house he is building on the property, house alone is gonna be 26 million dollars, and he is spending 3.1 million on landscaping. its a big horse farm, so a lot of it has trees needing work. i went back today to see if i could get in there for pruning, a tree care program, i was polite, i asked if it would be possible for me to talk with them about a tree care program, and just the way she said "no" made me really kick myself. so i guess i gotta do more fenagling now. more talking. because even if all i get is the pruning, it would keep 2 climbers busy for about 5 or so days a month, every month, for a good year, just to get around the driveways. forget about by fences and lines.
 
Funny **** Head (Richard Cranium), I read your profile. Sex and drugs aren't too brilliant of an idea these days either with addiction and AIDS running around. I was 19 once and doing the same thing Treeman82 was doing. What happened was a learning experience. He is 19 and will rebound from it. I think its great he is 19 and owns his own business. I started at 16 when I got my truck and license. Made lots of mistakes and now I am damn good at business at 26. I just sold a equipment business that when I bought it did 300,000 a year and when I sold it, it did 2.5 million with a pretty decent profit margin. Started with 4 employees and ended with 15. You are on the right track treeman82. The learning curve period sucks.
 
i was just pissed. that would have been a great account for me. the deli guys told me that i was gonna be in there. and i would have been too. the guys doin the tree work now, they have been workin there for a good 5 plus days now. that is just what i have seen from the road. and they have lots more to do. so i gotta do more talkin with my deli guys. i really want this account. cause it is CK's partner. so there is a lot of money tied in with that.
 
If the issue was partly one of recognition or credibility, build yourself a prospectus of your company, its achievements, qualifications, operating philosophy, goals, etc.

I imaging that with the $$ you mentioned, they are wanting to have themselves surrounded by professionals, and have it show. I'm certainly not implying otherwise in your case, though I have got more work by putting on the professional image to raise me above others who cut trees, log or plow snow.

Good luck growing your business.
 
On the surface it sounds like a lack of a "sence of urgency" (wich 82 admited to "onething lead to another...") wich may have put the potential client off. They may have commited to the current crew. They are probibly telling themselves what a great account they have.

Maybe yuo could have your buddy put in another good word or two for you, but he may feel you let him down when you dropped the ball. "Dude I had it all wrapped up for you!!!!"

I am the type of person that will pay for results, just tell me when it will get done. If I am let down, I wont come back. I've had several vendors that had long term relationships with the club give me an attitude, or put me off because the were too comfortable.

I guesse where I am going is that you should appologize to your buddy. Did yo do that for the lady when you asked for a second chance?
 
no i didnt apologize. i dont know what to do though?
for a time there i was kind of glad i didnt rebid it, because i had heard that:
1) they are cheap. they will pay 800 a day for 2 guys / truck / chipper, but not 1000 a day for 3 guys truck chipper.
2) they are bad pay somebody else told me.
 
Well, if you did hear these things, you dont want to do work for them anyway. Would you rather stay busy and not get paid or relax and make the same amount? If you did get the bid, I would ask for some references on them. You wont look bad doing this. I used to check out Davey Tree, Asplundh, Chemlawn, Etc. They would bring me lots of business, but if they didnt pay well, I wouldnt sell to them. I had enough business. You have to make it so YOU are in control. Not someone else. Or you get the type that second guess you or sit there watching everything you do. Hope this makes sense.;)
 
Maybe someone was looking out for you up there!
What about the freind of yours who was trying to get you the job?

Maybe they badmouths are "sour grapes"?

I've worked for people who I heard wer jerks or worse and developed good relationships.

Then again, rich people didn't get that way by spending alot...
 
i heard another bad thing last week from a doctor i see. he told me the same thing, they dont like to pay, so if you get a job with them it takes a while for them to pay or whatever it is. these people, who have told me these bad things, they do not know eachother as far as i can tell, one is a doctor, another a teacher, another a landscaper.
 
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