business question

[Pa Tree guy]

How many people in the business have the problem of selling a job and later that day they call you up and say Hi this is so and so I'd like to cancel I'm gonna get a few more estimates. Is it me or is that not aggervating. Why would they even tell you to do the job. It seems like this is the only trade when prices for fuel, insurance, the cost of living go up. The price of tree work goes down. Winter time around here sucks way to many low ballers.

 

[ozarktreeman]

Dont get to many cancel,s.I lose more jobs by not getting to quick enough.
And yea i have three crews that just showed up in my town,knocking doors.And man are these guys working cheap.doin trees for 150.00 that I would not touch for less than 350.00. Spent a little time sat,hitting doors something I would never do before.Snagged a good 4 jobs from them,p/u couple more yesterday.
Fixin to put the codes and violation inspector on them today.
Enough to piss a man off!

 

[tomtrees58]

it happens :censored: tom trees

 

[bombdude]

I recently lost a job that still puzzles me. He called on Thanksgiving Day at 1240. The time when most people around here are eating Thanksgiving Dinner. But, being the businessman, I excused myself & took the call. He needed 2 stumps ground. Set up to come by on Monday for an estimate. He agreed. I stopped by on Monday. Gave him a fair price for 2 stumps ($175), one being uprooted. He asked when I could do it. Told him that he was about 3rd on the list, & should get him done by Friday w/o any problem. Again, he agrees. Turned out he's a cabinetmaker working at home, & I spent an hour with him looking at his work both in his shop & the stuff he'd done in his house. Good rapport, job's set up, we're both happy.

Tuesday he calls to tell me that he gave my name to a friend who needed stump work done. I thanked him, & he says, oh btw, you don't need to worry about my stumps, I got somebody else.

I ask, was he cheaper?? No, actually he wanted $225, but he "talked him down" to $160 to beat my price. And the guy could do it right away, sooo......

But then he recommends me to a friend b/c he felt like he did me wrong. Well, the "friend" has never called me. Doubt that he exists. Go figure.

 

[Rftreeman]

Pa, you haven't been in business long have you, get use to it, it happens all the time.

 

[ozzy42]

Yep , it happens all the time.

I got one for you guys.

have any of you ever started a job,you know ,just git-r on the ground, or knock the top out real quick when you could not finish it right then?Not enough to clutter their entire yard or any thing,just enough to secure the job?
Be honest now>



.

 

[Rftreeman]

have any of you ever started a job,you know ,just git-r on the ground, or knock the top out real quick when you could not finish it right then?Not enough to clutter their entire yard or any thing,just enough to secure the job?
Be honest now>



.

never have and never will, just because you start doesn't mean that have to let you finish and it's unprofessional IMO.

 

[M.D. Vaden]

It used to happen years ago - quite a few years ago.

Not a lot.

Not any more.

Can't remember the whys and wherefores, but I think it was partly related to how I advertised back then, and possible the 10% off discount ads.

Maybe it's where the ads were going, or who the ads attracted. But as time passed, so did my advertising, and one change was not seeing that kind of thing happen.

One thing I don't want to see change - after more than 3000 projects, I've never had a refusal or failure to pay.

 

[ozzy42]

I 'm not saying it's something i do all the time , and i dont take any $ until job is done,but i've never had one cancell that way.It just helps stave off the lowballers with no ins.
I was expecting the "unprofessional"claim ,what ever ,it's all good

I know I'm not the only one to ever do it.Pulled up on many an estimate ,to get out of truck and see job done ,or half done.



.

 

[TDunk]

I've knocked down a couple trees and waited for the ground to freeze to go get the logs, but that's about it.

 

[ozarktreeman]

Yep , it happens all the time.

I got one for you guys.

have any of you ever started a job,you know ,just git-r on the ground, or knock the top out real quick when you could not finish it right then?Not enough to clutter their entire yard or any thing,just enough to secure the job?
Be honest now>


No never done that,thought about but never did.
Finished some for guys that have done that,and for there oringal price,half the work done already. My kinda job!

 

[ozarktreeman]

how come my qoute,s dont show up in blue.


Is it the mods or me?

 

[ozzy42]

how come my qoute,s dont show up in blue.


Is it the mods or me?

after hitting quote on someones post,and msg box pops up,,,click to the right of where it says [QUOTE/],,,,then click on box up in grey area,4th thing from the left, it will right the [QUOTE/] thing in white box again, then click one more time to the right of that in the white box and begin your post

 

[bombdude]

Got one currently waitin on enough dry weather to get back to it. It's a wooded area that the customer had cleared. I started one afternoon & got 6 stumps done. It rained that night, so i went to another job on higher ground. since then we've had snow (yes, about 6" of snow on S. La.) & a LOT of rain.

Been back twice, but it's too wet. Might have to wait til spring for it to dry up now.

 

[TDunk]

Heck, i've got about 25 stumps to do at a camp in BFE. I can barely make it there in my pick-up from all the ice, let alone trying to do it with a trailer. I know how ya feel.

 

[masterarbor]

How many people in the business have the problem of selling a job and later that day they call you up and say Hi this is so and so I'd like to cancel I'm gonna get a few more estimates. Is it me or is that not aggervating. Why would they even tell you to do the job. It seems like this is the only trade when prices for fuel, insurance, the cost of living go up. The price of tree work goes down. Winter time around here sucks way to many low ballers.

I get a couple of cancellations a year. I honestly cannot compete with the lowballers in my neck of the woods. It's crazy. I'll call back to see if someone wants to accept the work and they saw I got underbid. I'll ask $1,800 for an all day removal with three men and two trips to the dump and they get a price for $900.00, stump included. So I start the routine... you know "are they insured?" "worker's Comp?" "Certified arborists?" etc. etc. They say yes, that they saw all the appropriate documents. That's why I like trim jobs. Especially ornamentals. $400.00 for 10-12 arm fulls of brush.

 

[BC WetCoast]

Have them give you a signed authorization, by either signing a copy of the estimate (technically it's a price quote, not an estimate) or faxing/emailing you a signed authorization. You now have a signed contract that people will be committed to. It should have legal weight, but I wouldn't trust it. However, I think that people will be morally obliged not to bail on you.