Do you do over the phone pre-qualification?

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

aaron.a

New Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2015
Messages
2
Reaction score
1
Location
Ontario
Hey guys and gals, I have been an on and off again lurker of this forum for a while but something has been bugging me and I don't see much talk about it (correct me if I am wrong) so I am forced to bring up the subject.

If any of you guys have been in sales for a while then this Q is geared towards you.

Do you pre-qualify/vet/screen potential clients over the phone?

By this I mean, over the phone do you...:
a) see if they are the right fit for?
--some customers just aren't the right fit, perhaps you like to specialize in big jobs but they have a small job or vice versa. Or another example, through pre-qualification you learn that the DBH is in the 4+ foot range and you just don't have the equipment for it. Or perhaps you can just clearly tell that they are going to be a pain in the ***. I know some tree guys don't like walking away from jobs but for your sake and everyone's sake, this should happen more if a customer is not a good fit.

b) Discuss a budget range at all with them?
--Yes, yes, I know there are a million variables that can affect the final cost of pruning/removing a tree. But by asking a few questions over the phone, do you think it is possible to give a reasonable price range for a job. "Based on that little bit of information you have given me sir, you are looking at something in the $1,500 to $2,000 range. We can certainly come out and have a look at it to give you an exact quote but based on what you have told me this appears to be a fair price range for the work. With that being said, are you still interested in us coming out for a visit?"

Or something along those lines.

Many of us drive here, there, and everywhere for quotes only to take up tons of our time and energy and in the end not get the job. Could this pre-qualification work?

If so, what 4 or 5 questions do you think would be the most important questions to ask to determine a price range. After all, I don't want to patronize them by asking, "and how wide is your side gate?" "how many feet would you say from the back of your house to the trunk of the tree?" "is there dog crap in your yard?" I am just curious what you would say are the 4 or 5 most important questions to ask over the phone. I would imagine they would have to be basic questions, rather than asking the height of the tree in feet (because people can suck at this), ask if it is taller than a stop light, or city hall or something.

My guess if I were to give 4 at the top of my head although I am sure I am missing some important Q's:
1) "do you know what kind of tree it is?"
2) "front yard or backyard? (if backyard then good to see how far back)
3) "what is under the radius of the tree?" (fence, shed, house, etc.)
4) How big is the trunk, can a normal adult wrap their arms around it? (probably a better way to word this)

Over the phone, we cannot determine whether a tree needs to be climbed, bucket, or felled although we can get a rough idea, which is why I wonder if we should give a rough idea as to the price.

Thanks for taking the time to read/respond to this long thread.

Aaron
 
I have found dealing with unreasonable people one of the hardest things about being in a service type business. Back when I had my hydroseeding company, I dealt with hundreds of people wanting a price over the phone. It is very hard to give a accurate estimate without seeing the actual site. I knew how much area I could cover with a tankload of hydroseeding slurry and I knew the cost of the standard materials it took to load the machine. Most of the time if the property owner could give me a accurate size area to cover, I could give a pretty accurate price. Only real varibles where locations of the work areas and how far it was to a good water source. Not the same as cutting or topping trees where every situation is going to be different, but similar in that you should already have a decent ideal of how much work you can do in a given amount of time. In this day and age of smart phones and cameras, there is no reason a customer cant take a few pics of the tree to be removed and send to you before demanding a quote. Its up to you, as the one doing the work, to make a educated guess as to what kind of hazards you might encounter. If you cant tell from the pics what hazards are present, ask for more pics. If the customer doesnt want to provide the information you need, then its time to fire the customer. They are going to be difficult to work with. Also remember that any price given over the phone is just that, and estimate. If the customer seems willing to meet your estimated price, then it is time to actually visit the site to make sure everything is as it appears in the pics. If they balk at your phone estimate then tell them to have a good day. You can not negotiate a price on a job unseen. They are probably price shopping anyways and once they shop around, they could call you back. I have had customers try to negotiate a lower price by telling me so and so said they would do the job for a much lower price than I had given. My reply always was let me know if they are still in business next year.
 
We had a big clientele, four generations worth. When fuel started going up, and we found more and more people were getting 4 estimates, and taking the low bid, fuel running estimates started to take a real bite out of profits. So, as a vetting process, we started asking if they were a repeat customer. If they said no, we said we had a $50 estimate charge to all new customers, and the $50 was refunded if we got the job. That chased away virtually all of the low ball seekers.
 
Back
Top