What percentage? That's a hard one. This is a never ending situation, you are always going to have those that only want cheap. Face it, most people would rather not spend money on trees, they, a lot of the time, have to. Dead tree, branch on roof, broken storm stuff, etc. Those who don't have a lot of money, need to stretch their dollar as far as possible. I'm putting a kid thru college, I do it too. The way I battle "barging hunters" is going after a better client base. I can go out and do a few small jobs, at hi-end home's, charge them a good, fair price and still make more money than the door knockers with 8 guys waiting to go. I have equipment, not a lot, but enough. I go after the ones who want to take care of their tree's, who want a pro that is clean and courteous, one who has a good track record and uses PPE. If you are good at what you do, and run a legit show, the client base grows and the phone starts ringing with clients that you have had for years, it maybe time for them to prune all the trees on their property or it may be a invitation to their kids graduation party. These peeps, that are hi-rollers, mingle often, and they love to talk about (brag) their big bad aas house and all the money they spend on it. They love even more to brag about the quality people that they use. I get invited to these events sometimes and go when ever I can. The conversations are always going in the direction of "I will only have so-in-so do my trees, painting, carpentry" They like to share good people and will often be your best advertisement. I have a guy who is a VP at Deere, who I swear drives around his hood and hands out my cards! He loves us and is always looking for a reason to have us out. Once you get a client base like this, you don't need to worry about the low ballers or bargain hunters. Don't get me wrong, if the work drys up, I will be right out there bidding any call that comes in, no matter the location. But so far, doing it the way JPS taught me has worked wonderfully. I dropped out of the phone book a while back and my client base changed drastically, my call volume dropped but my call quality increased ten fold. I hardly ever work in hoods like my own, if I do, most of the time its a rental property of my clients. This transfers directly to commercial, as a lot of your hi-end client's own or run a large business. They always call me for anything tree related to their commercial sites. Many times we will get calls, they leave the address and based on that alone, I don't bid. I know that sounds snotty but I know the hoods around here pretty well and I know which ones are not worth my time and the ones to stay out of period. Thugs and crackies. The hacks can have them. Now, with all that being said. I do find it hard to pass up on a guy who knows he needs to hire a pro, wants to hire a pro, but just simply does not have the money. When I come across those. I feel guilty and will try and work something out for them. And I NEVER leave a Marine hanging, no matter where he lives or how much money he has. If he is a Jarhead, got em covered. What percentage? I am sure everyone's demographic is different, so each answer will be different as well.
