Every Branch on the Way Up?

Alatamaha

Hello All,
Since I was a young lad I have been involved in tree work. My Dad told me I felled my first tree on my second Christmas and at three dismantled neatly raked piles of leaves with the best in the business. I'm almost thirty-five now, give or take ten years, and have learned a lot about arborculture. The 14' Frazier Fur I put up about this time of year will not only stay upright, it will rotate. I spent many long days working with a friend who was a true, tree ninja (saw avatar last night and now know why Frank wore a ponytail), I learned so much from him just lookiing up and thinking-holy cow dude. Learning is fun to me, I spend a lot of time lurking on this and other tree forums to gain knowledge from other ninjas, and I have a strong background in horticulture and I am certified, so I decided to become a Certified Arborist. My problem is that I want to make money at it while I do it. People are always asking me to "help" put in or take out trees so I started a business doing things I can and getting help with....well, you know. The internet is great for buying stuff like insurance and equipment but it doesn't put gas in the truck to driive to Lost Road to bid for a job. Please don't get me wrong, this is not my first rodeo and since it won't get me drunk I won't whine all night, but all this running around only to have some jackwagon blow smoke up my you know what about some other jackwagon who will do the job for two tacos and a margarita is beginning to have an adverse effect on my delicate sensibilities. I feel sure that my bids are on the low side and I do have a lot of patience (you wouldn't believe how long it's taking me to ask this without using profanity) so at the end of the day, more experience, a pittance and a couple of holy cow dudes is enough.What I would like to ask is: can anyone lend some advice on how to deal or not deal with homeowners who feel it's necessary to lie and waist my time with their puerility?

Thanks, Alatamaha

Outside of a dog, a mans best friend is a book. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. GM

Steve Tipton

Try to convince them that your professionalism and experience will give them peace of mind, and is worth paying for.
Would they use an unqualified doctor or dentist to save a few bucks?

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Heightmaster

Eric Frei

Alatamaha,

I think we all suffer from that type of treatment.

To some the best is only the cheapest and there has been tons of words written about it. Regardless of what some marketing dude says about a consumers ranking of price being 3 or 4 down the list to other things we have all personally discovered that many consumers only care about a rock bottom cheap price.

To the consumer with tree removals they see the same end result whether they pay $1000 or $600, the tree is gone, and it takes a lot to change that.

I have even had in the past where the customer has requested I match a lowball price because they didn't like or trust the low ball workers, yep, they want the BMW for the price of a VW, seldom do I price match.

Then I'm sure some just call you out to pick your brains, use diminishing language to make the job feel smaller or make you feel smaller if you talk it up .... and example goes like this, "ah it's only a small tree pretty easy to do but my saw is too small otherwise I'd have whipped it down" or this "my mate is unavailable otherwise he'd have done it easily for $200 coz it's an easy tree to do".

Here's a typical example of how some think, this was a real job ad.

These days I qualify the lead more, get more out of them over the phone, try to understand the job at hand and the client. If I sense it's a client who wants the cheapest quote I simply do not go, not interested. Some are classics like, "just drive past mate and give me a call, let me know how much" .... they're the worst, they have nothing but a price to work on and most times you call they forget who you are as they rang a number of places.

It's tough for sure.

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Alatamaha

Thanks Quintrex and Eric,
If it had been a snake, it would have bit me. Qualify the lead more over the phone. I guess I get in too big of a hurry to nail down a time and place that I let that important step fly right by. Been on the other side too often where the contractor doesn't show on time or not at all (I don't roll that way). Funny how obvious something can be when it's right in front of you, gona have to call Brain Cloud on this one. Thanks again, and all the best from the deep south.

Alatamaha