Holiday Tree Work

[lxt]

Have had more calls than usual lately....only thing is these are jobs that were passed on by everyone during the busy time! The bids that were left by myself & others didnt seem to fit the budget.

Now only a few companies have the ability to do the work, insurance to cover the risk & want to obtain more work in an otherwise slow period.

So....some goofball tells the homeowner(s) to wait till fall/winter when everyone is slow & you will get a better price????? well Mr. LXT I`ll pay you cash!!! dont you need the work? well yes I do....BUT the price doesnt change!

anyone else going through this, I mean these are all the big, ugly hanging over house ruining basement walls kinda trees!! I cut my price a little from what I gave em in the summer, but what they want it done for..NO WAY & they think paying in cash makes a difference not too mention the "ahh c`mon its Xmas" you can do it!!


LXT................

 

[teamtree]

Well, if you lower your price when you are slow then you are getting a double whammy.

In the summer when you are busy you have more hours going towards overhead expenses. In the winter you have less, so your costs per hour goes up compared to summer.

The only thing I do different in the winter vs. summer is give a customer a break on jobs that require tons of manpower in which you can be more productive when it is cooler. I also look at brush jobs for the winter to avoid poison ivy, bees, hornets, snakes, etc.

But there really is not a good excuse to give a guy a break when you are slow other than to obtain work that is desperately needed to pay your bills.

 

[capetrees]

I don't know how many people talk to each other in terms of "who does your trees" but I'm not above doing a job to make the money for a days work. What I figure into the job and price is whether I'm going to be back on the property at some later time, storm clean up, more trees to go, bigger future projects like landscaping, etc. If I do see myself coming back for more, I will do the job for a little less so they will call me later for the rest where I can pad the price a bit to make up for any losses but if its a one tree property, no deals.

 

[Rftreeman]

I had a guy tell me once that he wanted to wait until I was really hungry then give him a new price, I told him I'd never be that hungry, there's this little thing called a savings account that gets 10% of everything I make and that is why I'll not go hungry.......plus my wife has three jobs.....lol

 

[Bigus Termitius]

Will work for turkey!


Ah...let me think....no....neither turkeys.

 

[Mikecutstrees]

I gave a nice price for todays work knowing me and the crew were getting fed a good italian lunch from the owners deli. Was very good. I do lower my prices a little in the winter. I figure working everyday pays the bills makes me a little money and keeps the guys working all winter. I figure it's the price I pay to keep good help throughout the year. I make most of my money in spring, summer and fall. Also if a freak winter storm hits were ready to roll!!!

 

[LTREES]

I tell them if you need a lower price how about you rake. Let theme have the fun of the clean up for 200 off.

 

[Brush Hog]

Your theory works ^^^^. Had a guy ask if I was going up on fall clean-up and I told him " no if your willing to clean bushes out before I get there and I'll handle everything else. He did. He then started to nit-pick everything and I told him I'm going to finish job and DON'T call me next year. Retired people have waaaayyyy too much time on their hands

 

[lxt]

I dont consider lowering prices when slow a double whammy, Im not talking drastic reduction in pricing.....maybe $50/$100.

It doesnt matter really!!! I am like others on here, just want to keep the guys working....but have enough escrowed to sit all winter long!! I just dont get people sometime.....summer they get a bid of $3000.00 Now they`re getting bids of $2800.00, I told the guy....."look at that thing, noones gonna do it for what you want to pay" (which is like $800...LOL)..that fat bag of cuk who just spent thousands on xmas gifts, eating a snicker bar with carmel in his teeth, go jump on your Wii chubby & do the tree for free & loose some weight!

just as mentioned here, alot of calls im getting are from people who HOPE you are hungry & will work to break even!! Ive been telling them if that is your hope & how you need to get work done.....sorry!! I dont need work that bad! & by the way.........happy holidays..hope you dont go hungry!

must be that time of year for me!!! HA!, I really dont care when I get calls like what im getting, I know that they wont hire anyone worth anything its all about the $$$ & return work for me will be none!


LXT..........

 

[OLD CHIPMONK]

It's just an ugly situation ! Customers are expecting the impossible ! Our insurance premiums just took a healthy jump ! Customers are not aware of this ! We'll be working on a lower profit margin in 2009 ! Anyone for a "Small Business Bail-out" ????????????

 

[lxt]

Small biz bailout....LOL, sounds good to me! I wont be gready just give me a cool million & I`ll be fine.


LXT........