That surprises me, but I'll take your word. I can fathom not being a great salesman; the other part makes me say hhmmm.
It shouldn't really come as too much of a surprise. In any trade you'll find plenty of people who are excellent craftsman, passionate and skillful, but lacking in the business sense department. They do great working for business minded people who know how to operate and price a service, but poorly when they try to run their own show.
I'm not sure whether its just a little vanity, a little lack of estimating skills or what, but plenty of tree climbers do come up short on estimated times. They focus on the tree, and how long they'll be in there, but often fail to account for travel to and from site, packing up and unpacking of gear, sharpening saws, dumping chip, yard cleanup etc. You have to make some allowance for these. I figure most companies have got about 2 hours in most jobs before a saw even touches wood with all the above factored in, maybe more.
This isn't just young tree climbers I'm talking about either, plenty of older guys are guilty of it. "that'll only take me an hour to get done". People who come from an estimating background generally take a rational approach to quoting - some sort of formula for factoring in volumes of materials, distance to carry, travel time, and make allowances for their base costs. How you arrive at the number isn't so important as having a rational system for getting to it. The old 'gut feeling' can be pretty far off sometimes.
Of course, it's a competitive marketplace. What number you come up with doesn't mean jack if you have to match other peoples prices to win work. At least it will let you know whether you're making or losing money though! I try to work with other tree guys in my area so we are all charging fair prices pretty close to each other. Most other trades do this - mechanics, electricians, plumbers. It makes sense for the industry, and when you can make an honest dollar you can afford to do professional work for your customers and not cut corners, hurt yourself or go broke. A good situation for both customers and business.
Shaun
