Percentage of jobs

[NeTree]

no no no no ya got it all wrong.....

Customer calls and wants three trees removed....

If there's a Honda in the driveway you say $1000



If there's a Mercedes or Beemer in the driveway you say $2000....











If there's a Ferrari in the driveway you say $2000.......







EACH.

 

[ORclimber]

Abbershay, I'm just a one man band that hires contract labor when needed, but to answer your origional question. Lately I get about 80-90% bids for new customers. Most of my business is referal or repeat. 20% of my work is subcontracting.

One of the more successful companies I worked for in Portland that charged top $, used to get about 40% of bids.

 

[ORclimber]

Originally posted by John Paul Sanborn
We discriminate all the time, it is not allways a bad thing.

Just that if we look at it this way it is the good and proper thing to do, vs sticking it to the rich guy.

I agree with you. Little old ladies and old guys with vet hats on get discounts or extra extras thrown in. FWIW I don't stick it to anyone.

Sounds like Abbershay doesn't either if he's getting 90% of his bids.

 

[Scars2prove-it]

I get about 50% of new customers and 90% of referrals. I don't charge rich people more than anyone else. I go by how nice their property is. If it's nice you have to be more careful which means more time and money. If the customer lives in an average priced neighborhood but has a super nice lawn, they get charged more because they expect exceptional work. As far as PITA's, if you do work for them, the neighbor's will know that you do good work because they probably know that the person is a PITA as well. I welcome picky people since it gives me a chance to show what a good job me and my crew will do.

 

[Lumberjack]

Originally posted by Abbershay
I think its discrimination that i have to pay the same for gas as those doctors and lawyers. Its all a matter of perspective.

The poorer you are the more of your net worth you have to spend to live .

so really by charging them more you are making a more fair society. remember its a choice....

am i selling anyone here?

No, I am all about some capitalism. You are what you choose to be. Kinda like you need to go to China and see their example of a "fair society."


Carl

Carl

 

[Abbershay]

lighten up , i am only kidding you.

 

[MasterBlaster]

 

[Guy Meilleur]

There are 2 definitions of discrimination,
1. To make a distinction. This is what we do all the time if our brains are working. Not bad at all to charge high income/PITA folks/Beamer drivers more.
2. To act on the basis of prejudice. This I agree with Nick may be unethical, but if you don't want to work for someone bid high. You are free to do that unless your contract specs say otherwise.

A sliding scale applies in how I bid; lower for folks I want to work for and higher for those I don't, or those who are very willing to pay. I get 90+% of repeat bids, 70% on referrals, <50% of others. If you get 90% of cold bids you are WAY underchaging, or have extremelyseductive charisma.

If every arborist in the USA got together and fixed prices, that would be unethical and possibly illegal. But if you want to triple your rates for Norwegians or whoever it's your business.

 

[MidwestTree]

This has nothing to do with discrimnation, it is about get the most money for a job. If you think that you can get a customer to bite for a higher dollar you will do it. This is based on what you think the person is willing to pay as well as what they are able to afford.

 

[Froggy]

Reply

This is the way I do it. I try to charge everyone the same. Because I think if some one was to talk to someone about a similar job and find out I did it it for less or more. I think that would make me look bad. They would automatically think I was dishonest and it might cost me a job in the future. There are those cases where there was more involved than the other job. In the customer's eye it might look the same. In that case I try to explain to the customer what was involved in each job and why theirs was higher that the others. They generally understand. This seems to work for me. BB