Quotes over the phone.

[Rupe]

You need to evaluate your enquiries to see if they " qualify" as a potentila cusotmers.

 

If they start by saying "I've been given your number by Mrs XYZ because you did a good job for her" then they are part way to qualifying already.

 

Starting with "how much do you charge?" they are pretty much not going to recover from that. I would have a bit of fun with them and then forgtet about it. Maybe say somethign like we charge more per hour than anyone else round here but get more done per hour too" that will confuse them.

 

Or a direct answer to a direct question "as much as I think I can get away with!!" or "it depends on who else is quoting"

[nailer]

Try to look as expensive as possible and get out of phone directories.

[ad15]

to be honest i'm amazed at the way some of you treat your potential customers on the phone,,, steve is 100% CORRECT!!!

 

i'm doing a big job at the moment,,,i was chatting with the guy last week, asked him why he took me over any one else,,,

 

he said he'd had 3 other "major concerns" in before me to quote for the job,,, 2 of them didn't even get into the wood to look, the third did,,,none of them even submitted a quote......

 

i popped a card on receptions desk (you know,, that thing that seems to be frowned upon in here) i went to look,,, sure it's a big job i thought, a challenge yes,,, but should keep me going a bit....

 

the grand total is going to be over £7k!!!!! all for being nice on the phone,,,

 

stevie,,, i'd groundie for you any day of the week,, but the truth is i havent got the time as i'm a bit busy down here,,,

[Stephen Blair]

:

 

He has other prior engagements and will call me back when he knows a time that he is available:001_rolleyes:

 

I suppose I should be thankful he called now and not just wait until 2 mins before I'm due to turn up, or just not be in!

 

 

thumbup1:

 

this guy is up front and honest, he has the descency to call you, not ignore the phone or hide from confrontation, lets look at his version of tonights events.

 

he has called you, a professional tradesman, i bet you say all the usual stuff on your advert about being qualified and tidy blah blah, no job to big etc, he has thought, nice one, this guy sounds like he knows what he is talking about. He has called you and you have failed to impress him, he has come off the phone after agreeing to meet with you, then he has thought about it and has no confidence in your sales picth, and canceled. HE HAS BINNED YOU not the other way around. His tree will get cut down, that i can guarantee, you can kid yourself or make up what ever reason makes you feel best to why you never got the job, but thats all in your head, do you think he will have had a liitle gripe on a forum about this? no chance he is away doing something else and forgotten about it already, thats just his nature:001_smile:

[Stephen Blair]

i await your email ady:thumbup1:

[Dean Lofthouse]

Not one of us can judge this particular person, only Mesterh...

 

I worked the markets for 20 years and dealt with thousands of inquiries a day, so got to know who's serious and who isn't.

 

I can have two people ring up and ask the same as above, you can still tell if one of them might be a waste of time, just as Rupe says, its how they say it not what they say.

 

Like I say, if your not busy you can afford to waste time on them and see.

 

When I started I looked at every single job, whether I knew I was wasting my time or not

[Rupe]

For me, if I'm not busy I actually can't afford the fuel to go and visit a time waster so the more I can filter out on the phone the better.

 

Another give away is the "how soon could you do the work" question on the phone. That happenned recently along with "it hasn't got a preservation order on it". I didn't even bother to go and look and now, guess what??

 

Yes, the company they got in (along with the client) are being prosecuted for carrying out tree work in a conservation area without permission. I could see it a mile off!!!

[Mesterh]

Rev

Do you guys never ask daft questions when you seek the help of an expert in a field of expertise you know nowt about? I know I do.

 

There's nothing wrong whatsoever in asking a stupid question. What is wrong is when you keep asking the same question then not listening when the response is I can't answer your question now but if you just let me do xxx then I can help you out.

 

I didn't try to make as fool out of him the very first thing I said was that i need some details so I can look st the job. That's when he started to persistently ask for a quote over the phone.

 

I ask stupid questions all the time:thumbup:

 

Btw meant to say asking for a price on tree work isn't a stupid question. I say that in relation to my comments not yours before someone points it out:thumbup1:

Edited June 15, 2010 by Mesterh

[Mesterh]

this guy is up front and honest, he has the descency to call you, not ignore the phone or hide from confrontation, lets look at his version of tonights events.

 

he has called you, a professional tradesman, i bet you say all the usual stuff on your advert about being qualified and tidy blah blah, no job to big etc, he has thought, nice one, this guy sounds like he knows what he is talking about. He has called you and you have failed to impress him, he has come off the phone after agreeing to meet with you, then he has thought about it and has no confidence in your sales picth, and canceled. HE HAS BINNED YOU not the other way around. His tree will get cut down, that i can guarantee, you can kid yourself or make up what ever reason makes you feel best to why you never got the job, but thats all in your head, do you think he will have had a liitle gripe on a forum about this? no chance he is away doing something else and forgotten about it already, thats just his nature:001_smile:

 

Cheers for the Psychoanalysis.

 

You could be completely right.

Although I reckon your way off.

 

This is how I see it.

 

The guy takes a look in his garden and thinks "Hmmmm I might get rid of that tree, I wonder how much it will cost"

 

Actually might not even be his tree maybe his neighbours that he doesnt like.

 

Calls me wanting to know how much it will cost to see if its worth getting done, realises that someone actually needs to see the job before even thinking about pricing it. Then decides to phone a couple of other tree surgeons maybe hoping he will get a price over the phone but probably residing to the fact they will also want a site visit.

 

Calls a few up who no doubt with the amount of work about are doing nothing so can come out and price it up there and then.

 

Gets a price thinks fook that thats way more than what its worth for cutting just a tree down.

 

Calls me to cancel the visit and has a look on ebay for a chainsaw.

 

Oh and he probably is on some money saving website complaining about how expensive it is to cut down a tree and that the firewood must be worth a fortune so he's going to do it himself.

 

I've priced plenty of jobs that have never been done I see this one as no different, so I dont see how you can guarantee that he will pay to get it taken down.

 

I shoulda just been more aggressive like you recommended then I wouldnt have wasted 20 seconds listening to him telling me not to bother as he woulda just put the phone down in the first call.

 

Quite a few people do call thinking I can give a piece over the phone but the ones that are worth bothering with ask once they agree I need to come out after Ive told them once that I need to see the job, not 3 or maybe 4 times I think it was he insisted on a price.

 

 

Anyhow doesnt matter one less journey and waste of fuel and I can see that others get the same calls but deal a bit more harshly than me.

[Dean Lofthouse]

I think your spot on there Mesterh and Stevie is way off the mark:laugh1: