Why not sell a cube of wood? Novel idea!

[APC]

When questioned, I say that we sell a loose level load in the back of a trailer which measures approximately 2.2m3 but I emphasise that it is just thrown in so sometimes will be more, sometimes less than that precise amount.

[firewood]

 

The job is hard enough as it is, let's not make it any worse.......... Please

 

 

[Albedo]

I don’t see how my proposal makes the job harder.

 

The neat stacking of the cube only had to be done once in order to establish what it looks like when thrown into your transportation device loose. You don’t even have to do this if you accept the figures given by Jayvee or available elsewhere.

 

Alternatively, just once, you can loose fill your transportation vessel, with your Bobcat or whatever and then spend a couple of hours stacking that amount to see what the real volume is. I repeat, just once, as a way of establishing stacked volume.

 

Once you have established the stacked volume of your loose volume, you can tell the customer that you will deliver X volume loose, which will give them Y volume stacked.

 

My point is about giving the customer as far as possible a known volume of actual firewood.

 

My original post was inspired by this post by Chrissishrimp:

 

Just delivered my first load of firewood by Chrissishrimp

 

I just delivered my first load of fire wood which was dead elm, split in a 1m3 bag. However it seemed to be not as much wood as i thought it was going to be, i calculated that there was only about 320 logs or so and to not lose my first customer and wanting to build up a good reputation around the area i am going to take some more to him to tomorrow. Luckily i delivered it to the pub i work at At least i know now that for each bag i deliver i will also take two full wheel barrows or so too.

I was wondering for those who use 1m3 bags how neatly do you put the logs in them and how many logs roughly are in them??

 

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[firewoodman]

So 1 m3 of loose tipped stacks upto roughly 0.63 of a m3.

 

That's what I sell...... As Jayvee said :-)

 

System works so why change it. It aint broken, so not gonna fix it.

 

Price per loose cube is £90

Price per stacked cube would be £140

Not many want to pay the £90, even less would pay the £140

(all figures are as examples)

 

Nice thought albedo, but I think I will stick to my 10 yr old meathod, which if I read Jayvee correctly, is an accepted method

[JayVee]

Is there a fight going on here or am I just a sensitive soul?

 

In regards to stacked or loose. I would say each to their own. This is a business we are talking about, each and every one should do what works for them. But as I stated earlier, rules are on their way and it makes sense to be prepared. Otherwise one ends up moaning about things one will have no control over.

 

Both stacked and loose should be allowed and proponents of each way can use good sales arguments to make their points:

 

Stacked. If your clients are living in a city the likelihood is that they will have limited space. Stacked saves space and of course they should then be paying a premium for getting them nicely stacked. That premium takes in to account the time and cost involved in stacking them. Sales pitch goes like this:

 

YOU: “Oh you have limited space, then you absolutely need them stacked? No problem, we can deliver stacked at GBP XX per cube, would you like two cubic metres now instead of the one you are asking for, since you get more wood for the same space as a loose cube? One delivery instead of two will save you money on the transport costs and with this winter the way it is you might need more firewood than normal?”

 

Client: “What a super idea! Let’s do that. Two cubes stacked please.”

 

You “Great and if you recommend us to your neighbours or friends and they end up buying, with the next order I’ll give you a bag of free kindling”

 

CHICHING goes the cash register. You have just sold two cubes instead of one with one delivery and provided your product is good, you have just created a person who will refer you to others in the same area creating a good cluster of a client base.

 

That’s the argument for stacked. Then for the argument for loose:

 

YOU “Oh you want them neatly stacked? I understand, but why would you pay extra for them to be in a neat pile? You are going to burn them at a quick rate anyway in this winter. Why not order two loose cubes now so you won’t run out in this cold spell? OK it will take up a bit more space, but log for log it will add up to more than one stacked cube and you won’t have to pay for the expense of stacking. It will save you money.”

 

Client “What a super idea! Let’s do that. Two loose cubes please”

 

You “Great and if any of you recommend us to your neighbours and they end up buying, with the next order I’ll give you a bag of free kindling”

 

CHICHING goes the cash register.

 

You do see where I am going with this right?

 

I know a few posters on this site have mentioned similar tactics. It really does set the men from the boys. Always be thinking of the way you like to do your daily business and think of selling points based on that and then use them to grow your business.

 

There are always two sides to a debate. Use the one that benefits you most and make the deals. From the above example both arguments are fair, because they are both true, the client still knows exactly what he is getting.

[Albedo]

Hi Jayvee

 

I'm afraid I'm not suggesting that we stack the wood for the customer, they can do that themselves. I'm just saying that I'll tip in their driveway and if they choose to stack it and if they want it to end up as a cube when stacked I can make it so the pile on their driveway will do so if they wish.

 

Firewood man (if I understand correctly) makes the point that he wants £90 (representative figure) for a loose cube, so if they want an amount tipped that will end up as a stacked cube it will cost more for the extra wood involved. He's not offering to stack it for that price (£140) he wants paying for the wood.

 

I have no objection to what firewood man is saying because it makes the client aware in both cases of how much wood he is getting.

 

He finds it easier to sell a loose cube for £90 making the client aware that this is 0.63 of a stacked cube - hence he has a working system which ain't broke and doesn't require my oar in the equation to fix it.

 

I agree with this:001_smile: Is anybody here confused yet:001_smile:

[JayVee]

In the words of the Guv: I was never confused.

 

Albedo. Your point was clear from the begining: Having a reference point to show the clients, in itself a good indicator to the client "see I know what I am talking about".

 

My point was to take it a little broader than your original post. In that both options, even going to the work of stacking them one by one, is not necessarily out of the question.

[firewoodman]

Hooray! We've all just landed on the same playing field:-)

 

Jayvee. No fights allowed on here, it's called strong debating. I understood where everyone was coming from, but when it's so busy like now, I like to have a simple system where I can get the wood out quick. Problem I have found is people always want the cheapest and not always the best