How much would you charge?

[Pedroski]

I'd be very interested to know how you listed the double/tripling of your costs on the quote?

 

It's easy. You don't show individual costs in the quote. Just detail everything that the job involves and put a final figure, which is costs plus profit. Obviously no need to mention that profit is being made on the job. Same as buying a burger - you know you are getting a bun with some sesame seed, a beefburger, some salad and cheese and sauce, and that the bun will be toasted and beefburger flame-grilled, and the whole lot will cost you £3, which seems a good deal for everything in it, even though the individual parts and wages involved might only be £1!

[18 stoner]

Got you now, I thought you meant giving individual coatings then tripling it!

 

I like the comparison to the burger:thumbup:

[skyhuck]

Exactly. Unless something beyond your control happens. A mate I work with had a job for one of his clients doing 20% reductions on half a dozen beech trees and a couple of removals. Priced properly for the number of days it would take to pay everyone involved, and use of his own chipper etc etc, + about 25% on top for profit in the bank. All going well but the climber he booked for the job went chicken on the last tree. Climber was on a day rate and so was paid for the days he did, which should have seen the job completed. This was completely out of my mate's control and completely unforeseen. So mate ended up forking out money to pay someone else to come in and finish the job. Big chunk of profit gone, but a slightly larger contingency amount would have seen it all ok.

 

Not really, he should using a better climber or better still doing the work himself.

[swinny]

Not really, he should using a better climber or better still doing the work himself.

 

you cannot account for something like that, esp if you've used the climber before and they seem ok......

 

And why should the person do it thereselves if they can get someone in, do less work and still earn a good wage? MAN POWER

 

would be good to know the reasons why the climber didn't do it though.....

[WorcsWuss]

I tell many of my customers I am pricing to do the job properly, not to be the cheapest.

 

It,s also how you come across to the customer not always about price, I hope to god my customers don't just pick me because I,m the cheapest, I don't want that type of customer

 

 

Absolutely spot on Dean, this is exactly what I tell new construction clients. Then I let them go meet an existing customer or two who say the same thing, that we're not the cheapest but we are the best, and that's why they will only use us, and we can add another customer to the list who will stay with us.

 

Jobs won on the cheapest price are all one-off's, because the next time that customer wants something doing, they'll be asking around for the cheapest price again, because it's how they always do it.

 

If your overheads are low or you can exist on such low margins then fair enough, I'm not competing with you. I want to do a job I'm proud of to the best of my abilities and be rewarded handsomely for doing it, and I don't want to spend my life finding new customers, it's far easier to build long term relationships with exsiting customers than constanly winning new ones....

[Pedroski]

Not really, he should using a better climber or better still doing the work himself.

 

He was a good climber and had many years experience under his belt. Nobody, including himself, knew he was going go turn chicken. Just didn't like this particular part of the tree - it was a tall (approx 50ft) thin (about 12" dia) branch going out at a steep angle away from the main stem, and the main stem TIP was at same height as the part of the tall thin branch that needed bringing back. Personally, I would have talked the client into having the whole branch taken off.

 

Any why, pray tell, would my mate, who isn't a climber, want to do the tree himself?

Edited April 29, 2012 by Pedroski

[Dean Lofthouse]

 

Any why, pray tell, would my mate, who isn't a climber, want to do the tree himself?

 

Whys he doing tree work then

[Pedroski]

Whys he doing tree work then

He's not doing tree work..... he's getting someone in to do tree work, and it comes off the back of other work he does Everyone's a winner - the arbs get work, the client gets the work done and mate keeps a customer. Can't just hand it straight over to the arb, because next thing you blink and find the arb is in there cutting friggin' grass and fencing

[Dean Lofthouse]

I must start taking on landscaping jobs, just price the job, cream off all the profit then get some labourers in to do all the work.

 

I can't understand why someone advertises tree work that then get others in to do the work

[Pedroski]

I must start taking on landscaping jobs, just price the job, cream off all the profit then get some labourers in to do all the work.

 

I can't understand why someone advertises tree work that then get others in to do the work

 

It's not quite like that. He doesn't advertise tree work. And the guy doing the tree work is his brother. And yep, you might as well do landscaping jobs as well if it helps fill time and earn money, provided you get in skilled landscapers who know what they're doing, not just some unskilled labour. It's the same with the trees. Wouldn't dream of having an unskilled firm in to do it.