When do you quote?

[Jonny69]

"Day rates" are for building sites and it's not something I would do for normal tree work, what happens if you tell them a day and you have it finished by 1pm?

 

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Have a hedge cutter in the truck and start doing that for a couple of hours, leave at 3pm.

 

offer to get the customers ride on out of the shed and mow the lawn.

 

Do some weeding.

 

Any other option you can think of.

 

Meanwhile whoever else is on site cleans and sharpens the saws, does the truck tyre pressures, greases machines etc etc. Works well enough for me.

 

I explain this to the customer.

 

Of course you could drag the job out all day if you wanted, i'm not a fan of that option though.

 

As a side not, we do quite a bit of commercial site and building site work which is almost exclusively priced on day rate.

[Ian Clarke]

Sorry if it's been done before, I have looked but couldn't find anything.

 

This is aimed at the smaller firms really, when do you quote? this year has done my head in, so busy and trying to fit everything in has almost got to me (I remember Mr Blairs thread on stress) I have been out with the lads most days then trying to fit 2-3-4 quotes in a night and not getting in till 8pm which is totally stupid, we run 2 teams, 2 full timers as one team and me and a subbie as the other, I'm thinking of say 3 days on the tools and then doing all the quotes on say a Thursday and Friday inc evenings for those two nights, my only concern is weather people will put up with this as most will be at work and will they wait nearly a week if they call on a Friday? I'm up for sergestions as I need to run 2 teams but also want a little quality of life as well.

 

Discuss please.

Can you run as a team of 3 on the days you need to quote.

 

Or pull another subbie in and split your full time guys. 1 full time and 1 subbie x2 teams then you quoting.

 

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[kevinjohnsonmbe]

Packed Mrs Lee and our 2 bairns off to Morocco middle of July.

This mean't that my weekends suddenly became free.

Sundays are 100% family normally so I was able to go quoting instead.

I drove 372km one Sunday and saw 6 British clients.

Brits tend to be spread out and one client was 2 hours drive West but the job was a good size one so worth the travel.

I won all 6 jobs too boot.

Over 550 man hours of work.

This Sunday will be my last opportunity to go quoting before I fly out myself to Morocco to cycle down the coast then up into the Atlas mountains.

Though I'll still be connected and answering the smart phone when I've a signal.

We too are running 2 teams this Winter, one for jobs further afield (guys who are not bound by child care and snappy wives) and another for more local work.

4 full time on the books plus a scattering of subbies.

Ty

 

Where a bouts in Morocco? I spent a month surfing out of Taghazout (just realised it was 10 years ago which shocked me!) Great times, very, very nearly bought a house and set about a surf / moto cross endeavour with a buddy. I had a personal cross-roads, blow it all and take a risk on a lifestyle choice with a mate, or get a grip of myself, marry the girl I'd been seeing and settle down....

 

So here I am...... All settled down......

[Ty Korrigan]

But never ever give your client a day rate , or you will rue the day you did.

 

In Frenchy France, we use the phrase 'Forfait journalier'

So regardless of the job being an hour or a day and half, the day rate is set as a 'forfait' or price for a single day.

Works for me anyway...but I am flexible.

Ty

[roseyweb]

For the small amount of domestic quotes I do I weed out the time wasters.

 

Anyone who states they are shopping around for quotes I don't bother with unless it's a large job where our bigger kit can be more efficient and quote beating

 

I can usually give a estimate over the phone, by asking the right questions, species, size (in easily measures unit ie. taller then house/bus/sky scrapper etc)

Access, can I park under it?

Are you going to complain if I bend your Daisy's, is there a green house under it. Are you a pain in the bum to deal with.

 

Using that I can give a estimate, if that sounds acceptable I go quote.

 

Sometimes people want to be romanced which you can do down phone, some people have nothing better to do and feel empowered getting quotes but I think most people want a rough price with little fuss to know if they can afford it.

[Ty Korrigan]

The retired miser who has all the time in the world and all the knowledge and who would do the job himself and in fact will direct the job regardless of who wins the quote and who could do the job better himself but for his back...

Ty

[Goaty]

Wow Ty,life has moved on. I remember you asking for input in the forum about Morocco etc. Was it that long ago you have two kids? I'm hoping they are twins, or have I really been on arbtalk that long.

Sorry for derail chaps. Some good pointers and timesavers in this thread.

 

Let those who will work for next to nowt do the hassle customers. As someone on here's tag line goes.

 

You thing it's expensive to hire a professional, wait till you've hired an amateur.

[John Shutler]

Definitely a case of getting the balance right, I usually try to take a day or a couple of half days during the week to look at jobs or fit them in if they are on my way home. Very rarely look at stuff on a weekend anymore, that was probably one of the best changes I made