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The last batch I got earlier this year worked out at 20p each because I bought twice as many (2000) and the bulk of the design had already been done. It doesn`t take long to off-load 1000. I give one out with every quote, then every invoice. If the customer is in during a job and we`re chatting at the end about how ecstatic they are with the work another 5 get handed out for all their friends and neighbours. If you`re ever looking for more referrals make sure you earn it and be certain to ask. `So glad you like it...tell all your friends...helps keep us busy.` The other thousand went on a three letter direct mail campaign to selected households in the most affluent suburbs of Manchester and north Cheshire - for those hard to reach clients earning more than 50K that you dream about. Their houses also make nice back-drops for more before and afters, which in turn help attract more of those customers.

You might be right - I don`t have any cards, just a A5 size booklet made up of 8 pages. Full of testimonials, before and after pictures and a few action shots. Basically my website in a little book. Beautifully printed on silk finish. Cost 40p each. It does wind me up when some people fold it in half to put in their pocket but it saves a lot of time trying to sell while doing quotes and gives the customer a good idea if we are what they`re looking for.

Mick, why don`t you use your first name rather than just the initial? Isn`t that what your customers would call you? To me, `competitive` sounds like you`re not actually the cheapest but you`re not far off it. Is that the position you`re aiming for? If you look expensive and someone calls for a quote, cheap prices won`t be their main priority. They`ve sought you out and they are willing to pay for your skills and 26 yrs experience. Likewise, price shoppers will leave you in peace.

Thanks Marko. Good info.

Ed, I don`t actually have a job in mind at the moment - we only seem to do reductions these days, but I like to be prepared and your bundle of services could be useful. You could even bring that Hornet thing along! How much would you want to make it worth your while, then I can price it in to future jobs. Arrive mid morning, leave about 4. Cheers. Nick

Marko, that looks ace. Do you sub that machine out with or without a driver? I`m in Manchester. Thanks. Nick. JCB: 403 Agri

It is tempting to consider what others are charging and what people say they are prepared to pay when pricing. However, this has led me in the past to charging too little. If you work out the costs then work out your day rate from that, chipping away at what you need to charge only leads to grief. Clearly the money you knock off does not come off the whole budget proportionately. 100% of it comes from your profit. Do that a few times a week and your business plan soon goes astray. Stick to the pricing target as close as you dare. Tight-wads and difficult-to-please customers should magically melt away. The vacuum will be filled with customers who appreciate that not every single tree surgeon can possibly deliver exactly the same standard of work. If you can show clients that your work and service will be top notch there are enough people out there willing to pay for it. (Telling people you are good is not as effective as showing them.) Dave, I wrote that before I read your post. Its not directed at you. Your approach has merit.

Like others have said, there is a million different ways to price work. I`ll just tell you how I do it and hope it is of some help. I add up the cost of all outgoings and costs for 12 months. Fuel, parts, repairs, insurances, accountancy fees, work clothes, printing, stamps, Pay-per-click advertising, tax discs, PMIs, bank charges - the lot, including depreciation of kit. Our chipper loses £3800 in value a year, the truck loses £1500. Add that total to the profit you want for a year. Divide that by 48 weeks for the weekly target. Then I divide that by 5 for the base day-rate. Added to that is the subcontractor costs for that day and then times that total amount by 15% to give a vat-inclusive day rate. Double it for a two-day job or divide by 3 for a `third-of-a-day` job etc. Any job smaller than £200 starts clogging things up. All that is left to do is work out whether you could do 1,2,3 or 4 of them jobs in a day. But that is sometimes easier to say than do.

This is only my opinion and it may only be banter, but when you guys slag off each other`s make of product it looks bad all round. For us tree workers our customers are not generally on Arbtalk. I`d imagine a lot of your customers are. Forgive me if I speak out of turn.

Thanks Treefitter. Good pictures. If that crane could be fitted like it is on the trailer, but to my chipper (a vermeer 1000xl, weighs about 2ton) I`d be very interested. Not for feeding the chipper, just log loading onto the truck without having to go back to the yard to get it. A baby 2000xl at half price !!

Thanks for that Treedave. If you have any pictures post them up. That could be handy on the back of my 7.5 ton iveco. I guess you can load logs onto both the truck and trailer. Is it safe and legal doing 60mph?

Treefitter, could you post more pictures? I looked on that website but couldn`t see the same one you have. Does anyone on here sell them? That Riko website made me dizzy!

SWB, I can see how a one-crew tree firm could make a 100k profit, but with one worker for only 3 days? You say its mostly domestic work and its the kit that can earn you `a couple of grand` in a day. What kit are you talking about or is it all in the pricing? Do you get income from anything other than tree work? Sorry if I`m being too nosey.

Would never charge by time, only by results; but for a daily target: £800 + vat 3-man team £950 + vat 4-man team

I agree with the SWB approach. Domestic customers as much as possible and only commercial customers that are happy to play by the rules.

Interesting job and some great pictures. Thanks for posting, Ed.

That looks ace.

I think you`re right, Dean. If price was the top priority for most customers why doesn`t everyone drive around in the cheapest cars and wear the cheapest clothes, trying to live in the cheapest houses. For me personally, showing before and after pictures of trees works much better than talking about insurance, price, qualifications, dangerous work etc. They`re not interested in that stuff. To be honest, when I`m in the buyer`s position, I`m only interested in what I`ll be getting out of it not how many training units or how much insurance they claim to have or how everyone else is a cowboy.

Cheers Quickthorn. Youtube does allow you to control comments on your vids if you want to. For anyone thinking of it, if you mention `tree surgeon` and `your town` in the title, it`ll be on the front page of Google soon enough. That one I just did took 3 days to get listed. I know web designers that charge £300+ for websites that get nowhere near the first page. For 2 hours of your time and at zero cost, you can get your business advertising on Google. If you can`t be bothered, send me a cheque for £200 + vat and I`ll do it for you.

I thought I`d give it a try - just still pictures. Also features pics of arbtalk legends Coates and Haine. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yjbGRE0whY]YouTube - Tree surgeon Manchester[/ame]

Of the last 51 quotes I`ve done for tree work, 1 was yellow pages, 4 were yell.com. The rest was evenly split between previous customers / recommended and Google. Last week I stopped all my advertising with yellow pages and yell.com.

Good, thanks. And you? From what I`ve been told from climbers who have worked there, the money is better than anywhere else, but you do earn it.

BAUMPFLEGE Richard Banks

Dave, this might be what you`re after: Plant Security and Tracking for the Plant Machinery and Construction industry About £650. No on-going charges. You can phone it up anytime to see where it is, how fast its moving and what direction. If vibration setting is enabled, it will call your mobile as soon as anyone even looks at it funny!