priciing storm work!

Paul Biester

Paul Biester

Location
under grace
I have been at this for a long time but i actually have no hard fast rule for pricing storm work.When its emergent and i have my crews in on ot i sometimes price at time and a half and on rare occasions have billed at double time if the emegency occurs on a holiday or something. How are you all working out your billing to cover the rigors of storm work with out gouging the client!!
 
It's ok Paul! Pricing storm work becomes an exercise in prioritizing not only pricing. What will motivate you to do one job over another and then deal with the extra time to reschedule the prior jobs.

Leave out the concept of gouging and apply think in terms of value proposition. What is it worth to the client? That is the way all business works, not just cost plus! Something may cost very little to produce but only be perceived as "worth it" if it's priced at a higher price point.

This is not to say take it to the client but don't sell yourself short. There are many intangible costs for us that we don't readily see until it's after the fact. Pricing it higher than you might normally, allows for the unforeseen and taking precautions that may or may not be needed.
 
Good luck down there. So far it seems that it's just another rainy day with a stiff breeze.

I'm really not expecting much in the way of work from this.
 
actually i did think is was going to be worse,,,however we did get some significant damage. We had to take half a tree off of a house w a crane today.And i have quite a bit of work to do and look at. the piece weighed in at around 17000 pounds and fell onto this really nice ladies bungalow from about 50ft.needless to say it devastated the house.Im gonna try to post some pics after the dust settles
 
No sooner did I post then I got a call to get out to Basking Ridge for storm damage work. They really got hit. Start at 12 and just finished dinner now!

Off to bed and more SD work tomorrow.

Work safe!!
 
So I am opening bills tonight and thought of this thread. Opened the bill from my ortho surgeon and there is the amount that was billed;the amount the insurance paid;the adjustment and the balance.


So if I priced a tree removal off a house for $3000.00 and the ins paid $2000 and I credited the customer back $900 leaveing them a $100 balance due, would that be any different?

Im just thinking Id be accused of gougeing or fraud by the ins co. What do you all think?
 
no it wouldnt...i just find most of our minds dont weave those types of webs!!
WE worked last sunday....i billed double time...i billed out time and a haalf for most of the rest of the week and started toning it back as the work became less emergent..I knew our costs would be higher w ot and all as well as re doing our entire schedule due to the storm...I can back ALL of my numbers w man hour figures...i feel its best that way in case anyone ever questions? ....there is no question!!
 
most times yes!! it is really a heart issue..I believe when i price it out its real and fair!

Here is a similar situation.my chipper tire blew out once on a cold winter friday night. My guys were like 40 minutes from home base. It was one one those rare moments when i had to call the road service ddude.... He had to leave the warm comfort of his dinner table to come and rescue me.
I fully expected to pay a premium and i did!! with tire , whch was for a vermeer 1800, was about 250 plus... the whole thing was pert near 500.00 .....paid him and went home......he worked on the side of the road and put my new tire on in lousy situation.... i was happy to see him pull up!!
 
Good example Paul. We have to place the value on our services then explain them to our clients, some times. Often I don't find I need to justify a higher price for something like emergency response.
 
i agree!most of our clients are repeats at this point,however i figured fi the example helped someone gain some clarity......then... all the better....
on another note....will we see you maybe at workday this year? we have an unfinished beverage in our future..
 
[ QUOTE ]
AllMark, are you asking more about the "kick back" to the home owner, or am I reading this wrong?

[/ QUOTE ]

Im not talking about a kick back. I dont do that. What im saying is in the medical industry there are standard rates for the industry. The insurance pays a set amount and the provider has their price adjusted soa as to lessen the patients pay out.
I agree with the rational in the other posts. I have been contacted by ins co's after a job and they are looking for an explanation as to the rate. I had one adjuster tell me that just because the crane costs $x it doesnt mean the per hour rate should be more. This is rare and only happened 2x to me but can be frustrating.
A company with a crane like Mayers and a 20" chipper should charge more per hour than a pick up truck and a 620 vermeer chipper. Same work but different costs and time to do the same job, Safety and reduced risk of further damage should also carry a premium. I have been awarded jobs because the customer saw the added expense of a crane as a value to prevent further damage.

In the end if you are honestly trying to do good work and not trying to screw the insurance co. I think the price is fair. But trying to get some adjusters to understand that is tough.
 
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