SALES! appointments and such!!

Unatool, yep agreed. Always better to close the deal the first time you meet. I've found that being in front of the client is usually the best way to work through the closing on a large contract with many elements. It can get into a game of phone tag but I've closed business by voice mail so not too big a deal.
 
Me too - Big jobs, I like to meet, talk (even take a few digital photo's) then get Email address. Put together a great bid document, attach photo's, insurance, scan of CA and Tree Climber certificates... all the bells and whistles. Especially if I know the customer is a 'professional' type and appreciates all the paperwork.

I do run into the old timers that just want a handshake. I write the price on the back of a business card and tell them we will show up on Tuesday - 6:30 am to cut that f*!$#ing tree down. They always like the early morning starts!

Still a great thread... keep thoughts coming
 
Yep! Mirror your client! I find it fun to try to reflect the individuals approach. If I get it right, like goldilock's porridge, we connect and the job is pretty much mine.
 
that is very insightful and i happen to agree!! asking the right questions and allowing t he client to speak is a great approach! i always try to run through a recap as well at the end
 
Lets expand this a little..... first we generate the leads....then we convert.we definately want hot leads... what types of things are you all doing to get some good lead generation going? and lets say you wanted to expand your work load enough to add a person. What ypes of strategies would you use to increase the amount of work.
A few things to consider would be ...market or expand services to existing clients,create a referal program,expand territory. Are any of you doing things like this? hows it working?
 
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A few things to consider would be ...market or expand services to existing clients,create a referal program,expand territory. Are any of you doing things like this? hows it working?

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My existing client - Public Works... pain in asss jobs, they only bid out the impossible ones. They have a (half decent) crew and bucket truck.

I have always been nice to the boss, see him at kids soccer games, etc.

So - now I get the call (from bucket operator) that they want to farm out all their trees to me... layoffs, cutbacks and their crew is depleted.

I say, "yes sir, meet you on Tuesday to examine job".

That may just work out...
 
[ QUOTE ]
Lets expand this a little..... first we generate the leads....then we convert.we definately want hot leads... what types of things are you all doing to get some good lead generation going? and lets say you wanted to expand your work load enough to add a person. What ypes of strategies would you use to increase the amount of work.
A few things to consider would be ...market or expand services to existing clients,create a referal program,expand territory. Are any of you doing things like this? hows it working?

[/ QUOTE ]

All I have done so far is build a website and the local paper ads. I currently have the work to add someone, but with winter coming, I am hesitant. Unemployment tax goes from 1-point something to about nine percent after the first layoff.

I am expanding services to spraying for winter moth and wooly adelgid next Spring, currently in the market for the equipment and educating myself on as many aspects of that facet of the biz that I can think of.

I have an airspade as well, but have not been able to successfully market that service yet. I may make it more prominent on my website next year.

So far it's baby steps for us!

-Tom
 
Tom if I get to meet you at the TCIA EXPO, I have had really good luck selling these types of jobs, I will be glad to help in any way I can. Look forward to meeting you at least to say hello!!!
 
Ah networking... i love it! if i were going i would say lets have a beer summit!! but this year im doing crane seminar...and i cannot justify both...
Tom, i am in the same boat... i have plenty of work!! about 7 weeks of backlog ....i should bring on some help,but im never certain what winter will bring. so we are just adding some saturdays and im going to be jumping in more to help as well!!
you guys should definately connect at expo.that would be awesome~
 
I was going through looking for comment on charging for estimates and came across this.

There is a tremendous variability for us about volume of calls. Some weeks 100 calls, this week 2. That is quite the range...

As far as how many estimates in a week during the busy season, 40 is quite a few and probably average.

The qualifying and pre-interview for me is critical. I know what we sell and if you aren't looking for us, you will be wasting my time. I give the price for anything that is remotely small over the phone - having well established minimums. I am not retentive about this, but I stick by my guns unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Driving is a waste of time. Line them up well. Confirm them. Show up on time or call. Use email if your client uses it. Communicate clearly (about 30% of people cannot be communicated with effectively no matter how clear you are) Appointments have a MUCH higher probability of closure. I have had secretaries schedule days with high amounts of backtracking.

The reason I went looking is exactly what you stated - each estimate takes an hour. 200 estimates X $75 = $15000. Estimating cost for a month. Why exactly do we not charge for estimates? Incidentally, saying there is a charge on the phone tells you whether the potential client is cheap or not. My experience is that they never even ask you how much is the charge. I charge $11 for an estimate to be refunded on the work performed invoice for an "estimate". If you are going to ask me any questions or you aren't sure what to do and need my "professional opinion" the cost is $47 and I am not going to deduct it from the work invoice. I do spend quite a bit of my down time learning as much as I can, so my opinion has some validity - maybe not congruous to everybody else, but my perspective.
 
a good perspective fireaxe! and thank you for posting in this thread. My hope was that it would go longer and create a conversation!
It seems funny the more discriminating we began to be as far as who we would "let hire us" the better work we got and the higher percentage of closes we got...go figure!!
 
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