From little things big things grow

Trees are amazing they start life as a small little plant that is almost insignificant; Just stepping on them would destroy their fragile little lives. These little plants may have self seeded or been purpose planted to offer a screen or shade. The nursery may have said it only grows to ten meters and would be perfect in the courtyard of your house.
The tree starts out life weighing almost nothing, you can carry it from the nursery in a bag. You have no idea what a monster it will become. You think it’s amazing how a tree may weigh less then half a kilo when planted and then before you know it, it’s the size of a three-storey building and weighing well over several tonne. The tree is large enough to destroy your house or even take your life should it fail while you are sleeping under it. This once little tree now rules your life.

Put yourself in the property owner’s shoes; imagine the retired couple that planted a little tree in the backyard when their son was born, over forty years ago. It cost them about fifty cents to buy the tube stock tree at the state forestry nursery and very little effort to plant it and as they got on with their busy lives this thing just kept on growing and growing and growing. This little tree took root and shot up towards the sky just like their son, they both matured and grow large limbs and loved their surroundings. The tree was part of their lives and a reminder of their son and his life.

During the life of this magnificent blue gum it cost the couple a pretty penny. Large branches needed removing from over the house on a number of occasions, Deadwood was removed on three occasions, After a big storm the roof needed fixing due to branch failure and a new drive way was poured after the tree roots destroyed and consumed the old one. In total about $12,500.00 was spent on the tree and tree related issues during its stay with the couple.
The trees days were number, like its makers it had grown old and its limbs brittle. As the couple grew older the tree worried them, they moved their bedroom from the back of the house, to the front and they feared sitting under it, as they did love doing in their younger years. It was time for quotes for removal and time to say good by and to move on. It was time to call in the professional arborist.

The poor couple could not believe the cost of removing the tree, it had cost fifty cents to buy and up to three thousand dollars to remove. He received three quotations that varied greatly in price and he was having problems chosen the right contractor for the job.

Perhaps you can help him choose?

One quotation was from a company that had been in the industry for more then fifty years and the old fellow that turned up to do the quote was in no state to be climbing trees or even climbing over the back fence to view the tree up close. The old truck he was driving looked like it had had a harder life then he had, if that was possible.

He clearly hadn’t made a fortune from the fifty years of hard work, but he was still in business and certainly had vast experience in the tree industry. It was clearly a family run business going by the company’s name but his sons may not have wanted to follow in their father's foot steps. It was hard to tell.
His quotation was the cheapest but he said he would need to remove part of the back fence and that they would bring a Bob cat in to remove the wood and that this will damage the lawn and may break a stone path.

The second quotation was from a young guy who advertised in the local paper and he had a qualification from TAFE and drove a nice new ute. He spent a lot of time looking at the tree and working out how to do it and eventually said that it was a very big job and that he would bring in an expert contract climber to assist with the removal.
He even went to the trouble of meeting the contract climber on site before committing to the price. The contract climber seemed very experienced and he said he had a special winch that strapped to the tree to assist with the dismantling job.
They did not say any thing about fence removal or possible damage. His quote was about a thousand dollars more then the cheapest quote but he was going to leave the wood cut up out the front for a week hoping for public removal.

The third quotation was from a very well dressed man in a BMW and he produced a folder of photos of past jobs and references from clients. He was very impressive and spoke very well. He even offered me a free check for broken roof tiles after the tree was removed.
As he sat and had a cup of tea with us he talked about his company and the other services it offered including gutter cleaning and pressure water blasting.
His quote was the most expensive and he wanted cash up front seven days before commencing work. He generated and printed the quotation on a laptop in the front of his car.

So which quotation does he choose? The cheapest, the most expensive or the middle of the road.
Do you only look at the price on the quote?
Do you really think that a high price guarantees a quality job?
Should we even consider the person quoting the job, do we really think this person represents the quality the company will offer?
Will the person quoting the job promise you the world but deliver very little?
Do you choose the snappy dresser in the fancy car or the old worn out guy in the truck?

So we have put you in the customer’s shoes, how does it feel? Do you feel vulnerable? Imagine getting quotes from a trade that you know nothing about. Will you ask all the right questions of the person quoting the works, will you detail the scope of works so clearly that their can be no misunderstandings?

Yet again I ask to many questions and provide very few answers. But without asking these questions are we not blind to the facts. From questions we hopefully get answers and from answers we are able to move forward and learn.
By placing yourself in the customer’s shoes we are better able to service the customer and probably win more quotes. Your presentation is important but can you take it to fare, is a suit and a tie over the top? Gone are the days of leaving your quote in the letterbox and having no face-to-face contact with the customer. If you do choose to do this then the customer will be forced to go by price alone and it makes it hard to do the sell on your company.

Next: Separation is the Name of the Game