Selling tree work %

[PCTREE]

Anybody got any idea what kind of % people get for selling tree work

I am negotiating again to try to sell my business and the potential buyers want me to sell work for them

 

[Mellow]

The standard rate is 10%

 

[flushcut]

10% for gigs over $1000.00 8% for gigs under a grand.

 

[PCTREE]

Rajan that makes no sense to me , selling an $800 job takes just as long as a $6000 job so why the drop ?

I also want to get a rate that makes them want to replace me

 

[lxskllr]

If 10% is the going rate, maybe 15%? Not completely outrageous, but high enough they'd rather do it themselves.

 

[flushcut]

Rajan that makes no sense to me , selling an $800 job takes just as long as a $6000 job so why the drop ?

I also want to get a rate that makes them want to replace me

I get a lot of referrals that are stupid little jobs so that’s why the drop. It helps encourage people to refer better jobs. Has it worked? Hard to say. But a flat rate of 10% is kind of universal.
You can shoot the moon and ask whatever you want but 10% isn’t bad for making a few phone calls.

 

[PCTREE]

I guess i have a hard time invisioning how its all going to work. Currently I sell the work and then DO the work. How the fug is it possible to convey all the details on a work order?

 

[cory]

 

[pigwot]

Get them to use an app/software like Jobber.
Input all the info including photos (which can be marked up with arrows and circles and notes). Add that extra 5% for the time it’ll take for after-the-sale handholding (calls from their crew, etc.)

 

[vharrison]

I agree PC, how is that going to work? Unless you know the team thats going to do the work, how will you know how to price their time doing the job and how will they know what you mean?

 

[lumberjack]

Most jobs are worth whatever their worth, the business’s efficiency is the edge.

It’s 2022, videoing a job at bid wouldn’t be hard, if there’s not an easier way to convey the information.

 

[SkwerI]

I was following written work orders 25 years ago when I worked at Davey. There would be a rough sketch of the property and a short description of the work, along with the price. From the price I knew how long we had to do the job (we had to hit a specific dollar rate per hour). Only once in a great while would I have to call the salesman with a question.

It's tree work, it's not that complicated. Trim or removal. Done.

 

[pigwot]

Although I agree with your sentiment on the whole Brian, there are often unique site abnormalities or issues: access, septic fields/tanks preventing getting a crane close enough, carry-outs when equipment can't get close, ornamentals in the potential drop zone, and other factors which we "see" immediately, but which need to be conveyed to a crew, along with the estimator having a good working understanding of what each crew is capable of in a set amount of time given those variables. I agree that video, with a running commentary would assist greatly, as you mention, Carl.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

And then there are the methheads, pot heads, alcoholics and pussys.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

Or the ones like me who takes an eternity to choose the cuts in the trim/thin job or (and) always finds an other thing to do outside the bid.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Oooops. Hope I did not offend anyone since I left out passive agressive contrarians. There buddy.

 

[Nutball]

I've heard of 20% tops for selling work. A company in Nashville would get the jobs, then have contract climbers do the work, the company kept 10%. Later someone else bought the business and started keeping 20% which seemed to work, but the only climber I knew who got work from them wasn't happy about it, but then he wasn't happy if he got paid the usual daily rate working for someone else because he was used to collecting the check for the whole job.

 

[BIGTWIG]

The standard rate is 10%

@Mellow
10% of gross?
Is this calculating in a salespersons hourly wage as an employee?

 

[Mellow]

Definition of Draw Against Commission | Salary Plan (patriotsoftware.com) Yes, 10% of gross.