Arborist Selling Tree Jobs

Bixler

TreeHouser
Joined
Dec 20, 2012
Messages
1,311
Location
Nevada City,CA
How does your company structure paying the estimator to sell work???

I have a small company and would like to transition our Arborist from working (hourly) onsite in the trenches to doing estimates. I'd like to hear the thoughts of the TH. Thanks!
 
Base salary + commission after base is paid back, seems to be the norm around here...
 
The last time I was with (1995ish) a treeco that did that, they paid him 20%. I always thought that was too much, but he was the guy who originally owned the company and he sold it. There may have been some deal worked out that I wasn't aware of.

10% sounds better to me.
 
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Thanks Butch, and you updated my profile pic 8)

Levi, what percentage is the average commission?
 
5%-10%. Most I know get 7%

Some bigger companies break it down more... 10% for new clients, 7% for return custies 5% PHC 3% PHC renewals

Most have a base around 50k from what I know, after you commission has matched your base you then start to earn on top of that.
 
I'd like to hear from a full time "seller" about little tricks they use.
I'm a owner/operator who was in sales in an earlier life so know a thing or two.
To hear some tips from a pro would be interesting.
 
" oh dear lord this tree is done for, totally unsafe, root failure at any time, fungus, cankers, EABs PBBs HEBEGBs FMLs this is a danger, lives are at risk, property damage for sure, death destruction appocolyptic ..... we can pencil you in 7 weeks"
 
As a full time, 100% commissioned (b2b) sales guy, I'm interested in hearing answers here.

My short take is b2c is transaction related, b2b is relationship related.

My .02 is know what kind of jobs are value added and which are commodities. Know your niche and hit it oh so hard - it's about niches, bitches!
 
One of our tech college teachers does freelance sales, apparently he can get quite the high price.

Mick do you try to close sales at the bid and book them in?

Yes I do try to secure the job there and then although I don't "close" like a salesman, through choice really.

My weakness is I cannot be bothered to listen to people for too long, They want a tree out, "it'll be €600, there's the quote, see you later" I should be more conversational, sometimes I am, I can walk around with the garden, discussing their plants and swapping stories about hydrangeas etc, then get round to the nitty gritty when they're all lubed up so to speak.
I'm definitely better Saturday afternoon when I'm focused. Evenings after work I'm a lot more brusque, which can work well, but often doesn't.
I had a few sales jobs and one of my old managers used to tell me after every visit/pitch, stop the car down the road and think about what went right and what went wrong, then use that info to improve the next one.

What's b2c by the way?
 
10% is what I used to get...and feel that is fair, especially in the salesman provides his own car and fuel...
 
b2c - business to consumer - inherently more transaction oriented vs business to business which is more relationship based.

It is good that you don't "close".

Closing is important. You are there to sell a job, not be a professional visitor. Keep in mind nobody likes to be closed. There are lots of different types of closes, but one of my favorites for treework is to discuss the scope of the job you are quoting, then the order of operations (including when they'll get an invoice) and follow that up by simply asking "so, should I put you on the schedule for next Tuesday?"

It has been my experience that very very few tree sales folk follow up on their quotes. That is almost like knocking on someone's door and running away before they answer. No harm in calling later and seeing if they ever had the work done or seeing if they have any questions about your quote.

Selling is an art. In treework, it offers the widest margins. Trees inherently know how to make good decisions, they grow towards the light - they don't need an arborist to make good decisions. People unfortunately don't inherently make great decisions - an arborist can help.

.02
 
Following up is a real grey area for me, I hear it said often that its important but in all honesty when someone follows up a sales pitch with me it doesn't help them convert a sale. There could be a whole lot that I'm missing but I would say that the onus is on the lead to follow up if they are interested or have any questions. I know that in a tiny percentage of cases following up demonstrates that you "want the work"....
 
Damn Nate, I like your style.

I sent a follow up email to a dozen or more leads last night and woke up to several emails asking to schedule work and some promising questions asked from others. Sometimes the follow up is not natural for me but it is quite helpful, if for nothing else than to get closure.
 
I totally hear you Chris. I'd just caution against projecting yourself as the marketplace. How many times have you spent money on tree services?
(Not being argumentative, just proposing the concept)

Everyone has a different style and there are different niches. Some people think sales is a bad, tainted, or dirty thing. The idea abound that sales people are less than forthcoming. You want to see less than forthcoming, deal with customers and prospects - they almost never tell you what they really think.

What really helped me jump over my shadow in sales was taking a servant's approach. Just do the next right thing to help your customer and all else takes care of itself - at the very least, you sleep well at night.

I don't have all the answers, but I have sold a lot, missed a lot of sales, and learned from screwing up.

There are niches for folks that want to walk a property for hours talking about flowers with multi-page proposals and there are niches for low cost removals where the estimate involves a 30 second glance, ballpark number, and a handshake.
 
Thanks Nate, I appreciate your input. My operation isn't based on high volume so its easy to skimp on follow up. When the need arises for regular follow up I'll likely draft a generic template email to go out.
 
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