Good Examples of Invoices and/or Contracts, etc.

No way would I put something like that down in writing unless I was willing to keep exact track of that discount. Also wouldn't be the best thing to have on your paperwork if you report little to no cash. Again ime here in Canada atleast.
 
There's a couple new fly by night tree services here in town this year. I've watched them come and go for 25 years. I personally don't mind them. They just make by business look better. But it's usually after the fact though when I'm coming in behind them cleaning up a mess for more than I originally quoted before they "beat anyone's price". Recently I've been loosing a more than normal amount of jobs to this. Normally I don't mind that because we have more work than we can handle. But the customers are telling me I have the job. When I show up it's already done. They say they were going to call. The last few I have charged a $200 service call. They don't like it but when I'm sitting there at 7 am with all equipment ready to work I'm going to get something for my time. I've found out through a couple of customers that these new tree services are pushy about wanting to do the job that day. That sounds good to someone who's really not wanting to wait 3 months for me to get there. Even though I tell them up front my time frame.

I never get paid until the work is done and the customer is satisfied. But I've been thinking about getting a signature and a 10% non refundable deposit. My repeat customers will have no problem with this however I'm afraid it would turn away new clients. Anyone have any advice on how to word this on my estimates. I already have "Estimate Expires in 30 Days". I tell them they are required to tell me of any and all utilities and buried services and have them marked before I show. I take care of One Call. I'm going to add "Payment Due Upon Completion of Work" on my next order of estimate pads. And probably something about metal and concrete in trees and a changed job site such as a church being built under the tree. Yes that happened a couple years ago. Also had a storage building moved in and a power line added within a 2 week period. The price went up and I lost the job due to not being able to fall the tree and having to charge more to rig it down.
 
Sounds like you're smashing it 8)

"Booking fee of 9.5%" ? Do you need 10%? 5 might be easier to swallow and still has em hooked lol

I have 90 days expiry on quotes, it seems reasonable enough. But I hope to have terms and conditions shortly cos I know most people wait until they are stung before they put them out there..
 
I would go the opposite. +10% for cards.

I heard fourth hand, only some states allow you to add on fees for CCs. Dunno.

"Well, I want to get my miles" means next time I'll add that into the price, without notation of such thing happening. No free lunch.
 
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  • #32
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ATTENTION ADMINISTRATOR... HOPEFULLY THE BELOW IS NOT ANY INFRINGEMENT, ETC.
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As a wannabee tree professional....In my motivation to "do things right", I became a member of TCIA for this year.

They have a lot of resources including what they call the "[ANSI] A300 Industry Proposal Form"

Unsure of copywrite laws, etc. I hesitated to copy it here, but there are some websites out there which include it basically word for word.

e.g. http://terrys-treeservice.com/terms.html

Here are some excerpts:

Cancellation Fee: Terry’s Tree Service of SW FL, LLC, Inc. kindly requests that the authorizing party provide at least 24 hours advance notice of any full or partial work cancellation. If a crew has been dispatched to the job site, the customer will be assessed a mobilization fee of $300.00 for incurred expenses.


Completion of Contract Terry’s Tree Service of SW FL, LLC, Inc. agrees to do its best to meet any agreed upon performance dates, but shall not be liable in damages or otherwise for delays because of inclement weather, labor, or any other cause beyond its control; nor shall the customer be relieved of completion for delays.


Tree Ownership: The authorizing party warrants that all trees listed are located on the customer’s property, and if not, that the authorizing party has received full permission from the owner to allow Terry’s Tree Service of SW FL, LLC, Inc. to perform the specified work. Should any tree be mistakenly identified as to ownership, the customer agrees to indemnify Terry’s Tree Service of SW FL LLC, Inc. for any damages or costs incurred form the result thereof.


Safety: Terry’s Tree Service of SW FL, LLC, Inc. warrants that all arboricultural operations will follow the latest version of the ANSI Z133.1 industry safety standards. The authorizing party agrees to not enter the work area during arboricultural operations unless authorized by the crew leader on-site.

Concealed Contingencies: Any additional work or equipment required to complete the work, caused by the authorizing party’s failure to make known or caused by previously unknown foreign materials in the trunk, the branches, underground, or any other condition not apparent in estimating the work specified shall be paid for by the customer on a time and material basis. Terry’s Tree Service of SW FL, LLC, Inc. is not responsible for damages to underground sprinkler, drain lines, invisible fences or underground cables unless the system(s) are adequately and accurately mapped by the authorizing party and a copy is presented before or at the time the work is performed.


Clean-up: Clean-up shall include removing wood, brush, and clippings, and raking of the entire area affected by the specified work, unless noted otherwise on this proposal.


Lawn Repair: Terry’s Tree Service of SW FL, LLC, Inc. will attempt to minimize all disturbances to the customer’s lawn. Lawn repairs are not included in the contract price, unless noted otherwise on this proposal.
 
It snows occasionally.

September, beautiful weather, long enough days. Hard ground.
October, ground starts to soften with rain, which usually won't harden, like with a good freeze, for the next 8 months.
November, definitely wind and rain.
Nov/ Dec worst weather, shorter days
Jan wet, but warmer. Short days. Only about 8 hours working light.
Feb same.
March. decent days
April decent, but wet.
May, cool weather, some rain.
June wet or dry.
July dry and hot (started moss on fire on a stump cut of bigleaf maple the other day),
August dry and hot.

Machine access and ability to move as large of pieces of wood is definitely different. Impact is higher in wet weather. Clean-up takes more time. Drying gear time.



I can easily see a job taking 1.5 days in wet weather that would go in a day of dry weather with hard ground. Rain gear slows work. Drying stuff takes time.


Just my experience, in my market.

30 days is enough.



Sometimes I specify a job, like a big maple removal as priced before leaf-out. Lots more material to deal with, and vision obscured by leaves makes it a different job, at a different price.


I wonder how much a tree's weight can change seasonally.
 
I never considered weather as part and parcel of the "valid for" time window, its not so much relevant to my local conditions but I can see how it is in your case. I may reduce mine down to 45 but to be honest it doesn't seem to play much of a role apart from giving me some ability to adjust the price of dated jobs with inflation and increasing overheads..
 
Sorta like negotiating a used- car purchase, I'd like to make people an price at the time of bid, valid during the bid, only.

If I can tag it on to another job, say next door or next street with a coordinated effort (neighbors, friends) I've offered to give them both a bit of the top, plus an individual price.

Sometimes, when people are asking for 'a la carte' pricing, they get it, with a percent discount if multiple line items can be done on the same trip, giving incentive without requirement.
If they add on at the time of work, if it fits our schedule, they get a break, over not doing it, or a separate trip.

A minimum charge applies.

I tried to get some customers to do $75-100 of work added to their job in the spring. I have to charge $300 minimum to mobilize and work. It was contested land with their neighbor. They had to wait too long, a month for a couple bushes. Wind storms happen. Hopefully, they got a landscaper to cut the bushes, not a tree company.
 
I hate being asked for the "a la carte" menu, just make your order please. Seems those clients are ditherers mostly but here we are generally talking small items, suburban/urban yards ie how much for that 15 mins? and how much for that 25 minutes x 6 etc. Whereas you likely have multiple significant trees in semi rural properties etc. I watched a jobber webinar about positive online reviews, the nuts and bolts of it is ask your clients to write the reviews, otherwise they will likely not happen. I will now trade small extra items for reviews.
 
I know what you mean about the "a la carte" customers. There have been times I've gone through several estimate sheets due to writing down every single tree and limb and bush and putting a price on each one. So I tell them if I do it that way that each item will be badly overpriced because I'm going to assume each is a trip to their house. Early on in my career I gave a price on removing a decent size tree. He also wanted one limb from a separate tree added on. It was about $1,200 tree and $50 limb. He called back in a week and said go ahead with the limb and leave the tree. Needless to say I didn't get the job once the price on the limb went up. So now when they want it itemized out it gets expensive. Then they're surprised when its way less for the entire job. They usually work in an office somewhere and don't understand about moving equipment.
 
I learned early on to discuss a minimum right up front when booking the estimate. As in tell the customer to come and do any job it's X amount as a minimum. It weeded out going to look at some bodies overgrown shrub to give them a price on removing it. Also a easy way to handle the a la carte customers, with a minimum charge.

People would sometimes balk at the minimum or really any grief over the pricing I'd meet with this reply, "if it's not worth x amount for you to have me do it we'll have to agree to disagree because it's not worth me doing it for any less".

I was a price giver, not a price negotiator.
 
Other one I liked was I'd let them know I was definetly into haggling ........if the price is heading upwards. :D
 
We've been getting a few lately on prune ups that come running out saying "enough, enough, tell him to come down hes taken enough off" its not something we are familiar with but its totally ok :lol:
 
I posted some of the written material that I use for my small business, including my subcontractor agreement, my quote sheet, the Integrated Tree Management Plan, and email scripts. If they can provide some value to anyone else trying to run a tree care operation then I am glad to help. Feel free to use them as starting points for your own needs, or you can just copy them straight-up, that's fine by me. You can check that stuff out here: Small Business Resources

Peace,
 
Should I have my customers make the check out to Conserve a tree or TreeMuggs? Lol. Thanks Patrick. Those look like a nice form to work from for me.
 
Sean, here was my thinking behind that price integrity guarantee. There were multiple cases where I ended up learning later that I had lost out on bids for just $50. I wanted something to encourage customers to negotiate a bit with me, rather than just taking my quote as being set in stone, take it or leave it. So I came up with this sentence: "We are able to beat most professional, written quotes for tree trimming by 5% - contact us for more details." On the surface it seems simplistic, but if you break it down there's actually a lot going on there. First of all it says "most", which puts me in the driver seat. There is no obligation on my part whatsoever to beat anyone else's price, after all, it only says "most". I get to choose when I honor this pledge. Next it says "professional, written quotes". This is so I'm not competing with all of the hacks in town, most of whom do not offer written quotes, or if they do, they are just scribbled on the back of a business card or something. Next it says "for tree trimming". I don't extend this to removals, which are usually far more work and involve bigger equipment. There is usually more wiggle room on my part for trimming jobs, which are my bread and butter. Lastly, it says "contact us for more details", which means that the customer has to be bold enough to call me back and ask me to honor this. Most customers never even take that step.

I used this for a few years with underwhelming results. In 3 years, I only had a handful of people take advantage of it. At the end of the day, I was unimpressed with the concept, but I'm still glad I gave it a go. You don't know unless you try.

These days I do most of my quoting by email, to build an email list of customers and contacts, which has been far more valuable than picking up an extra job here or there. The email form does not contain the price integrity guarantee. The other tactic that proved to be far better than a 5% discount, was just taking deposits. I don't usually ask for more than $50-100 for a deposit, but the difference to our cashflow is huge. And it helps big time to keep customers from going with someone else after the fact. But even if they do, that deposit is non-refundable.

I know these issues have been beaten to death on the forums - beating other people's quotes, and taking deposits. Not looking for a big derail, just being honest about my experiences and opinions. If there's anything on the front or back of my quote sheet that anyone wants to use, I can also PM it to you as a Word document, so you can change anything you want.
 
Good reasoning and strategy.

My email is info @ South Sound tree. Com
Can I please get a copy of your printed version?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #50
I posted some of the written material that I use for my small business, including my subcontractor agreement, my quote sheet, the Integrated Tree Management Plan, and email scripts. If they can provide some value to anyone else trying to run a tree care operation then I am glad to help. Feel free to use them as starting points for your own needs, or you can just copy them straight-up, that's fine by me. You can check that stuff out here: Small Business Resources

Peace,

Thanks!!
 
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