Loading…
8
I finally started checking if my clients are real people before I send crew out, and one address was a vacant lot
I run a small tree service and for years I would just book jobs off texts and emails without thinking twice. Two weeks ago a guy messaged me about a big oak removal at a place off Highway 9 near Snohomish, gave me the address, and asked for a quote over text. I sent my climber out there and it was an empty lot with a for sale sign, no oak, nothing. After that I started calling every new lead on the phone first, just to hear a voice and ask one odd question like what color the front door is. Out of my next nine inquiries, two couldn't answer anything about the property and one sent back a reply in perfect paragraphs that read like a brochure. Now I wonder how many of my old no show clients were never real people at all. Does anyone else in a service business do a human check before sending a crew out?
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
mark_chen625d ago
The "perfect paragraphs that read like a brochure" part got me because I had the exact same thing happen with a fencing lead last summer. Guy emailed me three neat paragraphs about a backyard privacy fence, all proper, no typos, and when I called the number it just rang and rang. I started doing the odd question thing too, usually asking what side of the street the house is on, and I've had two people get real quiet and hang up. The vacant lot story is a new one though, glad your climber didn't waste a whole morning out there.
4