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General Skidsteer & Technical Topics
Construction & Landscaping
A way for you guys to drum up some business
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<blockquote data-quote="Pstone" data-source="post: 42161" data-attributes="member: 5328"><p>I run a quarry and we get people all the time...several times a day...that call and want rock for their driveways or parking lots and want to know if we will spread it for them. The answer to that is NO. We lack the manpower, equipment, or desire to field crews to spread gravel on driveways. </p><p>What we do have is a list of local skid steer guys that we can put them in touch with who are happy to do it. </p><p>To get that list together, I had to go out and track these guys down, explain what was needed, get their contact information together, etc.. It amazes me that we have never, even once, had a skid steer guy or excavator contact us about this. The reason I went to the trouble of tracking those guys down is that it occured to me that we were losing a couple thousand tons of sales per year because the home owner/business owner were not sure how they would get the gravel spread once delivered. </p><p>You guys who are running skid steer businesses might contact your local quarries, make sure they have your contact information, and let them know that you are interested in doing the work if they get people who call and ask about having the gravel spread.</p><p>A few tips:</p><p>Whoever answers the phone there is the person you actually want in your pocket....take her a coffee mug, some business cards, a refrigerator magnet, and if they actually send work your way, drop some donuts by once a week or something</p><p>'Make it EASY for the quarry. Dont try to cut some kind of complicated deal to tie up everything, and dont make them chase you. Make sure you leave them plenty of stuff with your name and number on it. The next time somebody calls and asks about spreading the gravel you dont want them going "man...that guy was here last week...what was his name again....."</p><p>If possible visit in person</p><p>Dont ask for the quarry manager, lead man, operations manager, or anything else. Believe me, it is quarry season right now and they dont have time to mess with you. If they get called all the way back up to the office to take a call like this, they are going to be pissed. The girl who answers the phone is who you actually WANT to talk to.</p><p>DO A GOOD JOB. The quarry will end up hearing about it if you dont. We have about a dozen guys on our list. 2 of them get all the work. They get so much work from us on referral that one of them bought 2 new skid steers last year and the other bought 3. The other guys we heard complaints about so we just did not give out their names any more. I dont know if the complaints we heard on the other guys were valid or not. I dont really care. We have no horse in this race, so we go with the guys who do not piss off our customers. </p><p>Make it EASY to do business with you. This is spreading gravel on a driveway. This is not underground work. You do not need a 2 page contract. An hourly rate ready to go is good. What is even better is a per ton rate so there is no question of how much this is going to cost. The guys who do the bulk of work for our customers never even meet most of them. The customer leaves a check on the door, the guy spreads the gravel. </p><p>Find out who runs deliveries for the quarry you are at and suck up to them. My drivers can dump 100 tons of gravel in a pile that takes 10 hours to spread, or they can tailgate it up a driveway so nicely that the skid steer guy just has to spend an hour smoothing. The difference seems to be how long ago the skid steer guy showed up with a box of donuts or a case of beer. I have not figured out the optimal ratio yet, but I know that the driver who runs the delivery can either make your life VERY easy, or VERY hard. </p><p>Anyway, I dont know if this will help any of you or not, but from my perspective and my experience, I think it could provide some lucrative opportunites for some of you guys who are running skid steer businesses.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Pstone, post: 42161, member: 5328"] I run a quarry and we get people all the time...several times a day...that call and want rock for their driveways or parking lots and want to know if we will spread it for them. The answer to that is NO. We lack the manpower, equipment, or desire to field crews to spread gravel on driveways. What we do have is a list of local skid steer guys that we can put them in touch with who are happy to do it. To get that list together, I had to go out and track these guys down, explain what was needed, get their contact information together, etc.. It amazes me that we have never, even once, had a skid steer guy or excavator contact us about this. The reason I went to the trouble of tracking those guys down is that it occured to me that we were losing a couple thousand tons of sales per year because the home owner/business owner were not sure how they would get the gravel spread once delivered. You guys who are running skid steer businesses might contact your local quarries, make sure they have your contact information, and let them know that you are interested in doing the work if they get people who call and ask about having the gravel spread. A few tips: Whoever answers the phone there is the person you actually want in your pocket....take her a coffee mug, some business cards, a refrigerator magnet, and if they actually send work your way, drop some donuts by once a week or something 'Make it EASY for the quarry. Dont try to cut some kind of complicated deal to tie up everything, and dont make them chase you. Make sure you leave them plenty of stuff with your name and number on it. The next time somebody calls and asks about spreading the gravel you dont want them going “man...that guy was here last week...what was his name again.....” If possible visit in person Dont ask for the quarry manager, lead man, operations manager, or anything else. Believe me, it is quarry season right now and they dont have time to mess with you. If they get called all the way back up to the office to take a call like this, they are going to be pissed. The girl who answers the phone is who you actually WANT to talk to. DO A GOOD JOB. The quarry will end up hearing about it if you dont. We have about a dozen guys on our list. 2 of them get all the work. They get so much work from us on referral that one of them bought 2 new skid steers last year and the other bought 3. The other guys we heard complaints about so we just did not give out their names any more. I dont know if the complaints we heard on the other guys were valid or not. I dont really care. We have no horse in this race, so we go with the guys who do not piss off our customers. Make it EASY to do business with you. This is spreading gravel on a driveway. This is not underground work. You do not need a 2 page contract. An hourly rate ready to go is good. What is even better is a per ton rate so there is no question of how much this is going to cost. The guys who do the bulk of work for our customers never even meet most of them. The customer leaves a check on the door, the guy spreads the gravel. Find out who runs deliveries for the quarry you are at and suck up to them. My drivers can dump 100 tons of gravel in a pile that takes 10 hours to spread, or they can tailgate it up a driveway so nicely that the skid steer guy just has to spend an hour smoothing. The difference seems to be how long ago the skid steer guy showed up with a box of donuts or a case of beer. I have not figured out the optimal ratio yet, but I know that the driver who runs the delivery can either make your life VERY easy, or VERY hard. Anyway, I dont know if this will help any of you or not, but from my perspective and my experience, I think it could provide some lucrative opportunites for some of you guys who are running skid steer businesses. [/QUOTE]
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A way for you guys to drum up some business
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