New customer calls the other day to thank me for the wood as he was very pleased. Then asks if i would deliver to a friend who needs wood, but way out of my delivery range. Told him to have friend text me. This is the exact wording of the text i got today. "I understand you sell excellent firewood. I'd be interested in talking to you about wood options, and cost to deliver to ******. We have an outdoor firepit. We burn all day and well into the evening on weekends. We do not burn indoors at all. We've been enjoying fires since the Fall, and will burn through the Spring and on Summer evenings. Despite frequent fires, we have yet to find good firewood.. I'm so tired of wood that smolders for hours on end. It takes half the day for me to get a good bed of embers to really get things going. If you're interested in discussing further, please call me on my cell." I havent got back to them. I have a nice half cord of nuggets/shorts of mostly red maple and ash that would work. CSS Fall of 2019 so 16+ months dry. I normally go ten miles free, extra $20 for up to 15 miles. I checked distance and 35+ miles. (Dont have exact address) Im thinking $50 delivery fee for the half cord. I really dont want a regular customer that far away, but word gets around when you have good firewood i guess. Thoughts/opinions FHC?
Get the address from them, and tell them up front what the cost would be with the added delivery fee to make it work for you. If they are good with it, then go ahead. If not, that's their choice.
I’d decide what it would take per delivery for you to be willing to keep them as a customer, and if they’re not willing to pay it than that’s up to them. Sounds like once they get a taste of your wood, they’ll be ruined, so if you take them one load, I’d be prepared to take them another. Just don’t wish you’d have charged more. How much time will you have between loading, driving, and unloading?
Maybe try to sell the maximum amount that you can carry in one load? Less trips that way over time if they end up being a long term customer. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm guessing the 35miles is one way. 70, round trip. Is it fair to say that's an hour of drive time? If he actually does burn how he states, how many weekends will it take for him to burn through one half-cord delivery? After which, he'll want more. You might be delivering monthly, or more frequently. Can you sustain delivering that much of seasoned wood, before not having enough for regular customers? You state "I really dont want a regular customer that far away" Every return trip, will you be asking yourself do you want to make the trip? You are a firewood making machine. All machines have wear and tear, over time. You are already concerned about your back. Would you be able to increase your firewood making? I don't have answers. Just data points and questions.
Just tell this far away potential customer to get ahead with whatever wood they are currently buying. Stack it and store it for a year. Sell them a one time load if you want, but try and educate them also.
Well I don't sell wood but really not sure that I would want to travel that far , but then there is the other side of the coin ;. If he is willing to pay extra on a delivery fee due to his location and mileage then why not , as long as you are getting compensation for your extra time , mileage and wear and tear on your truck. Word of mouth is great advertising for you and it must make you feel good that it has traveled this far , maybe you will gain another customer that happens to be closer from something like this? Really a tough call.
I think it seems reasonable.. or maybe $1 per mile round trip.. not everyone wants to season their own wood. Leave it up to them what they want to do after giving them the price. Bring a saw along with you, as we know you already do, and maybe even find a roadside scrounge along the way.. my neighbor bought a small load of wood from me the other day for his outdoor firepit. He has seasoned wood stacked in his yard but it was wet due to not being top covered and inaccessible due to snow. He was perfectly happy to pay a premium for some good wood for his outdoor winter gathering..
Last I knew the govt. mileage rate was $0.55 per mile so that is around $38 in a 70 mile round trip. As I understand that is basically to cover operating costs, (wear and tear on vehicle, insurance, tire wear, (fuel maybe?)). Plus what is your time worth? I don’t think I would do it for $50. $70-75 maybe. If it’s to marginal and you get asked to return you will be frustrated, and risk loosing a potentially good customer and word of mouth advertising if you try to raise your price on subsequent loads. I think I’d quote $75 and plan to give him a “good measure” then let him decide. Good place to get rid of the nuggets and shorts. Another thought would be to have him come get it if he has the means to do so. This could also maybe good in the long run. He can see your operation and know that you are a serious wood dealer and next time be willing to pay for the freight because he knows he is dealing with buZZsaw BRAD, WOOD HOARDER EXTRAORDINAIRE
On board with a lot of the above I think if your half interested, test the waters at a buck a mile and let him know this is out of your norm. That more or less reserves the question for review if there are future request. In the meantime you can figure what that test run was really worth to you and now have a platform to adjust based on the experience. Worst case, you’re made whole for the experience. Best case you have a new clientele making it more than worth your while.
buZZsaw BRAD I don't have to tell you this, but...... If you do deliver to that customer, you're going to have to bundle your trips! And by that I mean in the 35 mile drive, there's bound to be a scrounge or three that you can pick up on the way home with your empty truck! Seriously, that is a long way to not charge anything extra. Especially now with fuel prices rising every couple of days.
This is what I always say when faced with these situations in business. Price it like you don’t want to get the job. Tell him it’s way out, so your travel fee will be (insert high number here) that way if you do get it, it’s well worth your while.
This is called the "no thank you" price. I would absolutely explain the fuel surcharge issue do to rising prices. It's happening here already. Take him a load if he agrees to the surcharge & make a new customer accustomed to paying a bit more for quality product.
I like the idea of bundling the trip: are there fun things you and the fam, or your unloading help would enjoy, a restaurant, a hardware store, church to check out, something entertaining? Family or friends nearby? What if the wood was an excuse to go out there and do something else you normally wouldn't do? If you're looking at a few times a year, is there a bed and breakfast or retreat location you and the Mrs. could take a night at? Or take the kiddo? (Whomever is handy). Sca