Aggravations of a portable sawyer

[GAB]

To me lawyers fall into the same category as Sweetgum.

MM:
Why Sweetgum and not pawkhan?
GAB

[Magicman]

 ??  

[Weekend_Sawyer]

MM:
Why Sweetgum and not pawkhan?
GAB

GAB,
Me and google don't know what a pawkhan is.

[TKehl]

Why Sweetgum and not pawkhan?

As a Missourian, I think I can interpret when a northerner attempts to imitate a southern accent.  ;) :D

Pawkhan is one phonetic for pecan, the other beeing Pee-can.  I personally prefer pawkhan pie over peecan pie.  

[Magicman]

My Southern accent can't reach "pawkhan".   ???

And a peecan is what we put under the bed at night in case we have to go.   ;D

[WDH]

Planed some pawkhan today.  .

[Banjo picker]

I am about as souther as you can get and I had no idea what that was.  I subscribe to the ole saying " Its better to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt." 
pawkhan.... really. Banjo

[Darrel]

All I could think it might be is Don't "pawkhan" the sidewalk and even that's a bit of a stretch. 

[Resonator]

I'd like to revive this thread and ask the group about tire kickers. I like to set my mill up along side a state highway and regularly get people stopping and asking about sawing lumber for them, some call back and we do business, some say they will and don't. What's your guys experience, about how many perspective customers on average should I expect to be serious? 5 out 10? 2 out of 10? 

[TimGA]

The only ones that matter, are the happy ones, and you have cash in hand. Lots of people just do not understand whats involved, educate and weed out. Just don't do it for free, costs a lot to operate today. 

[Magicman]

I would not expect any but there would be some.  Also, there are those that see you set up and sawing but don't/can't stop.  They will later ask the landowner, etc. and give you a call.  I have had some that contacted me a year(s) later.  Any/all exposure is good. 

[DR Buck]

I'd like to revive this thread and ask the group about tire kickers. I like to set my mill up along side a state highway and regularly get people stopping and asking about sawing lumber for them, some call back and we do business, some say they will and don't. What's your guys experience, about how many perspective customers on average should I expect to be serious? 5 out 10? 2 out of 10?

My experience when you are set up where a passer-by can see you and may become a customer depends on many unpredictable things.   The most common being season and weather.   I get more casual customers in the late fall and early winter than other times of the year.   But let a major storm blow through and topple trees anytime of the year and the phone goes crazy.     In fact, years ago when hurricane Isabel blew through Virginia my sawing business exploded.   That's when I expanded and purchased my log trailer and kiln.   More recently following my move to south central Virginia business only started to pick up again after hurricane Michael  passed through here.    About half the calls were from people that saw my demonstration at out county fair the month before.   Then a few of the rest were referrals from Woodmizer or found my web site.

[Resonator]

Any/all exposure is good. 

Exactly! That's why I set up next to the road, so people see the bright orange machine buzzing away and it gets their attention. (When I bought my mill one of the sales staff said if I didn't want to saw for other people, I would have to hide my mill!) 

 I get more casual customers in the late fall and early winter than other times of the year.

Where I'm live loggers count on a winter hard freeze to get back into the woods, so that they can access trees that are in soft muddy ground. I had a guy call me and said he will bring me some Pine to saw, but he's waiting until the ground is frozen hard enough to gain access. I have others I'm still waiting to hear back from, hopefully they will follow through. Just trying to find out how "irregular" the work / income is in this business.

[WV Sawmiller]

  I take a trailer load of wood products to a couple of local flea markets every summer and talk and pass out business cards. Sometimes I even sell enough tomato stakes or small craft boards or cookies to even pay the lot rent. Usually i will pick up a sawing job or two within a few weeks of my visit but I also sometimes get a job from it 6-10 months later. You have to remember most folks don't already have their trees down in log form and it will take them weeks to months to get them cut and staged. I write my trip costs off as advertising. I like to meet and talk to folks so it is generally a fun day for me.

[SawyerTed]

These are just my observations and ramblings.

I'm finding there are three groups of potential customers.  One is people who are simply curious and are fascinated by the sawmill etc.  Then there are those who are investigating the possibility because they have thought about having logs cut into lumber but not for anything specific. Finally, there are people who need logs cut into something specific.

The first group might produce 1 customer out of ten contacts.  But these people might talk to someone in group two or three.  They are worth spending some time with. 

The second group might produce as many as 3 or 4 customers for every ten contacts. Worth more time.

The third group produces maybe 6 or 8 customers out of ten contacts.  These usually know what they want so the time spent is more on cut lists and specifics. 

I sawed at a busy intersection a few weeks ago.  The slab kickers stopped, I passed out cards and answered questions.  5 hours of sawing produced about 8 direct contacts and 5 follow ups. Of the 5, three have been scheduled.  I make a heavy effort to call back or follow up with everybody that expresses and interest.  

Every call or visit is an opportunity knocking.  You don't know if the next one will be a highly profitable job.  I have to remind myself that I need to be both salesman and sawyer.  Sales, advertising and PR aren't my strong points and I suspect it isn't for most guys here.  It is frustrating to want to saw, but sawing depends upon having customers and customers come from sales, PR, advertising and a quality product.

[Magicman]

When folks stop while I am sawing I will pause, hand them a card, and tell them to call when it is convenient.  I do no talking which might interfere with my present customer's sawing.

[SawyerTed]

Oh of course, I don't stop work on a current customer's job but I will talk to potential customers when on a break, when off bearers are catching up or when tail gunners are moving logs.  Never when on an hourly job.  

[WV Sawmiller]

  Unfortunately for me most of my mobile jobs are out of sight from more traffic so I don't get that free advertising. often the customer will have a friend or two stop by and usually he, the customer, wants to show them how the process works so I give them a card, show them the safe areas and saw a log or two and ask if they have questions or point out a couple of hings to watch for, such as sawing parallel to any heart checks or such. 

  I think part of Ted's group should include the person who is interested but never realize he could actually use his trees for his own lumber. Maybe that is the 1 out of 10 he is talking about. It is fun to watch them when you actually see the little light bulb come on over their head thinking about the possibilities that just opened up. You can literally see exactly what they are thinking.

[Magicman]

Lumber from logs??   

That is kinda like finding out that meat comes from dead animals instead of the market.  :

[Resonator]

I like to meet and talk to folks so it is generally a fun day for me.

That's part of the fun of this job, that and being your own boss. 
I will plan on handing out a lot of business cards, with the hopes that at least some will produce business, even if I don't see the work until weeks or months later. I can see that getting started is the hardest part, building up a list of repeat customers that you know are serious, and can provide steady business. Starting out is tough too because you are hungry for work, and risk doing unprofitable jobs. I have already been asked by prospective customers to log their land as well as saw lumber, or buy logs from them. As far as advertising, I have found having my slabs and lumber for sale neatly stacked and stickered works good. I can point at it and say this is what my machine can produce, if you want me to saw your logs. Thanks for the feedback guys!

[Chuck White]

I like to explain to upcoming customers, the difference between a pile of logs and a stack of logs!  ;)

[WDH]

One man's pile is another man's stack . 

[Nomad]

     And sometimes (like the job I looked at day before yesterday) they're still attached to the blown down tree.  In the middle of flooded woods.  I passed on that job. :

[Crossroads]

Got a text the other day and the guy asked "How many boards do I need to buy for a 12' x 9' shed?"  Nothing else..... I had to wait to reply or else it may have come across wrong.  

Well that's really simple! All of em! 😋

[Crossroads]

Lumber from logs??    

That is kinda like finding out that meat comes from dead animals instead of the market.  :

What? I was going to get a prime rib from Safeway, so no animals would have to be harmed...🤓