Bringing in Business and Marketing Techniques

[jvella]

I would love to hear how fellow inspectors are bringing in inspection jobs. What's working the best for everyone? Realtors? Word of mouth? Flyers? Internet ads? Craigslist? Newspaper ads? Let me know!!!

[Dale Duffy]

Originally Posted by jvella

I would love to hear how fellow inspectors are bringing in inspection jobs. What's working the best for everyone? Realtors? Word of mouth? Flyers? Internet ads? Craigslist? Newspaper ads? Let me know!!!

Referrals, some web traffic even though I'm number one in Scottsdale..

[Scott Gilligan, CMI]

For me it's all internet advertising. I don't market to realtors all that much and haven't made an attempt in several months. They have a tendency not to refer better inspectors around here and go with the local franchises that have underpaid employees and write up soft reports. I've tried Craigslist in the past and didn't get a single call from any of my ads. I get a lot of referrals from previous clients as well when their friends need an inspector. I'm also starting to have some good luck with my networking group too.

What works for one inspector, might not work for another. I have seen that inspectors that market to realtors in the suburbs and in rural areas have much better luck that those in major cities where realtors are trying to competeing with hundreds of other realtors.

[Billy Boerner]

Originally Posted by sgilligan1

For me it's all internet advertising. I don't market to realtors all that much and haven't made an attempt in several months. They have a tendency not to refer better inspectors around here and go with the local franchises that have underpaid employees and write up soft reports. I've tried Craigslist in the past and didn't get a single call from any of my ads. I get a lot of referrals from previous clients as well when their friends need an inspector. I'm also starting to have some good luck with my networking group too.

What works for one inspector, might not work for another. I have seen that inspectors that market to realtors in the suburbs and in rural areas have much better luck that those in major cities where realtors are trying to competeing with hundreds of other realtors.

In my opinion internet works real well in larger cities such as mine and Scott's. For you small town folks it's all about rep and who refers you. Alot harder to go down hill in St. Louis then it is in Enid Oklahoma for example.

[Bobby Hamilton]

Originally Posted by bboerner

In my opinion internet works real well in larger cities such as mine and Scott's. For you small town folks it's all about rep and who refers you.

True, a lot of guys in my area don't even have a website, which will bite them in the long run. It helps me gain more spots on the organic search as I can get the majority of spots on page one through different sites such as active rain and national relocation. Take a look http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...ome+inspection
I get my jobs all over the board (internet, yellow pages, agent referrals). Internet is slightly higher than others, but not by much.

[kpierce]

Website, agent referrals, word of mouth, in that order. Don't waste your time and money printing flyers or spamming.

[Billy Boerner]

How much do you pay for yellow page advertising and has it been effective or worth the money in your area?

[bdoles2]

Originally Posted by kpierce

Website, agent referrals, word of mouth, in that order. Don't waste your time and money printing flyers or spamming.

Same here... My website is pretty key. But keeping an open line of communication to past clients is even more important.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

Originally Posted by bboerner

How much do you pay for yellow page advertising and has it been effective or worth the money in your area?

$35.00 a month for an inline column small block ad. About doubled my money for the whole year on the first call.

[dbelmont]

Website. And an improving client followup / referral mining system. A card every 3 months or so with calls/emails in between. Works great. And cost effective.

Yellow pages never was effective and way to pricey.

[Russel Ray]

Originally Posted by jvella

I would love to hear how fellow inspectors are bringing in inspection jobs. What's working the best for everyone? Realtors? Word of mouth? Flyers? Internet ads? Craigslist? Newspaper ads? Let me know!!!

ActiveRain and Referral Rewards Program.

[rking6]

Russel, if you don't mind me asking how do you do your referral rewards program? How much is enough referral $ to generate referrals and how long did it take after implementing the program did you start seeing calls coming from a referral rewards program? If you would rather PM me you can too. Been thinking about implementing this for a couple of months now. Thanks in advance

[Russel Ray]

Originally Posted by rking6

Russel, if you don't mind me asking how do you do your referral rewards program? How much is enough referral $ to generate referrals and how long did it take after implementing the program did you start seeing calls coming from a referral rewards program? If you would rather PM me you can too. Been thinking about implementing this for a couple of months now. Thanks in advance

I have a referral rewards letter and coupons on my web site, and a link is provided in all my reports. Coupons are for $20, and they can use as many as they'd like. No limit. I had one Client who worked for Qualcomm, and for his Christmas presents to the billion Qualcomm employees, he printed out billions of coupons and put them in the employee mailboxes. His inspection fee was $399, but he made $2,400 from my referral rewards program and I made ten times that.

Referral Rewards make up about 30% of my inspections right now. Referrals from ActiveRain make up about 20%, and the other 50% come from Realtors with whom I've worked in the past, and like, so I continue working with them.

[kpierce]

Originally Posted by rray

Referral Rewards make up about 30% of my inspections right now. Referrals from ActiveRain make up about 20%, and the other 50% come from Realtors with whom I've worked in the past, and like, so I continue working with them.

What's your definition of "right now"? Current month? Last 6 months? Last year? Just curious.

[rking6]

Russel, do you send the letter to them in the mail after their inspection has been completed? Do you send checks of $20.00 to the referrers or a visa gift card or something? Thank in again Russel!