This week I decided to take the wise advice from many friends across the country. Instead of Contractor Office Pro we are now Inspector Office Pro and I only cater to home inspectors nationwide. My operation offers a full service office (call center/ISN Management ect), web/logo development and free inspection business help day or night. Had a inspector call me at midnight even and we exchanged great ideas. All this week I started a national call/email campaign and have talked to numerous inspectors across the nation and contacted close to 500 all by phone then email if they allowed (most did). During my search/calls I observed the following as wide trends across our trade that I found interesting.
A. There are many who do not belong to a org (just an observation).
B. Websites lack SEO or a professional image.
C. It took me a bit to find contact info on many web sites.
D. Alot of dark sites. Hard to read text.
E. Many do not have a web site.
F. Many people let my call go to voicemail. I do not have a 1800 number. That tells me alot of you are missing potential income because you don’t want to answer while in the field with your client (as it should be).
G. Some picked up the phone while on site and we could hear their customer.
H. Many websites did not include a inspector picture.
I. More than a few said hardly anything at all about the company/inspector.
J. We left a message to call back only. We did not leave a company name only first name. Very little returned calls yet they have an answering machine which states they are in business.
K. A link on a major associations website was linked incorrectly which meant I could not access the members website even though his website showed up just fine in IE/Chrome if you typed in the correct address.
L. Some members could not be contacted using association databases.
Moral of this is please check your information and make sure everything works. We are a service business and rely on people being able to find us/contact us. Just thought I would share. Hope it helps.
Fyi… you are a vendor. I as well as MANY others do not take calls from vendors while we are at work. If you leave me a voicemail, and I don’t get all your info, and the reason you called, and I am not the least interested in what you have to say… you WILL NOT get a return call…
Thanks for taking care of most of the above for me 2 months ago!! You were right on track with my website and this presumed slow time of the year isn’t really that slow because of your advice. I will be in touch…
I understand what you’re saying. I didn’t leave information about my services just to test what would happen. I could of been a potential client for all they know. If someone calls my inspection office regardless how long the message I’ll return the call and it has turned into profit on several occasions now. My point is you shouldn’t be taking voice mails at all. You should always have a means to field calls at any given hour to maximize your bottom line.
You are welcome sir! I sent you 3 text by the way Tracy. Did you get them? Call when you get a chance so we can discuss options since I don’t charge for the business coach anymore. If you ever need me call or email me anytime.
hmmm interesting. I could send you code to put on your website and a potential lead sends a text message to our computer and we follow up to close the sale. Great idea bob. I’m going to get with my lead coder to see what I can do.
I usually don’t answer calls from out of my area code. I let it go to voice mail. 99% of the time it’s a vender trying to sell me something that I don’t want. If someone from outside of my area code leaves a name only and not the reason for the call, he doesn’t get a return call. True, I may lose business from that 1% that are looking for an inspection (usually price shopping) but I can live with that. Also I don’t answer my phone at an inspection, only from family members.
Interesting. At least 75% of calls from outside my area are people booking inspections. If they are price shopping and you are not converting, then you need more phone training. I always answer the phone at inspections. I won’t necessarily talk long, but I let them know I am on an inspection and will call them back shortly. I lose very few but it also depends on my mood the what I “hear” during the first few seconds of the call.
If I am looking for a service and it goes to voice mail, I call the next company. No calling back. Areas and inspectors are all different.
Maybe you should concentrate on growing your own home inspection business Billy. The contractor pro thingy didn’t work for you and there are a lot more contractors out there than home inspectors. Think about it. You’re doomed to fail.
A man from St. Louis (with his young family) is relocating to another state in hopes of garnering a better position with his company, and a better way of life for his family…
He has three options to remain with his present employer…
Kapowsin, WA a suburb of Seattle with a backdrop of Mt. Rainier
Owatonna, MN a rural town in the flatlands/farmlands of the frigid Upper Midwest
Delmar, NY a suburb of Albany, NY… 'nuff said!
Now… who do you feel has a better chance of getting his “out-of-area” call?
Note: For myself, “Out-of-area” should actually read as “out-of-state” (except northern Iowa). I answer all calls from within my and adjoining area codes (7 area codes). All others are “unknown” and are delegated to voicemail.
In my area you would loose a ton of business if you let out of area calls go to voicemail. I even get alot of calls from people who say they live in St. Louis but their phone has a totally different area code not even related to MO. It really does come down to how busy you are. No reason to answer the phone all the time if you have you’re plate full I get it. But if you want the work then you really need to answer your phone out of start or in state.
100% of calls are answered. I even have an overflow system installed. If the secretary cant get to the call it forwards to a call center. People want to speak to a PERSON, in my opinion. Even if they leave a message, that’s OK I think they feel better to at least know their call is being answered.
Here is how I decided to add that system, it is VERY simple. I just watched MYSELF and MY actions. If I have to leave a message I typically hang up and call another company and figure if I do that, than most probably would as well.
I don’t want a “press one” for this and a “press two” for that…I want to TALK to someone, even if they can’t answer the question at least I got to talk to a human being, who speaks English and can take a competent message. I get that message within 1 minute via text and can decide how to handle accordingly…
You are a expert at home inspections. No doubt. I read alot of good info you put out. But when it comes to knowing me or if I will succeed your better off walking into a dark cavern without a flashlight. Negative people like you just fuels my fire. Out of 500 I contacted so far I have a ton of interest and according to what I read and what I have learned from Texas I have thousands more to choose from. Sky’s the limit old friend.
