This is my first post on this forum and I’ll be completely honest - I’m not a home inspector and have no plans to become one.
Truth is, I’m an entrepreneur and I’m doing some research in the home inspection niche as my hope is to develop a killer piece of software to help home inspectors.
I am not trying to sell you guys anything because honestly, I have nothing to sell.
I just want to know what kind of software you guys want built for the home inspection industry.
Is there any super painful problem that you wish could be done easier? Is there any software out there right now that you wish was better?
Please let me know. I really want to help you guys out and help you build a more productive and profitable business.
Yeah. How about software that reminds members that member access to vendors, access that applies pressure to vendors to treat our members well, access that helps the vendors modify their products and services to better serve members, access that permits members to engage vendors, access that allows other members to watch those interactions, and access that causes vendors to handle member complaints and satisfy our members… is a precious membership benefit, that we won’t allow anyone to take away from our members.
So … a new forum where vendors who, perhaps, may have been determined by the ESOP Committee to be in violation of the code of ethics … who have threatened members who challenge their hyperbole with frivolous lawsuits in an attempt to moderate their posts … with your full backing … will now have their own stage?
And when members avoid them in their confined space … and they come back out into the public forum to drum up business for their worthless gimmicks and gadgets … with no ethics committee, enforceable standards and with NACHI leadership to back them up … do the members simply walk away from the message board?
It would be a great idea … once you have eliminated the pollution. But simply taking a turd out of one toilet and putting it in another is not the same thing as flushing it, IMO.
Keith, I think you can see you cam at a very interesting time here. Sorry you have to be the victim here, but as Jim B said above, in short the overall ethics here is currently in breakdown mode, it is kinda like the wild wild west.
A definition of a “Vendor.” I need someone to come up with that. Any volunteers? Post a first draft please.
A Code of Ethics for vendors, one that uses the aforementioned definition and addresses a vendor forum . I have Ben, Mark and Kate working on a draft of that.
A separate vendor message board forum that not only allows, but encourages vendors to promote their products, services, updates, etc. Vendors would still be able to interact all over the message boards, but would have a particular forum for the sole purpose of telling us all about their wares.
This industry is what without vendors? Try to imagine what tomorrow would be like with no reporting software, no business cards, no inspector websites, no IR cameras, no inspection schools, no flashlights, no ladders, no mold kits, no brochures, no insurance, no books, no… etc.
Correct me if I’m wrong, Nick, but to my knowledge there was only ONE vendor … not all vendors … receiving a historic record number of complaints from members across the United States regarding violations of our former ethical standards.
Personally, I think it is unfair for you to punish all of them for the transgressions of only one of them … but then, you’re the owner of the association and he owns the message board. It’s up to the two of you to decide on that, I guess.
It’s mostly my fault. In the same way InterNACHI members have to market to their potential clients to feed their families… vendors have to market to their potential clients to feed their families. Nearly all their potential clients come here (InterNACHI enjoys over 99% of all inspection-related traffic). So vendors have no choice but to come here.
I don’t allow InterNACHI to sell advertisement space on this message board. That leaves no place for vendors to overtly promote their wares. My lack of foresight created a distasteful environment for both members and vendors. Our new, upcoming vendor forum should correct the situation for the future.
Some of what you said makes sense but there are some very distinctive differences. I agree inspectors market to their prospective clients and so do vendors, the big difference is Professional Inspectors don’t tell their prospective clients if they disagree with them than they are morons and will be sued for whatever made up reason they can think of. Also a Professional Home Inspector markets them self and their qualities, skills etc… to get their clients, we don’t use “Smear Marketing” and simply bash on our competition to gain the clients confidence. Sure I will agree there may be 1 or 2 exceptions that may do that, but they are the minority and scum of the industry, just the same if some vendor did that.
So whereas you are somewhat correct, there are definitely some differences.
True, the so called “Professional Inspectors” here just bash other members, vendors, public etc… then call EVERYONE a moron and make some reference to their anatomy of some sort if they disagree. I have always said there need to be monitors, but there are very few here that could do the job without their own interest getting in the way.
