Lowest Price Marketing by NACHI member Bob Kille.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by dduffy

Inspectors who sit around waiting for just standard home inspections have a much better chance to fail than a person who offers many, many kinds and types of inspections for different type clients.

Inspectors who "sit around waiting" for anything are going to fail.

The issue is what will you market and how will you market it. Some will appeal to the $49.99 mentality....which is why we have WalMarts. Nothing wrong with it, but don't try to sell yourself later on as a Nieman-Marcus when the world already knows you as the "lowballer". That is his point, and it is valid.

You are what you sell. You are worth what you charge.

[Dale Duffy]

Originally Posted by jbushart

Inspectors who "sit around waiting" for anything are going to fail.

The issue is what will you market and how will you market it. Some will appeal to the $49.99 mentality....which is why we have WalMarts. Nothing wrong with it, but don't try to sell yourself later on as a Nieman-Marcus when the world already knows you as the "lowballer". That is his point, and it is valid.

You are what you sell. You are worth what you charge.

By following that advise everyone would be missing a huge market (thank god I don't follow that advise). Offering different types of inspections to different types of people at different prices can and will make you wealthy if you do it "right".

[jmichalski]

James,

Price does not equal quality. People understand this. Some people have the pre-concieved notion that they must pay more to get more. These people are impressed by status symbols and value the logo or designer tag.

There are far more sensible, everyday people in this world who have seen through that lunacy of overcharging as a status statement.

These people understand that "value" is the highest quality per dollar ratio they can get. They feel good when they find name brand items on sale for 20% off. They read the supermarket sales flyers and go where the best value is for what they need - not to the smae store every time.

We all price shop. No one intentionally goes to the highest priced gas station in town because "their gas must be better". Marketing to this clearly identified clientele with a known motivator makes it easy to convert leads to jobs, which translates to even more jobs.

I know of no one who thinks that when they get a free turkey at thanksgiving from the supermarket that the supermarket is overcharging them incrementally for previous purchases. Instead, everyone says "I got my free turkey". It is effective marketing and it is proven to work.

It is not the only way to succeed, but it has proven highly effective and helped me rebound after a rocky start following the previously mentioned higher price model.

I sell a superior inspection that surpasses SOPs. I charge a fair rate that allows everyone an opportunity to afford a first rate inspection. Wal-Mart prices....Boutique-level quality and service.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by jmichalski

Price does not equal quality. People understand this. Some people have the pre-concieved notion that they must pay more to get more. These people are impressed by status symbols and value the logo or designer tag.

Are these your own personal observations or can you cite outside sources to back up your analysis?

I've never known of a person with an inflamed appendix shopping for the cheapest doctor or with a swollen jaw searching for the cheapest dentist.

Nor should an informed home buyer about to make the largest single investment of their life seek the cheapest home inspector. As we market our services, we should market them as the professionals we are - like our medical counterparts do. We should be educating the public of the need for a full and complete (full price) inspection - for that is the service that will benefit them most.

The "okay...okay....I'll do a quickie for $49 bucks if you won't let me do anything else" is not marketing.

I do not think that your own personal assessment of what motivates buyers is accurate.

[jmichalski]

You always fall back to correlations to the medical field. It is not accurate or appropriate.

Did you do several years of intensive Home Inspection Training, followed by grueling internships? Did you pass the HI equivilent of Medical Boards (ICC training)? Do you really think the level of knowledge and skill is equivalent?

It is not.

Like it or not, we are more akin to the tradespeople (who construct the lsingle largest investment of the buyer's lives) and people do regularly price shop them.

I am certain I can find studies at Consumer Reports which will frequently indicate that the quality and value of a variety of items is not price dependant.

I am also certain that I can find a variety of marketing studies on the known phoenomenon of snob appeal and status seeking through purchases.

Is it your point that these statements are not true? I guess you always buy the most expensive item since that must be the best, then? You must always seek the most expensive person or service to meet your needs since that must also be the best then, correct?

As for my personal assessment of buyer's motivations - I acknowledge that there are some percentage (a small minority) who are impressed by status, designer labels and high price tags and purchase based on that. I will happily let all of my competition fight over that tiny percentage of the market, while I collect the rest!

I also know that there are far more buyers who are motivated by value (dollar to quality ratio) and are more likley price shoppers.

Offering different levels of inspection, including aggressively priced FULL home inspections has worked incredibly well for me, and I post to offer a differing view to the "raise your prices" method which I found to be far less successful.

[James H. Bushart]

I see...you have no source other than your own thoughts...which you are certainly entitled to. Thanks.

[jmichalski]

No, James, I have offered areass where you can go research and will very likely find reports indicaiting exactly what I stated. I am a little busy getting reports out and don't have time to teach you Marketing 101.

I notice you have posted zero links (non-NACHI of course) to support your hypothesis that rasing prices increases buisiness.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by jmichalski

I am a little busy getting reports out and don't have time to teach you Marketing 101.

That's okay. Should I ever seek such training, I think I will find a more credible source for instruction. Thanks, all the same.

Sorry that you are so offended by opposing points of view. I would think that you would be accustomed, by now.

[jmichalski]

Who took offense? I am offering an alternative marketing strategy to that often touted here.

I really do not have time to research what I know to be accepted marketing principles, whereas the opposing view has little but puff articles (see the initial post) from non-credentialed people regarding marketing.

I was sharing my experience so that others who are trying the nick method and wondering why their phones are not ringing understand that there are effective alternatives that can produce more rapid success.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by jmichalski

I was sharing my experience so that others who are trying the nick method and wondering why their phones are not ringing understand that there are effective alternatives

So...your marketing expertise exceeds Nick's, you feel.

I don't agree, and am thick skinned enough to take whatever criticism you wish to place upon me for doing so, Joseph.

As I said in an earlier post, you are worth the price you charge. You charge less than your competitors. I will leave it there....

[jmichalski]

Originally Posted by jbushart

So...your marketing expertise exceeds Nick's, you feel.

I don't agree, and am thick skinned enough to take whatever criticism you wish to place upon me for doing so, Joseph.

As I said in an earlier post, you are worth the price you charge. You charge less than your competitors. I will leave it there....

And as I said before - I hope all my comeptitors in the area compete for teh same small percentage of the market that is impressed by status or desires to overpay.

I don't know if my marketing accumen surpasses nick's or not. I know that as a newbie I bought into hte hype and tried that method, along with other marketing strategies that were based on sound principles, meeting with very limited success.

I re-examined the startegies - found that the overprice strategy was not a sound amrketing principle and changed it. Business picked up significantly (75% more within 3 months - some of which was hangover marketing from teh previous months to be fair - and a steady increase every month throught the rest of year one). Then, combined with Referral Reqards marketing in Year 2, business boomed.

I am not here to make anyone believe in any one strategy. I am offering an alternative strategy that has proven successful for me, and I think can be easier and meet with more immediate success for newbies.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by jmichalski

I am offering an alternative strategy that has proven successful for me, and I think can be easier and meet with more immediate success for newbies.

My respect for Nick and his proven marketing expertise is shared by many. His advice is sound.

The temptation for new people trying to compete with established businesses is to "give it away" at what they call a "competitive" price. They exchange money for referrals that established companies get for free, thus adding even more to their cost per inspection...and inspection, by the way that they discount in price to begin with. They call this "marketing".

What Nick, and the author he has published on this thread are advocating is to establish a reasonable fee that you wish to make...then expend your marketing efforts to convince your prospective clients that you are worth that price.

[jmichalski]

Even unestablished companies get referrals for free.

The trick is not to get them - that will happen anyway if you are good. The trick is to get LOTS of them and actively encourage it -there by increasing business more rapidly and increasing the base of potential references more rapidly.

I would not expect you to subscribe to this proven, effective technique either since you have argued against it in the past. The fact remains, however, that it is works (and is also used effectively by dozens of other professions - as documented in other threads).

Marketing takes many forms, and pricing strategies as an element of marketing is an accepted and effective practice. Boutique pricing strategies are more difficult to use successfully - this is one reason that there are fewer small mom and pop stores and more Lowe's, Walmarts, etc.

New inspectors often have a difficult time marketing themselves as worth an over-inflated price since there is no experience, referral base, or other tangible element to market. (Simply selling training and tools won't cut it at the high end of the market place.)

Pricing is an individual issue to be set, as desired, by each individual inspector. Some will subscribe to your theory (hopefully ALL of my local competition) and some will try mine. Having tried both, I have found the latter to provide a faster start up, with an easily maintained (and increased) rate of business.