Exclusive Software Package for NACHI Inspectors

[cdemsky]

Thanks to Nicks tireless efforts to bring exclusive discounts to NACHI members, every new inspector can now enter the business with more money to spend on marketing and less on systems!

To review entire package go to www.choosenachi.com - and go to the NACHI Exclusive Member Discounts link on the top right of the navigation bar. There you will see the specials.

This exclusive $1,000 Start-Up package Includes:

• Field Reporting Software for residential and light commercial inspections
• One Year of Business Management and Scheduling Software
• One Year of Marketing and Communication Software
• Custom Designed 10-page Website
• One Year of Web Hosting and Domain Registration
• One Year of InspectorScout Standard Plus Package
• One Year of Customer Service and Report Upload Management
• Sample of Home Guide Inspection Report
• Up to 10 hours of marketing, business development and claims resolution consultancy

But Wait! Sign up for this package within 60 days of becoming a NACHI member and we will ALSO include:

• Illustrated Home Inspection Guide - 2,200 Illustrations
• Business Systems and Forms on CD
• PowerPoint Marketing Presentation of Home Inspection and Mold
• CD of Marketing Samples

Take advantage NOW of this offer worth over $5,500 and pay only $1,000! That's a savings of $4,500!

This package is available for a limited time ONLY to NACHI Members!

Inspection Depot, Inc. and NACHI have partnered to bring you this exclusive discount for new inspectors. This package is unbelievable, affordable and available to any NACHI inspector. You can't beat this price anywhere in the industry! Discount for NACHI members ONLY! Must provide NACHI ID # at time of package setup. *There is a one time, $350 administrative and account setup fee the first year. Annual fee of $499.

We are also working on another special for established inspectors looking to diversify. I will post again when that one is available.

Catherine

[cdemsky]

I forgot to mention that the annual fee of $499 after the first year is OPTIONAL if you choose to continue to take advantage of the management, scheduling, marketing and tracking software, the web hosting, domain name renewal, report upload and management, InspectorScout search engine listing and 10 hours of marketing, business development and claims resolution consultancy.

This annual fee, should you choose to continue, is still an incredible discount, as it reflects a savings of more than $1,500 a year.

[Nick Gromicko]

Catherine, I looked at this. This is really an awesome deal. Thanks so much!

[wforsyth]

*There is a one time, $350 administrative and account setup fee the first year.

So the total for the first year is $1350?

I still think you can't beat Hi-Port's $99 for a year of Home Base and Hi-Spec Pro. But that's just my humble opinion. (and yes I know this includes alot more stuff.)

[Ted Allen]

Hmmm, choose NACHI.com............come on Nick. Home gauge makes this one look like.............

Why must you cater to the venders? is the cash flow that low ?


Do it for us Nick.

[mrowan]

Wendy and Todd

The package that Catherine has outlined here is probable incorrectly described on the post title.

If you look at the detail of what is included you will see that it is a “start your business package for $1000” not a software package. Do you know anywhere else that you can get level of products and services for such a low price? Yes there is a set up fee to cover the set up and initial training that is required on the entire package. This is a one time fee only.

Every one of the products we have listed have been tested and used by our own inspection company, so we know they work.

If I were starting my business today, I would much rather risk $1000 to get off the ground and get the right products than waste thousands of dollars on products that may or may not work or on a piecemeal approach to business development.

To take a closer look at the software that is included, go to www.inspectorsuite.com

This package is not going to be available for long. It was requested by Nick based on the current market conditions to help his members get off the ground faster.

Some of the inspection software features include not only a packed comment library for almost every defect, but also training guides for most defects. As a multi inspector company we have to make sure that every inspector both new and veteran is fully equipped with not just the inspection tools, but also the why, what, where and when with the click of a mouse. Find a missing diverter flashing, don’t know what to look for or write no problem with our software. It takes you though the pitfalls of masonry construction as well and framed buildings.

Our inspection software was also designed to be used for both commercial and residential inspections. We have completed 70,000 SF warehouses as well as 900 SF homes.

However our strength is not with an inspection report. It is with the business development, scheduling and marketing tools that are part of the management system. Our software automates every function in the office including marketing, which is almost every inspector’s weakest link. Believe it or not, if you gather the intelligence our technology will build your business from your office desk!

Most inspectors are caught up on the technical side of the business and don’t realize that their business could be a lot better off with proper use of the intelligence they collect every day. This is the true strength of our technology.


Regards

Michael

[wforsyth]

It does look like a really great package Michael.

So is it $1350 or $1000?

[jclark1]

.

If you look at the detail of what is included you will see that it is a “start your business package for $1000” not a software package.

It was requested by Nick based on the current market conditions to help his members get off the ground faster

Come on Todd, all those new members we're getting with all the free membership offers need something to spend their money on. After all they're not paying for their membership...... or are they?

[ntoll]

I received spam from this company this morning, incorrectly identifying me as a beta tester. There was no opt out option so I replied to it, asking that they remove me from their list. It bounced.

[wforsyth]

That's gone around to alot of people aren't beta testing. Also the prices are outrageous and claiming that beta testers are getting a good deal at half the normal price? $399 for a website? And that is HALF the norm? Please.....

[mrowan]

Wendy and Neill

I have taken the time to see what email you are both talking about and as you can see have tracked it down and included it below fro everyone’s benefit.

“Hello everyone!

I hope you all are enjoying the features and functions of www.myinspectionreport.com. The system is almost fully tested and ready to launch!

We anticipate the full launch to be on or around January 1, 2007. At that time, we will contact you to see if you'd like to continue using the system. There will be a $199 annual fee to provide yourself and clients with peace of mind in the report delivery process. Because you helped us beta test and "debug", we are discounting your first year if you sign on in January to continue. You will only pay $100!

Also, if you don't have a Website yet, we are offering beta testers almost half off of our custom Website design with FREE report upload! You will get 15 pages of custom content with www.myinspectionreport.com integrated into your Website for only $399. The regular price of our custom Web design begins at $699.

Thanks for all your help, we look forward to working with you!

Sincerely,

Catherine Demsky
Director of Corporate Relations
Inspection Depot, Inc.
888.589.2112”


Web site design and on line development technology is a lot more that static pages. We have done much research and received a lot of feed back both from the real estate industry and the inspection industry alike.

The biggest misconception of many inspectors, particularly newer ones is that they can design their own web sites and do a good job. While some can and many advances in technology have allowed inspectors to give it a good shot, the reality is most do not come up to par. Take a look at some of the feed back we received below. Some you are probably aware of.

• “we know that the majority of referrals lead to and from our web site either directly or indirectly. We believe that the first impression of the site will be the deciding factor as to whether the client will call our company or not

• “The internet has certainly made selling the invisible easier, especially for companies taking advantage of every internet tool available for them, to create the most dynamic and professional web sites available to them in the industry”

• “too many inspectors fail because they spend 90% of their time on the inspection and report and only 10% of their time on business development and marketing. I can develop my own brand and collateral. (how much time was spent on the latter compared to inspection software)

• Most common response from single operator inspectors is
  • I have built my own web site
• 77% of real estate referrals came from internet in 2005
• ALL multi inspectors love home made competitor web sites
• “the majority of our referrals contact our web site at some point, whether it is through a search engine, referral from the yellow pages, realtor list, report down load, schedule log in, information link or link to my site.
• This is why I love my competitions home made web sites or template websites. They have eliminated themselves from the playing field before they ever get a chance”
• If your web site is working? How many realtors call wanting to link to your site?
• Do you know what the busiest day your web site is?

As far as our online technology, we are extremely excited about the quality products we have developed. Whether it is our report upload and customer service management system, online scheduling system, online marketing system, online multi inspector company systems or any of our other many systems we have developed.

We are not a one person company, we expect every call to be answered on the second ring, every customer to get the service they expect and the quality software they deserve. Like our home inspection company, we may not be the cheapest, but our inspection is the best and we stand by every one.

As with any service you have to value the end result.

To use an analogy, when we need heart surgery we don’t go to our local GP. I am sure in an emergency he would be very helpful but not the right person. The success of every business is knowing and understanding what their strengths and weaknesses are. How you deal with these is the true difference.

There is no hidden agenda here. I personally get so much joy and gratification from those who have become successful using our systems or from my help.

Your success is ours and it will always be this way, at the most affordable price through our company.

I truly apologize if our email offended you in any way.

Thanks for your feedback.

Michael

[Richard L. Bennett]

Mike

Would it not be a good idea for some of us to join the Inspection Depo network??

How about giving use a little information

rlb

[ntoll]

Michael,

You need to understand that we have been inundated with unwanted emails trying to sell us various things at exhorbitant prices. Call me a conspiracy theorist if you like, but it is odd that this began right after Nick announced the sale of our email addresses to vendors.

The email Catherine sent did not have an option to opt out. I tried to send a response and it bounced. Now, I understand that the bounce could have been a fluke. Servers go down for many reasons and emails do bounce. This one bounced because the return email address did not exist.

There are a number of companies offering to build web sites for home inspectors. Yours is by far the most expensive, at least twice as much as your competitors. Grassfrog, for example, offers five times the storage and four times the number of pages. Their price is less than half of your normal price.

Out of curiosity, I looked at a few of your web sites and agree that they are well made and pleasing to the eye. One thing hit me right away, though. In your response above, you bash the use of templates but I noticed that all of the sites that I looked at used the same template.

[mrowan]

Neil

Firstly, you email was taken from you registration on www.myinspectionreport.com when you registered. We did not get it from Nick.

Secondly, as a vendor to the inspection industry, we have literally thousands of email addresses, names of inspectors, addresses and more.

Thirdly, as far as Nick selling your information, it is already for sale on many data collection sites such as www.infousa.com. These are companies that collect data for every aspect of life I guess, and sell it to mail houses, business or anyone else that is willing to purchase it. You can even gut the entire ASHI mailing list here also. As soon as you secure an occupation license, submit you tax returns or what ever your data is available.

Fourthly, You hit the nail on the head. Our web sites are very pleasing to the eye. Is this not the objective of your web site. How else can you ensure that you visitors will stay on there!

If your site is not pleasing your customers will go else where and purchase their services or products form a competitor. When is the last time you put your credit card on a site that did not look professional. All it takes is one inspection from our site and you entire year is paid for.

Stack you sites up against you competitors and ask yourself, would I buy from me or my competitor because he has a more professional site. Who would you choose? First impression is everything. Perception is reality. If you want your customers to stay longer than a click, it better draw them in immediately, make them want to stay or you have lost the job. Again this is why multi inspectors love unprofessional sites. They have annual budgets far greater than $400 per year per inspector because they know the importance of their image and brand.

Lastly, it is not about number of pages. It is about clarity, ease of use, easy of information retrieval and much more. New inspectors need to keep it simple. Far too many have cumbersome sites with so many links that it is too confusing and most times customers are well gone before you ever know they were there.

Anyway, there is a reason we are a little more expensive. We know our industry. We have held focus groups with our real estate professionals and continue to do so on a regular basis. Add this to the online technology that is free with our sites and believe it or not, you are getting the technology at an unbelievable price.

Do yourself a favor and view your site as an advertisement and look for a rate of return. The return here will be much higher than you will ever imagine.

Again, we are a service industry, companies, like your customers, want value not the cheapest price. Value the end result and the back end that goes with it.

Michael

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by wforsyth

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So the total for the first year is $1350?

I still think you can't beat Hi-Port's $99 for a year of Home Base and Hi-Spec Pro. But that's just my humble opinion. (and yes I know this includes alot more stuff.)

It is interesting and amusing to study the response of some home inspectors to an actual marketing attempt, and then compare it to their posts relating to marketing their own businesses.

Just like the home inspector with the $149 special, you will find software lowballers as well.

Study how these folks are marketing their products. Look first at how they have identified their market and how they approach us. They join NACHI just like some home inspectors join their local Real Estate associations...and have just about the same in common.

Some, knowing that 90% of the HIs reading their ads will not be here in three years, offer a dirt cheap product to get them by. They target that market with price. The same advice is given to home inspectors to find the same brand new agents (where the turnover is the highest) with a fist full of "coupons".

Others offer the higher end products to the experienced folks who have weathered the storms and know the value of the subtle improvements. They obviously have been around for a while and plan to be around for a while longer...marketing to the home inspector who is in the same status.