I found this article posting on LinkedIn by the National Association of Realtors rather interesting as it not only pertains to RE Agents, but CPI’s as well. What sets you apart from your competition? Based on the article, it was all about responsiveness; how quick are YOU to respond to a prospective customer? For me, it goes back to Nick’s book “How to Run a Successful Home Inspection Business”, where he mentions having a RED PHONE. Its the ultimate bat phone, if you will. When that call comes in, your team should be ready, and if your potential customer or existing customer must leave a message, try your best to respond within 15 minutes (or as soon as you possibly can).
my clients are my number one interest.
He is correct! If you don’t answer your phone they got others on their list.if you don’t answer your phone you lose
from my 20 plus years of doing this. If I can get them on the phone talk to him/her and get them to feel comfortable with me I got the inspection.98 percent of the time.
True but a over half of mine come from texting or emails. I respond quickly to those just as if it was a call and no reason that you can’t with phones these days.
I have a rule that I won’t answer the phone when I’m on an inspection with clients. An exception might be if I’m on a roof out of earshot of the client when a call comes. Otherwise it’s essentially a blackout time and the way things are now I’m doing 3 inspections a day so I’m losing calls.
So, I’m just now getting set up with Americas Call Center, they are completely focused on serving home inspectors only and seem to know their niche. It’s not cheap but I’m going to try it for a few months and evaluate cost vs. return.
If they can handle calls and book work while I’m inspecting it should be a winner both in terms of income and also stress reduction for me. I hate the feeling of not being responsive to clients. I know I can return calls from my regular agents within a few hours, but not with new clients.
And since it’s a month by month service I can always not use them in January February when things are a bit more manageable with call volume.
IMO answering calls while on an inspection is not only unprofessional but also disrespectful to the client.
Even before I used ACC I would never answer calls while inspectiong, of course I had an office phone and didn’t publish my cell number which helped, but people inevitably would get it and call.
I’ve been with ACC for 5 years now and I must say it’s one of the best business decisions I’ve made.
I never miss a call between 9AM and 7PM M-F averaging 15 to 20 calls a day - and I never even touch the phone.
I disagree about not answering a business related call during an inspection. This shows your client right then and there that if they call you, you will answer them.
I always politely excuse myself during the inspection to take the call, unless there is an important inspection discussion going on.
Remember, if the client knows you are a one man show, they are going to understand.
Now that does not mean you chat on the phone. I politely point out that I am currently doing an inspections, which normally (to smart people) means the conversation will be quick. For agents I ask them to text or email the client and home info and I will get back to them. For actual clients, I get the basic info for pricing or ask if I can call them back after the inspection.
I also have business and personal phone. I answer the business phone and quickly check the personal to make sure it is not the Kids school, then it goes back into my pocket.
It is incredible how quickly people book when they know you are on an inspection.
No time for whole article but I seem to recall the concept is to have a separate phone number for business but with advanced today’s tech you can have a different song for each person.
Not only that but pretty much friends and family now in days simply text first.
I do not answer the phone for the first few minutes when I am meeting with the buyer and also when I am having supper with my wife. Otherwise the phone is answered.
Hello everyone,
I’m new to the inspection business & hope to be up and running by June.
How soon would you set up a call center?
Or a better question, how long did it take for you to set up a call center?
I just don’t want to get caught with by pants down if the volume would be too much to handle.
