Next stop, turning all your past clients into salespeople for your inspection business.
Nick has some fantastic ideas. I’ve used much of his and Russel Hemsel’s info; and Russel Rays thoughts to try and help me in my declining years as VOLUME slows down.
As I get older, I do a lot less jobs less than I used to BUT using many of Nicks ideas have been able to get a wee bit more $$$$$ and a slightly better clientele.
Like Gary Farnsworth said we get bombarded with the $275 inspectors SO we try to work with a better class of REA’s, lenders, attorneys AND architects (lot of my work is referrals from design architects and real estate or construction attorneys)
Not being high volume all that much, I try to get by on what I do get. For Example over a 2 week period I only have 8 jobs (avg 4 a week with 35 yrs inspection experience … pretty pathetic, but at almost 70 you just take what you can get).
Last Tuesday I had 1 job --------- 9,800sf home inspection
Last Wednesday I had 1 job ------ 8,600sf office bldg inspection
Last Thursday I had Nofing -------
Last Friday I had 1 job ------------ 13,200sf big box store inspection
Sat to Monday I had Nofing -------
This Tuesday I had 1 job ---------- 4,900sf stucco moisture test
Today Wednesday I have 1 job ---- 4,300sf stucco moisture test
Tomorrow Thursday I have 1 job — 5,500sf home inspection
This Friday I have 1 job ------------- 4,700sf stucco moisture test
Sat to Monday I have Nofing --------
Next Tuesday I have 1 job ----------- 12,100sf home inspection
While we’re here on this message board, discussing how to get rich, is there a quick change you can make to the homepage of your home inspection website that would improve the third step I described in my post #1?
Well, we need to go back to my post #41 where we figured out what consumers are looking for when they are about to hire a home inspector. It was pretty simple. They wanted the best home inspector.
I assume you can write a thousand words explaining why you are the best home inspector in town and put that on your homepage, but, unfortunately, as we learned from The Aunt Penny Experiment in my post #65, consumers only give us five seconds to assure them that we are the best. If we can do it in five seconds or less, the consumer will stop looking and dial the phone. So, we’ll need something that works faster than a thousand words.
In 1911, long before Al Gore invented the Internet, a newspaper editor named Tess Flanders, while discussing journalism and publicity, came up with the solution we need when she said, “Use a picture. It’s worth a thousand words.”
A picture really is worth a thousand words. But what image should a home inspector use to instantly convey that he/she is the very best? I happen to know the answer. It is an image of you, the inspector, being presented with the Certified Master Inspector® award. You can have one custom-built at any local trophy shop. It should clearly show the words “Certified Master Inspector®” in large letters. An example is attached to this post below.
Stage the photo. Wear a nice shirt, preferably with your home inspection business logo on it. Perhaps have a fellow inspector, a local politician, or maybe a local real estate agent present you with the award. Make sure they dress up for the photo shoot. You may want the presenter to hand you the award while also shaking your hand. You should both be smiling into the camera.
The image conveys two parallel messages at once. The first is that you are a Certified Master Inspector®, which means you’re the best. And the second is that you are such a good inspector, you are getting an award for it. It really is a killer image – concise and powerful!
Then, put this image on the homepage of your inspection business website. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a photo of you being awarded your Certified Master Inspector® professional designation says it all.
Coming up on Friday June 3:
A Marketing Campaign to Exponentially Increase Your Gross Revenue
Coming in just a few hours… stay tuned.
Exponentially Increasing Your Gross Revenue
The wheat and chess problem appears in different stories about the invention of chess. One version goes like this. When an Indian mathematician named Sissa created the game of chess at the end of the 5th century AD, he presented it as a gift to his king. The king was so thrilled that he told Sissa to name his reward for the amazing gift—anything he had was his for the asking. Sissa, perhaps in feigned modesty, asked the king merely for some wheat. The king thought he was getting the better end of the deal by far and asked Sissa how much wheat would he like. Sissa replied by saying that he would like to use the chessboard to count out his reward: one grain of wheat on the first square, then doubled to two grains of wheat on the second square, and then doubled again to four grains of wheat on the next square, and so on, until all 64 squares of the chessboard were accounted for. Amused, the king ordered his servant to retrieve a bushel of wheat to count out Sissa’s reward.
What the king didn’t realize until halfway through this exercise was that Sissa’s reward was becoming so enormous that the kingdom was in threat of losing its entire wheat stores, and more. The king’s accountant pleaded for him to reverse his promise, explaining that, with 64 squares on the chessboard, and doubling the number of grains of wheat on each successive square (1 + 2 + 4 + 8, etc.), the total number of grains would equal 18,446,744,073,709,551,615—far more wheat than that held by the entire continent.
This story beautifully and simply illustrates the theory of exponential growth. Of course, there are limits to growth at this pace, as the king quickly discovered. And any home inspector would balk at the notion of growing his or her business year after year after year, ad infinitum. But you can grow your business exponentially.
Here’s How:
All you have to do is to get every past client to refer one inspection to you, on average. If you can get 100 referrals from 100 former clients, you will have effectively doubled your inspection business in one year. If you do it again the next year, you will have quadrupled your gross revenue in two years.
Here is a marketing campaign to get your past clients to refer you.
Send each past client three copies of the “Now That You’ve Had a Home Inspection” home-maintenance book with your business card attached to each one, your home inspection brochure inside each one, and a brief letter asking your former client to pass along each book to someone they know (friend, neighbor, co-worker or family member) who is buying, building, or selling their home, or even just planning to in the near future. Even if just one of these three books results in an inspection appointment, you’ll double your gross revenue in one year and quadruple it in two years.
The books cost $2.70 each and can be customized with your images, name, company name, contact information, and home inspection logo on the cover. More information about the customized “Now That You’ve Had a Home Inspection” books can be found at www.nachi.org/now An example is attached to this post below.
And while you may be tempted to opt for a less expensive alternative, such as mailing out a half dozen of your brochures and business cards instead, the likelihood of those ending up in the trash is high, whereas no one, especially Americans, will throw away a book. The book could almost be written in Chinese (sorry – it’s only available in English and Spanish!) and this tactic would still work because its purpose isn’t to transmit information. Its purpose is to provide a physical anchor for your business card so that your contact information ends up in the hands of consumers about to hire a home inspector.
But let’s make the success rate much more conservative. Let’s say that after you get your letters, business cards, and custom books into the hands of your past clients (the very people most likely and able to refer you to their friends, neighbors, co-workers, and family members), only one in 11 books floating around out there results in a new inspection job for you. Now, how long would it take for you to double your inspection business?
Let’s make the math simple and pretend that you’re doing 100 inspections a year. If you send each past client three books, that’s 300 books (100 x 3 books = 300 books).
- If one in 11 of those books generates a new inspection job for you, that’s 27 new inspection jobs (1/11 x 300 = 27 new jobs) the first year you implement this marketing campaign, for a total of 127 inspection jobs.
- The second year, the math becomes (127 x 3 / 11) + 127 = 162 inspection jobs.
- The third year, the math becomes (162 x 3 / 11) + 162 = 206 inspection jobs.
So, if only one in 11 books generates a new inspection for you, you will have more than doubled your gross revenue in just three years.
Now, let’s figure out what this is really going to cost you in actual dollars. Three custom “Now That You’ve Had a Home Inspection” books (at $2.70 each), three of your inspection brochures, three business cards, a cover letter, a mailing label, and postage cost about $15. That’s roughly $5 a book, including shipping. Now, let’s continue to pretend you are only doing 100 inspections a year. How much would your three-year marketing campaign cost?
- The first year, it would cost $1,500 (100 clients x 3 books each x $5).
- The second year, it would cost $1,905 (127 clients x 3 books each x $5).
- The third year, it would cost $2,430 (162 clients x 3 books each x $5).
Over three years, the total cost of this marketing campaign would cost $5,835.
The total number of additional inspection jobs generated would be 27 + 62 + 106 = 195 additional inspection jobs.
The marketing cost per additional inspection job would be $5,835 / 195 = $30 for each additional inspection job. Would you pay $30 for an inspection job?
Now, let’s say your average inspection fee is $350. The additional gross revenue generated by this three-year, $5,835 marketing campaign would be 195 additional inspection jobs x $350 each = $68,250. Would you spend $5,835 to increase your revenue by $68,250?
I made the math easy by pretending you only do 100 inspections a year. If you do 200 inspections a year, simply double everything. Your increase in revenue would then be $136,500. And if you use your Certified Master Inspector status to increase your average inspection fee through techniques as I described in my post #78, that $136,500 becomes $195,000 in additional revenue. And if you can sell each customer an additional ancillary inspection service (we’re getting to that later), your additional revenue increases again.
If you’re a savvy inspector, you’re already giving the “Now That You’ve Had a Home Inspection” book to each of your current clients as a value-added bonus with their inspection report. But you could also reduce some of the future shipping costs of this marketing campaign by providing the books to the clients you meet in person.
I used to ask my clients if they’d give them to anyone they know who might need a good home inspector, and ask them how many they would like. Often, when I made that offer in the presence of a real estate agent, the agent would ask for some. Local real estate agents handing out my customized book – now that’s target marketing!
If you are a Certified Master Inspector®, you could also increase the success rate of the customized books by adding the Certified Master Inspector® logo to your customized book cover and by adding your personal name to the cover with the suffix: "Certified Master Inspector.®
This marketing campaign improves the seventh step I listed in my post #1.
By the way, Sissa’s beleaguered ruler came to the conclusion that it would be less expensive to surrender his kingdom than to make good on his promise. And that’s what happened… Sissa was crowned king.
Next stop… more ways to charge more.
BTW, in a related side note: Inspector Outlet has a huge CMI package being auctioned off online: https://www.nachi.org/forum/f32/weeks-june-7-2016-tuesday-night-auction-certified-master-inspector-certified-master-inspector-111971/
Probably not since this is the C.M.I. section of the forum and most advice contained in this section will be in regards to Nick trying to sell or promote C.M.I. You’ll probably find more stuff applicable to where you’re at by researching the Inspector Marketing section or searching out some of Russel Ray’s old posts.
Thanks Wayne. I’ll check it out.
Not true. With maybe the exception of my post about the CMI award, most of these strategies are applicable to non-CMIs and can be implemented by any home inspector, immediately. Tomorrow morning even. For example, my last piece of advice in this thread (my post #85) is already used by hundreds of members who aren’t necessarily CMIs.
Think of the old 80/20 rule. Everything is 80/20.
80% of the low cost inspectors get 80% of the business. The other 20% who charge higher prices get 20% of the business. Us higher priced inspectors are CMI’s. We do take care and cater to the top 20% of agents. The other 80% of agents only want non-CMI’s, cheap, low cost non-alarmist inspectors because they are hungry for the commissions. Most CMI’s here in KC stay away from this 80% of agents who want free stuff from any vendor, are not totally honest, and look for any inspector who charges $199.
I have marketed CMI for several years. The “CMI” label to 80% of agents here in KC means that you charge high fees, write detailed reports, and inform the home buyer of home defects to the highest quality. This has a better chance of the buyer walking, and having the REA work hard again to find another home for the buyer.
Until the mindset of the 80% of REA’s change, through office brokers and the NAR, no marketing program of being a CMI will make you rich. IMHO.
None of that really meant any sense actually. The 80/20 rule would mean 80% of the work is done by 20% of the inspectors (which I believe it is). And as far as low cost inspectors being non alarmist, I’ve seen many more alarmist statements out of amateurs who don’t have an understanding of things than from experienced inspectors. I hate $199 inspectors as much as the next guy, but when we look in the mirror, were both probably wearing undershirts from Walmart and thus just as guilty as the people that hire those inspectors.
The purpose of marketing (in the home inspection industry) is not to get more inspection work.
I’ll bite… okay what is it?
Then I must be doing it right! Lol
If you manufacture widgets and your manufacturing plant can make an endless number of widgets, millions and millions and millions if necessary… then yes… the purpose of marketing widgets is to sell more widgets. But home inspectors only have 24 hours in a day. The number of home inspections they can perform is few - in the hundreds per year only! So the purpose of marketing (for a home inspector) isn’t to perform more home inspections. Marketing is very important to a home inspector’s success, but the purpose of that marketing isn’t to cause the inspector to work more.
[QUOTESome inspectors refuse to allow their cell phone to interrupt them on an inspection. I think this is a mistake. The client you are performing the inspection for is already sold. His money is in the bank. The customer calling you trying to schedule an inspection is new money. Get that new money.]
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Exactly.If anything it shows you are in demand and worthy listening to during the short time they have your thoughts.I am damn good and anything that helps a new Client realize that is welcome.Being busy is a sign
of success.
Years ago, I took my sons to an amusement park in Florida in the middle of summer. It was a hot, sunny day – a really hot, sunny day. My sons would run ahead to ride a particular roller coaster while I would search for the nearest bench to wait for them. And so there I sat, in the heat and humidity in Florida, one summer afternoon.
As I sat there, sweating, I noticed two vending carts. One was selling fresh-squeezed lemonade on ice. The other was selling umbrellas. With nothing to do but boil in the sun, I decided to make a study of these two carts.
The lemonade was selling like lemonade on a hot day. As fast as the employee working the cart made lemonade, it sold. The umbrellas weren’t selling at all. Somewhat bored and sunburnt, I set out to figure out why such a disparity in sales existed between the two carts.
I decided to compare them:
- Both products are ancillary to the main purpose we came to the amusement park for. We didn’t fly to Florida and enter an amusement park to buy lemonade or umbrellas. These were additional products offered by the park.
- Both products were similar in price.
- Both products were similar in size.
- Both products were marketed similarly from nearly identical carts, with simple signs that merely identified the product they were selling.
- Neither vendor was aggressive in pushing their product. They each appeared to be college students working summer jobs, doing little more than collecting the money from park guests who wanted their respective products.
So, with nearly all things being equal, why was one product selling and the other not?
After much thought and deep analysis, the genius business mind of mine finally came to the conclusion that the lemonade cart simply had the right product and the umbrella cart did not. Proud of myself for having determined the reason for the disparity in sales between the two carts, I leaned back on the bench, laced my fingers behind my head, crossed by ankles, and said to myself, “In business, you gotta have the right product. The lemonade cart offered the right product and the umbrella cart didn’t.”
But then, something strange happened on this hot, sunny afternoon in Florida. Something I’m not used to, being from Colorado, where it is equally as sunny. Something I never expected would happen. It started raining. One minute I was sitting on a bench in the sun in the middle of the afternoon, and the next minute it was beginning to rain.
This was actually a nice surprise for me. I love rain. Especially warm rain. But I was about to be surprised again. As I looked over at the two vendors’ carts, I noticed that the vendor with the right product – the lemonade – had no customers. And the vendor with the wrong product – the umbrellas – had a huge line of customers begging to buy his product. As it turned out, my theory about the cause of the disparity in sales was as wet as I was. Clearly, having the right product wasn’t enough. In business, you gotta have the right product at the right time and place.
Like the amusement park, which had two vendor carts prepared to not only offer ancillary products, but offer the right products at the right time and place, so should home inspectors offer ancillary inspection services at the right time and place.
We’ll discuss that next. Stay tuned.
An ancillary inspection is an additional service that many home inspectors offer. A few examples of ancillary inspection services include:
- Annual Maintenance Inspections
- Chimney Inspections
- Construction Project Oversight
- Energy Scoring
- Lead Testing
- Meth Testing
- Mold Testing
- Pool & Spa Inspections
- Radon Testing
- Septic System Inspections
- Thermal Imaging
- Water Quality Testing
- WDO/Insect Inspections
Nearly all of them require the home inspector to take specific training before being able to offer them, much of which is available through InterNACHI University for free. And, depending on your jurisdiction, you might have to acquire a license to offer some of these. Don’t let this required training or regulation deter you. You don’t make money in the inspection business by avoiding training or by being deterred by government regulations. You get rich in the inspection business by letting your competitors get deterred from growing their businesses.
There are six reasons to offer ancillary services:
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Obviously, offering additional inspection services increases your gross revenue. I remember that just before I sold my home inspection company, the revenue we were generating from ancillary inspections surpassed that from general home inspections. This helps improve the sixth step in my post#1.
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Offering additional inspection services increases your net revenue. You’ve already suffered the marketing costs, sales costs, and travel costs (in both directions) for the general home inspection you’re performing for the client. While you’re already on site, you might as well try to perform additional work.
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Offering additional inspection services shows that you are a well-rounded professional in the inspection industry. Your client may not want every ancillary inspection service you offer, but merely offering many types of inspections demonstrates your mastery of the profession.
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Offering additional inspection services may cause some real estate agents to favor you. Some real estate agents want to schedule with a one-stop shop. Their time is money, and having to schedule and arrange home access with numerous inspectors takes more time than working with one inspector who does it all. This helps improve the third step in my post #1.
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The more inspections you offer, the more efficient you can become. For example, your radon testing equipment has to be both placed and then later retrieved. You can do this before, after, during, or between your other inspections, forcing you to schedule this work in a geographically efficient manner.
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And finally, offering ancillary inspections all but eliminates your liability regarding those inspections. For example, Do you know who gets sued for mold testing? Answer: Home inspectors who don’t do mold testing. If you offer mold testing and the client hires you to do mold testing, the consumer finds out if he/she has mold. If you offer mold testing and the client doesn’t hire you to do mold testing, the consumer can’t later complain that you didn’t do it.
So, when should you offer these ancillary services? There are seven best times to offer ancillary inspection services (at points within your series of contacts with your clients):
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in your marketing pieces and on your website. One of the best ways to do this is by offering inspection packages that include the most popular inspections in your local market.
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when someone schedules an inspection. Once you book a home inspection on the calendar for a consumer, ask them if they are interested in having you perform any other inspection services you offer. Often, the consumer intends to order these inspections anyway and isn’t aware that you perform them. This is typically called the “point of sale” or “point of purchase” opportunity. It is akin to placing magazines and chewing gum in the checkout line at the grocery store. It’s not what you came to the grocery store for, but you often add it to your shopping cart.
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after your pre-inspection agreement is signed online. InterNACHI has an online agreement system that allows your client to read and sign your inspection agreement digitally via email. Read more about it by visiting https://www.nachi.org/onlineagreement.htm At that point, you can email your client information about the ancillary inspections you offer.
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on site, during the inspection. This is especially true if you notice something during the home inspection. For example, if you see an old radon mitigation system that isn’t running, you may want to suggest that your client hire you to do a radon test. Or, if you find some mold, you may want to suggest that your client hire you to do a mold test. My favorite soft-pedal approach to up-sell ancillary inspections is to hand your client a “While I’m Here” brochure during the inspection. An example of one is at http://www.inspectoroutlet.com/home-energy-inspection-brochure-while-im-here.aspx
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within your inspection report. The final page of your inspection report should contain offers such as additional inspection services you provide. You may want to suggest that your client hire you to oversee any construction or remodeling projects they are having done to the home. More information about oversight inspections can be found at www.OverSeeIt.com
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after you send the inspection report to your client. You may then want to suggest that they hire you to perform a Move-In Certified inspection on the house they are selling. You can find out more about Move-In Certified Inspections at www.MoveInCertified.com
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when you market to your previous clients. As I explained earlier in my wheat and chess story, you should get your former clients to sell additional inspections for you. But you should also use those opportunities to get ask your former clients to buy additional inspection services from you. You may want to suggest they hire you to do an Annual Maintenance Inspection in the fall.
If you are trying to grow your business, regularly work on becoming qualified to offer more and more additional ancillary inspections, incorporate them into the services your inspection company offers, and make those offers at various points within the series of contacts you have with your clients.
I took the concepts from the posts in this thread, updated them, added to them, arranged them, and published them in a new paper. Go here to download for free: https://www.nachi.org/forum/f55/download-free-stacks-home-inspectors-guide-increasing-gross-revenue-112132/