New Inspector Business Growth Question

Good morning, I just launched my inspector business and am trying to get it off the ground. What tips would you share with me to get home inspections?

Here’s what I’ve done so far:

  • dropped in on open houses to meet real estate agents in their native habitat
  • dropped into real estate offices around town introducing myself and left business cards (couple of offices have pay to play programs unfortunately)
  • joined local facebook business groups where I’ve been sharing content

What else should I be doing?

The professional HI’s can give you better advice on how to get your business up and running but this is my list as a potential client who may be looking to hire you. The first thing I look at when shopping for any type of services is a website. And that is not a page on Facebook because I’m not on Facebook. Most netizens won’t even bother with you if you don’t have a decent quality website.

Many inspectors here have links to their websites right in their signature so you can see what a quality website looks like. On your site it’s good to have a sample inspection report so that people can see what they’re getting when they hire you. When I purchased my home a few years ago my realtor gave me a list of HI’s that she recommended. I looked closely at all of their websites and sample reports and there was quite a noticeable difference between several of them.

Lastly register your own domain name and use a service for your email. Nothing looks less professional than InspectorJoe@aol.com. Others may disagree but as a potential client this is my 2 cents.

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I dunno… I’m still amazed at the amount of Hotmail accounts still floating around!!

Cory,
Welcome. What city are you in?
There are many webinars here to help you.
The marketing for a home inspector is not a “one size fits all”.
What works for another may not work for you.

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Funny I was going to use @Hotmail in my example but nothing smells like old people more than @AOL which my 86 year old father still uses.

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True… but nothing smells like “Druggies” more than @ HOTMAIL !!
Note: I also have my two original AOL (and Yahoo) addresses. I currently use them for all the Junky sites and other potential scammy places that require an email to log in. I check in to clean it out about twice a year during my general cleanup sessions!

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Find a business group and join it. I wouldn’t suggest a BNI to start as they have sorta high standards and the HI slot is probably already full. There are other groups in the area that meet and do business. Find them.

Cultivate relationships with realtors. Go to chamber of commerce in your town and if they have an active group, that’s a great place to meet people.

Find all the real estate type shows and visit them. The key is to get one realtor to use you. Become their one stop shop. Help them in any way you can and as they sing your praises, the others will want the same thing. It works! I finally got into a very busy local realtor with one guy. Some months later and now I’ve got 6 or so that call me regularly. I’ve been so busy in the last few months, I rarely can even post on here except early or late.

Make yourself indispensable.

Look the part. Have embroidered clothing, have good equipment. Strapping a single ladder to the roof of your Honda Fit doesn’t exactly send the right message. Do what you can to make it appear like you’re an old pro at this.

Be seen. Get magnets for your work vehicle. Wrap the thing when you can afford it.

I’ve been saying for a bit now that I was grinding for probably 18 months to get my business to move and it did, in fits and starts. Now I’ve got to grind to keep up! A good problem to have.

Other people will get your name out there, your professional looking website will validate you.

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Well, you’ve already joined InterNACHI and have your CPI, so that’s a great start.

Next, get a professional website up and launch a social media campaign, then start advertising.

Get business cards and brochures and put them everywhere, starting with all the local REA companies in your area.

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Have you done any of the recommendations in www.BizVelop.com ?

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“The more work you do, the more work you get”.
But how do you get the first one?

As for stopping in at REA Offices:
When Jehovah Witnesses show up at your door, how do you handle it?

REA’s are professional marketers for the most part. Do they have time for you?
What makes you better than the guys they use now?

No one wants to break what works. You have to be pretty good for them to break the glass!
So look at your presentation through their eyes. You need to find the void in their business plan. You won’t do that with a business card (though that is your first impression, which keeps the cards out of the closest trashcan).

No one is hunting for you. You can hire a marketing company, like Angie’s List or something. They will get you on the list for the “Race to the bottom”. The fight for who can be the cheapest.
No one “selects you” from your advertisement attempts. They are “eliminating” you from the list. Whoever doesn’t get canceled, gets the opportunity for them to dig deeper for things to delete you for. They will hopefully come across something they can relate to and decide they want to invest in your service. Remember, this is a “Service Business”, not a “Retail Business”. Do not use any Retail strategy like Black Friday Deals, or 20% off for this week alone. The clock is counting down. It might work in your mind, but not theirs.

Don’t list your Inspection Fees. There are no two houses alike, so there is no one fee that fits all. Inspectors do it, but remember, you have taxes to pay in April! If your fee is above the other FNG, they won’t even click the “Next” button. The reason you are advertising a service is to make the phone ring. You can’t sell, if you can’t connect with the caller. Then you need to answer the phone correctly. Who likes getting a Call Center? What is your reply to “How much do you charge”? Many Inspectors have said they hate advertising that doesn’t list prices. Well, they are as stupid as a home buyer that only wants a cheep job. You don’t need these clients for anything, except to feed your family. If you can’t get through the next year without work, your business plan sucks.

I did not answer how you can be a 90-day wonder, because it is more critical of what you should not do, than what you should do.

If you have time and money in hand, I recommend you enroll in a Real Estate pre-licensing course, and find a Real Estate Company that will sponsor you for their pre-hiring course. Get the books they use to learn REA marketing and study them. You will learn the marketing you need. How to overcome objections. How to use the alternative of choice. Understand the REA position in a home sale. Get to know new and experienced REA’s that don’t need to know your HI Goals. You may even want to take the REA test and fail it, and say this is not for me, I think I’ll look at a Home Inspection.
In order to do this, you willl meet the princible broker, training brokers (who do the recommendig of sub contractors), seasoned agents and new agents who may produce some time down the road. Maybe, if you are still both at it.

You need to be asking for what you need and for help, not telling how you are God’s gift to the Inspection Industry. “Just look at all those stickers I got on my website”!
Does the Agent have issues with Inspections that you can legally overcome? You need help, and so do they. Otherwise, you’re just a vacuum cleaner salesman.

I did something like this, over a lifetime, but I did pass the test and sold a few houses to feed the family till my wife got out of medical school. I never did the marketing you are looking at. On my week one, I had so many high-end houses to inspect, I had to get a hotel room nearest my next day’s inspections. I did not look for the REA, they found me because they knew me and my background in Real Estate already. They were looking for someone to make their required inspections for their relocation clients as smooth as possible. :man_shrugging:

It’s what made my business kick-off on day one. Take of it what you wish. Your results may differ…

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I’m in St George Utah

Yes sir, I’m currently working with Inspector Media for my social media outreach