Just taking the time to explain to the client how the program works is worth more than 5 bucks. Not to mention the risk of a angry client because they weren’t paying attention or whatever.
Then there’s the possible perceived slime factor. Internachi members lose out on inspections due to client information sharing. Perception can be as bad as reality in this business.
If you do not have time to sell the services that you want to offer to your client than that is completely your fault.
Remember the client only go that message because the inspector chose to use the Porch program.
on a side not if you are not using the Porch program or have opted your client out. this is the message that they get when signing your agreement.
The OP appears to have lost the client because it was forced on them before they could even get to the OP’s contract. Also the system is an “Opt Out” and not an “Opt In” option. Why should a client have to make any calls or contacts to “Opt Out” of something they apparently did not want in the first place?
Quite frankly I would not blame the client or the OP at all for the OP’s loss of this client! Consumers are busy these days and have no time to have to jump through even the smallest hoop to “Opt Out” of selling their personal data off to telemarketers and others and even having to wonder or worry if the “Opt Out” is actually being honored. The consumer will just move onto their next Inspector pick!
"Guys, I hope I’ve earned your trust after all these years. Let me make a suggestion:
Opt in with Porch.
See how it goes for a week.
If all goes well, give it another week.
If all goes well, give it another week.
If all goes well, give it another week.
Your opt-out button is one button away.
I don’t think I often ask you to trust me, but I’m asking that you trust me.
And keep your finger near the opt-out button."
Trust is one thing. Being a guinea pig for a new program is another. Doesn’t seem worth my while at 5 bucks a pop. Porch needs to up the anti, in my opinion. I’m not saying I’d hitch my wagon to this program for more money but at least the industry take over would be helped by those that made some decent money participating.
I sent my thoughts to Nick and it looks like he posted it already, but providing a reply myself to be on this thread and provide my direct contact info.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. This language included for customers is standard legal language (it’s the same language for consumers who are completing a form on Porch’s website and was provided by our lawyers), but you are right… it can be improved. The language is there to give Porch and the Porch Connection Specialist the ability to call the consumer. No one else calls the consumer, we do not send their data anywhere, and it is protected.
We’ve had tens of thousands of consumers of inspectors seeing this language over the last couple of months and this is the first concern I’ve heard. But let’s use this as an opportunity to improve it. Here is what we are going to do:
We will be following up with Robert Hughes tomorrow to make sure that the No Complaint Guarantee is enacted and Robert is compensated. We do not want any complaints and we’ll make this right. Robert – we will kick off consumer acquisition in your area until we find you a new client that replaces this one. We have already adjusted all of our home inspection leads to be free for home inspectors and in particular, are driving more and more leads to inspectors who have partnered with Porch. We’ll make sure we do this for you to make this up to you.
We are going to adjust the language to ensure it is more clear to the consumer that their information is protected and to know what happens. The homeowner will be emailed by their Home Assistant and they will be called the day after. If at any time they express that they don’t need help with transferring over their utilities or any other move-in services, they will not be contacted by anyone.
There is a Learn More link currently that gives more information to the consumer, but we will improve this to include a downloadable pdf so that they can see how helpful a Home Assistant and free Porch Handyman Services coupons can be for their move. We’ll include a Home Assistant video link as well in this Learn More popup.
We’ve seen a massive increase in inspectors turning on the Porch Home Assistant Gold and $200 of Handyman Services for their customers over the past month and I’m excited to help all of these inspectors improve your value proposition and differentiate yourselves to consumers and agents. We’re listening and learning and will continue to iterate until we have this perfect for you all. We’re not perfect, but the numbers are certainly overwhelmingly positive in terms of how happy homebuyers are with our services. We have gotten delight stories back from inspectors who won new agent relationships because of Porch and homebuyers who loved their Home Assistant – we’ll be putting them together as case studies or videos to share. We’re just at the beginning and will continue to improve and add more value for you every day. Email me directly anytime at matt@porch.com with any ideas.
What if the first week doesn’t go so well. And an upset client(s) decides to leave some bad reviews on the internet. And/or maybe lose a good Agent referral or two and get a bad rap at the broker’s office. Then what?
Thanks for running the test. I’m curious to see what the contact emails, marketing texts and calls are like. How many? How many senders? Over what period of time?
BTW: As a consumer of a professional service the above would have sent me irretrievably packing. I’d fire the home inspector and find another. Very much like the OP’s experience that prompted the initial post.
I guess those interested in the program will have to weigh how many additional sales they get from consumers seeking widgets and logos, vs how many they lose over the prospect of the peddling of their personal data and those who become irritated/dissatisfied over the post-engagement sales contacts.
To ISN/Porch’s credit, they are upfront about notifying your client of their intent to market them pretty heavily, unlike some innocuous sounding clause buried deep in the service agreement itself, like some widget sellers do. Assuming that the client reads it.
Is there a reason that the Porch marketing agreement can not be placed AFTER the Inspector’s contract is signed? The client can be given a message to continue to a Porch sign in if they want or just drop their browser session altogether. In this way the client can agree to the Inspector’s services and not even opt in if they do not want it at all.
Perfect! I think there are some Porch services some buyers (especially first time buyers) would love to have. Giving people the opportunity to opt-out before agreeing to home assistant, etc. would buy some confidence with our clients that we are trying to help them instead of sell them.
Thank you for following up. I think your suggestions are great but I also agree with other posters that it would be best to move the Porch offerings and “opt-in” language to post inspection agreement. Start with something like…“As a courtesy to our clients we Texas House Check would like to offer you services from Home Assistant, etc…To learn more go here…i”.
I understand the legal reasons for the client opt-in. It is the placement and delivery that is causing the problem. Get that solved and we can try again.
There is some truth to that Michael. Nathan Thornberry is partly the reason Porch is having to start in negative territory (although InterNACHI never released any data to Nathan either).
But Porch doesn’t sell leads. It responds to consumers who ask for assistance.
I don’t get this crap from other “professionals” that I deal with. I think I will just continue to do home inspections and not participate in the widget game.