Originally Posted By: gromicko
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http://www.nachi.org/servicemagic2.htm
Nick
http://www.nachi.org/servicemagic2.htm
Nick
Originally Posted By: thauswirth
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I checked out the site and did not see a tab or category for Home Inspection. How will clients find home inspectors? It looks like there are tabs for R/E Agents and Home Improvement Contractors. Will they be forwarding the leads to us for anyone asking for an R/E Agent?
Originally Posted By: jhagarty
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
This program was tried previously.
http://www.nachi.org/bbsystem/viewtopic.php?t=243&highlight=servicemagic
--
Joseph Hagarty
HouseMaster / Main Line, PA
joseph.hagarty@housemaster.com
www.householdinspector.com
Phone: 610-399-9864
Fax : 610-399-9865
HouseMaster. Home inspections. Done right.
Originally Posted By: ecrofutt
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I suggest y’all consider this carefully and do your research before paying any money.
As I'm sure most of you are aware, there is an extremely tight time frame for most customers needing a home inspection.
So much so that, unless it's a direct referral, you miss the call, they move on to the next inspector.
I don't think many customers needing home inspections will hang around to fill out a form and then wait for you to call them back when you finally get the e-mail telling you about it.
Do the math.
3 million consumers to its Web site each month and facilitating more than 125,000 ( 4.17%) monthly service requests to its member businesses ? on average 650 (0.52% of the 125,000) are specifically for home inspection needs
Watch your money and spend it wisely.
--
Erby Crofutt
B4U Close Home Inspections
Georgetown, Kentucky
www.b4uclose.com
Originally Posted By: Mike Parks
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As a ServiceMagic member all my leads have been crap.
That is why I took my name off of the inspectors list.
You pay the leads that you accept. None of the referrals made to me made me a penny.
Mike P.
Originally Posted By: wwarner
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You can do a 3 month trial period with them to see if there are any requests for your service. I did. Never saw the first lead. May be better odds in large cities, but sounds like Columbus didn’t do much better eh Mike? Take Erby’s advice.
–
Bill
It's only Rock 'n Roll.... but I like it!
Originally Posted By: Geoff Kulesa
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Hi. I’d like to introduce myself and offer to answer any questions you may have about ServiceMagic or this partnership with NACHI.
My name is Geoff Kulesa and I am in charge of marketing and partnerships at ServiceMagic.
The reason we partnered with NACHI and are offering a reduced setup fee is that we need more home inspectors to help out our consumers. Over the last 365 days we had over 8,000 consumers come to us looking for a home inspector. These consumers fill out a detailed 3-page questionnaire which we pass on to our members in the form of a $10 lead.
We currently have over 1,100 home inspectors that utilize our service but that is not enough to keep up with the consumer demand. Our overall consumer demand is rising at about 50% per year so this year we should do in the range of 12,000 home inspector requests over the next year.
How does the service work? When a consumer submits a request, we immediately match it to our member network and send it to up to three home inspectors who have indicated a desire to receive that lead in that particular geographical location. We never send it to more than 3 members. We also immediately send the consumer a profile of your business with details about your company, your contact information, references, etc. Our technology allows you to connect with the consumer instantly via cell-phone or you can contact them yourself. You won't win every lead but you should win enough to make it a very cost-effective advertising source.
Is it right for you? Only you can decide. Realize that we do nothing to lock in the 1,100 current home inspector members that utilize our service. We have no long-term contracts and no monthly or annual fees. If it didn't work, members wouldn't stay with us. Does it work for everyone? No. But it works for most.
How much do you currently pay to acquire a new customer (via yellow pages, referrals, other types of advertising)? If you purchased 10 leads from ServiceMagic for $100, and closed two, you'd have spent $50 per new customer. If you close three, you'd have spent $33. That's how the math works.
Here are the metropolitan areas in which we have the most requests for home inspectors:
Washington DC area
Chicago area
Los Angeles area
Philadelphia area
Boston area
Atlanta area
New York, NY area
Dallas area
Baltimore area
Newark, NJ area
Detroit area
Houston area
In those areas we get 100-400 home inspection requests per month but we get requests all across the country. Even if we don't have huge volume, remember - with this service you pay only for the leads you receive.
If you have any more detailed questions, I'd be happy to address them here or in a direct email at gkulesa@servicemagic.com.
Thanks,
Geoff
Originally Posted By: Matthew Bartels
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I’m not buying this sales pitch. I have NEVER heard one positive thing from home inspectors about this service. I may just join NACHI to get more advertising for my company. At least then I’ll get some other benifits also.
Originally Posted By: jhagarty
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
| Geoff Kulesa wrote: |
| Hi. I'd like to introduce myself and offer to answer any questions you may have about ServiceMagic or this partnership with NACHI.
My name is Geoff Kulesa and I am in charge of marketing and partnerships at ServiceMagic. The reason we partnered with NACHI and are offering a reduced setup fee is that we need more home inspectors to help out our consumers. Over the last 365 days we had over 8,000 consumers come to us looking for a home inspector. These consumers fill out a detailed 3-page questionnaire which we pass on to our members in the form of a $10 lead. We currently have over 1,100 home inspectors that utilize our service but that is not enough to keep up with the consumer demand. Our overall consumer demand is rising at about 50% per year so this year we should do in the range of 12,000 home inspector requests over the next year. How does the service work? When a consumer submits a request, we immediately match it to our member network and send it to up to three home inspectors who have indicated a desire to receive that lead in that particular geographical location. We never send it to more than 3 members. We also immediately send the consumer a profile of your business with details about your company, your contact information, references, etc. Our technology allows you to connect with the consumer instantly via cell-phone or you can contact them yourself. You won't win every lead but you should win enough to make it a very cost-effective advertising source. Is it right for you? Only you can decide. Realize that we do nothing to lock in the 1,100 current home inspector members that utilize our service. We have no long-term contracts and no monthly or annual fees. If it didn't work, members wouldn't stay with us. Does it work for everyone? No. But it works for most. How much do you currently pay to acquire a new customer (via yellow pages, referrals, other types of advertising)? If you purchased 10 leads from ServiceMagic for $100, and closed two, you'd have spent $50 per new customer. If you close three, you'd have spent $33. That's how the math works. Here are the metropolitan areas in which we have the most requests for home inspectors: Washington DC area Chicago area Los Angeles area Philadelphia area Boston area Atlanta area New York, NY area Dallas area Baltimore area Newark, NJ area Detroit area Houston area In those areas we get 100-400 home inspection requests per month but we get requests all across the country. Even if we don't have huge volume, remember - with this service you pay only for the leads you receive. If you have any more detailed questions, I'd be happy to address them here or in a direct email at gkulesa@servicemagic.com. Thanks, Geoff |
Dear Geoff:
Has the response time and accountability improved. 72 hour processing is a waste of tiome if that is still the case. Requests should be forwarded immediately upon receipt.
This is an email received from my inquiry in the past:
Hello,
Thank you very much for your e-mail.
Our system is designed to give our service professionals an equal opportunity to receive and accept leads. In order to achieve this, we send out our leads in waves until we have up to three agents to present to the consumer. The first wave often is completed within 8 minutes of the submission of the request but the whole process can take up to 72 hours after the consumer has submitted their service request. We know that consumers prefer to meet and get estimates from at least 3 professionals in order to make an informed decision on whom to hire. Sometimes they choose to hire the first agent they meet. Keep in mind that they do have your contact and company information on hand to use for future needs. We do give a standard 10% discount of your total monthly lead accept fees at the end of each month. We appreciate your comments and are continuously enhancing our system thanks to feedback from our service professional and consumers.
If you have any other questions or concerns, please don?t hesitate to contact me.
Roxey Sandoval
Customer Service
Service Magic, Inc.
1626 Cole Blvd. Suite 200
Golden, CO 80401
1-425-930-2502 (fax)
1-877-947-3639 ext. 7787
www.servicemagic.com
--
Joseph Hagarty
HouseMaster / Main Line, PA
joseph.hagarty@housemaster.com
www.householdinspector.com
Phone: 610-399-9864
Fax : 610-399-9865
HouseMaster. Home inspections. Done right.
Originally Posted By: Geoff Kulesa
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Mr. Hagarty,
We have improved the system and you can now expect to receive leads within minutes of the request being submitted. In 85% of the cases, this will happen and you will be be able to connect with the consumer while they are still sitting in front of their computer (if you are that quick in response). I hear this from consumers all the time ("Wow! I can't believe they called me so quickly"). If you use our free cell-phone notification, you can receive the lead on your phone, press 1 to listen to the lead details and press 1 again to be instantly connected to the consumer's phone number. So even if you're out on a job, you can be closing business.
In 15% of the cases, our filters catch something in the consumer request that looks fishy and indicates a potential bad lead (i.e. bad address, name, etc). These situations require human intervention (we call the consumer to verify they are serious) and then pass on the lead. Obviously in these cases, it takes a bit longer.
By the way, if anyone is really serious but skeptical (i.e. "haven't heard one good thing"), I can provide references from very happy home inspectors, probably NACHI members. I just want to be sure you are serious because it will be an investment of my time and theirs to get their permission to post their contact information.
Geoff
Originally Posted By: dvalley
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Geoff,
I'm very much interested in hearing what other Inspectors have to say about Servicemaster referrals.
If and when I hear positive responses, I'll gladly sign up for a 30 day trial immediately.
--
David Valley
MAB Member
Massachusetts Certified Home Inspections
http://www.masscertified.com
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go."
Originally Posted By: ecrofutt
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Nick, The SM link on the NACHI/SM page is not clickable. I had to copy and paste it. I was a little disappointed that more information on the cost of the program was not available on the NACHI/SM page or the link.
Geoof,
In talking with "Brian" at SM, I found that your offer is supposedly half off the setup fee of $98.00 or a $49.00 setup cost to me. He had to check to find that out and still wasn't sure. Perhaps your call screeners shoudl be made aware of the program. He was able to tell me that SM generates 1 or 2 leads a month in my area. The math may work for the lead fee of $10.00 but not when the setup is included. Of course, he mentioned setup is free if SM sends me more than 50 leads a month. With an unknown like this and a previously bad reputation for home inspector leads, I'm just not willing to kick out the set up fee.
I'm impressed with the cell phone notification. Given the speed of todays real estate transactions and the tight inspection contingency time frame, it's almost as good as just the customer leaving a message on my voice mail. Though quite a few buyers just move on to the next inspector on their list when they get an answering machine,
You'll find very few home inspectors just sitting at their computers checking their e-mail all the time. They're out doing inspecitons. Like I will be in an hour. The cell phone notification gets the lead to me even when I'm not in the office. Otherwise, I get it that night or the next when I check my e-mail. By then, the client has done found a Home Inspector.
I DON'T like the fact that the cell phone notification is NOT explained to the customer as a possibility, which could encourage them to continue with their query.
I DON'T like the fact that there is NOT a category for me to sign up for JUST Home Inspector Leads. I DON'T need to hear about requests for Appraisals. But the closest category that I can sign up for receiving leads on is "Appraisers & Inspectors".
Appraisers and Inspectors do very different things. Not the same or even close. Appraisers generally work for clients thru banks & for banks to determine value of homes. Inspectors visually examine the general condition of the home for livability, etc.
All I want to hear about is requests for "Inspection - General Home (Home Inspector) "
It can't be that hard to add a Top Level Category for "Home Inspectors".
What happens to appraisal requests when I have to sign up for that category. "Appraisers and Inspectors".
Sure, I'd pay the $10.00 for the lead. It's just an advertising cost to me. But is it a decent lead that is timely in getting to me. That was always the complaint I'd heard. The lead was two days old before the Inspector got it. While that's OK for repair type contractors doing the larger projects, it just didn't fit with the immediacy of the home inspection business.
I'm glad to see you come on here to defend & explain your program.
--
Erby Crofutt
B4U Close Home Inspections
Georgetown, Kentucky
www.b4uclose.com
Originally Posted By: gbeaumont
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Hi to all,
I was going to set up a 30 day trial, but their system is telling me that I have previously done that, so I am not able to check it out. what I can tell you is that if I trialed this system previously it did not work.
I think if service magic, really want to expand their inspector base they really need to prove the value within it.
How about a 90 day trial and no set-up fee (that is bogus anyway as the registration is online, there is no cost center attatched to it). I am sorry to say that SM and similar outlets have always been seen to be lacking, another company who still send me invitations to buy leads from them have only sent me 4 potential leads in the last year, and non of them even in areas that I do business.
Here's a challenge to SM, that may sway both myself and Dave Valley into the program (we live close by each other) how many leads has SM generated within 25 mile radius of 01835 since the first of the year ??
Regards
Gerry
--
Gerry Beaumont
NACHI Education Committee
e-mail : education@nachi.org
NACHI phone 484-429-5466
Inspection Depot Education
gbeaumont@inspectiondepot.com
"Education is a journey, not a destination"
Originally Posted By: Geoff Kulesa
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
David, Erby and Gerry, thanks for your questions/comments.
Erby, as part of the deal with NACHI, we are reducing the sign-up fee from $99 to $49. This is not a profit-generator for us. This fee covers the cost of screening your business to ensure proper licensing (where applicable) and insurance and a background check. This is an important step as our value proposition to consumers includes the fact that we present only prescreened reputable service providers. We are in fact losing a little money at the $49 level.
Erby, you are right. We DO have a specific category of leads for home inspectors. You DO NOT need to take leads for appraisers. When you sign-up on the web, we have an overall category that includes both but once we get into setting your account up, we would only set you up for the home inspection leads in the zip codes you desire.
David, you asked for some references from home inspectors that have used our service and are experiencing success. Here are three, including one from the Chariman of the Ethics Committee for NACHI.
1. Advanced Proefssional Services Group (Pearl River, NY) Joe Farsetta. Joe likes ServiceMagice because, "It is smarter money than advertising in the yellow pages." Joe is the Chariman of the Ethics Committee for NACHI.
2. RLM Home Inspection Service (Ogden, UT) Roger McFarland. Roger likes ServiceMagic because, "easy access to finding potential customers."
3. Buyers Choice Home Inspection (Atlanta, GA) Scott and Sheila Webb. Sheila likes ServiceMagic because, "Keeps advertising costs down and it is easier to close a job."
If anyone is interested in getting the phone numbers for any of these individuals, please contact me directly at gkulesa@servicemagic.com. They have agreed to speak with folks like you but I don't want to just post their numbers here.
One last thing: Clarification on the free trial... I am not sure where the "30-day" reference came from but we do have a 10-day free trial that allows you to look at leads (without the contact information) in your area for 10 days. You cannot contact these leads - you can just view real live leads. In my opinion, this is somewhat of a waste of time. I say this because the real test is not in viewing the leads but rather in following up with leads to determine your close rate. Viewing them won't allow you to determine your ROI which is what matters in the end. We limit the free trials to once per professional.
Gerry, I'll take you up on your challenge. The problem I have is that I can't easily generate a list of zip codes within a radious of a particular zip code. However, if you give me a list of cities or counties, I can give you an exact lead count.
Geoff
Originally Posted By: gbeaumont
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Hi Geoff,
glad to see you like a challenge 
How about Essex & Middlesex counties in Massachusetts, and Rockingham county New Hampshire.
I await with bated breath
regards
Gerry
--
Gerry Beaumont
NACHI Education Committee
e-mail : education@nachi.org
NACHI phone 484-429-5466
Inspection Depot Education
gbeaumont@inspectiondepot.com
"Education is a journey, not a destination"
Originally Posted By: rfarruggia
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Oh, what the hell. It was a slow day today and and I finished my report (singular) early. God knows, I shouldn’t be left anywhere near this damn computer with an active credit card. So I just signed up with SM.
I'll report here my opinions regarding this service as time goes on.
Originally Posted By: kmcmahon
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| Nick Gromiko wrote: |
| NACHI has over 9,400 national members," said Nick Gromicko, Executive Director from NACHI. |
Where the heck did he come up with that number????? 
--
Wisconsin Home Inspection, ABC Home Inspection LLC
Search the directory for a Wisconsin Home Inspector
Originally Posted By: Geoff Kulesa
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Nick,
http://www.nachi.org/about.htm
Originally Posted By: Geoff Kulesa
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Gerry,
In those three counties (comprised of 214 zip codes) we get about 10-15 consumers per month requesting a home inspection.
Geoff
Originally Posted By: kmcmahon
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I was going to sign up but they require your SS# for some sort of background check. I don’t give that out to anyone.
–
Wisconsin Home Inspection, ABC Home Inspection LLC
Search the directory for a Wisconsin Home Inspector