What answering service do you use to schedule your inspections? Are there any that will allow me to give guidance about how (small talk, personal relationship, local feel) I want them to talk to people? Finally, at what volume did you hand over answering phones to a service?
Quick background:
-Started inspecting 7/21/23
-I’m the only inspector
-As of today, I’ve done 212 inspections
-So far for March, I’ve booked 34 inspections
I’m feeling a little overwhelmed. Do you think an answering service is a good option? Thank you for your time!
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Way to go, Von!
That is some fantastic growth.
I’m not that busy yet so I still answer my own phone. If I had your volume I might be considering and answering service also.
For my volume (43 last month, 17 so far for March) I can handle the calls but I do miss an occasional call and when I call back they have already booked with an inspector who answered right away (or had a call service maybe?) If I was twice as busy, I’d probably be looking for someone to take my calls.
One of my friends hired a stay-at-home-mom friend of his to take calls for his multi-inspector firm and he has been very happy with their arrangement. A call center might have their way of doing business and may be less trainable in your specific way of taking calls and landing each lead. I would not be surprised if you are doing things differently than the average inspector with the success you are seeing.
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Sounds like you’re off to a great start, Von! Nice!
I never used a company’s service. I answered my own phone. When I needed some help, I was fortunate to have someone that I could train the way I wanted the phone and potential clients related to. If the questions were too technical for my occasional phone office person, I would touch base with the potential client as a follow up.
That worked good for me because if I really got too busy, I simply raised my prices and that either slowed things a little or I made a substantial amount of $ more for my efforts. Often it gave me a slight break. I was charging $475 for a small condo when others around this area were getting $250 and it went up from there. Fewer jobs…more $…less working time.
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Thanks Bert! Actually, the stay-at-home mom idea never entered my mind. That’s a great idea. Somebody in the area that knows me a little bit. I appreciate your advice sir!
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I appreciate your insight Larry! Your point about technical questions is something I’m a little concerned about. Raising prices is something I really need to consider and I’m glad you brought that up. Home inspectors create tremendous value for clients and we should never undervalue our service. It make sense to do a few less inspections and make the same amount of money. Thank you Larry!
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Good question. Just Indiana.
Someone posted a recording on FB a few days ago of an interaction between a caller and America’s Call Center (ACC). I was actually fairly impressed. The reason they posted it was because the caller was nuts, lol. But the call center rep handled it really well I thought. Of course, your call might be answered by a variety of reps I imagine. That’s the scary part.
Thank you Ryan! ACC is one I’ve done some research on. They seem very professional. I’ve always had difficulty delegating. Learning to accept no one is going to answer exactly the same is something to get over. I do appreciate your experience and feedback.
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As busy as you are, I would say yes, you need this service.
I found some adverse effects about a service answering my calls. You need them to follow specific guidelines when taking the calls. When you answer your own call, you have the needed opportunity to close on the job before they move on to the next number on the list. If you’re that busy, this is not that big of an issue. The cost of business.
Buyers are not willing to hang around for your call if they don’t already know you (i.e. referrals).
They way appointment services operate now is a big pain in the ass.
I have a doctor’s appointment I didn’t know about this week. I called three times, only to sit on hold forever. No way to cancel the appointment without sitting on hold to connect with some service up in Boston.
I just now got an automated phone call where I got to “Hit 2 to cancel appt.”. Where did I end up? On hold again. “Goodbye”!
Make your service work for you. You don’t want the reputation that no one can get a hold of you.
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Phone coverage is one of the biggest challenges in this biz… At the the end of the day no one sells you like you. Sure, there are some decent options but no one will do it as good as you. That being said, if you are this busy you can probably afford to lose a couple that you would have booked and there’s the angle that if you’re busy and miss call that a call center grabbed.
As for which service to use? Definitely a home inspection specific one. I tried ACC years ago (10+) so this isn’t totally relevant but my experience was absolutely horrible and a bailed after a couple weeks. There was a time zone issue where I couldn’t get anyone other than a minimum wage person on the phone after 2PM west coast time and all the people had VERY heavy southern accents and it was clear they weren’t local. Then, the integration of their system into my ISN (Inspection Support Network) calendar, etc., was a total nightmare. Their system kept charging travel fees for all my jobs as if I were driving from their headquarters. Clients were getting quoted $1000+ for inspections and laughing and hanging up. I say all this not to bash ACC but if/when you do go with a center check everything over and over to be sure it’s all running the way you want before you go, “live.”
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