Agents preferred inspector 0, Me 1

[Chad Fabry]

If there are in fact portions of that building approaching 200 years old then it has more than earned the right to exhibit a few sags and wrinkles. Given that there are multiple systems requiring repairs that are 'tens of thousands', 'prohibitively expensive', and 'new car expensive' I gotta ask, was there anything worth salvage before the dozers come in?

Not really. It wasn't ever a good house- poorly built from day one. It's standing there out of habit.

[Ben H]

I had a house last week that was very similar to yours Chad. No one could give me a real age number, but I was told it was 150 yrs +. The place was a disaster, open gas valve and hand grenade ready.

I get the fact that old buildings have a nostalgia to them. What I don't get is how some people are blind to the facts, and allow that nostalgia to take control of their better judgement. Some old houses just need to be bulldozed.

[Bain]

II answer my own phone, and never have time to delve into a sales pitch. Nevermind that said sales-pitch seldom wins anyone over 'cause that's not something I'm good at.

I answer my own phone and usually have at least a few minutes for a sales pitch. I never answer the "How much?" question immediately with the price. That's the last thing we talk about.

I'm sure that's a better approach than what I normally do. It's just that I so seldom win over the price-shoppers, it's as if every word exchanged is a waste of time. I'll give your strategy a whirl and see how it goes.

[Inspectorjoe]

My January and February were on par with 2010 (when the tax credit was in effect), but recently things have just ground to a halt. The inspection I will (hopefully) be doing this coming Thursday afternoon will mark the end of a two week dry stretch. That's more than twice as long as I've ever gone between inspections.

I had one scheduled last week that canceled, with the buyer giving some lame excuse and saying he'll reschedule when time allows. Guess what hasn't happened. This guy was referred to me from a past customer. I wonder how much he 'saved' by going elsewhere.

Also last week, I got a call on my cell phone from a prospective client who was referred to me by a former customer. I was kind of caught off guard, because I normally don't take calls to sell myself. I use America's Call Center. I truly believe they do a better job selling than I can (in addition to handling the myriad of details that I don't need to think about). Anyway, I thought it went well. The woman seemed very receptive, but at the end, said "I'll get back to you". Guess what hasn't happened.

I've been reading on different message boards of inspectors lowering their prices or giving special discounts - doing whatever it takes to book inspections. I won't do that. I'm not going to participate in a race to the bottom. Although my prices are among the highest in my area, I feel they are too low as it is - and this April will mark 4 years since the last increase!

In addition to losing referrals from previous customers because of price issues, I've been losing referrals from real estate agents. I don't market to agents in any way, shape or form. I don't even send Christmas cards to agents. It may not be the best business decision, but this way, my impartiality and my allegiance to the buyer can't be questioned. I've had agents that have been referring business to me for years that I haven't had a referral from in a year or more. I won't ask them why, but I'm guessing that most are in dire financial straits and really need that next commission check, so they are referring an 'easier' inspector. So be it.

Looking at my bare schedule has made me start thinking about the dreaded F-word ....... a word I loathe ......... Facebook. There, I've said it. I just don't get this Facebook thing, but then I'm just not a very sociable person to begin with. Everything I read tells me that it's a tool I need to use, so I decided to give it a try.

I've read that for the most functionality, you should get a personal profile, then set up a business page, so that's what I did. I had no intention of using my personal profile, so I set all of the privacy settings as private as possible. This morning, I get an email saying that an agent that does still refer business to me wants me to be her friend. I'm probably going to regret being sucked into the black hole known as FB, but I clicked OK.

I thought the business page thing would be pretty simple, but found out that's not the case. In addition to having to come up with some content, I learned that I should customize a 'landing page'. That involves coding, which is something that I know nothing about. I've got my work cut out for me.

Once I get 25 people to 'like' my page, I can get a vanity URL for it. If there are any Facebook users (that I haven't I haven't insulted too much) who may want to mosey over and click the 'like' button on my page, I'd be mighty obliged. It would be nice to have the vanity URL in place when I do have it ready to promote.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/HomePro-B ... 775089871#!

[Bain]

Joe, I don't know if Facebook will garner any new business for you, but I've had lots of people tell me that they checked out my website, clicked on the Facebook link, saw the kind words customers had to say about me, and that that's what sold them.

On my Facebook page, a realtor--who is awesome in every way--even says that I'm known as the "Deal Killer." Potential customers LOVE that.

I'm gonna become a fan of yours right now.

This is me;

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bain-Prop ... 0440743465

[Darren]

Hey;

That photo of the deck looks familiar LOL

[Bain]

Hey;

That photo of the deck looks familiar LOL

Ha, ha. You gave me permission. And I've never seen a better photo of a failed deck.

[Erby]

Ya got your "Like" from me, Joe.

Here's mine.

B4U Close Inspections on Facebook

On second thought, we'd better stop the thread drift and move the Facebook stuff to it's own post.

Here's a starting thread:

Home Inspectors on Facebook

https://www.inspectorsjournal.com/forum ... C_ID=13718