Real Estate Leads! (must read and respond!)
Feb 7, 2016 11:58:05 GMT -5
Post by Cory Marchildon on Feb 7, 2016 11:58:05 GMT -5
We are implementing a change on how we book appointments from the call centre, to the inspector getting paid on site, to the payroll side (for this) as well.
Purpose:
As a company we want you as the inspector to go out to potential jobs where people (usually the homeowners) are the decision makers.
There is a lot of real estate transactions that take place every month on both the buyers and sellers side. And we don't want you to be "used" as a negotiating tool with you proposal.
Or a tenant who doesn't have the pull or right to order and pay for work.
As a company, we pay for most leads that come in through the Internet in the range of $60-120/ ea. We will continue to pay this, however our goal is to only have you, the qualified inspector go to where you are meeting with the home owner (aka... the decision maker!).
As an inspector, you give your time and energy freely on the hopes of selling that job and earning a living for solving there issues. When you are not meeting with the decision maker, you are far less likely to be able to sell your service, make a living, etc. Aka... wasting your time.
We want every lead to be a worthwhile lead. So you have the best opportunity to sell. So here is how we plan to do this.
Ring, ring, ring...
So a call comes into the office. They want to book an appointment for an inspection... great.
Information is taken... at some point (im thinking VERY early on) we ask do you own the home/ building etc.
Let's assume the answer is yes.
We take all info... appt is set you will be meeting with....the homeowner...great...you run the lead as normal.
....appt gets set with home owner, but homeowner says you will be meeting with son, nanny,neighbour, contractor etc.....
At this point our call centre rep will inform them we would be happy to come out and do a full inspection however... we do our FREE inspections for the owners w/ our owners on site at time of inspection. Our inspectors are certified and trained to solve your problems and it is our experience that this works best when the owner is present. If they can't be there we will still do our inspection but we charge a fee of $225. For this service. (some will be ok with that, I expect many will not be...and either hang up, or attempt to get it waived, or call back and tell a white lie!)
To be clear....We are NOT wanting to get off on a bad foot w/ a customer at all. So if at call centre you feel we should let it go for some reason (what comes to mind is a church or a commercial building, school, dentist office)..then waive the fee .(and make a note as to why so inspector can see this). We will monitor this and tweak our ideas as we play this out for a month or two.
Agents often call in for a client... if the client (the owner)will be present for the inspection...no problem, no fee. If it is for a buyer, this would be a fee for service. If they will not be there... or you believe they may not be there...just make them aware...Ok we can set up the appointment with yourself (agent). I'll just make the note for your inspector that homeowner may or maynot be there. So Mr. Agent if your client is not there will you be paying the $225. Inspection fee? Or something like this. So inspector, please watch the notes.
If we will be meeting with or talking to someone other than the owner. And the owner will not be there to discuss and accept the proposal. Then we inform them we charge $225. Tax incl for the estimate.
If they have an issue w/ it we can explain that in most cases when we do not meet w/ the homeowner themselves we are just providing an estimating service. Simular to a home inspector service. Where as if the homeowner is present they are far more likely to have the work done.
The fee...... $225. HST incl ($199 plus tax)
How did we come up w/ this amount?
As I'm sure you are aware we pay for leads. Aka. Marketing. We pay for calls that come into office that sometimes do not book, or cancel too! If we can't book them for weeks sometimes and they cancel... we still usually pay...
So we are using the idea that for every two requests that come in where we believe it should be a pay for service inspection, we are going to loose one inspection that chooses not to pay. If we say a lead costs us $75 and we loose one. The lead that the inspector is running now costs us $150. The additional $75. Will go to the inspector for his time.
The word Free inspection on our web site now say "Free Inspection*".
At the bottom of the page (please take a look) it now as an * with our simple conditions.
As an inspector... it will be up to you to collect the fee.... we have designed a simple booklet of invoice/ receipts for you to fill in. (see attachment).
What if I don't charge them?
-then we don't get paid and you don't get paid for your inspection service either. We will not be hunting you down. Heck we won't even know u were getting paid.
Can I alter or waive the fee?
Yes. You can use it as a negotiating tool if need be. If you choose to lower the fee. Please remember you are also lowering your reimbursement as well. (1/3 or what you collect will be paid to you).
What if they forgot there cheque book or cc....basically I charged them for the service...but didn't collect at the time of service?
The office has not been set up to be your collections dept for this. We may try and get paid, and if we do get paid, assume your 1/3 maybe reduced as well.
On the top of there invoice check off invoice in the box, if they pay you on site (as we expect) then also check off the other box as well.
You (inspector) arrive at the house and there is a forsale on the front lawn...what to do?
This is up to you...charge or not... again don't want to make enemies, take it as you wish... but it will certainly open up some further discussion... one thing I think for sure would be a good option is if you feel you are being used...to not give or send the estimate unless you get paid first.. you may give them a "verbal estimate, but that actual quote is likely what they want to use as leverage. Something to think about...
How is there receipt as good as $100?
If or should we say when they choose US to do there repair they can use the receipt for $100. Toward the FINAL balance of there invoice (not toward the deposit). As long as they book the work within 60 days of your estimate. So hopefully this will encourage them to use our service. (Don't discount this below $150.). I'll explain in person why.
As a call centre person letting the potential client on the phone know that if they chose our services that $100. Can be used towards there work should show good credibility.
And as an inspector, this $100. Would be treated like cash. So what ever discount they get this is still able to be used toward they're job. So if u did charge $225. You get $75. Company gets $150. Which gets reduced to $50 towards marketing as $100. Goes to production work.
Also....
Some calls (new leads) come in and they need desperately want someone there today, or tomorrow.... FAST!!! (Even if they own the home....)
You know these type.... they give you all the buying signs right up front...just get here....fast...
So we take their bait.... you drive straight there to (get there deposit right!) save the day.... only to find out they are getting 5 other estimates, or u are meeting w/ someone other than the owner.
Rrrrrrrrr
Well here is our (potential) solution....
For the call centre to consider....
Mr/ms home owner... we are currently booking our free inspections or next available inspection for....next week or whenever it is...would that be good for you?...
"I want today, or tomorrow morning" they say.
Well I'm sorry that is my next available "FREE" inspection. However we do try to keep an opening for what we refer too as our real estate inspections. These are specifically set aside for real estate agents that you our service and always need short notice. So basically our inspector is driving direct to your site instead of a scheduled route. I see it hasn't been filled yet. I can offer you that time slot. But so you are aware there is a $225. Fee as well, which so you know is reduce to $125. Should you choose to do business with us. Can i book you that time slot, or would you prefer the....(next week) slot!
Things to remember...if this fee is an issue...
-you are potentially spending hundereds of thousands of $$$, likely the biggest investment of your life. And it's not worthy of a certified inspection at a very small service fee?
-may I ask you a question.. what do you do for a living? Do you get paid for doing that? (maybe sounds kinda smart ass like tho).
- we are serious about what we do, if your problem is as serious as you say it is. This will be money well spent.
So this will be rolling out this week. Inspectors will get there small receipt invoice books on Wednesday.
Any questions or suggestions. Please feel free to ask after you meeting or direct them to myself and cory in advance.
Purpose:
As a company we want you as the inspector to go out to potential jobs where people (usually the homeowners) are the decision makers.
There is a lot of real estate transactions that take place every month on both the buyers and sellers side. And we don't want you to be "used" as a negotiating tool with you proposal.
Or a tenant who doesn't have the pull or right to order and pay for work.
As a company, we pay for most leads that come in through the Internet in the range of $60-120/ ea. We will continue to pay this, however our goal is to only have you, the qualified inspector go to where you are meeting with the home owner (aka... the decision maker!).
As an inspector, you give your time and energy freely on the hopes of selling that job and earning a living for solving there issues. When you are not meeting with the decision maker, you are far less likely to be able to sell your service, make a living, etc. Aka... wasting your time.
We want every lead to be a worthwhile lead. So you have the best opportunity to sell. So here is how we plan to do this.
Ring, ring, ring...
So a call comes into the office. They want to book an appointment for an inspection... great.
Information is taken... at some point (im thinking VERY early on) we ask do you own the home/ building etc.
Let's assume the answer is yes.
We take all info... appt is set you will be meeting with....the homeowner...great...you run the lead as normal.
....appt gets set with home owner, but homeowner says you will be meeting with son, nanny,neighbour, contractor etc.....
At this point our call centre rep will inform them we would be happy to come out and do a full inspection however... we do our FREE inspections for the owners w/ our owners on site at time of inspection. Our inspectors are certified and trained to solve your problems and it is our experience that this works best when the owner is present. If they can't be there we will still do our inspection but we charge a fee of $225. For this service. (some will be ok with that, I expect many will not be...and either hang up, or attempt to get it waived, or call back and tell a white lie!)
To be clear....We are NOT wanting to get off on a bad foot w/ a customer at all. So if at call centre you feel we should let it go for some reason (what comes to mind is a church or a commercial building, school, dentist office)..then waive the fee .(and make a note as to why so inspector can see this). We will monitor this and tweak our ideas as we play this out for a month or two.
Agents often call in for a client... if the client (the owner)will be present for the inspection...no problem, no fee. If it is for a buyer, this would be a fee for service. If they will not be there... or you believe they may not be there...just make them aware...Ok we can set up the appointment with yourself (agent). I'll just make the note for your inspector that homeowner may or maynot be there. So Mr. Agent if your client is not there will you be paying the $225. Inspection fee? Or something like this. So inspector, please watch the notes.
If we will be meeting with or talking to someone other than the owner. And the owner will not be there to discuss and accept the proposal. Then we inform them we charge $225. Tax incl for the estimate.
If they have an issue w/ it we can explain that in most cases when we do not meet w/ the homeowner themselves we are just providing an estimating service. Simular to a home inspector service. Where as if the homeowner is present they are far more likely to have the work done.
The fee...... $225. HST incl ($199 plus tax)
How did we come up w/ this amount?
As I'm sure you are aware we pay for leads. Aka. Marketing. We pay for calls that come into office that sometimes do not book, or cancel too! If we can't book them for weeks sometimes and they cancel... we still usually pay...
So we are using the idea that for every two requests that come in where we believe it should be a pay for service inspection, we are going to loose one inspection that chooses not to pay. If we say a lead costs us $75 and we loose one. The lead that the inspector is running now costs us $150. The additional $75. Will go to the inspector for his time.
The word Free inspection on our web site now say "Free Inspection*".
At the bottom of the page (please take a look) it now as an * with our simple conditions.
As an inspector... it will be up to you to collect the fee.... we have designed a simple booklet of invoice/ receipts for you to fill in. (see attachment).
What if I don't charge them?
-then we don't get paid and you don't get paid for your inspection service either. We will not be hunting you down. Heck we won't even know u were getting paid.
Can I alter or waive the fee?
Yes. You can use it as a negotiating tool if need be. If you choose to lower the fee. Please remember you are also lowering your reimbursement as well. (1/3 or what you collect will be paid to you).
What if they forgot there cheque book or cc....basically I charged them for the service...but didn't collect at the time of service?
The office has not been set up to be your collections dept for this. We may try and get paid, and if we do get paid, assume your 1/3 maybe reduced as well.
On the top of there invoice check off invoice in the box, if they pay you on site (as we expect) then also check off the other box as well.
You (inspector) arrive at the house and there is a forsale on the front lawn...what to do?
This is up to you...charge or not... again don't want to make enemies, take it as you wish... but it will certainly open up some further discussion... one thing I think for sure would be a good option is if you feel you are being used...to not give or send the estimate unless you get paid first.. you may give them a "verbal estimate, but that actual quote is likely what they want to use as leverage. Something to think about...
How is there receipt as good as $100?
If or should we say when they choose US to do there repair they can use the receipt for $100. Toward the FINAL balance of there invoice (not toward the deposit). As long as they book the work within 60 days of your estimate. So hopefully this will encourage them to use our service. (Don't discount this below $150.). I'll explain in person why.
As a call centre person letting the potential client on the phone know that if they chose our services that $100. Can be used towards there work should show good credibility.
And as an inspector, this $100. Would be treated like cash. So what ever discount they get this is still able to be used toward they're job. So if u did charge $225. You get $75. Company gets $150. Which gets reduced to $50 towards marketing as $100. Goes to production work.
Also....
Some calls (new leads) come in and they need desperately want someone there today, or tomorrow.... FAST!!! (Even if they own the home....)
You know these type.... they give you all the buying signs right up front...just get here....fast...
So we take their bait.... you drive straight there to (get there deposit right!) save the day.... only to find out they are getting 5 other estimates, or u are meeting w/ someone other than the owner.
Rrrrrrrrr
Well here is our (potential) solution....
For the call centre to consider....
Mr/ms home owner... we are currently booking our free inspections or next available inspection for....next week or whenever it is...would that be good for you?...
"I want today, or tomorrow morning" they say.
Well I'm sorry that is my next available "FREE" inspection. However we do try to keep an opening for what we refer too as our real estate inspections. These are specifically set aside for real estate agents that you our service and always need short notice. So basically our inspector is driving direct to your site instead of a scheduled route. I see it hasn't been filled yet. I can offer you that time slot. But so you are aware there is a $225. Fee as well, which so you know is reduce to $125. Should you choose to do business with us. Can i book you that time slot, or would you prefer the....(next week) slot!
Things to remember...if this fee is an issue...
-you are potentially spending hundereds of thousands of $$$, likely the biggest investment of your life. And it's not worthy of a certified inspection at a very small service fee?
-may I ask you a question.. what do you do for a living? Do you get paid for doing that? (maybe sounds kinda smart ass like tho).
- we are serious about what we do, if your problem is as serious as you say it is. This will be money well spent.
So this will be rolling out this week. Inspectors will get there small receipt invoice books on Wednesday.
Any questions or suggestions. Please feel free to ask after you meeting or direct them to myself and cory in advance.
