The craziest lead refusal ever, and it happened twice!

Today, at work, did I ever have a weird one...I guess I should start by introducing myself. I work for a nationwide home improvement lead generation company that's been in business for a few years now and is quite successful.

I perform a plethora of duties from managing our lead verification department, answering phones, assisting contractors with sign ups and inquiries to managing our 7 day a week bustling office. I'm a pretty busy girl but I just had to find time to start this blog.

I thought it necessary to inform our contractors and homeowners alike of my daily run ins. These experiences range from informative to down right hilarious and finding the irony and humor in this job is part of what makes it so great to come to work everyday.

Today was a typical day at the office until I got a call from a prospect that was looking to have an estimate done on his home. He wasn't sure if he needed an estimate for siding or painting but he knew he wanted to do something about the drab appearance of the outside of his home. I jumped at this opportunity because it was an obvious lay down for any of our qualified contractors in his area. I told the gentleman that I would connect him with someone that could do both estimates if possible.
After that phone call I accessed our database and found 2 likely candidates.
Upon calling the first contractor I excitedly told them that I had a possible prospect for them, I noted that they had siding selected as one of their products serviced and I asked them if they did painting. The contractor responded with, "No, we don't do painting..." I said, "well, this customer is unsure of what exactly he needs and would like a quote on both if possible." The contractor just reiterated that they do not do painting and said, "But thanks for the call anyway." I hung up the phone dismayed. Here was a valid prospect ready to get an estimate and I couldn't even get the contractor to bite on it. I guess they must already have enough business. (crazy! they may have just as well said to me, "no thanks, we don't want to make any more money today, we already have enough...")
The next phone call went out...this guy said that not only does he not work that area, (BTW we have it selected for him since his sign up and have provided him multiple prospects there too!) but he was not interested and at the same time wanted to inquire regarding a credit he had asked for and never received. I looked into the credit for him, turns out it was for "No Contact" which is not valid under our contract. I explained to the contractor that we call all of our prospect and had contacted this one previous to sending it to him. He then responded with, "Well just cancel my service!"

Now, I wonder if the fact that I can't even get these guys to realize a qualified, valid prospect when it bites them in the ass could also be a reason why their credit card can not be billed for a single charge for $40.00 or why they shouldn't even be allowed to obtain a business license! Or even better why they request to purchase a lead through our preview program and then cannot be reached by phone or email to obtain billing information to sell them the lead they just asked for!

Oh, I get it...I should have told both contractors when I called to offer the lead that not only did this guy want a bid but I was going to give it to them for free and set the appointment as well as have the homeowner submit photos of the work area and possible supply the materials and tools for the job. This way the contractor wouldn't have to lift a finger and could just collect a paycheck.
This was a crazy day at the office let me tell you. Funny thing is stuff like this happens to me everyday and I can't wait to write about tomorrow's adventures. If you want to join our crazy contractor carnival go to I'm a nutty contractor that refuses work at any cost we'd love to have y0u on board, you'll blend right in.