I spoke to one of our contractors the other day who was concerned about getting some credit for some leads that he says were "invalid." Well, let me tell you has there ever been an overflow of these types of requests lately! GEEZ! Nothing has changed on our end, we still advertise the same way in the same locations, and get the same type of clientele signing up as leads as we did back in May when business was really booming. The only difference between now and back in May is, yup you guessed it, the ECONOMY! Sure homeowners still have repairs and replacements to be made and they will inquire upon them but these days everyone is looking for a deal! So if they can't find it they will wait.
The contractors in the meantime are spinning their wheels, wasting their gas, and frankly, their breath too on buyers (or tire kickers as the contractors like to call them-lol) that are willing to buy but, "Not right now, maybe in a couple of months" etc. Well, the real deal folks is even though it may be a hard lump to swallow, that is a LEAD! No, they do not want to buy today, but they do need the work done, and they want it done, but it's the price or the contractor's ability (or lack there of) to SELL their product effectively that seems to encourage the buyer to hold tight to their pocket strings.
I had to tell this contractor in particular and many others that preceded him that there was no way they were going to get credit for things that did not warrant a refund. A person that signs up on our site, verifies with us by phone that they do indeed want and estimate and then changes their mind when the contractor calls because of a bad technique, or who knows what that is conveyed over the phone is not our concern.
Let me tell you a story, I went to a lead gen site and signed up to get a tree removed from my yard. The roots are very shallow and it is getting too close to the house for my comfort. The first gentleman that called said that he couldn't come give me a free estimate like the site advertised, but that it would cost me $250.00 just for him to stand in my yard. He also informed me that if someone could give me a lower price it was probably because they were high balling me somewhere else in the deal. He assured me that if I gave him a call with any numbers that I got from other contractors he would go over them with me and let me know if it was a good deal or not. "Yeah buddy, I'll call you right away when the other contractor's leave my house!" I mean seriously, who does this guy think he is? "Is this a contractor or a freakin' consultant?" I asked myself.
Well, we decided to go with another contractor who came out on our schedule and quoted a fair price, sure we could have shopped around but to us it's not the most convenient thing to do, even if we have to spend a little extra to get good customer service and a feeling of honesty is well worth it when comparing to the loser I had gotten off the phone with earlier. Thank God that guy doesn't work for us, what a nightmare he must be in the credit department!
So with the down-turning economy with no end in sight I suppose I'll keep fighting to hold on to our earned profits and at the same time stop the scammers that are out there from getting their leads for nothing and their kicks for free! If you're interested in some of my other quirky subjects I enjoy ranting about feel free to check out Another Blog I Like...
Monday, November 17, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Do You Read Your Contract? Just Wondering!
If I had even a penny for every time one of our contractors asked for a credit for something that was not worthy of credit I wouldn't have to work at this lead gen biz anymore. I'd be rich beyond my wildest dreams. Our contract that the contractors sign for our service states that product type or style is not a valid credit request reason and will not be credited. Still day in and day out I get request from contractors that say that they "only do vinyl windows," "only do wood windows," "don't do metal roofs," can't do windows with blinds in them," "only do gutter installs, do not provide gutter protection," "don't do Hardi-Plank siding," "they only wanted Andersen windows or Pella windows etc., or my all-time favorite, "we don't do basements, we do snap in walls to cover up basements!" I mean seriously people, you have to be able to SELL your product, you need to know why your product is what the customer wants and how it will meet the need that they illustrate to you.
Another common complaint the contractors seem to come up with is I don't do repairs, well I say turn that repair into fanfare! Get the homeowner to see the value of replacing the window especially if it is old or if it does not match the other's in the home for example. Sure not every repair job can turn into a full blown sale but are you really truly trying to turn these around or do you just ask us for credit, get your money back and then go out and run the repair anyway? that's right, we're not oblivious to what some of you contractors are capable of.
Finally, I had an interesting conversation with one contractor that wanted to be on our service the other day. He runs a window company out of Lombard, IL. He expected us to give him 5 free leads to try our service out and then if any of those didn't meet his standards then he would request that we give him replacement leads until he was satisfied. Wow! He must have thought us folks just fell off the turnip truck! No way in the world was this guy going to get over us in that way. We told him to hit the road! He must not live in the real world, I mean do you go to your local supermarket and tell them that if they let you "test drive" some free groceries you might come back and buy from them again? Or how about your local mechanic? "Hey Barney, you fix my truck's catalytic converter for free and if I'm satisfied with it I might come back for you to install my wiper blades! LOL!
I gotta hand it to the home improvement contractors out there, even if they fall short in the departments of respect, loyalty, honesty, and reliability they never have short comings in the creativity department they are very creative on how they shouldn't pay for goods received! Looking forward to your comments....
Another common complaint the contractors seem to come up with is I don't do repairs, well I say turn that repair into fanfare! Get the homeowner to see the value of replacing the window especially if it is old or if it does not match the other's in the home for example. Sure not every repair job can turn into a full blown sale but are you really truly trying to turn these around or do you just ask us for credit, get your money back and then go out and run the repair anyway? that's right, we're not oblivious to what some of you contractors are capable of.
Finally, I had an interesting conversation with one contractor that wanted to be on our service the other day. He runs a window company out of Lombard, IL. He expected us to give him 5 free leads to try our service out and then if any of those didn't meet his standards then he would request that we give him replacement leads until he was satisfied. Wow! He must have thought us folks just fell off the turnip truck! No way in the world was this guy going to get over us in that way. We told him to hit the road! He must not live in the real world, I mean do you go to your local supermarket and tell them that if they let you "test drive" some free groceries you might come back and buy from them again? Or how about your local mechanic? "Hey Barney, you fix my truck's catalytic converter for free and if I'm satisfied with it I might come back for you to install my wiper blades! LOL!
I gotta hand it to the home improvement contractors out there, even if they fall short in the departments of respect, loyalty, honesty, and reliability they never have short comings in the creativity department they are very creative on how they shouldn't pay for goods received! Looking forward to your comments....
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Why Pay For A Lead?
I read an article today posted by a contractor on a contractor forum. Basically the contractor was saying that paying internet lead generation companies like us for leads is crazy and that you shouldn't pay for leads period.
Well, do I got news for this guy! If you pay for an ad in the yellow pages, you pay for leads. If you have your own website, you pay for leads, if you canvas neighborhoods for leads, you are paying for leads, even if all you do is drive around hanging up fliers that you made on your home computer, YOU ARE PAYING FOR LEADS!! You are paying for the yellow pages ad, you are paying for the canvas crew and the gas, you are paying for the hosting and upkeep of the website, or you are spending your own time doing the upkeep on the site which is paying for leads, I mean after all isn't your time worth something to you? If you do your own fliers you are paying for the paper, the ink the electricity to run the computer and your gas to go drop these fliers off, as well as again, you time. NEWS FLASH!! YOU ARE PAYING FOR LEADS! So no matter how you get the word of your company out there it is costing you something.
I do however, understand that some of the Internet lead companies are not quite playing fair by right of the contractors. Selling leads as many times as possible thus making a ton of money but not really giving the contractor a fair chance at landing the deal because there are 8 other people out there with the same lead, as well as not being fair to the consumer. The homeowner signs up for an estimate and is now being bombarded by phone calls from 8 different companies and really maybe they only wanted 2 or 3 estimates, so now they just start hanging up on the contractors as they are calling, thus making it unfair and down right impossible for the contractor to even have a fair shake at landing the deal much less just getting his foot in the door to show the homeowner what he's got to offer.
Our solution is selling the lead up to 3 times and no more as well as calling each and every homeowner to let them know that a couple of contractors will be contacting them to give set up an appointment to give them a free estimate. We hope that by doing this we can help the contractors on our service get a better average of "getting in the door" with the customer as well as not harass the customer by phone with too many unnecessary phone calls.
We have also tried a preview system where contractors can look at some of the details of the lead before they purchase them. We have found this method to be unsuccessful, the contractors have had too many bad experiences with lead companies that they just sit on the program and buy nothing. Then are surprised and angered by the monthly fee that they are charged after 60 days of being on the service. We no longer offer the preview program for this reason.
We have some contractors that want us to schedule the appointment for them and get the spending limit of the consumer, we refused to do that because of the time and labor it would take the leads would no longer be cost effective. We would have to charge over $100.00 a lead and even if you get an appointment that doesn't mean you are going to get the sale so I can just imagine the credit requests we would get back on something like that! Not to mention we are providing a lead, that means a person wanting to "possibly" purchase a product. We truly feel that it is up to the contractor to sell the consumer on why their product is the one that will fit the home owner's need or desire.
So, just a little blurp from the Home Improvement Guru, if you run a business and attract customer's in anyway you are paying for those leads. Don't be fooled into beliving you're not by a disgruntled contractor that most probably has an issue with his sales staff and is unable to close as many deals as he would like due to such short comings.
Well, do I got news for this guy! If you pay for an ad in the yellow pages, you pay for leads. If you have your own website, you pay for leads, if you canvas neighborhoods for leads, you are paying for leads, even if all you do is drive around hanging up fliers that you made on your home computer, YOU ARE PAYING FOR LEADS!! You are paying for the yellow pages ad, you are paying for the canvas crew and the gas, you are paying for the hosting and upkeep of the website, or you are spending your own time doing the upkeep on the site which is paying for leads, I mean after all isn't your time worth something to you? If you do your own fliers you are paying for the paper, the ink the electricity to run the computer and your gas to go drop these fliers off, as well as again, you time. NEWS FLASH!! YOU ARE PAYING FOR LEADS! So no matter how you get the word of your company out there it is costing you something.
I do however, understand that some of the Internet lead companies are not quite playing fair by right of the contractors. Selling leads as many times as possible thus making a ton of money but not really giving the contractor a fair chance at landing the deal because there are 8 other people out there with the same lead, as well as not being fair to the consumer. The homeowner signs up for an estimate and is now being bombarded by phone calls from 8 different companies and really maybe they only wanted 2 or 3 estimates, so now they just start hanging up on the contractors as they are calling, thus making it unfair and down right impossible for the contractor to even have a fair shake at landing the deal much less just getting his foot in the door to show the homeowner what he's got to offer.
Our solution is selling the lead up to 3 times and no more as well as calling each and every homeowner to let them know that a couple of contractors will be contacting them to give set up an appointment to give them a free estimate. We hope that by doing this we can help the contractors on our service get a better average of "getting in the door" with the customer as well as not harass the customer by phone with too many unnecessary phone calls.
We have also tried a preview system where contractors can look at some of the details of the lead before they purchase them. We have found this method to be unsuccessful, the contractors have had too many bad experiences with lead companies that they just sit on the program and buy nothing. Then are surprised and angered by the monthly fee that they are charged after 60 days of being on the service. We no longer offer the preview program for this reason.
We have some contractors that want us to schedule the appointment for them and get the spending limit of the consumer, we refused to do that because of the time and labor it would take the leads would no longer be cost effective. We would have to charge over $100.00 a lead and even if you get an appointment that doesn't mean you are going to get the sale so I can just imagine the credit requests we would get back on something like that! Not to mention we are providing a lead, that means a person wanting to "possibly" purchase a product. We truly feel that it is up to the contractor to sell the consumer on why their product is the one that will fit the home owner's need or desire.
So, just a little blurp from the Home Improvement Guru, if you run a business and attract customer's in anyway you are paying for those leads. Don't be fooled into beliving you're not by a disgruntled contractor that most probably has an issue with his sales staff and is unable to close as many deals as he would like due to such short comings.
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