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....