Thread: Anyone have any ideas

Hi Everyone. I am new to this business, yet have been in the construction field for over 20 years. I got my license a couple of months ago and am having trouble getting the phone to ring. I have advertised and visited all of the real estate offices in my couny and the surrounding ones. I go back every few weeks. 1st time I introduced myself and left brochures and business cards. 2nd time I left notepads with my business name and number. It is pretty discouraging getting started in this business. Does anyone have any ideas for getting things going. What am I missing?
Thanks for any advice.

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You are probably doing the right thing.
There are more inspectors getting out of the business than are getting in.
Economy is slow and house sales are nearly non-existent in certain parts of the country - that may include yours.
Just keep on keepin' on. It is said that it takes 5 visits to get a familiarity with the prospective clients. Your main objective right now is to get them (agents) to put you on the list.

This is a very tough business in which to get started, the only people I know who have been able to rapidly build volume in the first year or two are people with access to do some kind of very wide personal marketing network (for example, a mega-church), I've read accounts of people who are some kind of marketing genius who can do it some other way, but I've yet to meet them.

As for referrals from real estate agents, at least in my market at this point the surviving agents are the increasingly "pros", they already likely have a list of inspectors they use and they prefer "the devil they know to the devil they don't"... they have been around a while, they see a lot of inspectors come and go, and they don't regard you as really being in the business until you've been around for several years at least.

Unfortunately as a beginning inspector there very few ways to distinguish yourself from the pack, however one that worked for me was availability, I would tell real estate agents:

"I know that you already have a list of inspectors are comfortable working with, and that a lot of inspectors are competing for the available business in [whatever town I their office is located in].

"I don't have children at home, and I'm not a big sports fan, so my scheduling is going to be more flexible than some inspectors, and my availability may be better. I know that you often have to work on your client's schedule, and I can do the same - I don't mind working on short notice, and I don't mind inspecting on Super Bowl Sunday, if that's what it takes.

"So please keep me in mind, and give me a chance if you find yourself in a scheduling bind."

Real estate agents (at least most of the successful ones ) often have to scheduled her work at their clients' convenience, and lot of them really do feel the strain in terms of family life - it's one of the few things the inspectors and real estate agents really do have in common, and IMO being perceived as working as hard as they see themselves as working is one of the few reasons established agents have for getting a new inspector a opportunity.

Originally Posted by MichaelGardner

Hi Everyone. I am new to this business, yet have been in the construction field for over 20 years. I got my license a couple of months ago and am having trouble getting the phone to ring. I have advertised and visited all of the real estate offices in my couny and the surrounding ones. I go back every few weeks. 1st time I introduced myself and left brochures and business cards. 2nd time I left notepads with my business name and number. It is pretty discouraging getting started in this business. Does anyone have any ideas for getting things going. What am I missing?
Thanks for any advice.

Not to discourage you any further, but you still have a long row to hoe. I have been in the profession since 1994. In July 2006 I relocated to another state when my wife's company moved their headquarters.

It has taken right at 3 years to get the phone to ring a few times a day. I'm also in a market that is not as depressed as other parts of the country.

Nashville, TN has done pretty well in the housing market over the past 18 months or so. Still sales are down, I think 1,900 home were sold last month in my area.

I also do not visit real estate offices and solicit referrals. I depend on word of mouth and my website. In today's market you must have a GOOD website. Inspectors who do not have websites will be out of business, you just can not compete in today's market without one.

So, you need to take all of this into consideration when you are trying to figure out why the phone is not ringing.