I just lost two jobs in the last 2 weeks to price. Both were from the same real estate office. I am new to the profession as I am only opperating on my 9th month in business. I have set my rates as to where I feel I need to be and still give my customers a good report. I have figured out how many housr it takes me to do a standard inspection and then applied it to my rate I need to live. I know that I am not the lowest price HI in my area and I don't want to be. I beleive that I give my customers a better product than what most HI's in my area are doing and have been doing. I have seen their reports and talked to different HI"s customers, so I know that I am giveing them a beter product. I have been raised in the business world that the lowest price is not always the best deal as you get what you pay for. I had reciently had a consversation with a business freind and he suggested that I am to through in my job. That made do some long and hard thinking and I have came to that conclusion that that is not so and that I am being paid to do the best job necessary for my customers. I guess my biggest delemia is that I need to rely on the realitors still untill I build my business and I need to figure out a way to deal with this and to convey to the realitors that price is not always in the best interest of the customer. I guess I am looking for some other ways to aproach this issue and still get what I need to make on a job. Waiting to hear from you.
Thanks

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Well thats my 2 cents.
Brian Kelly
Kelly Home Inspections

Are inspection referrals from past clients important to you? If so, click here to get even more referrals!

Brian,

You are not alone on this one. We all have had this done. Last week I lost one. Agent called me for a price for her buyer. After getting info and quoting price, and agreeing to do it on the day the buyer needed, agent said I'll let them know and call you back.

Yea right, never heard from the agent again. I for one am not the cheapest nor most expensive HI in my area either. More of a middle of the road for the homes I inspect. I'm sure who ever got the job under cut my price by 25-50 bucks. I always wonder if they had the same qualifications as me?

Isn't it funny how no one really has a problem with paying 300 bucks (or so) for the appraisal because it's mandatory if there is a loan involved and whatever for the surveyer charges and then 3-6 percent (seller pays) to the realtor. But god forbid a home inspector who will spend 4-8 hours or more (including report time and travel) tries to charge what they are really worth???

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Tim Moreira
Suncoast Home Inspections
Suncoasthomeinspections@yahoo.com

Brian:

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I started doing home inspections about six years ago. It took two years to make any money and another year to get to the point were I wasn't worried about getting jobs. I am now at the point were my week fills up nearly every week. I often wish it wasn't so full to allow me to catch up on office work that I alway put off. I have developed a group of realtors that refer me to all their clients. Price is very rarely a factor. The clients that are so concerned about price are often the the clients from hell. I would rather not work with them anyway. I have continually raised my prices over the last two years and I continue to have a full schedule. Provide a good product and you will get more work than you can handle. Find GOOD realtors. Realtors that have been in the business a while and provide good service to their (and your) clients. These realtors and clients will tell their new agents to use you and the clients will tell their friends to use you. In six years I have not advertised or even printed brochures. All of my business comes from word or mouth.

I lose inspections once in a while because of price. It's not a good feeling, but it's part of the gig if you want to make a good living. The low price people tend to always be there. It's best just to ride them out and keep doing the job the right way. Always remember to ask the client to tell anyone they know that is buying or selling a house to call you, and give them 2 cards.

On another note, I'm not trying to be a jerk, but there are an awful lot of misspellings and grammar mistakes in your post. If you're sending out communications like that to your clients, it tends to look bad for your business. Spell and grammar check can be quite helpful.

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Jim Robinson
New Mexico, USA

Thats always a downer to lose business..but dont drop your prices, and the fact that you feel you are offering a better product is great to hear. 9 months isnt long to develop a large referral base, and it sounds like you are getting calls. So work on your salespitch on the phone. Sell yourself before you give the price out, but keep it swift so your caller will stay with you. They ask a price, tell them you offer a superior service and an easy to read and comprehensive report. Marketing is important, and will benefit you greatly if done right. I am not saying you are not marketing, or that you dont have a "pitch", but I went through a similar start, and if they dont know you yet when they call, make sure you give them your strong points in a quick pitch...then the price, and assure them that the price is reflective on the amount of detail and professionalism that they will get from you. And dont forget the price of a competent, professional inspection is far, far less than the price of the home we are inspecting. Good Luck..

A comprehenisve report.

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Chad Fabry, Rochester, NY
StructureSmart Home Inspections, Inc.
www.structuresmart.com

A comprehensive rep-ort.

Brian, I love you man, and I love that you have sponsors. But this is over the edge. There is no way I'll be endorsing anyone
in each of my posts.

What happens if I type ass-ociation? I'm too afraid to try.

Please, consider charging the participants rather than making us look like we're endorsing a product by including a link in our posts.

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Chad Fabry, Rochester, NY
StructureSmart Home Inspections, Inc.
www.structuresmart.com

Jim
You are right my grammer and spelling is bad, but I do use spell check for my reports, but not sure if it is avaliable here or if it is how to use it. If it is avaliable here please advise as to where I need to go to learn how to use it.

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Well thats my 2 cents.
Brian Kelly
Kelly Home Inspections

Brian,

A lot of good advice here. Be patient and don't lower your prices. Your work will eventually speak for itself and its worth. It takes time to develop this business. I lose about one sell a week to "shoppers" and as said above, you don't want to work for a cheapskate, you'll likely regret it.

One thing I do if I feel a potential client is hedging is to ask for their email address and send them a sample copy of one of my reports. My reports are very detailed and have good photos embedded. Have a good sample report stored on your computer so you can easily send it out in a timely manner. This approach seals a lot of deals for me.

The other thing, as mentioned above, is sell yourself. Let the client know that while you might not be the cheapest, you are one of the best.

Good Luck!

Eric

Don't worry about it, it will take years off your life!

If you have honestly priced your service at a point that you need so that you can survive, then that is about all you can do. 9 months is new and you have not had time to build up a customer referral base. Heck 2 years in our profession is still relatively new!

You need to look at how you shop for services or better yet how does the market area that you serve shop for their services. If everyone is heading to Wal-Mart then you will have a bunch of price shoppers who what the lowest price, and quality is second to price. If you are in a market that has only a few Wal-Marters and most folks shop at the local stores and speciality shops, I have found that price is second to quality.

Once you have a good referral base and you have past clients telling their friends to use you, price is not an issue. I can't recall the last time I had a price question from a past client referral.

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Scott Patterson
Spring Hill, TN
http://www.traceinspections.com

Brian,

Unfortunately, it happens to us all. One of the big problems is realtors themselves. A lot of realtors feel like they are doing their clients a service by finding them the least expensive inspector. Part of it may be that the clients financial situation does give them a lot of extra cash, but I think the majority is that those realtors really don't see the difference between inspector A, B, C. I had a discussion with a realtor this past Saturday wheras she indicated to me that "If I drop my price to xxx, I would have the business" because that is where xyz is priced at. But, I explained to her the value my company brings to the process. I've invested in a phone system, email marketing campaign, office staff, top of the line report system, summary onsite printing in order to bring maximum value to the client. The fact that I like you guys participate in a sight like this makes us more valuable inspectors over time. I say all of that to say this....CONTINUE MARKETING, CONTINUE MARKETING, CONTINUE MARKETING. The agents that used you when you started your business may not be using you now. WHY? No one knows it could be price or it could be that in their eyes, you are too good, but they will call you to inspect their house.

Maintain you value because if you drop your price, it won't be enough and you will be asked to do it again, but yet the same expectations will be there.

report

Testing...

RR

SOB!!!!


Ass-ociation

Attached Images

Sweetass.jpg (17.9 KB, 134 views)

I think when you type report, it automatically links you to something else. I didn't do it on purpose, I'm not a Homegauge user, I use another platform.

Thanks Richard. I saved that one.
Dave

Hey Richard,
If that the type of Realtors you have in your area I would be marketing to them.

I have never lost a deal due to a realtor finding a better priced inspector because I don't deal directly with agents, that's not my business. Why would an agent be calling around looking for an inspector and not the buyer anyway?

For larger homes I get 100-200 more than my competition and I market myself accrodingly so rarely do I receive calls from "price shoppers."
Been operating independent from agents for going on four years and business is great!

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Principles don't change with circumstances. That's what makes them principles.
-George Colombo

"Why would an agent be calling around looking for an inspector and not the buyer anyway?"

I guess there is good and bad in every crowd. It took a long time but I have found a dozen or so agents that call me all the time.
These are the rare ones that will call to set up everything and worry more about quality and less about commission.

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Consistency is a direct path to perfection.

Some buyers have a good enough relationship with their agent to let them set up the inspection. Some just don't want to be bothered with shopping around and leave it up to the agent. Like Kevin, I have a very small handfull of agents that will call me. Many will jump off my bandwagon once I have to slam a house or two. The good ones keep coming back no matter how many deals fall through.

Yup! they jump off that wagon like a hurd of rats off a sinking ship.

As my esteemed rabid Eagle fan stated, the good ones will come back no matter what... I have had many attorney referrals from these type of agents. They are also the ones who want you to inspect their friends and family members homes.
Rich