Use Consistent Marketing To Book More Home Inspections!

Successfully marketing a home inspection business has a lot to do with consistency.  I'd like to share with you a story that happened to one of my clients in order to demonstrate how consistency can impact your inspection business.

I was coaching a home inspector on reaching out to his target audience with quality information as a way to grow his business.   The target audience was the 2000 realtors within his specific service area.   We carefully planned out his first mailing, giving careful consideration to the topic, ensuring it would be of great value to realtors.  Next, we discussed the best timing of when this initial letter should go out.   We looked closely at every detail of this mailing, like the specific details I discuss on my "Marketing For Success" CD set.  Then this very specific, very targeted mailing was sent.   Now, when coaching this home inspector, I thought it was clear that in order for this effort to reap the benefits of more traffic to his business, it was only the first of several mailings that would need to be sent.  Apparently, as I found out six month's later, either this was not clear to the inspector or he chose to not heed the advice.

Six month's after the inital mailing went out to the 2000 targeted realtors, I was having a conversation with this inspector and asked how business was going.  He advised me that he had not had a single call or inspection booked that he could attribute back to his targeted mailing.  This was very surprising and disappointing to him as he had so carefully written and planned the mailing.   I asked him how he followed up to that initial mailing and he said he hadn't.   This was the problem, there was no consistency!

When we market, we must do so with consistency!   We can plan the best marketing piece and send it out to thousands of people, but if we never do any follow up or never send out another piece again after that inital contact, we will not see results.  This is because people don't react to the first piece of marketing they see.  Heck, they don't even react to the second or, often, not even the third!  If you are only going to take out one ad, send out one targeted piece of mail and never contact those people again, you are wasting both your time and your money!   If you have a specific budget in mind, you may find it makes more sense for you to send five pieces, over time, to 400 individuals rather than one piece to 2000 individuals.

Consistency is key to getting your phone to ring more often. Consistency is the key to booking more inspections.  In the story of my client that sent out one fabulous piece and never followed up or never sent out anything again for six months, well, the realtors he was targeting likely figured he went out of business.  If you reach out to someone and they never hear from you again, how can they be expected to know you're still out there?

I'll use a more common example to demonstrate how marketing with consistency so greatly affects you and I.   Let's say it's evening and you're watching t.v.  During your show, a snack commerical comes on the air.  No big deal, you may not have even noticed the brand of snack.   A few minutes later, another snack commerical comes on, you may not react but you may begin to listen to, or start to be aware of, the brand being advertised.  A few minutes later, another snack commerical comes on.  Well, by now, you are likely aware of the brand and even starting to think about the commerical itself or the product being advertised.  The next time the commerical for a snack comes on, you're really aware of it, you might even start to think you're hungry.  By the time you see a snack commerical again, you're up, you're off the couch, you're headed to the kitchen - for what, well, a damn snack, of course.  The power of consistent marketing has finally got you to take action!

So, if you have been marketing your home inspection services and felt that your efforts were failing you, consider the level of consistency that you have been marketing with.  If your marketing lacks consistency, your chances of success are greatly diminished.

Do you want your target audience to take action?  Do you want your phone to ring more?  Is your goal to book more home inspections?  Then, you need to market your home inspection business with consistency!   Consistently send out your mailings or newsletters.  Consistently follow up with those you contact and consistently build relationships.  Make sure those you market to know that you're still there, you're still in business and that you are ready to serve them.  Make sure they don't just see your name once and forget it.  Make sure they don't think you or your business have disappeared into the night.  Get in front of your target audience.  Stay in front of your target audience and the power of consistency can bring you the results you are looking for.

I hope you found this information helpful.  For more on how to market your home inspection business for success, please visit www.canspechomepublishing.com.

Happy Inspecting!

Sharon Purtill

Realtors have used this idea for years....

Let's talk about putting a twist on a marketing idea that Realtors have used for years.   I'm sure at one time or another you've recieved a "Just Sold" or "Just Listed" postcard at your door.  Well, here's a way to put a twist on this old idea and make it very effective for your home inspection business!

First, you'll want to pick postcards that say "Just Inspected", include your logo and other important information about your company and the specialized services or extra value you offer.  The cards should be generic.   What I mean by this is there will be no actual street address of the home "Just Inspected".  Instead, the cards will say something like "We've just inspected a home in your neighbourhood".

Keep your "Just Inspected" postcards in your vehicle at all times.   Now, every time you are leaving an inspection and pass a home for sale on your way out of the immediate area - stop, pull into the driveway of the home for sale and go up to the door and leave your "Just Inspected" postcard there for the vendor to find.  

The great thing about "Just Inspected" postcards is it is absolutely targeted marketing.  I think you'll agree most people that have their house for sale will be in need of another home.   This means your postcard is targeting those that are most likely going to be in the market for your services.   Realtors don't get this kind of target results with their postcards.  This is because they usually blanket an area in the hopes that a percentage of the homes receiving their cards may be thinking of buying or selling.    When you only drop your cards to homes already listed for sale, you should expect to see far greater results for your very targeted marketing efforts!   No postage required, only a few minutes of your time to stop and deliver as you drive through neigbourhoods where you do, or perhaps would like to do, business.

Now, here's a link to one marketing/printing company that is already doing these cards for inspectors.  This will give you an idea of the design ideas for your cards.    You can disregard the cost because this is based on mailing your cards for you.   While this is an option, mailing your "Just Inspected" postcards wont get you the targeted results you will get if you hand deliver them only to homes already listed for sale.  

Here's the link http://www.colourtech.com/generalstore/postcards-homeinspect.php

Something else to consider is a door hanger with your "Just Inspected" message instead of a postcard.  This option allows for a perforated business card at the bottom which the home owner can easily remove.   This product is also available from the company at the link above.

I hope you find this idea interesting and I wish you much success in your home inspection business!

Sharon Purtill,
Canspec Home Publishing