Marketing to Recharge Your Home Inspection Business

The busy year is starting to settle down. The end of the year, holidays, and for some states the Winter season means a slower time for real estate sales. That also means things wind down for a lot of inspection companies. Now is a great time to recharge and get ready for 2022 – start a fresh marketing campaign.

Reconnect with Referrals

This is the perfect time to reach out to past referral sources. Set up a time to drop off some goodies and holiday cheer. Let them know you appreciate them and the referrals they have given you throughout the year. This also creates an opportunity to get in front of new agents that you haven’t worked with before. Simple gestures such as dropping off cookies at referral offices don’t take a lot of effort or money but it goes a long way to keep your name top of mind.

Work your current list of contacts. Schedule a time to meet with your broker contacts or office managers. You may also ask them to be included to speak at a future office meeting. Office meetings are great because it gives you an opportunity to get in front of a lot of realtors at the same time. This gives you a chance to connect with many new and tenured real estate agents.

Host 101 Training Events

Look for events and other ways to get involved in your community. 

Consider hosting your own event. Reach out to brokers and office managers. Ask if you can provide Home Inspection Training for the agents in their office. This is a hands-on learning event where you take the agents through a home to explain what inspectors are looking for. Simply book a vacant house (the broker can help you secure one) and take the agents through just like they are a client.  This helps educate the agents about the home inspection process and the Standards of Practice we follow.

This type of event brings out a lot of questions, especially for new real estate agents.  It gives you an opportunity to answer their questions and it also shows them how you would work with one of their clients.  It is important to agents that your comments are not alarming in nature.  Taking the time to be educational in your explanations is highly favorable and gives them a sense of your style.

For example, I recently hosted a home inspection 101 training for a brokerage in my area with 16 agents. I spent a lot of time debunking what they have heard from other non-trained inspectors.  The training event turned into an hour-long Q & A session. This helped many feel more comfortable and understand that inspectors aren’t there to make the deal go South. We are there to educate the client and if we do find issues that need to be addressed we can share the information in a calm manner. Following that training, I received numerous inspection requests from agents I have never worked with before.

Pro Tip: I use a FLIR Thermal imaging camera that plugs into my tablet or phone. This helps confirm in-floor heating is working. I also use the camera to make sure the radiators are working properly if the home has a boiler.

Let your Expertise be Known

Don’t be afraid to let people know you are a Home Inspection business owner. Update your social profiles to include this. All too often I hear of new inspectors missing out because family, friends, or new acquaintances had no idea they were a resource for home inspections. 

Disclaimer:  Any reference to a specific product, provider, or service does not constitute or imply an endorsement by AHIT.

Learn more about Home Inspection Tools and Classes: https://staging.ahit.com/