Many aspects of establishing a home inspection company have little to do with examining houses. You require more than a working knowledge of internal systems, building codes, and construction. A successful home inspection business requires expertise in business, marketing, and networking, in addition to scheduling and bookkeeping.
Marketing and networking are essential to expanding your business and building your brand. Home inspection marketing to realtors is a fantastic approach that can get your name out there and your foot in the door.
A presentation requires a lot of preparation. This article will provide advice and tactics to help you ace your home inspection realtor presentation.
Home inspector marketing to realtors
Any home inspection business can benefit from exposure and recognition to attract clients and customers. Prospective customers are drawn to companies and services with which they are familiar. One incredibly effective strategy for home inspection marketing to realtors is to get them acquainted with you and your business.
Do as much research as possible about any client you intend to approach before making any decisions. Finding out as much as you can from colleagues who may be familiar with the agency or realtors will allow you to create a perfectly customized presentation.
Here are a few tried-and-true strategies for marketing to real estate agencies:
Cold calls
Cold calling, one of the most traditional sales and marketing strategies in the book, quickly promotes your company to potential customers. Here are some tips.
- Make a list of potential clients based on research.
- Create a script to explain why your company is the best choice for their needs.
- Set a time to communicate your ideas to the proper individuals personally.
There are a handful of negatives to making cold calls. It’s simple to ignore phone calls, and it’s simpler to disregard an unknown person. Even if you decide to take a different route, cold calling promotes your company and allows you to improve your pitch for subsequent tries.
Email marketing
Unexpectedly, email marketing is a powerful strategy for increasing brand recognition. Every $1 invested in email marketing campaigns generates an average return of $44. The more emails you send, the more responses you get in this high-volume game. More interest will give you more opportunities to hone your skills in home inspection marketing to realtors.
A soft introduction online
A casual, non-intrusive approach works wonderfully to introduce yourself and your business instead of making cold calls or going into the realtor’s office. Social media and online platforms make this strategy relatively straightforward and uncomplicated in the digital age.
Follow our easy steps below, and you’ll be surprised at how much interest you generate for home inspection presentations.
- Like and comment on articles you find interesting and valuable. Be upbeat but avoid being condescending.
- Don’t like and comment on every post in bulk.
- Keep track of the remarks they enjoy and their style of replying when they do.
- Create a customized email introducing yourself and your business when the time is right.
Home inspection presentation tips
You want to be as prepared as you can be when it’s time to present. To help you feel prepared, we have an easy list of tips and recommendations to help you nail your home inspection real estate presentation.
Be professional
You may know one or more of the audience members, or the business may have a more casual culture. No matter how relaxed the environment seems, maintain your professionalism. It’s acceptable and advisable to read the room and be adaptive, with a few guidelines.
- Be respectful in your language.
- Be cordial and steer clear of any contentious topics.
- When in a work setting, keep a certain amount of professional distance.
Remember names
One of the quickest ways to lose your audience is if you mispronounce a participant’s name. Try to find out the names and faces of everyone you’ll be presenting to in advance, and take a moment to memorize them. Pay close attention to pronouncing the names correctly and if you’re not positive about how to say someone’s name, take the awkwardness out and just ask them directly. Chances are, they’re used to having to clarify and will appreciate you asking.
During the presentation, take advantage of the chance to address each realtor by name. However, avoid coming out as overly familiar. Saying a name here or there shows that you prepared; too much comes off as stilted and overly rehearsed.
Offer swag
Free stuff is universal love. Bring little, helpful objects imprinted with the name and brand of your company when you make a home inspection presentation to realtors. Realtors are great at swag, so bonus points if you can come up with something new and unique!
When you get there, hand them out or put them on a side table for folks to take as they leave. Good examples of promotional merchandise include:
- Pens
- Coffee mugs
- Water bottles
- Note pads
- Phone stands
- Drink cozies
- Mouse pads
If you’re planning to give away more expensive items, check and make sure you’re on the right side of RESPA.
Stay on topic
While it is true that you must sell yourself to sell your service, this does not necessitate a lengthy self-promotional speech. You will reveal more about yourself by concentrating on a polished, clear presentation than by any amount of stories combined.
The ideal scenario is that you have short, exciting pieces of info that you can pepper throughout your presentation. These tidbits will pique the interest of your audience, leading them to ask more about you instead of you overwhelming them with too much information.
Read the room
Nothing is worse than realizing you’re trapped in the audience of a canned, overly rehearsed presentation. Preparation is essential, but it’s equally important to be able to pick up on cues that your audience is giving you.
- Make mental notes of how audience members are responding to each component of your presentation while it is taking place.
- Move on to the next topic of your presentation if you start to lose their attention or notice signals of disfavor or skepticism.
- Ask questions. You may have one group interested in leveraging new home inspection technology and another that wants to know how to prevent buyers from backing out of a sale post-inspection.
- Even if one home inspection presentation falls flat, you’ll know how to tweak your message to do better the next time.
Practice your presentation
More than just organizing notes and swag is involved in presentation preparation. You want to speak in a way that convinces a group of people who may or may not be familiar with you that you’re knowledgeable about the subject. Here are a few real estate presentation ideas to help you confidently walk into the room:
- With note cards in hand, stand in front of a mirror and practice your speech at least twice or thrice.
- Once you have the basic ideas, pare down what’s written in your notes. Doing this will help you avoid reading off them, keeping you more dynamic and engaged with the realtors with whom you’re presenting.
- It might feel uncomfortable, but use your phone to video yourself doing your presentation so you can pick up on any awkward uses of “um,” “like,” or other filler words.
How to network to build your home inspection business
Networking and marketing go hand-in-hand. The more people you come into contact with in a professional capacity, the more familiar colleagues and potential clients become with you and your business. Check out these hints for effective networking to level up your marketing game.
Join a local organization
Joining a local business association is a terrific opportunity to introduce yourself and your company to other businesspeople with which you might not otherwise have the chance to cross paths. The chamber of commerce in your city is a great place to start. Chamber of commerce members frequently have affiliations with a variety of groups that they can endorse.
Here are some organizations to search for in your area to get started:
- Chamber of commerce
- Local trade associations
- Entrepreneur groups
- LinkedIn groups
- Apps like Meetup that have networking groups
Know your material
You’re undoubtedly knowledgeable about home inspections and construction, but don’t let that stop you from continually learning. Do some research in your areas of expertise. You’ll be astounded at how quickly you can fill in knowledge gaps you had no idea existed.
Making this move is also a fantastic conversation starter in networking situations where you can spark conversation by talking about new technology or code updates. Plus, you won’t find yourself in the awkward place of having a realtor ask you about an area of home inspection that you’re not current.
Always keep business cards handy
No one likes being on the receiving end of a business card from someone who is robotically handing them to everyone they see. Conversely, not carrying business cards with you can mean losing an opportunity to make an intro with a potential new client.
A great practice is to keep two or three business cards on hand at all times. That way, you’ll have the ideal opportunity to share your contact information immediately if you find yourself in a conversation that naturally turns to home inspection services.
Social media
Creating a social media page for your company or one or more well-known social media sites is a wonderful way to get your name out there and engage with potential clients. A website for your business is another excellent option, but it requires more time and upfront costs. If you haven’t used social media for professional purposes before, here are some tips for setting you on the right track:
- If you’re not a frequent social media user, start with just one platform, so you don’t get overwhelmed.
- Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok are all excellent options.
- Aim to post three times per week.
- Try to take time, even five minutes, each day to go on and like, share, and comment on posts from others in your network.
- When someone comments on one of your posts, always like or reply to the comment. Doing this helps to boost engagement and build community.
- Try to avoid bringing up sensitive topics.
- Avoid any hot takes regarding recent occurrences in your community.
- Send friend invitations to those working in the house inspection industry, including realtors, contractors, and organizations of a similar nature.
The crux is that acquiring one or two high-volume real estate firms can help you grow your business more than a trickle of occasional clients ever could. One of the best ways to attract the clients of your dreams is to give a professional house inspection presentation to realtors. You can deliver a stunning presentation that will earn you recurring business for years with a bit of planning, practice, and know-how.
For more resources to grow your company, check out the ISN home inspection software to help support and scale your home inspection business.