After an hour long conversation trying to get a credit back on some bogus leads, I told them to cancel my account. They agreed. Too quickly. Now I’m suspicious. I’ve always heard that it was tough to get Service Magic accounts closed. What will happen next?
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
The RealTruck AMP Research Bedsteps give you easy access to your truck-bed storage.
Featured Video
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
Somewhere, in the fine print, they will probably only close the account if you send the request in writing.
I suggest you do so & pay for getting a received signature also.
Temp to hire position starts 14 July.
If we could all just get along.
They probaboy have a paper to correct any mistakes if anyone knew where it was.
Tim
How were you paying them?
If it was one of those things where they automatically charged your bank account or credit card, call the financial institution and see if they can block payments to the company.
They were billing my credit card every week. I called the bank to make sure that SM could no longer charge that account. Bank says I need written proof that original contract with SM is cancelled. I cancelled online via their live chat service. Now I know that you are supposed to cut and paste those chats so that you have a record of any alleged conversations. My attempts to recontact SM to obtain written cancellation have so far been fruitless.
I may just end up cancelling that card#.
I would do it now. I've heard lots of stories about major trouble cancelling SM.
Now they'll start calling and hounding you to sign up again. I made the mistake of expressing some interest in them, and it took forever to get them to stop calling me. Persistent little buggers...
"Now they'll start calling and hounding you to sign up again. I made the mistake of expressing some interest in them, and it took forever to get them to stop calling me. Persistent little buggers..."
Looks like you need the Evel Knievel sound board then. Pick an apropriate one and play it for them when they call. My two favorites are on the bottom right.
http://www.bubbathelovesponge.net/sound2.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-64CaD8GXw
Dammit gunner, ya gotta warn a guy whats gonna happen.
I had my 7 year old son standing close by when I played the first of the two you suggested! I guess he's gotta learn it sometimes, might as well be now.
Good thing his mom wasn't around. I'd get that evil eye look, don't care much for that.
Doug
It's a link from me. How much warning do you need? :)
STOP CALLING ME ON THE PHONE YOU M^&*$% F*(&#$!!! Is my favorite. I actually had a chance to use it last night at 2:00 a.m. when some kids called my house trying to prank call me. I wasn't quick enough though. I had already to them to F off and hung up before my brain started working.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-64CaD8GXw
Edited 7/13/2008 10:28 pm ET by Gunner
They probably have too many contractors asking for leads and not enough leads to go around.
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
have your credit card number changed right away...
We were able to cancel ours a few years back after my business partner told them verbatim "This has been the biggest f_____g waste of money we have ever spent!" We never even heard back from them...at all.
In areas that they had 2 or 3 listed (tampa), they now have 15 companies... same with Craigs List.
The economic downturn has been very good to SM. Desperate people are willing to pay for a shot in the dark.
From the stories I have heard I am not convinced that their leads are all legit. For every 1 person that fills out a form on our site about 60 call the builder directly. NOBODY fills out forms nowadays. Clients are getting too saavy.
Another question... who wants to pay to compete with 3-15 different builders anyhow? Good idea for a money making scheme... sell desperate people hope. How do they sleep?
L
GardenStructure.com~Build for the Art of it! Decks Blog
They don't send the lead to all 15 companies. The leads are sent to a maximum amount of companies and charged accordingly. Some of the leads are exclusive and come at a higher price. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
So, what percentage of leads convert to sales? If you are using SM leads and find it profitable you have my attention.
"Sales Guru Alert"
LGardenStructure.com~Build for the Art of it! Decks Blog
It's low. Roughly 20%. Part of the low conversion rate is because we were accepting leads in the wrong classifications and wrong zip codes. Our learning process has sorted some of that out but the lessons continue. We just dropped off another classification today. The 20% may seem low but that is the same ratio we are converting on leads generated from other sources. We aren't giving our services away, we are selling them. Our prices are significantly higher (67% markup on everything) than the guy in the pickup truck and the low closing ratio is a direct result of that. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
20% is not low for that type of lead. I'd be concerned if it was higher that you were leaving money on the table.
LGardenStructure.com~Build for the Art of it! Decks Blog
At this point we don't really know if we are leaving money on the table. Remember, were in a new market for us so we are learning. Our salesperson is also new in the business in this market. The success she had in other markets didn't work out the same here. In the Virginia market, decks were a great lead for her. So were additions. Here, it's a much bigger uphill climb because the motivation is different and there are lots and lots of folks who can put a deck down. So, it's all part of the learning process. We'll have to get through the first year or so then analyze the numbers and jobs and see where it all shakes out. We are just now starting different forms of advertising. We also will create and run a program that keeps us in touch with our past clients and keeps us in their memory for future work and referrals. Referrals has been good. Our closing ratio is above 50% on those. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
We signed up with them when they first made inroads here. We took them on because we belong to the NKBA and they were a recommended vendor of the NKBA.
Their service was touted as the greatest thing in marketing. Said we would only get qualified leads and if we were not satisfied we could get them credited to our account.
The leads were horrible; only 1 job was generated from 6 months of using them.
As a test we went to the website and entered in bogus information. A lead came through to our fax machine in about 5 minutes.
We cancelled the next day. Threatened to sick the BBB and local AG office on them. Never heard from them again. We also sent a letter to the NKBA questioning what kind of a process they used to decide to partner with these guys.
sully
Did they give you credit for the bogus lead? Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Yes. My partner worked everything out with them and we were satisfied at least with the breakup
sully
I used Service Magic for about a year, and never landed one piece of business with them. They call once in a while and I always tell them I am not interested in working with them.
Today I get a call from my insurance carrier, Service Magic called, and they want to know if it is okay to release insurance information! I said absolutely not, maybe now they will stop hassling me. What a scam.
Edited 7/16/2008 10:27 pm ET by yojimbo2
From the other side of the fence...
Nice to know. I've never used them for leads but recently started using them for additional revenue from my site. The click though ratio is horrendous with maybe 65 clicks each day with an average of 18,000 page views. Of that I get 6-7 signups each day on average. 4-5 years ago I used to work leads personally and asked flooring guys to pay a simple 10% referral fee. With maybe 8,000 page views per day then, I think I magaed to get something like 20-30 jobs each month, at least with those that actually paid for the referral and admitted they DID land the job. What a nightmare that was..chasing guys for referral fees. SM made it hands off and a breeze.
I wonder how many leads I'm not getting paid for?
What kind of fees are/were some of you contractors paying?
I was with Everycontractor.com. They promised at least one lead a month. I got one lead a month and followed up on everyone. Never even went as far as a discussion about the job let alone an estimate but, one lead a month covered their guarantee paramaters.
Bye Bye $400.
Oh, Here I thought guys pay X amount of dollars for each individual lead.
I think you're right, but I also think there is some sort of up front fee, wasnt there?
I had one of those "f u" type conversations with everycontractor "owner". He had one of his sales girls calling me. I finally said that I'd take their service free for a year and if I was satisfied I'd pay at the end of the year. She couldn't understand that. I told her that if they really believed in their own sales pitch, they wouldn't be worried about me not paying because I'd be rolling in quality leads and would fear losing them over a small $400 fee.That logic seems right to me. When they passed me onto their "closer", he couldn't talk me out of my logical position. Eventually, he insulted me by asking me "tell me what the real problem is: either you're too broke and can't afford the $400 or you're too stupid to advertise". I laughed as I gave him the fu.I laughed again when Mercedes, the sales girl called me all sweet and friendly on her next scheduled contact. She evidently didn't know how our exchange with her closer went....so I told her and didn't hide anything. I finished up my conversation with her a little bit more rough than before. I'm somewhat surprised but I haven't heard from them since. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Never would've joined themin the first place, but we were dead slow.
She happened to call me with her "great deal" while I was painting one of my rentals and had a few beers.
Damned expensive beer.
I don't blame you for trying things. You wouldn't know it didn't work if you didn't try it. The only reason I didn't try it was because I was already spending my entire advertising budget and getting good leads. You probably don't want to know where my good leads are coming from though LOL. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
At this point i'd try anything. I expanded my advertising budget this year. Usually I run an ad in the Grosse Pointe Blue Book. This year I also ran one in the St Clair Shores book.
So far nothing off the new ad.
Even he GP Blue Book (which has always more than paid for itself) has been super slow.
I know you guys are hurting in MI. I never really advertised there much so I don't know what works. We're doing fine here with our little budget but thats because there is a good market for services. I used to have some decent response in MI in the local service directories. Back then the Advisor and Source were competitors. The ad space was reasonably cheap and I picked up additions and misc remodelling even though I had horrible sales skills, poor company presence, bad paperwork and didn't respond fast. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Its different up here now.
All my jobs this year have been very small and people are overkill shopping.
We replaced 4' of fascia for a lady in June. She got four estimates on this job and took three weeks to decide.
Two weeks ago we installed a pull down stair. The guy asked for references.
Even with cutting back on the margins its still hard to find work. I spent most of this week working for my tile guy.
I was slow and he needed a helper so.....
I'd be checking with the banks. They are the only ones doing much of anything. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
You gotta good point there. I do have some work this week, but i'll have to make some time and ask around.
I think I've identified why you're slow this year: "...I do have some work this week, but i'll have to make some time and ask around."Mark, do you realize that there are 1000 good commission sales people looking for more ways to generate income in the Metro Detroit area? If I were you there in Det, I'd have five people chasing leads and work full time! Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Not to sound too needy, but any idea how I can find one of them? I'd be happy to pay commission to anyone that could keep me working.
Never really thought about it but I have 10 guys that would love to see me booked.
Actually your one suggestion has opened up all kinds of windows to me.
you and me both - I'm in much the same boat!View Image “Good work costs much more than poor imitation or factory product†– Charles GreeneCaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
Huck, if you have a skill and can work well with the homeowners and co-ordinate jobs and manage people, then a good salesperson has something to sell. Look around when you get out. Everything you see being built could be your job. You just have to hire someone and get them to sell you. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
You make it sound so easy. But good people are hard to find, and there isn't much fat in the budget these days.View Image “Good work costs much more than poor imitation or factory product†– Charles GreeneCaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
"But good people are hard to find"How would you know that? How many minutes in your entire business career have you invested in finding a competent salesperson? Think hard.....Done? Well...I hate to tell you...you'll never find one if you don't look! Wanna know how easy it is? It took me two craigslist ads...each posted about three weeks apart. Each written slightly different. And don't get me started about "much fat". If you can do all the things I mentioned, there are quality clients out there seeking you. They'll pay for quality and peace of mind. If you can deliver that, your competent salesstaff will find a way to close the deal. Remember, they are skilled at selling...unlike most tradesmen.edit: I forgot to tell you that I read many resumes but only talked to three people and only set up one interview. Total time investment: four hours. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Edited 7/20/2008 11:31 pm by Jim_Allen
First try tonight. Just posted for a salesperson. I have no idea why I didnt try this years ago.
This may not help at all or it may be just what I needed.
Thanks, we'll see what happens.
LOL, if it wasn't so late, I'd have sent you a reply telling you exactly what you wanted to hear.
That woulda been funny.
I don't see how a sales person can hurt unless you do a horrible job of selecting one. You're looking for sincerity, integrity and aggressiveness. If you're doing a good job out in the field, they'll have something to hang their hat on. They can sell you because it's good value. It's a simple proposition. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
My tile guy tried pulling that when I was trying to rent one of my houses.
I've been a member of servicemagic for several years and am completely satisfied. If it weren't for them, I'd have nearly nothing in Michigan.
If you get a bum lead from them at least you can get a credit for a new one. Try calling your newspaper or phone book and telling them that the leads you get suck. They issue no credits, ever.
I think your level of satisfaction with servicemagic depends on your trade or scope of your services.
Kowboy
Run an ad in Craigslist. Explain that you want to set up a commission only sales system. I'd set up the compensation this way: Pay 25% of the gross profit. The numbers then work out like this. Mark up all your hard costs (material, labor and other direct costs) 67%. That will yield a 40% gross profit. The sales commission will be 25% of that. If all goes well, that cut will equal 10% of the total sale. You probably can contract with the salesperson to also develop their own leads and pay for the development of the leads themselves. You'll have to bump up the commission pay to cover that. I'd probably be aiming to pay 3 to 5% of the gross for lead generation. That means you will have to pay 33 to 35% instead of 25% of the gross profit. I like the idea of putting it all on them. Essentially, they become the sales and marketing arm of your company. Find someone that understands your value and is hungry and they'll figure out how to market and sell you. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Thanks Jim,
I give it a try.
Its different up here now. ll my jobs this year have been very small and people are overkill shopping. We replaced 4' of fascia for a lady in June. She got four estimates on this job and took three weeks to decide.
Great post. Love that expression, "overkill shopping" - your example illustrates the problem perfectly. The margins in such a tiny job barely justify the cost of bidding with a 25% chance of getting it - or probably much less, if low price isn't your selling point.
Even with cutting back on the margins its still hard to find work. I spent most of this week working for my tile guy. I was slow and he needed a helper so.....
Funny you should mention it. I almost drove 150 miles to work for a tilesetter friend - I only had two days' work in 8 weeks. But then I picked up a bathroom remodel, and a concrete walkway, so I'm back in business for a few weeks.
View ImageView Image
I don't know what works there, but I have invested heavily in advertising this year, and it seems to be paying off. I get jobs from my website now (after about a year, and countless hours invested in building it, its finally starting to generate work). Also I'm in all 3 yellow pages, craigslist (from time to time), and the local classifieds. Hard part is getting rid of the countless tire kickers without wasting too much time on them.
Lowballers are killing me, but they're also dropping like flies.View Image “Good work costs much more than poor imitation or factory product†– Charles GreeneCaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
Bathroom looks nice. Were finishing one up right now. I spent about four days on a custom vanity that gets installed tomorrow.
Next week i'm installing a kitchen with my dad. After that we'll see what we get.
I upped my advertising too but so far its not paying off. I may have to go back to passing out flyers soon.
Seems kind of odd that we both do bathrooms and our tile guys are busier than us. Who's doing our job to get the rooms to the point of tile?
I received a call from everycontractor.com shortly before I dropped servicemagic. They were so slick, and so pushy, that I told'em I didn't have time for their antics. They haven't called back.
I told them that if they auto-renewed me i'd drive down there. I havent heard back either.