I got a call today from servicemagic.com.
Apparently they feed you leads for whatever type of jobs you tell them you do.
Anyone hear good or bad about this?
He said one time fee $100 plus x amount for every lead. Amount for every lead varies depending on the job.
Researched a little and they have been mentioned in the same sentence as AngiesList, who I hear nothing but good about, so they can’t be all that bad.
For someone with a small advertising budget, does anyone think this is worth it?
Replies
Depends on the kind of work you do.
Gets ya lots of tire kickers and price shoppers and guys looking to use your bid as a goalpost for his BIL's bid,
But I think it was Kowboy on here who said he got a fair amount of countertop work through it....... I haven't seen him around here in a while..........
Naive but refreshing !
use the search function here and search under this topic...
there have been multiple threads on service magic...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Gotcha, nothin like bein 5 months late to the party.
I'd strongly advice against it.
We tried it, grant it a long time ago, and it was a complete waste of money.
You can find better ways to market your company for less money then it will cost you to get leads from a lead generation service IMO.
In a nutshell.... it was a collosal waste of money for me. No matter how specific I made my profile I still got leads that had nothing to do the work I do. I'm a framer and that was crystal clear, but the still sent (and made me pay for) leads for everything from painting to window replacement.
Take IMERC's advice and use the search function for the topic. You'll find a few threads and a lot of information. From what I recall, there were a few success stories but the majority of responders had bad experiences with them. Lots of tire kickers and leads outside of the target scope of work.
It would be more fun to have a midget punch you in the nuts once a day then sign up again IMO
Just echoing the general consensus here... big waste of time & money. Alot of the leads would not return my phone calls, emails trying to set up a time to look at their job.
Also, if you try to sell yourself on anything other than price, this is not something for you. In some ways, SM really objectifies contractors so that they have their customers think that all contractors are the same, do the same quality work, create the same customer experience, etc. So the customer thinks that all the contractors are the same and then chooses based on the one variable left... price.
I think I shelled out $1500 before I finally gave up.
Never tried then and after reading this, never will.--------------------------------------------------------
Cheap Tools at MyToolbox.netSee some of my work at AWorkOfWood.com
as they say... a dollar saved is a dollar earned.
New saying...
A dollar saved isn't what it used to be.
:D--------------------------------------------------------
Cheap Tools at MyToolbox.netSee some of my work at AWorkOfWood.com
A dollar.................................(will almost pay for a quart of 87 octane)
Funny you should say that. I was going to write a dollar saved is a quart of gas, but figgured by the time you read it, that might be considered a discount! :D--------------------------------------------------------
Cheap Tools at MyToolbox.netSee some of my work at AWorkOfWood.com
It is a discount! I gassed up Thursday morning at $4.01 and when I passed the station coming home it was $4.05. Last night it was $4.09!!!
Now I'm afraid to leave my home (crouched in corner... shuddering....)--------------------------------------------------------
Cheap Tools at MyToolbox.netSee some of my work at AWorkOfWood.com
Check this link out...many discussions regarding SM and others. From what I've read over the years, most hated them and a few made out all right.
http://www.contractortalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=100
J
I did ok with them when first moved and started in this area about 5 years ago. Only had a few leads and most of them turned into work, if not immediately then somewhere down the road since I kept them on my mailing list and they got a newsletter or post card from me every few months.
Then something changed. Started getting many more leads, many more tire kickers, and many who simply didn't respond to my phone calls and emails to contact them. I also started getting leads for things way out of my 'handyman/small project' range, like "I need a quote to build a new house". Complained to SM about the lead type and they would usually give me a credit - not a refund - for the lead fee which meant I had to hang in there longer to recoup my 'investment'.
Bottom line; 2 years of good luck and then 2 years of zip before I canceled it. But, I still have some of the original SM leads as customers so in that regard it's still paying me dividends.
-Norm
Ive heard the same thing that it works for them.
If you do it all , it works .
But I dont know anything. Im gonna be one of them here.
Tim
Big waste of time unless you like doing a lot of free estimates for folks who just point and click. We signed up for a while and knew it was a dead end when folks emailed you what they wanted but didn't even want you to come out to their house, just give them a quote via email. Yeah...
Tell the folks at SM you want to try it 30 days for free and if you get some decent work you will commit to 6 months. Lets face it, they are hurting like many of the rest of us associated with construciton are so maybe they will give you a free time trial?
Serviecmagic is similiar to advertising in the newspaper. You do get alot of tirekickers, but the key is to screen them before you go out and waste your time.
I find that most people use the internet for everthing and rather than pay for a website that may not even get seen, I use ServiceMagic. Try it out, google home improvement contractors or any variation of that and SM is the first to come up on the screen. Even if you have a website you are not going to be at the top of the page without spending significant money.
I have used them exclusively for three years, and in the begining I was in the same boat as most of the other guys here, tirekickers, wrong leads, and phone calls not returned. Now I tend to get between two and four leads per week, obviously not all of them use us or complete the project at all, but I would say that for every ten leads received we get 2-3 jobs.
It does take a while but once you get the customers to rate your Co. and the ratings are favorable, the leads increase as well as the closing rates. I get three or four exact match leads a month now.
I look at it as I can either pay for a newspaper ad or pay for this. At least until I can reley on word of mouth.
Tim
I forgot to add. When I signed up a few years ago they were runing a special that if you signed up for $500 worth of leads a month the initial $100 would be waived. The saleperson at the time told me to agree to the five hundred then as soon as I hung up the phone change the spend target to what you want, mine was $100 at the time. I did this and never had a problem. I would see what you can get out of them before you sign up.
Tim