Replies

1. 
   jonblakemore | Apr 24, 2003 07:41am | #1

   no

    

   Jon Blakemore

2. 
   IMERC | Apr 24, 2003 07:45am | #2

   No

3. 
   barnee | Apr 24, 2003 10:19pm | #3

   I have. I am a "certified" member. Doesn't help much. I enrolled in their service about six months ago when business was slow. Initial price is 90 to get registered with them, then you pay per lead. When they give you a lead you get basic information regarding the project. If you choose to accept the lead the costs range from 6-80$ per lead. Alot of customers are just "tire kickers" they aren't sure what they want and are even more sure  that they don't want to pay much. Service Magic boasts that X amount make over 100k per year, have seen maybe one out  of 10 that actually did!

     My advice to you is to take out an ad in your local paper and save the 90$ fee. I don't use them anymore however if things get slow I may have to, but word of mouth is still best bet. That way you know the customers are seriously interested in getting the work done not just calling you out to see if it's "what they really want to do." Get a free estimate and waste your time mostly.

   Lots of luck!

   Mark Barnhart

   " If there is one secret of success, it lies in the ability to see the other persons point of view as well as your own"-Henry Ford

4. 
   houseprof | Apr 26, 2003 06:04am | #4

   Yes, my company has used Service Magic as a part of our overall marketing strategy. The one time initiation fee of $99.00 is very reasonable, in my opinion. The first year we used their service, we spent $336.00 on lead fees (including the initial $99.00) which generated $10,117.00 in revenues. With a demonstrated GPM of 33.6%, we realized a profit of $3399.31, on a $336.00 expenditure, we were quite happy with that ROI.   We've found our conversion ratio to be approx. 30% which is much lower than our referral ratio, however,  even on the leads we purchased that  didn't convert into sales on the first contact, we've been able to add them to our newsletter mailing list and generate sales on the second, third or fourth contact. We may have a different approach to marketing than other contractors as we consistently market to our existing customer base and desired customers. Our internal analysis has shown that Service Magic has been a profitable addition to our marketing mix and we will continue to use the service.  

5. 
   Beachbuilder | May 11, 2003 12:18am | #5

   We've utilized them and have been fairly happy.  Some leads are indeed tire kickers, but some are ready to roll.  We've had less luck with the higher end leads, the custom home lookers.  In our experience those have been looky-loos, which makes sense, not many folks will use the internet to locate someone to build a home.  We've picked up some good remodel work and fire/water restoration work though.  Depending on how big of a market you're in, and how expensive advertising is, it might be a nice supplement to your other marketing efforts.  It certainly shouldn't be relied on as a major portion of your marketing though, in my opinion.