What’s the Deal with Angie’s List?

Being a home inspector and trying to advertise can sometimes be a daunting task. Even more so when you are a home inspector that does not work for a company; someone that owns their own business.

Not being connected to a larger business can limit your exposure to potential clients.

How can you convince your customers that you have what it takes to inspect their home top to bottom? Possess the ability to ease their worries on potential new purchases or sells?

Alert them to any potential problems? And just how can you get your name out there to garner new business?

The answer to this may come in the form of a woman named Angie and her list. In fact, Angie’s List has become more well-known and trusted for its guidance in the past few years.

The term, “Did you check Angie’s List?” has become commonplace. But the question remains, is it right for you as a home inspector?

Who is Angie and What is Her List?

Angie’s List is a website made up of crowd-sourced reviews of local businesses all over the United States.

Think the Yellow Pages with its informational content on https://cacasinosonline.ca/minimum-deposit-online-casinos/ businesses plus the added benefit of reading reviews and seeing the “grade” of each of these businesses. And Angie’s List is widely utilized; as of June 2016, the company’s total revenue was $83,000,000 with a net income of $4,797,000.

In 1995, Angie Hicks and William S. Osterle founded Angie’s List. The idea stemmed from Angie searching for a dependable construction contractor for her boss, William.

She wanted recommendations and reviews from people local to the area, but it wasn’t easy.

So the two joined together to form Columbus Neighbors, a telephone and publication service that worked to collect and transmit local reviews for home and lawn care services.

The process started as door-to-door with Angie speaking to members of the community to sign them up for services while collecting ratings and reviews of local contractors.

Angie’s success with establishing her “list” was impressive. By 1996, the company had taken off and moved the headquarters to Indianapolis. The company continued to expand as it branched onto the Internet and expanded its reviews to other areas.

And with their expansion onto the Internet, came their popularity explosion. As of 2013, Angie’s List had over 70,000 subscribers. There were $3.2 million paid members reported as of August 2015.

How Does Angie’s List Work?

Angie’s List uses a grading system similar to a report card, which gives companies letter grades from A to F. The ratings are based upon quality, price, punctuality, professionalism, and responsiveness.

The grades are furnished through the feedback of members, with those jobs that are completed weighing heavier than just estimates or telephone communications.

Every company has its own informational page, displaying a short description of the business and reviews from their customers. It’s similar to a webpage.

Will Angie’s List Work for You?

Angie’s List has a very large database of reviewers (boasting 3 million households nationwide with an average of 60,000 reviews submitted each month).

Members flock to the website looking for valid recommendations for a variety of home services ranging from roofers to dentists.

Since home inspectors certainly fall under the category of home services, the likelihood that potential clients would use this website is very high.

There is something about a peer reviews that appeals to customers. Potential clients know that the reviews are from real people who had real experiences.

The reviews are incredibly detailed, including the cost of services. And they are both the good and the bad. You can see who went over and beyond and who slacked off.

While the reviews are kept confidential, as a company, you will be able to access your reviews and respond to them. This works double time.

You can try and appease a customer that may not have felt they had a good experience and you can also see what may not be working and how you can make adjustments.

Benefits

Because of the large usership of Angie’s List, thousands can be informed about the experience a customer has with your company almost immediately. It’s word of mouth intensified. If you are doing quality work, everyone is going to know it.

It’s the members of Angie’s List who pay fees to use it. As a business, your profile is free. That’s right, free marketing. An increase in exposure to your business at no cost to you.

Angie’s List is so highly trusted that companies that are not on Angie’s List are sometimes overlooked because potential customers are wary of their exclusion.

Angie’s List also allows you to communicate directly with potential clients through their Message Center. So a client can take a look at your profile and reviews and then contact you right away for more information or an estimate.

Detriments

Bad reviews can stack up. And it might not even be your fault.

If you get a particularly finicky customer who cannot be satisfied no matter what and they have the inkling to jump onto the computer and write a bad review, this could spell a bit of trouble; you may find yourself losing some potential clients or scrambling to fix whatever complaint has been filed.

As company, you cannot control your grading on Angie’s List. It is only the member reviews on the website that can affect what your grade is.

Recommendation

As a home inspector, having yourself associated with a reviewing website that mainly caters to services for the home is a great idea. It is proven that a majority of homeowners use the website to search for and learn more about companies.

Not being a part of Angie’s List can make you stand out. And not in a good way.

Plus, there is no fee.

This is free advertising. If your work is efficient and of good quality, why not let peers tell their peers?