Can Your Home Inspection Brochure Pass the BMW Test?
by InterNACHI® Founder Nick Gromicko, CMI® with Kate Tarasenko
How is your marketing working for you? You may be tired of hearing about this essential component of running your own business because you're booked solid, so why bother? Or, you may still be putting off dealing with it because you don't know where to start. Or, you may have taken shortcuts to save a few bucks. Did you let your nephew design your logo? Did you let your spouse write all the copy? Did you poach the text from another inspector's brochure or website and add your own spin to it? Did you – consciously or passively – decide that a DIY approach to your company's marketing is all you can afford?
At InterNACHI®, we like to say that you can be the best inspector in your service area, but if your marketing materials don't reflect the top quality of your services, you might as well be the worst inspector around. And the worst inspector in your service area can have the best-looking marketing materials and get the phone call that should have been answered by you. How's that for fair?
Can't tell if your marketing is up to snuff? I recommend that every inspector do the BMW Test. Take your home inspection brochure to your local Mercedes or BMW dealership. Go into the lobby and find the brochure display. Put your home inspection brochure next to the car brochures, and then ask yourself, "Does my home inspection brochure hold its own next to Mercedes and BMW?" Then, ask yourself this: "Can I imagine that they all could have been designed by the same marketing team?" If you answered "No" to either question, it's no exaggeration to say that you're putting your livelihood at risk. Can you afford that?
As a member of InterNACHI®, one of your most valuable benefits is free marketing design for your home inspection business done by professional designers and marketing specialists. They know exactly what it takes to sell your services through the power of engaging text, original designs, and polished images, all laid out in a way that anticipates the needs of your prospects, and – most importantly – converts them into clients.
Why leave one of the most important aspects of your business in the hands of amateurs, or – worse – up to yourself? Just as you've trained to be the best home inspector you can be, InterNACHI® has invested your annual dues in the best-trained staff that works hard every day to help your business succeed. All you have to do is place a print order and you'll receive fully customized marketing that will sell your services so you can concentrate on performing them.
Still need convincing? Here are some basic rules taken from the InterNACHI® article There's More to Design Than You Think:
- You are not a marketing designer – you're a home inspector. This is no time for DIY.
- Good marketing requires good design. You can't effectively promote your business with weak marketing.
- A good design equals perceived quality of service. (Remember the lousy inspector with the gorgeous brochures?)
- The direction of your design is determined by your market, not by your personal preferences. InterNACHI's Member Marketing Team will create your logo just as you imagine it, but they're also going to steer you clear of any disastrous choices. Trust them because they've seen it all.
- Your market consists (mostly) of home buyers, and we're going to help them find you.
- Your marketing will be built to last.
- And if you've already invested money in marketing that isn't paying off for you, we'll help you course-correct so you can start seeing dividends.
