Has anyone tried this? This company sends you job leads via text and then you have to purchase credits to meet with the homeowner. Credits are refundable if the homeowner chooses not to meet. I'm getting texts from them all the time but just haven't had time to look into it - kind of intriguing though. Has this worked for any of you? Or is this chasing shoe-boxes?
From contributor Da
I tried Go Smith leads and invested a whole $50 in the process. I cannot say that any of the very few I had come my way ever ended up as sales, much less appointments to see an actual job. I did however have a supplier contact me to propose a possible program where I would do the legwork for them in exchange for possible future work. Their deal was for me to pay them 20% of the gross installation costs while they were selling materials at their regular rates to customers they generate. It wasn't something I was interested in pursuing.
I signed up a couple of years ago, and new leads have been scarce from them. Initially I was seeing message from them about a possible job maybe as many a once per week. It has been many months since I have seen a lead and frankly had forgotten about them.
It has not yet worked for me to be a reliable source of new business. I do rely much more on other things, like an updated website, and referral sites like Angie's List where actual customers can post reviews. Those things have definitely brought in many more inquiries than any lead service like Go Smith.
Long and short, you need a good web presence where your potential customers can research you and your company. Web searches with smart phones has been a complete game changer, as most nearly everyone starts with some kind of web search. Just about everyone has a smart phone now, so it is natural they would be doing research and shopping with that device. Online reviews take time to build, but are extremely powerful.
If you don't have a decent web presence, start today. Then you won't need to rely on the dozens and dozens of home improvement lead sellers who promise the moon and deliver very little, if anything.
Dave
