Q: What does it cost for a Premium Listing?

A: Annual fee of $1.00 per 500 households (per trade).
The cost of getting a Premium Listing in all the directories we power, including Contractors.com, HGTVPro.com and FineLiving.com is $1.00 (per 500 households) for each Trade selected..

For example, register for an area with 200,000 households in 2 Trades (i.e. Windows and Siding), your cost is:
$400 x 2 = $800 for the year.

Q: Can I manage the information in my Premium Listing?

A: Yes, mostly.
The information in your company listing can be edited at any time from your Account Management section. This includes your Company Description, Contact Information and Photos in your Photo Gallery.

Your Customer Reviews can not be edited or removed, but you can add your own comments to any Review to refute unfair statements or explain why you did what you did.

Q: Is there any tracking of the visitor traffic to my Premium Listing?

A: Yes. We track the number of visitors to your listing and count and record the phone calls made to you.

From your Account Management section you’ll see the number of visitors you’ve had view your Company Profile, and the number of calls made to your phone number listed. (this requires a tracking phone number which we provide at no additional charge). All calls are recorded so you can review the quality of customer calls you’re getting and even review the way your phone is being answered.

After every call we also send you an email with a copy of the recording.

Q: How do I get a ‘Certified Contractor’ logo on my listing?

A: Provide proof of the following minimum requirements of Certification.

CERTIFICATION
a. Must provide evidence of all licenses (if necessary)
b. Must carry a minimum of $200,000 in General Liability Insurance.
c. Must have proper Worker’s Comp insurance (if necessary)
d. Must be properly bonded (if necessary)
e. Must be rated B or better by Better Business Bureau (if rated at all)
f. Must have been in business for the past 5 years under same company name.

Q: What does membership in the Exclusive Leads Program cost?

A: There is no cost to join the Exclusive Leads Program and no application fee. Applicants are required to submit a $1,000 Job Fee Deposit, which is held against unreported jobs. This is a fully refundable deposit that is returned when a member quits the program or if an applicant is not accepted.

Q: What’s my cost for leads in the Exclusive Leads Program?

A: There’s no cost for leads. This is a pay-for-performance program. If you don’t close a lead, you don’t pay. When you close a job (meaning you sign a contract), you pay between 2.5% and 7.5%.

To be exact, you pay 7.5% on the first $10,000 and 2% on the contract amount exceeding $10,000.
For example: Sign a contract for a $25,000 job and pay $1,050 ($750 for the first $10,000 & $300 on the next $15,000). Your marketing cost is 4.20%.

Q: What are the eligibility requirements for the Exclusive Leads Program?

A: Besides meeting the minimum requirements of Certification (listed below), having proper licensing and insurance, we survey your past 20 customers.

Must meet all requirements of Certification
Must have a commercial place of business - not residence. Showrooms are preferable.
Must have a sales staff
Must have extremely high level of customer satisfaction:

We survey your past 20 clients. The number of completed surveys we receive is our first test as a high percentage of completed surveys is a very good sign. If the completed surveys show an extremely high level of customer satisfaction, and you’ve met the other criteria, then you’re in. This is a subjective process and while you can dispute our initial decision, Contractors.com makes all final decisions without comment.

Q: How are leads qualified?

A: We call each lead at least twice. A qualified lead is when a homeowner tells us they want to get bids from our Exclusive contractors. If we don’t talk to the homeowner, but the lead seems to be legitimate, such as the answering machine confirms the name on the lead, and the lead form is fairly detailed, then we send it out. In all cases leads will include our notes, including why we sent out a lead when we didn’t talk to the homeowner.

Q: How does Contractors.com generate leads?

A: Two major ways:

1. Most of our leads are generated through Internet advertising.
2. Member contractors are encouraged to input leads they get from their customers. Members benefit by eliminating the risk of recommending a single company, and earn KARMA by supporting other members. Leads entered by other members are some of the most qualified leads. Members also earn 20% of the job fees paid by another member on leads they submit.

Q: How many leads can I expect?

A: It depends on two things:

1. the size of your market
The larger your coverage area, and the trades you select effect the number of leads you get.

2. the contractor coverage in your area
We spend more on advertising in areas where we have a high concentration of contractors. For example, if we have complete coverage in all trades in Cincinnati, we’ll spend more ad dollars in Cincinnati. If we have national contractor coverage in Bathroom Remodeling, we’ll increase our spending to generate more Bathroom Remodeling leads.

Q: How many companies am I competing with?

A: No more than 2. Each territory is limited to just 3 companies. If you are the first company to register in an area, you get all leads exclusively. As a second or third company joins, you still get every lead we generate in your area, but you’re now competing with up to 2 other competitors. But as the number of contractors in a market increases, so does our advertising.

Q: Other requirements?

A: Members must:
1. Pursue and report on every job lead (on-line).
2. Provide each homeowner with a professional, courteous experience.
3. Provide each customer with a minimum one-year warrantee on labor.

This program is not designed to provide the least expensive bids to our homeowners but to offer a consistently high standard of service.

Q: What are the keys to success?

A: Four keys to success:
1. A high volume of leads (by Contractors.com)
2. Quality leads (by Contractors.com)
3. Commitment to reporting (by Members)
4. Commitment to excellent service (by Members)

A successful program with a strong membership will also result in better quality customers and higher margin jobs.

Q: Should I refer other excellent contractors I know?

A: Yes, absolutely!
The better our contractor coverage is, the we advertise, and the more leads we’ll generate, because we’re more likely to monetize them. More members also means more leads referred into the program by other members.