Have you ever got a call from Service Magic?

[Benton]

Hey I got a call from a company called Service Magic. They are suppose to give me leads on local renovations (electrical) etc. I have to pay a small fee for the leads though. Has anyone ever heard or dealt with them?:?

www.servicemagic.com

 

[zbang]

Search the forum here and you'll find a bunch of comments. They're not well regarded.

 

[sethas]

Just my experience here. I was struggling to find out how to generate some business in this economy. i had a lot of different companies calling me, Service Magic, Angies list, Yelp, etc. etc.

I think it really depends upon the type of area you live in. I do a lot of work in the San Francisco Bay area, the internet based companies are well worth it here. Only because the base population uses the internet, "Google" or "Yahoo", to look up everything. It is expensive though, so you need to do a very good closing on the sale.

Good thing is, all the contractors you compete against are legitimate. They have a license and insurance. So it is not necessarily bottom dollar type stuff. I am doing $300.00 a month in advertising leads with them right now, and generating about $6000.00 off of that. Like I said, it is expensive, but I am now starting to get those customers to return to me instead of Service Magic, and getting leads from those customers.

 

[Fulthrotl]

Just my experience here. I was struggling to find out how to generate some business in this economy. i had a lot of different companies calling me, Service Magic, Angies list, Yelp, etc. etc.

I think it really depends upon the type of area you live in. I do a lot of work in the San Francisco Bay area, the internet based companies are well worth it here. Only because the base population uses the internet, "Google" or "Yahoo", to look up everything. It is expensive though, so you need to do a very good closing on the sale.

Good thing is, all the contractors you compete against are legitimate. They have a license and insurance. So it is not necessarily bottom dollar type stuff. I am doing $300.00 a month in advertising leads with them right now, and generating about $6000.00 off of that. Like I said, it is expensive, but I am now starting to get those customers to return to me instead of Service Magic, and getting leads from those customers.

well, that's 5%, and that is cheap for a sales commission.

 

[GeorgeB]

Hey I got a call from a company called Service Magic. Has anyone ever heard or dealt with them?

As a potential CUSTOMER when i bought a home, I filled out their questionnaire. I have a web domain where all email is forwarded to me ... I used [not real] smagic@mydomain.com, and was put on about 1 million (only slightly joking) spam mailers lists ... I'll NEVER deal with them.

 

[growler]

I am doing $300.00 a month in advertising leads with them right now, and generating about $6000.00 off of that. Like I said, it is expensive, but I am now starting to get those customers to return to me instead of Service Magic, and getting leads from those customers.

well, that's 5%, and that is cheap for a sales commission.

5% may be cheap for a sales commission but you are paying for a lead and not a sales commission. The reason sales commissions are high is because there is normally a bit of effort that goes into making a sale.

If Service Magic sales those same leads to 4 other ECs they are collecting 25% in fees for nothing more than providing leads and never making a sale.

 

[charlie b]

My general business philosophy is this: I want my client to make more money with my assistance than they would have made without it, and I want a fair share of the difference. I believe the Service Magic contracts are not based on this philosophy. So ask yourself this: Are you likely to make more money with their help than you would have made without it?

 

[jaylectricity]

It really depends on the operation you are running. It didn't work out for me because there weren't many leads and the few that I got had problems.

One was for forced hot water baseboard heat. I got that lead fee credited, but I had to call them and tell them the problem.

Another one had a problem with a light fixture. Didn't really know what was up til I got there but turned out to be a simple light replacement. I felt a little embarrassed that I had to stop before actually replacing the light and tell them my minimum charge before I would replace it. Then to finish the install 10 minutes later and have them give me that look. They paid me but I never heard from them again.

Then I got one from a lady who needed me the next day. I'm a one man operation. Although there are slow times when I'm available immediately, in this situation I already had stuff planned in a town 50 miles away. They didn't credit me for that one.

After all was said and done I only lost a hundred bucks or so on the service. Then they called me a couple months ago trying to sell me website services. I was stuck in traffic so I listened to him and talked to him, but he couldn't assure me that anybody would actually find the website without paying them a site maintenance fee.

 

[jmellc]

They called me a few times. Leads are a good thing, but not worth whatever price they quoted me. Too many leads are tire kickers who call every electrician in town for quotes. In today's times, people price out more work than they every hire out. I offered the guy a commission on every lead that became a sale & he was offended.

I think most of those services are not worth it. I've had calls from 5 or 6 of them, all claiming their leads were solid, practically guaranteed, etc.

 

[480sparky]

I can't get them to stop.

I've told them to take a hike, and still they call. I never answer their calls since I have them saved as Do Not Answer on my phone. They even call my fax line.

I've heard far too many horror stories about them to trust them. Yes, some people swear by them and make lots of money, but they don't care how much money I make.

 

[Benton]

I can't get them to stop.

I've told them to take a hike, and still they call. I never answer their calls since I have them saved as Do Not Answer on my phone. They even call my fax line.

I've heard far too many horror stories about them to trust them. Yes, some people swear by them and make lots of money, but they don't care how much money I make.

I guess it is my decision now. I have positive and negative feedback.

 

[petersonra]

From the consumer side.

A few years back I was looking to get some minor insulation work done for a club I was treasurer of. I just could not get any of the local insulation guys interested. I ran across Service Magic on the Internet and entered my information.

Several local guys called me back and promised to come out and take a look and get me a quote but none ever actually did despite me even calling them back.

It astounds me that any business would turn down easy work like this. It would only have been less then $1000 probably, but why say you are going to come out if you are really unwilling to do so? Just say you have no interest. It soured me on Service Magic.

I have no other personal experience with them.

 

[jaylectricity]

I'll add one more thing. I heard about them through a friend and they told me that you got to look at every single request and choose which ones to respond to. Apparently they had changed their business model by the time I went to them.

So some people's experiences may be based on that.

 

[sethas]

I think that it will really depend upon the demographics of the area you live in. In the San Francisco Bay area, people are much more likely to use the internet to find contractors. Without them, I would not get nearly the amount of calls I get, as I do not advertise in conventional methods.

I did a job this week for $2K off of them, it cost me about $15 in lead fees. I have another one next week, $15 for the lead and it is a $1500 job. Are they all like that? No way!

The only way the sales seem to work is to call the person immediately after receiving the lead. Sometimes they are still on the internet. Otherwise the four other contractors will call first. Second, never quote them anything over the phone. Everyone else is doing that. Explain to them that you need to meet them in person to see the job. You would be surprised how often I am the only contractor to call or even show up!

The thing that sucks is that sometimes people are just price shopping, or with the slip of a finger they signed up for something that just charged you $50! No refund or credits allowed for that. But you have the option of getting out of the more expensive leads, like additions and or panels. Most of those people are just price shopping, and it costs you. I am not signed up for any lead over $20.

Hope this helps. If anyone has questions just ask.

 

[GUNNING]

Not a fan of S.M. The cost analysis just doesn't pay off. I've got em listed as do not answer also. Im thinking of not answering ANY calls from service companies. They are a nightmare to perform .
BBB, them I answer.

 

[jaylectricity]

Those of you that have them programmed in your phone as "Do not answer" or whatever other telemarketer label you have, how deep in did you have to get to receive so many phone calls? They've called me twice in the past five years.

 

[480sparky]

Those of you that have them programmed in your phone as "Do not answer" or whatever other telemarketer label you have, how deep in did you have to get to receive so many phone calls? They've called me twice in the past five years.

Two calls to the business line (cell) after I told 'em not to call me any more was more than enough for me. How often they call after that I have no clue as I never answer it, and if they leave a message I delete it immediately without listening to it. But they somehow decided they could call my fax line, which has an answering machine on it, and still pester me.

I have emailed them demanding they stop..... with no avail. Once a week they still call.

 

[GUNNING]

driven

driven

Contacting a telemarketer starts a conversation. Telling them not to call puts you on the followup sales list. Better off now giving them another number to contact you at, like the the number for DMV or the nearest college. The fax line was a goodie for them. At this point miss direction is your only hope. They are like carrion eaters, they don't give up till its gone, there is no stopping them; they are on a quest.

 

[sd4524]

How does Service magic get there customers? Where do people get there name from? Thats what you should do for advertising. Try and cut the customer off before they find service magic and steer them towards your company. You are essentially paying for there own advertising costs by using there service. In return you get to share leads with all of there other contractors.
I say go get your own leads... however you do that.

 

[480sparky]

How does Service magic get there customers? Where do people get there name from? ...........

The problem is, they're operating on a nation-wide basis. That's something few ECs are willing to do, let alone capable of. The economy of scale available to them isn't available to the local Mom & Pop shops.