CCPIA’s free custom one-page profile is designed with a single purpose in mind: To generate commercial inspection business for the inspector.
Typically, a visitor will spend a few seconds scanning your site and making a crucial decision – whether or not to:
- contact you;
- click on something; or
- leave and visit your competitor’s website.
Internet users are goal-driven. They have clicked on your website for a specific reason. Both on a desktop or laptop and in mobile view, CCPIA’s free custom one-page profile is structured to deny the visitor freedom. Every link on the page leads to reasons to contact you now, or provides a direct means for getting in contact with you. However, the specific reasons to contact you are based on the customized information that you provide. For that reason, members should meticulously plan the information they provide to effectively convert visitors into clients. In order to do that, you must have an understanding of who your visitors are, so read About the Commercial Inspection Industry.
Also, consider the following tips to create the optimum commercial profile:
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Your logo.
Provide a high-quality .PNG image. A .JPG file is also usable, but make sure the background is white. In either case, an image with a 2:1 aspect ratio would fit best (horizontal image).
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Inspector’s name.
Include post-nominal letters or other credentials with your name. For instance, if you’re a Certified Master Inspector®, be sure to include “CMI®” after your name. If you have a license number, be sure to include that.
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Business phone number.
If you have staff that answers your phone during regular business hours, include that information, but make sure they’re prepared to take care of your commercial clients over the phone. If you provide an office phone number, check that your outgoing message for voicemail sounds professional and suits your prospects for all of your services. Alternatively, you could include only your direct phone/cell number, or – consider – carrying a second cell phone with a dedicated number only for new business. Don’t risk missing out on jobs by missing phone calls.
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Business email address.
Make a conscientious decision about the business email address you provide. Your email address will be used on your profile in two ways. The first is that it will be listed under your general contact information. The second is that if a visitor to your site chooses to fill out the online form, the lead will be instantly emailed to you.
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Company name.
If your company name doesn’t limit your ability to gain new clients, then this is straightforward. However, if you’re also a residential inspector and your current company name includes the words “Home Inspections,” you may want to consider registering a DBA to expand your market reach. Then, create a new Google My Business account and link it to CCPIA’s free commercial inspection profile.
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Sample inspection report.
Include a sample commercial property inspection report. Oftentimes, inspectors are left to compete through report-generation innovation, so include a sample inspection report that clearly indicates the level of service that you provide. Like everything else on your profile, this is a sales pitch for your service. (But be sure to black out any private information, such as names, phone numbers, and addresses.) The best method is to provide a URL that goes directly to your sample report that is hosted by your software company. Note that if you provide a PDF, we may restrict the number of pages to maintain a good page loading and document downloading speed.
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Business website.
Consider the purpose of the free CCPIA one-page profile: to generate commercial inspection business and prompt prospective commercial clients to hire you. If you have a business website but it doesn’t highlight your commercial inspection services, consider excluding it from the page. Or, if you have a dedicated page on your existing website for commercial inspections, link directly to that page rather than to the homepage.
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Service area.
Provide the service area that will land you the most commercial inspection jobs. Consider sub-regions, satellite cities, and metro areas. If you’re in a rural area, it may be best to include the nearest city where business parks and retail districts are located. Make sure you’re prepared to factor in travel fees in your quote, as applicable.
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Business or service area photo.
Inspectors can add a headshot or other business-related photo to their inspector profile. Alternatively, inspectors may choose to find a video or image from a stock website (Abobe, Vimeo, etc.), purchase it, and send the file to us.
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Brief bio about you and your commercial inspection business.
Use this section to list your qualifications and selling points to quickly show visitors the incredible value of hiring you. But don’t include anything that your competition can say just as well. You should state your educational background, relevant certifications, and other qualifications. Some items to consider including in this section are:
- any specific relevant certifications and/or licenses you possess;
- the number of years you’ve been in business;
- a rough number of the commercial inspections you’ve performed (skip this if you’re new to commercial inspections);
- the different types of commercial properties you’ve inspected;
- the types of expert consultants you have on-call on your commercial team (but don’t list their names or contact info); and
- any distinguishing facts that you think will appeal to your target clientele. But don’t go overboard just to fill space; respect that your prospects are busy and serious-minded.
Ask yourself whether there’s anything in your education, training and/or work history that’s likely to gain you the confidence of commercial clientele, and include that. Look at this as your only chance to lock down the job.
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Description of your inspection services.
Use this section to both describe your services and to make a convincing sales pitch to sell your services. Discuss your niche or specialty, if you have one. You can also broaden this section to discuss the general services you provide, your reporting system, and your schedule of availability. Make it simple and concise enough for a visitor to quickly scan the page. For SEO purposes, it’s good to include words such as “commercial property inspector” and geographically-specific phrases about your market area.
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List of specific inspection/ancillary services.
Use this section to list your inspection services and any ancillary services. Note that CCPIA has a canned list of commercial inspection services to choose from, or if you wish to add email info@ccpia.org
Create Your Page
CCPIA recommends creating a draft in a Word.docx, then proofreading and revising as needed, and then entering that text in the required fields on the form. Remember to keep your text concise. Omit needless words. This will make the pertinent information stand out. Think like the client you’re trying to court, and don’t waste their time or make them impatient by being long-winded, or – worse – by not correcting mistakes in your text.
Your text should deliver this message: “I am the quality commercial inspector you want to hire.” Avoid giving the impression that you’re new to the commercial inspection industry… even if you are. Don’t put anything on your profile that would reveal your inexperience. We don’t provide pre-written templates for these customized sections because you know your services better than anyone else, so take the time to sell them right.
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