We've moved past the word "Data" in home inspection. Good. Now we can talk about the REAL.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 08/15/2019 12:23 PM EDT

Over the last three years or so, there has been way too much talk in home inspection about "data", with the erroneous contemplation by industry participants that it has any real value at all. While the ROI on myself going to battle on social media and in forums like this one may seem pretty light, in my estimation this was an incredibly important thing for us to get over as an industry so we could move on to some of the more real issues.

Oft in this debate I would bring up one simple offer to anyone who incessantly brought up "data" as having a value...I'd offer them some. I'd ask them first how much they thought a full inspection report worth of data was valued at and they'd say $5, $10, some came in as high as even $150. Whatever number they came back at, I'd offer them a 50% discount the day I might come to acquire through any means 250,000 inspection reports. It's weird that at a 50% discount nobody was willing to actually write a check. Why? Because the news that an outlet had reversed polarity two years ago is worthless. Even the condition of big ticket items like roof and foundation and HVAC is minimal at best.

Concurrent to this "data" nonsense was a sense in the industry that some dot com or big player was going to come and "disrupt" the industry. Newsflash geniuses: This isn't Uber. This isn't DoorDash. Home Inspections involve advanced training, communication with many parties (most often by phone), some level of trust among the agents involved, answering questions for buyers throughout the process...it's a complex business and a fairly small industry. There's no one on Wall Street looking to invest billions or even millions of dollars in this. They'd sooner invest in paper routes.

Here's the other thing - there's no space ship being built in Idaho or Utah or wherever. Porch isn't selling any inspections and Amazon is selling very few. Home Advisor and Angie's List and everyone else that has tried to "sell leads" in this business has failed miserably. It's just absurd that we as an industry can look at something on uninventive and non-innovative as these dot coms or just some dude that wants to "do a lot of inspections" and collectively freak out.

So let's move on with a new sense of reality and focus on something that actually has ROI for all of us. I call it "Transactional Opportunities", and it will be the keystone of our talks on Saturday at the Inspection Super Conference. Opportunities to serve our clients better and deliver some automation to certain home processes. Things that will actually change the industry and your business and the client experience for the better.

Join us in Vegas for some very interesting conversation, product launches, amazing promotional deals as always, and the biggest party in the industry with the most successful players in it. See you in Vegas.

http://www.InspectionSuperConference.com

Excellent post and well stated. There's a lot of fear-mongering out there.