North County Times - If you’ve got leaks and drips from peak to border, a brand new roof might be in order. Try metal when you re-roof: While metal roofing cost more initially, metal roofs pay off in the long run, with lifetime transferable warranties, meaning you (or future owners) will never have to re

Online Lead Generation for Local Contractors - PRWeb
A new home improvement directory seeks to take the frustration an inefficiency out of online estimate requests and lead generation in the home improvement industry by matching home improvement contractors and homeowners through one-to-one estimate requests.

Baltimore, Maryland (PRWEB) February 27, 2006 — Leveraging the internet for lead-generation in the home improvement and repair industry is nothing new - as a number of national firms have been doing it for several years. Yet All Around the Home seeks to take a different approach. They believe the leads their website generates for its clients are much higher quality because each lead is only sent to one contractor.

The industry standard is to take one lead and sell it several firms - usually firms that operate in the same region and thus are competitors of one another. All Around the Home believes their business model of bringing contractors and homeowners together and eliminating any pushy sales edge will create greater satisfaction for both parties.

Co-Founder Ryan Corey found that the current market for internet lead generation in the home service industry was poorly operated, being lead by a handful of internet companies that generate leads through their websites and then sell the same lead to multiple contractors. No matter if the lead is a simple plumbing job, electrical installation or a major kitchen remodeling project, the homeowner’s personal information gets sent to several contractors who must then outsell their opponent who also received the same lead.

For the home improvement contractors, All Around the Home’s one-to-one matching of leads is attractive because it produces a higher quality lead that is more likely to translate into a sale. For the homeowners using the site, the one-to-one model means they can control who receives their contact information, rather than having to provide their information on blind faith to any firm the website chooses. With the All Around the Home model, homeowners browse and review an individual firm before requesting an estimate for their project.

Ryan Corey realized the current market’s flaws when he turned in a lead several months ago to one of the largest names in the online lead generation industry. The following several days Mr. Corey was flooded by pushy sales calls from competing contractors. The calls became less frequent after about one week, but for the next several months they occasionally reappeared.

“I realized at that point that there would have been a better way for me to find a suitable contractor, as well as a better way for contractors to approach me. I wanted to find a reputable contractor, but what I found was a hassle.” said Mr. Corey.

He then proceeded to do something about it by developing the All Around the Home business model and website, which is located at http://www.allaroundthehome.com. The site currently focuses on matching homeowners and contractors in Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC - the region where Mr. Corey and the firm’s two other co-founders live.

All Around The Home places the choice in the hands of the homeowner seeking the service by listing descriptions of the companies that service their region and specific need. The resident then requests to be contacted by whichever contractor they are most impressed with. The contractor can then approach the service seeker with a more consultative angle as opposed to a heavy sales pitch, knowing that the homeowner has already specifically selected their firm by name.

Mr. Corey believes that through this new approach, the homeowner will be much more pleased with the process because of the reduced pressure and fewer hard sales pitches, while the contractor will be satisfied because of a greater return on their marketing investment. All Around the Home charges contractors only for actual leads they receive, with no flat monthly cost or setup fee.

All Around The Home’s owners live in the Maryland, Virginia, DC metro area. Their business model currently serves homeowners and home improvement contractors in the Mid-Atlantic region by matching the two parties through a one-to-one estimate request service. Current home service categories featured include: Heating & Air Conditioning (HVAC); Plumbing; Electrical; Basement Waterproofing; Kitchen Remodeling; Painting; Roofing; Landscaping and Cleaning Services (among others). Interested contractors can sign up to begin receiving leads or request more information through the firm’s website at http://www.allaroundthehome.com, or by contacting the firm via using their online contact form at http://www.allaroundthehome.com/contact.asp.

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