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Service Magic and Angie's List

20K views 105 replies 31 participants last post by  OakNut 
#1 ·
What is everyone's reviews/experience with these websites?

I've already signed up for Angie's List and am waiting for a call back Monday about signing up for Service Magic.

It sounds like a good service but I am a bit hesitant to pay per lead.

Questions, especially about service magic:

1) How good were the leads you received?

2) What was your rate of conversion (how many actually turned into clients)?

3) How many leads did you get per week/month and how much did it cost you?

4) Any complaints about how the company treated you or about the service in general?

Thanks for the input folks, hopefully some people with experience will chime in.
 
#3 ·
I did Service Magic briefly- its a system that rewards the fast and cheap.

Look at Redbeacon, Thumbtack, and Homeblue. I prefer all three of them- especially Redbeacon.
Posted via Mobile Device
Redbeacon looks great but does not work in my area.

The appeal of service magic to me was that it was more direct. The leads coming to you instead of you coming to the leads.
 
#4 ·
IHA I know a fair bit about the space since I'm working in it. One I haven't talked to anyone who LIKES service magic that's not to say they still don't use them but they don't really like it. They charge per lead, they sell the same lead to multiple companies in your area, and depending on area and service depends on what they charge. I think the minimum is about $15-$20.

Now for a little bit of a commercial. My site works more like red beacon only for landscape and outdoor companies. There are some differences but that's the idea. Full disclosure it only went live about a week ago so there's probably not jobs yet in your area. However, it's FREE to create a listing right now and it's a nice link to your website or Facebook page for FREE. There's a place to show off your work, logos etc. all FREE. Poke around, my site is completely transparent so you can see how it works. I'd love to hear what you do or don't like about it.
Thanks,
Phil
ServiceVines.com
 
#5 ·
I did service magic a few years ago and hated it. I would not recommend using them.
I have been using Angie's List for a while now and it has not worked out for me. I have not gotten a call, email anything. Most people on there are looking for business who already have reviews. But hey its free!
 
#6 ·
IHA I know a fair bit about the space since I'm working in it. One I haven't talked to anyone who LIKES service magic that's not to say they still don't use them but they don't really like it. They charge per lead, they sell the same lead to multiple companies in your area, and depending on area and service depends on what they charge. I think the minimum is about $15-$20.

Now for a little bit of a commercial. My site works more like red beacon only for landscape and outdoor companies. There are some differences but that's the idea. Full disclosure it only went live about a week ago so there's probably not jobs yet in your area. However, it's FREE to create a listing right now and it's a nice link to your website or Facebook page for FREE. There's a place to show off your work, logos etc. all FREE. Poke around, my site is completely transparent so you can see how it works. I'd love to hear what you do or don't like about it.
Thanks,
Phil
ServiceVines.com
Thanks, went ahead and signed up for your website. Plan to get as many leads from as many quality sites as possible.

Still on the fences about Service Magic, it seems not many people like it but many use it.
 
#7 ·
What is everyone's reviews/experience with these websites?

I've already signed up for Angie's List and am waiting for a call back Monday about signing up for Service Magic.

It sounds like a good service but I am a bit hesitant to pay per lead.

Per lead is the only way to pay. Do you want to pay for leads you don't get?

Questions, especially about service magic:

1) How good were the leads you received?

Half of the leads are garbage. You make your money from the other half.

2) What was your rate of conversion (how many actually turned into clients)?

1 out of 4. The leads cost me $12 each. I get a new customer for $50. This is a bargain!

3) How many leads did you get per week/month and how much did it cost you?

This varies greatly.

4) Any complaints about how the company treated you or about the service in general?

Plenty of complaints. Remember, I said half of the leads are junk.

Thanks for the input folks, hopefully some people with experience will chime in.
ServiceMagic built my business. It is far from perfect but it is very cost effective. Depending on your market segment your leads are going to one or two others contractors. The first one to call them back usually gets the business, so call them immediately if not sooner.

If you concentrate on it's flaws you will hate it but if you work it properly and look at the results you will find it to be the most cost effective stream of lead generation you have.
 
#9 ·
Im signed up with service magic, and if I don't get this last job I just quoted, im cancelling it. 95% of the calls are garbage, half the people don't even realize what the service is, I call....'oh, is this what i signed up for?? i don't really need anything'
A lot of the calls, are calls you don't really want. Customers you don't want. In about 8 months, I scored one stupid little leaf clean up, which paid for half of the leads I got. This job I just bid, will probably pay for all the leads, plus this coming up years leads.....so Im sure I won't get the job, el oh el.
 
#10 ·
IHA I know a fair bit about the space since I'm working in it. One I haven't talked to anyone who LIKES service magic that's not to say they still don't use them but they don't really like it. They charge per lead, they sell the same lead to multiple companies in your area, and depending on area and service depends on what they charge. I think the minimum is about $15-$20.

Now for a little bit of a commercial. My site works more like red beacon only for landscape and outdoor companies. There are some differences but that's the idea. Full disclosure it only went live about a week ago so there's probably not jobs yet in your area. However, it's FREE to create a listing right now and it's a nice link to your website or Facebook page for FREE. There's a place to show off your work, logos etc. all FREE. Poke around, my site is completely transparent so you can see how it works. I'd love to hear what you do or don't like about it.
Thanks,
Phil
ServiceVines.com
What do you charge for leads?
Does each provider pay for the lead or only the one that books the job?
 
#11 ·
Thanks for the question it's a great one. Right now the leads are free, but obviously that's not sustainable, we are just trying to understand the market and make sure to make a worthwhile product.

We will advertise in those areas that have the highest concentration of providers signed up (so that customers have a good experience), but everyone is allowed to list their services for free, forever. As areas get enough providers we spend ad dollars in those markets. But it's good to be the first in your area, you'll get immediate email when someone posts a request for your service area.

To answer your question directly, we will only charge the "winning" provider for the job. We AREN'T going to sell the lead to 3-4 different companies. One charge to the provider who wins. What that costs is still an unknown, I think it's important to be transparent here. It just depends on what it costs us in marketing to get that lead, then we'll charge a small profit. I'm of the school of make a product people like and they'll be willing to pay. I'm not interested in trying to make as much money as I can as quickly as I can.

That's why I participate here. It's a great community which I can learn about building a lasting business that is valuable to LCO's.

Thanks for the questions, sorry for the long reply.

Phil
 
#12 ·
It's interesting to read about people who "signed up" for Angie's List. Especially considering that you CAN'T "sign up". The only way to get on Angie's List is if someone who is an Angie's List (paying member) reviews you.

I've gotten two "A" ratings/reviews from clients recently. I took it as a compliment to my service and was thankful for the positive reviews.

That said, I was later contacted by Angie's List by phone. He wanted to "go over everything to show me how to get the most out of my listings". I was too busy to talk at the moment though.
I can't say for sure, but I get the feeling they will "push" advertising with them.
As I understand it, one can only advertise on Angie's List if you have a "A" rating. (There may be another stipulation as well)

I'll see how it all goes and report any thoughts on it.
 
#13 ·
We found success with service magic for leads specifically targeted toward paver installs. There were a lot of crummy leads that came through but we were happy to pay for the 10 or so bad ones that it took to get one sale. Also found that not many people were looking to do installs right away, which made a follow up system critical.
 
#14 ·
Angie's List keeps calling or mailing letters all the time. I don't want to send them a dime until they get all their ducks in a row though, on the review side. The advertisements on TV are laughable, when they say "Reviews You Can Trust". Which one? The A or the F that people gave me? Which review was right, and which can you trust? Check out this thread I started about it some time ago.

LINK > http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=292671

It's really such fast food referral service. My question is ... was Angie's List ever a really good referral service in the past, before they became so money-grubbing?

I think the truth is, that there are reviews on Angie's List that can be trusted, but they are dispersed among other non-trustworthy reviews. So the challenge becomes how to differentiate one from the other.

:)
 
#15 ·
I do blacktop sealing.

Service magic is good and bad.

The good.

I do get a lot of leads and a lot of them turn into work.

The bad.

Their "exact match service". What that did was bump their website to the top of google when you searched for my company. You click on their site thinking its our company. Then you call an 800 number and that connects you with us.

Those leads were $27.

What that meant is I was paying $27 for people who were already looking specifically for my company. I had a big problem with that since 50% of my "leads" were people I had already met and dealt with who just thought their number was mine.

I turned off the "exact match" service which is supposed to remove our web listing.

The only leads I will get now are people who go to service magic looking for a contractor and those are half the price.

That, I think is worth it. I dont mind paying for customers that they send me from their own efforts.

But I dont want to pay for people who are just looking for my phone number who know me already.

If you dont already have a good web presence though, their exact match service would be great. Its expensive per lead but if you can close a lot of them its worth it since you will be on the top of the search when people are looking for your service in your area.
 
#16 ·
I'm going to be completely candid here. I'm not sure what we'll end up charging for leads but unlike other companies only the WINNING bidder will get charged. It's completely free right now and it will ALWAYS be free to list your services, like a virtual yellow pages to really showcase what you can do. So it's a free link to your site and a free listing of your services. When someone posts a job in your area you'll get an email within seconds. (the system does all the calculation)
 
#17 ·
Service magic was awesome....6 years ago. I recently turned off my service with them. As eash year passed the leads got worse and worse. Maybe in conjunction with the economy? Who knows really. Doesn't even matter. They stink now and I'm not paying for stink. I can generate my own stink for free.

*Note to the Service Vines guy...the way you interject into the middle of a conversation without actually addressing any specific person is creepy. You're like a robot. I will not be clicking on your website because of this.
 
#18 ·
@SSmith not a robot just here trying to answer questions. I guess I had accidentally answered the same question twice when someone asked "what leads cost". Sorry for the confusion, just trying to be responsive to questions and not spammy.
 
#19 ·
I was put on Angie's ist a couple of years ago. We won some sort of reward for being positively reviewed so many times. We then advertised one spring, I think 3 or 4 years ago, and had to stop because of all the work it generated. Good work, only had one so-so client come from there. It has totally made my business. currently, we don't advertise, haven't since that one time and every year look for 1 or 2 more year round clients.
 
#20 ·
Service magic isn't worth it to me I tried it last year and got nothing but junk leads, you have to call back immediately or you will lose the lead, I have a buddy who has a marketing dept for his company and they answer all leads immediately and even he says service magic is junk, but Angie's list has been a totally different story, I'm currently closing 4 out of five leads and they are very good leads people that are ready for a good service provider and willing to pay the going rate. Just be careful cause if you do a bad job you get the bad reviews as you should but I've also had people threaten me that if I didn't give them something other than the agreed upon service they will give me a bad review, I'm in communication with them now now about that, I've heard of the same thing from other companies also so it's not just me.
 
#21 ·
IHA I know a fair bit about the space since I'm working in it. One I haven't talked to anyone who LIKES service magic that's not to say they still don't use them but they don't really like it. They charge per lead, they sell the same lead to multiple companies in your area, and depending on area and service depends on what they charge. I think the minimum is about $15-$20.

Now for a little bit of a commercial. My site works more like red beacon only for landscape and outdoor companies. There are some differences but that's the idea. Full disclosure it only went live about a week ago so there's probably not jobs yet in your area. However, it's FREE to create a listing right now and it's a nice link to your website or Facebook page for FREE. There's a place to show off your work, logos etc. all FREE. Poke around, my site is completely transparent so you can see how it works. I'd love to hear what you do or don't like about it.
Thanks,
Phil
ServiceVines.com
You got another member:drinkup:
 
#23 ·
Service magic isn't worth it to me I tried it last year and got nothing but junk leads, you have to call back immediately or you will lose the lead, I have a buddy who has a marketing dept for his company and they answer all leads immediately and even he says service magic is junk, but Angie's list has been a totally different story, I'm currently closing 4 out of five leads and they are very good leads people that are ready for a good service provider and willing to pay the going rate. Just be careful cause if you do a bad job you get the bad reviews as you should but I've also had people threaten me that if I didn't give them something other than the agreed upon service they will give me a bad review, I'm in communication with them now now about that, I've heard of the same thing from other companies also so it's not just me.
Are you paying the 1100/year to advertise there, or did one of your clients rate you and that's how people find out about you?
 
#25 ·
It's more than $1100/year, we're in several categories.It also has to do with market size.
An Angie's list lady called me today and quoted me roughly $1100. She said there were 8000 clients in my area. I asked how big my area was and she said the surrounding 60 miles. Only 1/4 of the people within 60 miles are in my service range. That means only 2000 angie's list people are in my area and I would be paying 1100 bucks for it. She is calling back tomorrow. I am open to trying a new advertising strategy each year, but I don't like tying up a big part of my marketing budget for 1 thing like that. I am leaning towards NO THANKS! Have you noticed any big benefits from being upgraded to one of their paying clients? Did you see a big jump in calls? Are there any benefits that I should know about besides more exposure? Thanks
 
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