I’m new to the site, and I’m thinking of working a few hours on the weekends to just pick up extra work. I was just about to submit my first quote, but I noticed I have to pay a connection fee AND buy “tokens.” I mean, I can see paying a connection fee. But the benefit to using this service instead of buying buckets of leads would be that, even though they are less qualified, you don’t pay unless you work. But now I’m realizing that you do actually pay no matter what. So, for this $50 job, I’m going to pay to quote it and pay if I get the work…? How many tokens does it cost to send a quote? The work I seem to be offered through this service is really small, fast work. (I’m a graphic designer.) Both leads in my org now seem flaky—really small budgets not thought out. I don’t know—is this worth it for any of you? Thanks.
I used this service for collecting leads and paying for the connection fee on 2 of them, both of which lead to nothing and wasted over 70 dollars. I seen this email and thought you should know that getting leads are expensive and never pan out when dealing with cheap people who want only the lowest pricing. Plus there is NO GUARANTEE that the people placing the leads will pay your rates. Its a waste of time and money.
Hello Kevin,
Our quote service makes it easy and affordable to connect with in-market leads. Potential customers come to ExpertHelp looking for professional services and you get to pick and choose which ones you send quotes to.
When a lead finds your quote interesting, they can choose to connect with you. When this happens, your contact information (name, phone, and email address) is shared with the this lead, and the leads contact information is shared with you. At this point ExpertHelp charges you a modest connect fee (disclosed on the quote page before sending quote) and you can then contact the lead to close the deal.
Some quote services charge heavy fees to send quotes. You can end up paying an average of $10 or more per quote and send up to 10 quotes costing you over $100 before you are connected with a single customer! With ExpertHelp, you are only paying 1 token (1 token = $1) to send a quote and only the connect fee when a lead has found your quote interesting enough to connect with you.
As with any quote or lead generation service, it is ultimately up to you to close the deal. Prospective customers come to ExpertHelp at different stages in the sales cycle. You may need to make multiple follow-ups before a customer is ready to engage with you. Other times a customer is ready to get started immediately.
Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee every prospect who chooses to connect with you will convert into a paying customer. However, there are things you can do increase the odds of this happening. Here are just a few:
-Have a well written biography and professional looking photo on our ExpertHelp profile. Pros who do this are 4 times more likely to be selected than a pro who don’t.
-Contact the prospect quickly after you are connected. The sooner you make contact, the more likely you are to win the customer’s business.
-Ask your prospect what’s important to them when choosing a service provider and address those concerns/objections.
-Present evidence that you are trustworthy. Send the customer links to review sites, BBB membership, or other relevant affiliations that establish trust.
-Follow-up regularly (daily) via phone and email. People are busy and they might just need to be caught at the right time. Don’t give up after a few tries!
-Finally, remember people buy based on emotion. Customers will most always go with the pro who makes them feel like their needs will be taken care of. Doing the 5 things above will go a long way to making your prospect feel confident in doing business with you.
Also review our Calculating Your Return on Investment article for additional information.