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As storm season kicks into high gear, contractor's may be fielding more calls about insurance repairs. While such work can be good business, it can also waste your business's time, Michael Stone writes for Markup and Profit.

Stone shares the example of a contractor who received a large volume of calls for insurance quotes from clients who have been instructed by insurance companies to get three quotes. In the example, less than 20% of the calls might be legitimate leads, while the rest are merely looking to fill their three estimate quota and aren't interested in doing any actual business. Stone shares advice on how to weed out the bad calls and ensure some compensation is received for the calls a business does take.

When I first started taking leads for insurance claims I would sell maybe one job out of thirty calls. That got old really quick. Once I started using this form [mentioned below], my sales-to-leads ratio improved to about one in three for insurance claims. That I could live with.

When the lead came in, over the phone I would explain that before I would give them a quote, either verbal or in writing, they'd need to sign a form that assured me that if I didn't get the job, they would pay me a fixed amount. It was usually between $350 and $750, and was payable within three working days of their settlement with the insurance carrier. If they agreed, I'd set an appointment to see the job. If they didn't agree, I wouldn't go.

This form greatly reduced the time spent driving around time and giving out numbers. I was assured that I would either get the job or get paid for the time spent estimating. If the customer complained to the insurance carrier about the form, my answer was simple: I don't work for free.

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