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Your Thoughts on This Business Model?

sonny_1080

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I'm spitballing here so any feedback will be appreciated. Let me know if you guys see any holes.

I'm adjusting my business model. The question I asked myself is: what model is most valuable to the people paying?

Do *they* (the people paying me) want the email or do they want the call?

They are most likely going to want the phone call more than the email.

Here is how that would work: leads call me needing a provider, I screen lead for what lead wants and find suggestions for providers positioned for what that lead wants. I say “ok I have 3 options that will work for you, let’s get them on the line” it rings and 1 of 3 things happen:
  1. They answer, I make the introduction, tell the lead I will email the other options your contact info and they will contact you if they have availability, then I jump off the line
    1. The call is charged at 25%, the emails are charged at 10%
  2. They don’t answer, we leave a voicemail with the clients information (charged at 20%), and try another place until someone picks up or calls the client back. If they call the client back while I’m still on the line, then refer back to 1.c and raise the bill to 25%, if they call back later then at least they are paying the 20%. And because the businesses are paying, they are more incentivized to follow up.
  3. If none of the options answer, voicemails have been left with the clients information (all of which are being charged 20%) and should be hearing back from them because they are being charged for the voicemail.

This particular niche sucks at digital marketing, following up, and they hate dealing with unfit people. So the most valuable proposition I can give them is pay-per-call (hybrid w/ pay-per-email).
 
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Kid

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Many people prefer calling instead of emailing back and forth.
So i would suggest that.

The only thing that differs is that you would have to put time
or hire someone to answer the phone, so the cost is higher.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Wow, you've certainly picked a tangled web of problems here ... sure you don't just want to start the next Facebook?

I see what you're trying to do here, but you're fighting human nature which is to NOT answer the phone, especially if you are dealing with trades.

Your solution seems terribly complicated, and if it is complicated, your end users (customers) will as well.

I once paid $40,000 for an IVR system that did something similar -- it routed calls to limousine services, and when they answered, they were charged a lead fee. This system failed miserably because most of my clients want to dispute every call when they failed to book, or hangups, etc.

Not dismissing the business model -- but this is a big problem to try an eloquently resolve. Technology is far more advanced than 10 years ago so perhaps things have changed, but right now what you are describing seems very convoluted.
 

Empires

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Rather than selling the leads which can lead to a ton of complications as MJ said, can you upcharge the service and out source it to these companies instead?

Basically the way it would work is that when a customer calls you for a service you would gather all of the information as if you are going to provide the service yourself.

Then you collect payment from the customer and call local companies until you find someone who can provide the service. You pay the service provider directly once the service is complete.

You get to add your margin on, the service provider gets paid their retail rate so they will be happy, and the customer gets service without a confusing process. It is a win-win-win.

And if you focus on specific areas, you could negotiate lower rates with various service providers once you keep sending them work.
 
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sonny_1080

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Thank you for the feedback @MJ DeMarco and @Empires - you both are very right.

I spoke to a few people in the industry and received a lot of valuable feedback. Due to the fragile nature of branding and perception that matters more in this industry (healthcare niche) than others, any call-center type pay-per-lead thing is not the best model. It can very easily be misconstrued as unethical (hence my questions about ethics on the forum lately).

So I've gone back to thinking maybe the original model is the right way to go. I can make continue to refine the upgraded listings to be more valuable.

I also realized something 3 hours ago: The price I'm asking for is based on what it COULD be, not what it IS... so that needs to get dealt with.

And the biggest hurdle is this: in this market, a law was passed two years ago that prevents providers from using insurance monies. This has put providers in a position to do cash pay only. Needless to say, 9/10 providers still find a way to benefit from using the consumer's insurance (indicating to me that the law will be amended within 5 years).

On top of that, any provider that only does cash pay, is barely hanging in there.

From a business standpoint, it makes sense to cater to the providers that work with insurance - meaning I'm advertising for providers that I don't believe in.

There is more to this than I care to explain, but it comes down to this growing industry is, in my opinion, doing a disservice to the community. In short, this industry is a 47 billion dollar industry that has a huge reliance on recidivism - and I don't want anything to do with that.

Hence, the problem. Putting my customer first means advertising (helping) them do things I believe are detrimental to the community.

This is not good.
 

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