Getting the Customer, Service Provider Together
Businesses that provide services might seem ill-suited to e-commerce. Ever try to download an oil change from the Internet? Even if it were possible, I’d worry about getting grease on my modem.
But just because you can’t deliver your service via the Internet doesn’t mean you can’t use the Web to promote and sell it.
You can set up your own Web site, but getting people to visit it is always a challenge. Fullerton-based Handshake.com has an Internet solution designed to help consumers find services and, of course, help service businesses find customers.
Merchants register with the company (https://www.handshake.com) by providing information about the type of service they offer along with their address, phone number, fax number and e-mail address. In addition to the registered merchants, the service also has an extensive “yellow pages”-like directory of businesses for each of its categories.
Categories include brakes, oil change, auto detailing, health and fitness, massage, events and parties, florists, photographers, catering, bands, pest control, carpet cleaning, home inspection and truck rental, among others.
If you register with the site, Handshake.com staff will call you to verify that the information you entered is correct and list you in the appropriate category. They do not do their own quality assessment but leave that up to customers who can use the service to rate businesses. Ratings appear on a “vendor profile.” The service is new so don’t expect too many reviews yet.
If you’re in the phone book, you may already be listed at Handshake.com. The company posts business lists from the Info USA directory, which is basically electronic yellow pages. But even if you are listed, it makes sense to register directly because, says Handshake President Micah Rosenbloom, “registered businesses have a much greater probability getting sales leads.”
Handshake is basically a referral service that gives you a chance to bid for a customer’s business. Potential customers who are looking for a service can put in a request at the Web site by answering a series of questions, which gives the merchant enough information to quote a price for the service. Once the consumer’s request has been submitted, it is sent out to all local merchants that offer that service and each is invited to submit a bid, which, in turn, is sent back to Handshake.com. The customer can review your bid via e-mail and will contact you if he or she is interested. To protect customer privacy, information about the customer is not forwarded to merchants.
What’s nice about this service is that merchants don’t need an Internet account or even a computer to participate. Requests can be viewed at the Handshake.com Web site, but they can also be faxed to your business if you prefer getting them that way.
There is no charge to be listed, but the company does plan to charge a nominal fee to the merchant for sales leads. Fees will range from 50 cents to about $2 depending on the price and type of service.
“We have proven through market research that we can lower the cost of customer acquisition,” said Rosenbloom. The company also plans to offer merchants fee-based premier services including advertising and preferential placement. Handshake also plans to host merchant Web sites or to link to existing Web sites.
Redwood City-based ImproveNet (https://www.improvenet.com) offers a somewhat similar service for the home-improvement industry. The company registers contractors, architects and designers who are sent customer leads from the ImproveNet Web site. Businesses pay $90 to apply to be listed with the service, but that includes a free Web page on the ImproveNet site. If your business is not accepted for membership, $70 of your fee will be refunded. You also pay $10 per lead for projects over $500. There’s no charge for leads for smaller projects.
To qualify for membership, your business has to have been in operation for at least three years with no adverse legal actions against it, a clean record with your creditors and appropriate licenses and insurance. You’ll also need good professional and customer references.
Customers seeking your services fill out a questionnaire about the scope of the job, which is forwarded to you and other qualified contractors. You are expected to contact the homeowner within 48 hours to discuss the job.
Technology reports by Lawrence J. Magid can be heard at 1:48 p.m. weekdays on KNX (1070). He can be reached at larry.magid@latimes.com. His Web site is at https://www.larrysworld.com.
