In the midst of government bail outs, bankruptcies, increased unemployment rates and struggling housing markets it’s not the norm to hear anything positive.  Regardless, the Contractors With Integrity Network (Cwin) announced today that their January 2009 siding lead numbers are up 59% from both January 2008 & January 2007 numbers.  They also mentioned their lead quality still remained in the high ninety percentile.

Cwin went on to say that their siding leads come completely from organic search results pages (aka – SERPs) and this increase could be a direct reflection of consumers electing to stay in their homes opposed to moving but we doubt that is the entire reason.  We haven’t officially heard but the “buzz” is – everybody is hurting.  Most siding lead generators are hurting and most siding contractors are competing for fewer and fewer leads.  But somehow, one company, has increased a staggering 59% in siding leads … way to go Cwin, whatever you are doing – keep it up!

If we hear from the other Siding Lead Companies about their increase/decrease in siding leads, we’ll post that here.

Here’s the Criteria we used to determine who made the list:

High Percentage of Good Leads,

Selective in the Contractors they Approve,

Homeowner Initiated,

Non-Interfered with Siding Leads,

Fresh Leads,

No Lengthy Contracts,

Fair Refund Policy,

Limited # of Contractors the Siding Lead is Sent To BUT More Than One,

Lead Company Actually Knows How to Generate Siding Leads,

No Obligation Free Trial

Read the full Criteria and Top 10 list

We can’t even begin to tell you all of the horror stories we’ve hear from contractors around the nation about some of these lead companies.  And to be honest the only way some of these companies keep preying on contractors is due to their ability to remain in the shadows.  So it’s time to pull a 1,000,000 watt spotlight and expose these companies.

Some of the horror stories include: contractors losing $1,000′s to flat out crooks, lead companies re-selling leads to 30+ contractors,  completely fake leads, leads that are 2 months old or worse (we’ve heard up to 6 months old),  the list goes on and on.  I wish I was making this all up.

Tip #1) Search: “whatever company name” SUCKS!

IF you are considering buying siding leads from a company and/or joining their program first do your homeowner.

FIRST: Keep something in mind, some scam companies have gotten wise to this technique and target the search results AND conversely, keep in mind some people just have an axe to grind and nothing better to do.

Having said all of that ,  do a search, we recommend Google since they cut out the most spam.  So if the companies name was … oh … I dunno … JoeBlowLeads.com and you wanted to find out if they were above the boards.  So a search on google for “JoeBlowLeads.com sucks” and see what comes up.  If there are a ton of results then start reading.

Tip #2) No Contracts!?!?!

Simple.  If a company needs you to sign a contract ask yourself, “Why?”  If they can provide the goods, why would they need to lock you into a contract … overhead my a55!

Tip #3) No Big $$$ Up Front

No big money upfront = No big loss if it doesn’t work out.  We’ve heard plenty of stories about companies losing THOUSANDS because they got conned into forking it over and their only recourse was to go to court.  We know of one company specifically that has a particularly nasty contract, talks big, requires big money up front, rarely delivers then openly tells contractors “sue me if you don’t like it.”

Tip #4) Guaranties Are a JOKE!

Guaranties are unfortunately another “buzz word” the scammer companies like to use.  “We’ll Mr. Contractor we can guarantee you 10 leads per week … bla bla bla.”  Things almost always change once  it’s time for them to pony up.

Tip #5) Ask Around

Man I’m telling you … ask around … and not just at the warehouse, job site or within your current circles BUT there is this incredible resource called the INTERNET (maybe you’ve heard of it) Check around at Forums and other Social Media websites.

Are There ANY Good Siding Lead Companies???

YOU BET!!! There are good siding lead companies out there you just have to look a little harder than you might think.

We know specifically of at least one.

Peace.