Hi all,
I just passed my Part 107 last month and have flown a few real estate jobs so far. However this past weekend we had a brutal wind storm in my area that did loads of roofing damage to several properties. I figured that this week most roofing companies were going to have their hands full with getting inspections done and bids for repairs, and that I might be able to branch out into flying and inspecting roofs. So far as I can tell, none of the drone businesses in my area even offer inspections as a service, they're all focused on real estate and video production.
I outlined a few benefits that my drone could offer: I could photograph an entire roof including close ups of any problem areas in a very short period of time, even more so if there were more than one building as there would be no need to re-deploy a ladder; plus there is no risk of someone walking on a roof and causing additional damage or falling off. I then started cold calling businesses in the area, but I've decided to stop until I have a better approach, because so far the response has not been very receptive. The second I tell them who I am and that I'm calling to speak with them about drone services, that's usually when I feel like the call is going downhill. Even the ones who I've been able to talk to about the values of a drone sounded like they were just being polite, as they'd already made up their minds when the call first started.
So since I don't want to burn bridges with every person who does roofing in the area, I figured I'd back off and rethink my approach and see if anyone had any words of wisdom. I genuinely believe that what a drone can offer for these businesses would be of great use to them, they could get more information in a faster time than they can with traditional methods. Obviously my sales pitch or the manner in which I'm approaching these businesses leaves something to be desired, but I know there's definitely a market to be filled here. If anyone has any advice as to how they started getting their first few initial clients and some tactics I could try to either make my cold calls more receptive, or a better way to make my pitch in general, I'd be extremely grateful.
I just passed my Part 107 last month and have flown a few real estate jobs so far. However this past weekend we had a brutal wind storm in my area that did loads of roofing damage to several properties. I figured that this week most roofing companies were going to have their hands full with getting inspections done and bids for repairs, and that I might be able to branch out into flying and inspecting roofs. So far as I can tell, none of the drone businesses in my area even offer inspections as a service, they're all focused on real estate and video production.
I outlined a few benefits that my drone could offer: I could photograph an entire roof including close ups of any problem areas in a very short period of time, even more so if there were more than one building as there would be no need to re-deploy a ladder; plus there is no risk of someone walking on a roof and causing additional damage or falling off. I then started cold calling businesses in the area, but I've decided to stop until I have a better approach, because so far the response has not been very receptive. The second I tell them who I am and that I'm calling to speak with them about drone services, that's usually when I feel like the call is going downhill. Even the ones who I've been able to talk to about the values of a drone sounded like they were just being polite, as they'd already made up their minds when the call first started.
So since I don't want to burn bridges with every person who does roofing in the area, I figured I'd back off and rethink my approach and see if anyone had any words of wisdom. I genuinely believe that what a drone can offer for these businesses would be of great use to them, they could get more information in a faster time than they can with traditional methods. Obviously my sales pitch or the manner in which I'm approaching these businesses leaves something to be desired, but I know there's definitely a market to be filled here. If anyone has any advice as to how they started getting their first few initial clients and some tactics I could try to either make my cold calls more receptive, or a better way to make my pitch in general, I'd be extremely grateful.
