How You Can Make More Money by Building Chapter & National ASHI Membership

When we founded ASHI in 1976, it wasn’t just to create a new profession of the highest ethical standard and best standards of practice. We also sought to build public recognition of the need for home inspections and to create a chapter and national network of membership that would be the backbone for the home inspection industry. Today, ASHI has more than 80 chapters in the United States and Canada, and we are the backbone of the inspection industry.

 Chapter meetings always have been a great place to learn from educational presentations and through sharing “war stories.” Here are a few practical tips that can help you make more money and build your chapter, our national “backbone,” and your own profit opportunities.

 1. Take advantage of the $50 Visa Gift Card you get for every new member you bring to ASHI through the ASHI Member Get a Member program. Provide the recruit with a Join ASHI form, available on the website or from Headquarters, and enter your information in the referral section of the form. Some ASHI members bring in 15 or 20 new ASHI members each year and receive $750-$1,000 in Visa Gift Cards.

 2. Take advantage of the new incentive recently passed by your ASHI Board of Directors. If a franchise company has 10 or more ASHI members, each is eligible for a 10 percent discount for the ASHI fiscal year starting October 1, 2012. Or, if you are a member of a multi-inspector firm that writes a single check for all its ASHI members from one location, you are eligible for the following discounts.

Each branch office with:

3–5 members’ fees on one check = 5% discount
6–10 members’ fees on one check = 10% discount
11–50 members’ fees on one check = 15% discount
16-20 members’ fees on one check = 20% discount
21+ members’ fees on one check = 25% discount

3. Make more money by working with your fellow chapter members to always be able to say, “Would you like fries with that?” e.g., would you like a radon, mold, infrared, lead-based paint and 40 other specialty inspections found at ASHI.org Find an Inspector? Many inspectors add 25 to 50 percent to their annual income by offering these specialty inspections in cooperation with their fellow ASHI chapter members.

4. Routinely introduce chapter members with specialty inspection expertise at each and every chapter meeting. This way, chapter members will be able to better utilize the specialty knowledge and expertise available from their fellow chapter members, enabling everyone to make more money.

5. If no one in your chapter has specialty inspection expertise that is routinely requested by your homebuyer clients, then recruit someone or do what is necessary to gain that expertise and offer it to your clients and your fellow chapter members.

I’ve listed five ways your society and chapter can help you make more money. If you know of others and are willing to share them, please let us know by emailing the editor, Sandy Bourseau, at sandyb@ashi.org.