Flying High With Google Earth, Part 1

A few weeks ago, a home improvement dealer opened up a can of worms in our office. He told us he was using Google Earth to qualify his leads and prospects. What is Google Earth? Believe it or not, Google Earth is based on technology originally developed by the CIA to spy bad guys around the world.
Now, Google’s tool lets you instantly view the rooftop and property of nearly any home in the country and most foreign countries. If you’ve never used Google Earth, download it and then search out your home address. You’ll be amazed at what you see.
Here’s my parents’ house, as seen from above with Google Earth:

You can see the roof surfaces of the home, the characteristics of the property, and even the solar panels they installed some years back.
So can Google Earth help a home improvement company?
Here’s a scenario: you sell and install solar panel systems, and a homeowner contacts you with an interest in having a system installed on their home. The sale price of your system is in the $15K-$30K range.
Instead of immediately attempting to set an appointment to meet with the homeowner, you access Google Earth and check out the homeowner’s rooftop and property while the prospect is still on the phone! What a concept – you can qualify the home for your product without even sending a sales rep out.
Or so it would seem.
Google Earth can be at once a terrific source of intelligence for a home improvement company…or a major inhibitor to your appointment setting and sales processes. In my next two blog posts, I’ll get why that is. In the meantime, “caveat venditor.”