Home Inspector Mentoring: A Guide to Accelerating Growth
Last Updated November 22, 2024
“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
If you’re trying to grow your new home inspection business, this Isaac Newton quote may prompt you to ask: “How do I find some giants!?”
If you’re an experienced inspector wanting to leave a mark on the industry, you may think: “How can I become a giant!?”
For both the novice and the veteran, the answer is home inspector mentoring.
What is mentorship?
The definition of home inspector mentorship is a relationship in which a seasoned home inspector guides and nurtures a less experienced inspector’s professional development.
A home inspection mentor helps mentees develop technical, report writing, client communication, and other business skills through coaching and modeling. Home inspector mentoring also develops a climate of trust so the mentee inspector can feel comfortable seeking their mentor’s advice long after the ride-alongs stop.
How do new inspectors get mentoring?
Some home inspector mentors and mentees find each other through their in-person or online networking. Others join a home inspector mentorship program like the ASHI Mentorship Program, InterNACHI mentoring program, or the Home-Probe mentorship program. Rules regarding mentor training for home inspectors, like who can provide home inspector mentoring, vary by organization.
Why are mentorships important for home inspectors?
Why is mentorship important for business? What’s the importance of mentorship in career growth?
According to Rob Robinson of ATM Home Inspection Services in Kansas, mentorship opportunities give new inspectors vital experiences to master their craft.
“You can take all the classes and learn the process, but are you a good inspector? No, it takes time to learn that business,” Robinson said.
Vince Tecce of The Building Inspector of America in New Jersey agrees. Especially when it comes to report writing, mentorship can bridge knowledge gaps that basic training courses leave behind.
“Everybody’s excited about inspecting the house,” Tecce said. “But when it comes to actually putting it in a report, that’s where I find most of the mentees fall short.”
Here’s where the importance of mentorship programs really shines through. Home inspector mentoring helps mentees and mentors develop their careers, garner problem solving and leadership skills, and bridge skill or knowledge gaps. In other words, receiving and providing mentorship can make you a better inspector, business owner, and person.
But what about competition?
Some home inspectors fear that mentoring and teaching other home inspectors is simply training their competition. If they show them all their tricks of the trade, they reason, then those inspectors will just use those skills to hurt their mentor’s business.
Ideal mentoring relationships are about both parties succeeding. The best mentors want their mentees to be better than them. By creating collaborative and supportive relationships, mentors and mentees learn from each other.
Additionally, hiring the mentors you train offers its own benefits. For Robinson, mentoring and teaching other home inspectors acts as a retirement plan.
“At some point, you’re not going to be physically capable of getting up on that roof anymore. But you have the experience, and now you’re just throwing it all away? Share it and let your business keep making you money,” Robinson said.
Top 13 Home Inspector Mentorship Benefits
You may still be asking yourself: What is the goal of mentorship? What can I gain from having a mentor or being one?
As a mentee, you can benefit from home inspector mentoring by:
- Gaining inspection expertise, tips, and tricks faster than you would on your own.
- Learning from inspectors’ successes and failures.
- Understanding what you’ve already learned more deeply through home inspector field experience mentoring.
- Getting help maintaining association and local standards of practice before those standards are second nature.
- Building your professional network.
- Receiving support and motivation.
As a mentor, you can benefit from mentoring and teaching other home inspectors by:
- Gaining leadership experience.
- Honing your communication skills.
- Expanding your professional network.
- Gaining fresh perspectives.
- Find potential employees.
- Contributing to the growth of the home inspection industry.
- Creating a lasting impact.
How to Find a Home Inspector Mentor
When searching for home inspector mentoring, consider these tips:
- Join mentorship programs.
- Network with other inspectors in-person and online.
- Attend local and national meetings and events.
When you find someone you think might be a good mentor, share your career goals and explain how you think their mentorship can help you get there. Then ask them if they’d like to be your mentor. If they say yes, take some time to discuss how you want to learn and receive feedback, and make a plan.
How to Become a Home Inspector Mentor
Joining a home inspector mentorship program, networking, and attending inspector meetings and events will help prospective mentors, too. Here are some more things you can do to attract potential mentees:
- Hone your teaching skills by practicing with agents, clients, and event presentations.
- Write for industry publications, like our blog.
- If you want to hire the inspectors you mentor, offer great marketing and competitive pay. Also, get ahead of potential accidents and protect your team with workers’ comp coverage.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention our specialty: home inspector insurance. What insurance do mentors need?
If home inspectors are accompanying you for ride-alongs or shadowing, there’s no need for additional insurance. However, if you hire your mentees as employees or independent contractors, you must notify your insurance provider to ensure you have coverage for them and your business if they make a mistake or cause an accident.
Start and end your career as a team.
Whether you’re a new or seasoned inspector, home inspector mentoring has the power to transform your career. By working with someone to better yourself and the industry at large, you can make a lasting impact.
“I can’t stress how valuable mentorship is. You’re going out there and you’re learning from mistakes I’ve made, and I’m learning from mistakes other guys have made,” Tecce said. “Mentorship is a way of giving back to the profession.”
Looking to add not just a mentor but also an insurance expert to your team?
If you’ve been in the business for a year or less and haven’t had home inspector insurance before, you can qualify for our new 90-Day Policy, available starting January 1, 2025. It’s your first three months of coverage for just $30. Click here to learn more about our 90-day home inspector policy.
