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Why is your displayed list of alarm installers in alphabetical order?
We have not identified a more uniform order (see next question) and we provide selection details about each contractor for the user to compare alarm contractors before calling.
We also choose this order, because this is the same listing format you see in a phone book.
Why not just have the user determine to show security alarm installation contractors within X miles?
If we had a drop down list for the searcher to specify showing all alarm installers within X miles of them, some of the alarm company or contractor listings may be within X miles, but their service call area is not that big. We want to minimize searchers calling you if you can not service them.
There is also the possibility that an installer could have technicians working out of a number of cities, so they are actually closer than their primary address indicates. We would not want you screened out due to distance when the customer does not know all the underlying details.
Can you display alarm installation contractors in increasing order of distance from searcher?
To some extent we already do this if there is no installer found making service calls to the specified area. We then will find the closest, then display installers found within the next 40 miles of the closest distance.
There is the possibility that a alarm installation company could have technicians working out of a number of cities, so they are actually closer than their primary address indicates. We would not want you screened out due to distance when the customer does not know all the underlying details.
If the alarm contractor serves a large area with many trucks, we do not want them being screened out because of distance. We would prefer they get selected based on the other criteria and characteristics about their business that they display.
This is under consideration for a future release. Currently a distance between each and every contractor is calculated based on each user's zip code (location) entry. The information between every U.S. zip code and every contractor is not stored.
Other things to think about:
Example: The closest alarm system installer a customer might find is 30 miles south, but your service area is only 10 miles north and 40 miles south (near that big city). You do not want customers calling you from 30 miles north of you when you would prefer to go south where all your other calls come from.
If we provided a search for a alarm installer by distance (via zip code), this will tell your potential customers the closest physical location of where the contractor (you) operates out of, but it will not necessarily tell them if the contractor (you) will come the distance and/or direction to the customer that is inquiring.
Also if your potential customer searches by zip code distance, they will see many more choices to call versus if we just have them find you by the zip code area each installer serves. This way they are only looking at alarm system installers who serve a specified zip code area versus all alarm service companies closest to furthest...less choices for them to choose from, more potential business for you!
If we displayed installers based on their closeness to a service location, the other contractor info which we display (to help users decide who to call) might be ignored.
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