
Understand the game.
Jul 26, 2022The great Albert Einstein has been repeatedly attributed as saying, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results”.
While we refuse to call anyone insane, we do repeatedly see an industry that does the same thing over and over.
Over and over they plead for a different outcome.
We have conversations with restoration professionals every day.
It's what we do.
And when I say professional, I emphatically say these people are some of the technically brightest people on the planet in their discipline.
They know how to dry very well. They know how to mitigate impressively.
They started their business because they want to help people. Empathy for others is off the charts.
Empathy is what gets them in difficult situations.
They feel the clients pressure so much that they assume the burden of the situation. They cannot separate out what the clients (insured…NOT the insurance company) burden is, and what is theirs to bear.
Like every business owner, and leader, they must face objections. We are no different. Here at Restoration Advisers we have internal slogans that helps us keep each other in check.
Get your Rhino skin on.
Toughen up buttercup.
Water off a duck's back.
You get the idea.
We’ve been told that some won't give us the time of day because we’ve never owned a restoration company.
If that were true, we'd be honored.
The NBAs top 15 coaches lists Red Auerbach first on the list… he never played professional basketball, but he is named among the top coaches in the sport.
Bill Belichick is listed on ESPNs NFL greatest list at #7. He is one of the most popular coaches of our time… the longest tenured active head coach… one of only 3 coaches in history to have won 6 titles. He never played professionally.
Then you have the infamous Don Shula. He played for some legendary coaches at a high level before making a big splash and getting ranked by ESPN as the #3 greatest coaches of all time.
In the NBA you have Pat Riley and Steve Kerr as players who do coach or have coached at the same level they played. Both are currently active in the NBA.
You don’t have to have playing experience to coach. There are GREAT coaches that haven’t played, and there are GREAT coaches who have played.
You just have to know the game.
Winning is winning.
Anyone that subscribes to the program that the coach has developed can win, if they apply what they are being taught.
If they execute the plan.
We find it humorous when looking at all the complaints by restorers in the facebook communities, and when restorers call us and ask for advice on how to deal with adjusters and insurance carriers.
They want us to provide them with a “silver bullet” statement to combat pushback. But the rebuttal or advice that they seek must meet their criteria of comfortability. It has to sound and feel like what everyone else in the industry deems necessary or acceptable. It can’t be too different.
The truth is, we have a silver bullet.
It's simple.
But because restoration contractors haven’t learned how to separate the burden of responsibility, they cannot fathom how that could be possible. Or maybe they are afraid?
Stop repeating the decisions that waste your time, get your invoice (yes… invoice… not estimate) cut by double digit percentage points, get you into email exchanges about O&P justifications, supervisor hour arguments, and other useless exchanges.
Here at Restoration Advisers, we teach restorers how to be like other contractors who provide services, such as plumbing contractors, hvac contractors, electricians, etc.
They provide a price up front, provide an up front estimate, then get a contract & work authorization signed (2 separate documents), they perform the work and they invoice up front with specific and documented payment terms associated. Most of the time, in other service call environments, payment is due upon completion.
We teach restorers how to do this.
But they (restorers) are afraid.
They are afraid that the insured cannot pay.
They are afraid that adjusters will stop referring work to them.
They are afraid that agents will stop referring work to them.
They are afraid of putting the responsibility of the insured on the insured.
So they become the liaison and assume responsibility for things that are not theirs to bear.
They continue to get referrals from agents.
They continue to get referrals from adjusters.
They continue to wait exorbitant amounts of time to get paid.
All of this results in profitability and/or revenue loss.
If you are tired of the game and ready to be the change in your community, use the form below to let us know!
All done while the insurance company wins the game of Delay Deny Defend.
What is this game of Delay Deny Defend?
Glad you asked.
It's a book.
A book written by a professor at Rutgers who studied insurance and is a leading expert on insurance law, torts, and contract law. His name is Jay Feinman.
A book that will absolutely help restorers understand the game, and as a result learn making the same mistakes and expecting different results.
We have that book in our Book Vault and strongly urge anyone who deals with insured/clients, or leadership in restoration business to read this book.
We have the magic sauce.
We have used the magic sauce many many times, and successfully collected millions of dollars at the door of the insured before we exited the mitigated area that had been affected for the last time.
We have run an entire business on the east coast on this model… a multi million dollar operation that never once involved insurance, and collected upon departure. It was a lean business.
Project Managers handled the entire project from start to finish, from first response to collection.
All while making 6 figures.
Widgets aren’t as important as sound business systems and processes.
Don’t let anyone talk you out of this.
Don’t let anyone plant the seed that a coach who has never done what we do cannot help us win the game we’ve chosen to play.
Red Auerbach and Bill Bellichick have proven that some of the greatest coaches of all time and never played at the level that the players they coach have played.
Pat Riley and Steve Kerr show us that players can also make great coaches.
If you want change, you have to accept the reality of change.
It's hard.
It's uncomfortable.
You will be called names.
You will be talked about in a negative way for a time.
You will look different than your peers.
You will sound different than your peers.
But truth is truth.
And if you are pursuing a just cause, there will be a reward.
Maybe not a tangible reward for you… but those coming behind will reap the reward.
That's what legacy is all about.
The answer to “fixing” the restoration industry is to look outside the industry at other professions… contractors who do not have to deal with insurance companies and understand what their process is.
It's really quite simple.
We just told you how it's done… If you missed it, go back to the top and read this blog again.
If you understand what was written, but you struggle to grasp how you can implement the simplicity of the process, let us know.
We have coaching options for businesses of many sizes.
We help restoration leaders systematize thier businesses so that they can have more time to focus on having a massive impact on those they care for most. Whether it's more time to focus on growing the business rather than surviving their business, more family time, or more community involvement, the systems we help implement will allow owners and leaders to choose their destiny rather than the business choosing it for them.
And yes.
For the record.
We did own a restoration company.
We sold said restoration company.
We’ve played the same game that we coach.
So the objection is a weak one even though we’ve established here that the greatest of coaches haven’t played the same game that they coach.
We just chose to not be the definition of insanity that has been associated with ol’ Albert.
For the record, a quick google search indicates that none of Einstein's writings contained the definition of insanity in that way. So we aren’t sure where it started.
Either way. Thats the end.
No need to read on.
But if you want a real world example of someone that used the key to unlock the door to a new life.
Read on.
The understanding that great coaches don’t have to play in the game is a great reminder to all leaders. Your experience and education is enough for you to facilitate the growth and development of the next generation of leaders. Whether its within your company, on your child's sports team, or in your community, you have skills and experience that are valuable to someone. Don’t hold it back.
You are doing a disservice to your fellow humans.
If we all get better at doing this, rather than discounting what we have to contribute, society will be better because of YOU.
And don’t be afraid to listen.
Listen to those with different experiences than you.
Listen to those who do things differently than you.
Listen to those who are on the outside looking in.
You never know who might hold the key that unlocks a door to propel you to the next level in your life.
I’ll finish with a short story.
We have a former client who has taken what they learned from us, applied it and gone to a very incredible place in their business, leading them to do some extraordinary things in their life.
They called us recently and said, I don’t have any quarterly goals on my list.
They said, we hired a CEO to run the business, and we are doing things we’ve only dreamed of until now.
Who is this CEO?
This CEO is running a restoration company with zero restoration experience.
Yes.
The CEO is running the company with zero restoration experience, and the owner has the least to do in the business.
The owner is looking into the future and actually doing things to set his business up for the next generation of restorers.
This owner was at a crossroads a long time ago. He was going to fold his business, or he was going to do something very different.
At the crossroads, he decided to do things differently than everyone else. They decided to get out of the insurance game entirely.
He refused then, and still does to play that game.
And his business has skyrocketed since.
It can be done.
Consider asking yourself what is next?
We have a program that helps position you to achieve the story you just read. Are you ready to join us?
R[OS]™️
Or maybe start with your documentation? We have a documents package that will help you scale your company quickly and easily.
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