You Gotta Have FAITH

Go with us on a journey of a restorer who fired most of his team, and now is living the life of freedom that he designed... all in a relatively short amount of time!

Introduction
Chapter 1 - Faithful
Chapter 2 - The Pivot
Chapter 3 - Big Moves
Chapter 4 - Culture Wins
Chapter 5 - Results Also Win
Conclusion

This blog is a detour of our normal content. But one that I think will deliver massive value. I love witnessing and celebrating the success of others. Especially when I was on the journey with them (for the wins and losses)

Introduction

Let’s meet one of the main characters of this story. Nick Lambert owns and operates Faithful Restoration in Billings, Montana. He has built this full-service company with his wife Jennifer and a few key staff members that he would call family.
When we talk about Montana, it is important we not think of the popular TV show Yellowstone. While that stereotype can be found, it is not representative of the hard work ethic that most...

Restoration Business Scorecard

From the desk of Toby Clem.

Running a restoration business can be a challenging and rewarding endeavor. Whether you're dealing with water damage, fire damage, or mold remediation, you need to be on top of your game to deliver high-quality services to your clients. One way to ensure that you're meeting your goals and staying on track is by using a restoration business scorecard.

A restoration business scorecard is a tool that helps you measure and track your performance in key areas of your business. It provides you with a snapshot of how well you're doing, what areas you need to improve, and where you should focus your attention. In this blog, we'll explore why a restoration business scorecard is important, how to structure it, and how to use it every week.

Why is a Restoration Business Scorecard important?

A restoration business scorecard is an essential tool for any restoration business owner or manager. 

Here are some reasons why:

1. It...

From the Desk of Klark Brown (No AI was used in the creation of this writing or blog)

It is conference season, my friends. Get ready !!

Were you invited? Are only “PRERRERED” invited?

We already had the RIA Expo, Nexxus, DKI, and the Spring Experience was recently in Ft Lauderdale.

I encourage you to get that new outfit for the 2023 Claims Denial Adjusters Conference.

We are hearing that about 4500 Claims Specialists (they don’t even use adjusters most of the time anymore).

 This is going to be held in Salt Lake City, near their cousins of Verisk and Xactimate. Makes logical sense to the organizers

A large group will be gathered for 2 full days of learning and networking. 

What you can expect:

DAY 1

• Welcome and greetings 8 am
• Tips to justify ignoring clients' emails and phone calls 9:15-10:30 am
• Avoiding assertions that you may not be an adjuster 10:45-11:30
• Learning construction or remediation standard (IICCRC) 11:30...

From the desk of Klark Brown (no AI was used in the creation of this blog)

This should be shared and taught weekly by all management.

Week 1.

Be Proactive.

Start with the right mindset and be mindful of your actions.

Lesson. Explain this concept.

Create 2-3 examples.

Show outcomes and show stakes.

Have the team give you feedback. Everyone answers. No one gets to be a wallflower.

Week 2.

Begin with the end in mind.

This may be my favorite.

Help the team develop habits of thinking about where we end up and not just what we are doing

Loading trucks

Documentation.

Client scope

Customer service

Getting paid.

The end in mind. Not just whatever happens happens.

Week 3

First things first

Prioritize.

Important and urgent are not the same.

I've shared The Eisenhower Matrix many times.

Learn this theory and teach your team. You will see results.

Week 4

Think Win-Win

Help your staff understand the culture of mutual results and reciprocity.

Get them the book How to...

 Hard Times Make Great Leaders

Fatigue and Burnout from Fighting to Get Paid by the Insurance Companies?

I want to talk about something that I believe many of you will resonate with and relate to. 

I speak to a lot of people in restoration and remediation with small and big companies. And a prevalent theme that I'm seeing is fatigue from the fight of trying to get paid by the insurance companies.

Unless you have been in hibernation for the last decade, I’m sure you’ve noticed that the insurance processes and procedures have become harder over time. It’s like year after year and job after job, the same thing happens and it’s causing a lot of people to get tired and burn out. 

Check out this weeks episode of Disaster Podcaster 

Video Version

Audio Version

Take Time to Rest and Work on Things

Every year, I take one week and go to a pretty remote area of Montana. It's a humble place.

I go there with the pure intention of disconnecting...

 If you were offered a reset button for your business, would you press it?

We’ve been doing solo podcasts for a while on the Disaster Podcaster. Much easier, far less complex recording process. 

We did a podcast with Andy McCabe recently to talk about the Restoration Rebel movement, how it got started and where it is today. 

As we post-produced it we realized that there were some audio issues. Nothing that most people would pick up on, but significant enough that we felt that they needed to be addressed to get future podcasts to an acceptable standard in our books. 

We adjusted knobs. We turned dials. We slid sliders. To no avail. 

Then Klark yanked the XLR chord out of channel 4 and plugged it into channel 1. Shazam. 

All was well. 

The audio was seemingly perfect. 

All we needed was to change channels. 

We needed to try something new. 

To Reset. 

The irony of the situation was that the podcast that revealed the issue to...

Missed Opportunities or Knowledge

You just might owe hundreds of clients an apology.

Apologies are a very hard thing for people to wrap their heads around because ego and pride get in the way.

Stay with me here for a moment.

You must first start out by knowing that my article here is a resource to improve.
As pretty much an optimist, I believe the overwhelming population of the world, and in this case, the roofing industry means to do the best they can for their client.

But this elusive thing called education just always dances around.

If you are currently in or have even been in the roofing industry for any period of time, it is quite likely that you have missed a few opportunities to truly deliver for your client. Again…not the intention (let’s hope), but from knowledge.

If this does not pertain to you, reach around and pat yourself on the back because you are up at the ninja level.

As a 20-year veteran and very knowledgeable MITIGATION expert, I have seen...

Disaster recovery. That's what we do.

Mitigation = prevention

Restoration is a broad term.

We are a very niche specialty more akin to emergency management than construction.

I've said for years...the professionals (technicians) should be a very high caliber. Not sub $20 per hour people.
I think $30 is too low for what they NEED TO BE.

Why do you think we see such a struggle at the hiring at the tech level. No one wants to do all that work plus the documentation for $19 per hour.

Our bill rates should technically be up close to $100 per hour.

But we have allowed an insurance industry dictate our value.

They don't care how a job is performed. If they did, half their vendors would never be allowed in a structure.

They want to pay the least.

Everyone knows but they don't know what to do about it.

An emergency services technician, that doesn't need a supervisor (think medical equipment, AT&T, automobile And other should be making $60,000'plus. That's a good living wage.

For that, a...

Let's talk onboarding.

In 2016, I met a guy named Andy McCabe.

He was making videos on LinkedIn. I liked what he was saying but I really was drawn to his desire to stand up and talk about things no one else was, and things that most avoided from fear.

We spoke for a while and developed a MOVEMENT called Restoration 2.0.

A reboot

A newer version

An update

An exit from the Matrix.

The carriers were getting more brazen and stronger with their tactics outlined in Delay, Deny, Defend.

A profit driven system applied to the claims process.

Carrier relationships that built incredible companies were no longer as strong and many had deteriorated with the expansion of the MRP's and growth of TPA's.

Quality and Customer service had been removed as KPI's and replaced with Claims Ratios, claims shrink and lowering of overhead by limiting site visits ( pushing the documentation onto the contractor).

Frustration was building.

Franchising was exploding (MRP's) and the quality of work in the industry...

So, I wrote this to explain to all my non disaster and restoration industry friends how our business model has been jammed.  When I say jammed....I mean a force so large and with endless funds....that small and medium businesses feel powerless. 

Feel free to use the "problem" in your marketing, on boarding, or defense. 
Please. I implore you. Join in with being part of the solution that I've included in this blog. 

A homeowner (or business) has a fire or flood.

They have insurance (and plenty of coverage).

A contractor is contacted to perform emergency services (2 am).

Insured makes a claim with their trusting insurance (premiums paid for 13 years, always on time).

The first thing that happens is they look for evidence to deny the claim. That's effort 1.

Then when it seems to be a covered issue, they have a list of vendors that have agreed to be their preferred. This only means that they have agreed to rates and sometimes omission of charges...