Thanks for the reply on my last question a couple weeks ago, on a water damage after-care gift ideas.  I ended up doing a thank you card and a coffee gift certificate, thanks!

After a few profitable jobs I’m focusing more of my business on water damage.  Winters here in northern California can be cold and rainy of course!  There’s a few ideas on getting more restoration jobs in the Strategies for Success Operations Manual.

However, I was wondering if you have heard back if anyone is having good luck with the Plumber Referral Reward strategy?  I think this might be a good thing to implement.  I’m trying to get the ball rolling with getting more water restoration jobs.  I’ve been following the “Value Added Service” systems we learned in Strategies for Success for water damage to get more jobs through referrals from delighted customers. They are working well but are there any other resources to get more losses?  (I’m focused mostly on the residential market now.)  Thanks !

Doing Great in California

PS  I’ve printed up some water damage restoration brochures that look really professional.

Dear Doing Great,

Good to hear from you and I’m happy that my little “Bleeding Heart’s Club” was able to help you.

There is no question the water damage market and especially the residential sector has gotten more competitive in recent years.  Why?  Very simple. In most areas of the country the entry level is low and the potential profits are big!  And certainly you can get your share of water losses IF you have “the fire in the belly”.

Many of our members do give “referral rewards” to plumbers.  However, if you go this route remember that no matter how much you “give back” to the plumber, he or she is most concerned that their referral not come back to haunt them with a ticked-off customer.  So I would recommend you go back and review the section in your Strategies for Success workbook on the Emotional Dynamics of dealing with a traumatized restoration customer.  You can also download my Special Report “12 Secrets to a Smoother Restoration Business”.

What else can you do?  One thing would be to widen your referral network to other sources- property managers, real estate agents, contractors in general, janitorial services, etc.  Of course, the very best “referral network” is still the local insurance agent!  How to “get in with them”?  Shoe leather!  Follow these (very simplified) steps:

1. Dress up, put your shoulders back and your chin up and walk through their door!
2. Hand the receptionist your card and ask to see the agent.  If he/she isn’t in ask about their schedule and leave them a copy of that fancy brochure.
3. Go back.
4. When you do finally get to see the agent keep it short and give them three reasons why they should refer you on their next emergency loss.
5. After you leave write them a brief note thanking them for the conversation and include four or five business cards.  Mention that you’ll stop by next month.
6. Do so and never stop.  Move on to the next agent on your route.
7. Make at least 20 new contacts a week.  The work will come IF (here comes my favorite phrase) you “have the fire in your belly”!

Let us know how things are going.

Steve

P.S.  Don’t underestimate the potential technical and legal liabilities of water damage restoration.  While I don’t recommend it you CAN learn by the seat of your pants in residential carpet cleaning.  Following this sloppy course with water losses is a guaranteed route to disaster.  Better idea, check out our schedule of water damage schools.

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Wouldn’t it be great if your water damage losses:

A) Ran smoother with a delighted customer at the end of the job and …

B) You had adjusters fighting to get you in on their loss plus …

C) You could make a lot more profit from your restoration work????

Do you want all these things? Then you must learn to work with the frazzled, traumatized emotions of the Insured! Remember that when you show up at a flooded building it is absolute chaos. So you need to tactfully and smoothly “take control” with a clipboard and this Water Damage Customer Interview (WDCI) Form.

Keep it simple. Calmly and confidently introduce yourself to the Insured, mention why you are there and explain that you need to ask them a few questions during a quick “tour” of the damage. As they reply to each question be sure to write it down on your WDCI form. Filling
out this form “structures” those first few chaotic minutes on the loss and gains you respect!

Let me know how this Water Damage Interview Form works for you!

Steve Toburen

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I tell every SFS seminar that restoration has created more millionaires than any other sector of the cleaning industry! HOWEVER, restoration will destroy you if you are not prepared to “do it right”.

No “12 point Report” is going to cover everything you need for success in restoration. But whether you are a new boy just gingerly testing the waters or you are a grizzled industry veteran, my guess is you will find downloading “12 Secrets for a Smoother Running Restoration Business” well worth your time.

Steve

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“Instead of me waiting and begging/groveling for the adjuster to call me on a loss why not beat the insurance company to the punch? I know!  I’ll bypass the agent and adjuster by getting the plumber to refer me directly to the home owner!”  (After all, who sees a flooded home sooner than the plumber???)

This proactive approach was absolute genius … UNTIL the Law of Supply and Demand caught up!  (And the “copy cat” marketing approach so common in the restoration industry kicked in!)

You see, now every plumber is approached almost daily by restorers with offers of cash for every water loss referral. The problem with this scenario is you have no “strategic advantage” or what I call Leverage! (Check out my previous post on “Plumber Leverage”).

The problem is obvious.  After all, if you are paying out $250 per referral then what will stop your plumber from switching to your competitor who is offering $300?  So my company doesn’t pay cash rewards for referrals.  Why not?

Thanks for asking! Here’s why we don’t pay cash for referrals at Aero-Dry.  A) It’s just not healthy for your bottom line to be paying out large amounts of cash for a referral. And B) if anything the plumber should be paying YOU cash since you are in thousands of homes and offices every year so you are in a position to refer THEM.  Plus C) you can “leverage” your business knowledge to help your plumber friend become more successful in business.  (Which is worth a lot more to the plumber than a cheesy cash kickback!)

Remember that a plumber is an entrepreneur much like you and in a service business much like yours! So you must analyze what are the needs, dreams, and obligations of a plumber AND how you can help him find the same success you have! (I think this is what Steve Toburen calls “developing Strategic Partners”!)

So here are a few plumber “needs, dreams, and obligations” candidates:  (in no particular order)

• Needs to grow his or her business
• Wants to provide a secure, friendly working environment for their employees
• Needs to have systems in place to improve efficiency
• Needs a succession plan for the day they retire
• Wants to be liked and respected
• Needs (desperately) to earn more income
• Wants to improve their customer service
• Need (urgently) better marketing ideas that will help him or her to stand out

NOTE: We always approach our plumber marketing efforts with the concept of “How Can We Serve As An Extension Of Your Customer Service Team?” plus “How can we help you become more successful?”  (Kind of sounds like Jon-Don’s philosophy with their clients and the SFS program!)  So ask yourself …

What have I implemented in my business that can be shared with my referring plumber?

NOTE:  Remember that plumbers are about as interested in the equipment and big truck mounts you employ as you are interested in the type of joint solder they use!  BORING!  So stay focused on how you can serve as an extension of their customer service team or as Chuck Violand says answering your plumber’s question, “WIIFM?” (“What’s In It For Me”?)

Here’s some “mutual advantage” Leverage Ideas for your prospective plumber “Strategic Partner”:

1.       Have you perfected a scheduling system that has given your cleaning company a competitive advantage?  Can you share it with your plumber prospect?

2.       Can you give your plumber a Customer Referral System that works well for you? What about any other valuable marketing tips/concepts?

3.       Do you use shoe covers when you enter a customer property to protect their floor coverings?  (And to create Positive Moments of Truth!)  If so, give him some shoe covers to test and see if his jobs run smoother.  (They will!)

NOTE:  SFS graduates literally have 100’s of positive Moments of Truth ideas listed in their SFS Class workbooks.  Most of these tips with a little modifying will also help your new plumber “Strategic Partner” and you can start Leveraging your relationship.

Putting your plan together

Once you have determined the geographical area that you intend to serve, compile a Plumbers Prospect List.  Focus your Leverage efforts on the plumbers that meet at least two of the criteria below:

• Plumbers who offer 24 hour service
• Plumbers who only offer 8-5 service
• Plumbers who offer HVAC service along with plumbing services
• Plumbers who answer telephones live

Now that you have this prospect list it is time to LEVERAGE!  In a future post I’ll get down in the trenches with exactly how we do this at Aero-Dry and share two great forms to get your Leverage Program off the ground!

Ivan

SFS Restoration Columnist Ivan Turner is owner of Aero-Dry, a central Missouri water and fire damage restoration company. Ivan has also packaged his unique restoration strategies and offers them to other restorers through his Show-Me Marketing Solutions.

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However, as an independent entrepreneur you don’t have to go down with the ship.  You enjoy the priceless opportunity to choose your fate by focusing your business on industry niches that are “recession resistant”.

For example, pipes break and homes flood no matter how bad the economy is.  And yes, insurance carriers are legally obligated to restore the inundated home to its pre-flood condition. Wonderful! But trouble rears its ugly head …

The Restoration industry is not for the weak of heart.  How can you find success in this very different business?  Can you find a steady income despite the difficult economy?

Steve

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Can I vent on you? So I finally get a day off, I’m going to “veg out” in front of my new 56” liquid plasma wide screen, watch a game or two, eat myself fat and toss off a few Coronas and bang!  The phone rings and I get to drive 58 miles one way to start extracting a flooded hotel!  Didn’t you ever get sick of being on call 24-7?

Ticked Off in Nebraska

Dear Ticked,

Did I get tired of being on call 24-7? Absolutely! After several years of invariably missing my kid’s school plays/ ball games/ family picnics and far too many “date nights” with my wife- I finally did something about it!  I suggest you do the same.

I finally discovered a fascinating concept called “employees”.  I even learned that I could field a water damage call without ever getting my lazy butt up from the sofa!  Yep, I could calm the homeowner down, get the essential information, dispatch a crew and all without missing more than three downs of the football game.  Imagine that!

It is called “delegation” and yes, I realize the above process is a bit more complicated than I just described!  But not really.  Here is what I did:

1. Develop a formal “on-call” program- We trained all our employees both technically and in the Emotional Dynamics of dealing with a traumatized property owner after a water loss. I paid employees who volunteered $50.00 per week (they worked rotating weeks) just to be a) available and b) sober!
2. Then when a call comes in you just follow your “on-call” program, call the one assigned on it and say, “It’s your lucky day!” Then pay your on-call tech double time and a 50.00 trip bonus too. (After 10:00 PM and on weekends we paid triple time with a three hour minimum.)
3. Work it into your billing. Everyone will be happy.

So some tough love here, Ticked.  Suck it up, make the hard decisions about employees and stop being a slave to your business. Get to work!  (Or if you just don’t want to “go big” see my note below.)

Steve

P.S. Remember your on-call employee (or in the worst case scenario- YOU)  doesn’t have to DO the entire job on the Emergency Call-out. Do just enough “Damage Containment” to spike the loss and hit it with a big crew the next day.  (When everyone is on normal pay instead of double or triple time!)

NOTE:  If in your heart of hearts  you want to be a Lone Wolf owner-operator forever (nothing wrong with that but you really need to implement my Lone Wolf Special Report) just develop some “Strategic Partnerships”- capable and honest competitors  (if you have any!) that will cover for you and you for them.

In fact, if the Law of Reciprocity was embraced and rigorously followed by all of mankind the world would be a much happier place! This Law when rendered down is simply another way of what we’ve come to call the Golden Rule, “Do unto others what you would have them do unto you”.

For us non Biblical scholars the “Golden Rule of Marketing” can be translated as: “I’ll give you my business card so you can give me referrals and you give me your business cards so I can give you referrals”.

In a perfect world a restorer would not need to go beyond this law to generate referrals from the plumbing community or any other niche group for that matter. BUT the problem is we do not live in a perfect world!

Sadly, this Law of Reciprocity begins to degenerate the moment a plumber is offered cold hard cash for their referral. And really who can blame them? It’s like giving pure sugar to a child! The more you give them the more they want! Suddenly you have created an obese, unhealthy child that is addicted to sugar!

So if you are marketing to the lucrative niche of plumbers for water related losses in addition to the Law of Reciprocity I would suggest you add the “Law of Leverage”.

A common definition of Leverage is: “the power to accomplish something – namely a strategic advantage”. Properly implemented AND followed Business Leverage will give you an enormous strategic advantage when marketing to plumbers.

Best of all, Leverage will serve as the cornerstone for a mutually beneficial referral program that both you and the plumber will benefit from for years to come. (AND without the fear of being out bid by the next restorer who walks in the plumber’s office!)

NOTE: This same principle of Business Leverage can and should be used when approaching all of your targeted niche groups.

The Law of Leverage is as old as time itself. Speaking of old, I was first taught and demonstrated the awesome power of this law back in third grade! My very old and wise arithmetic teacher Mrs. Merchalback (better known as Mrs. Humpback to us cruel and unruly boys!) tried in vain to get us to focus on the dynamics involved in leverage, fulcrum and weight distribution.

One day to illustrate the power of leverage she assembled our class on the playground for a lesson that has stuck with me to this day. Mrs. Merchalback demonstrated how easy it was for one person of much lighter weight to lift a much heavier weight on the other end of the see-saw simply by adjusting the placement of the weight.

So now picture yourself as a skinny little carpet cleaner with a big fat plumber sitting on the other end of the see-saw. (No offense meant to any plumbers reading!) You straddle the other end of the seesaw and absolutely nothing happens! Your weight is simply not enough. No matter how you reposition yourself along the see-saw that obese plumber just sits there smugly without moving. Grrrr …

But now add all of the customers that you service annually to your end of the seesaw. (Almost certainly you are in many more homes every year than your plumber prospect.) What happens? This added weight catapults your plumber prospect right off the ground! So when calling on plumbers gently remind them that you come to the playground with the considerable weight of your extensive client base. Think on this Leverage as I digress with how too often the plumber marketing game gets played out …

Simply put, too many restorers get caught up in the pricing one-up-manship. You see, every plumber out there is constantly being approached with offers of cold hard cash for every referral that is sent their way. The problem with this scenario is you have no “strategic advantage” or (you guessed it) Leverage! You see, if you are paying out $250 per referral then what will stop your plumber from switching to your competitor who is offering $300?

My personal opinion is to never, ever get into the business of paying out cash rewards for referrals. First off, it’s simply not healthy for your bottom line to be paying out large amounts of cash for a referral. And secondly, if anything the plumber should be paying YOU cash since you are in thousands of homes and offices every year AND are in a position to refer them!

So why not flip the referral question by asking: “ How much should I charge plumbers for MY referrals?”

It doesn’t take a quantum physicist to know that the “referral rich” niche group of plumbers is mined by nearly every restorer in the industry. So how can you approach this group differently and effectively?

Once again, remember that YOU have just as much (if not more) to bring to the table than the plumber does. This “extra stuff” of being in hundreds (or thousands) of homes every year is your Leverage.

What could all that potential business be worth to the plumber? And how do you get the information to the end user about the plumber? For us the answer was simple. We developed our own unique program called “Got A Leak” which “co-brands” our emergency services company with plumbers who meet our baseline criteria for inclusion. (And yes, I’ll share exactly HOW we designed and implemented this program in a future post.)

When marketing to plumbers, always focus on your Leverage. Now the average plumber will beg you to enter into a referral partnership that is a win- win situation for both of you.

I may have failed to grasp logarithms and calculus as I struggled through school but the simple concept of Business Leverage (along with a good dose of Steve’s law of Reciprocity!) has allowed me to dominate my local water damage market. (Plus I’ve become friends with many plumbers who actually are pretty good guys- just like you and me!) Thank you Mrs. Merchalback!

Your appreciative student,

Ivan

NOTE: In this first part of “Plumber Leverage” I’ve focused on joint referral programs with plumbers. However, you can easily Leverage the average plumber by helping them with their Business Infrastructure. (SFS graduates will have a huge leg up on this one.) In my next post on Plumber Leverage we’ll look at how you can leverage your relationship with plumbers by becoming their “Strategic Partner”.

SFS Restoration Columnist Ivan Turner is owner of Aero-Dry, a central Missouri water and fire damage restoration company. Ivan has also packaged his unique restoration strategies and offers them to other restorers through his Show-Me Marketing Solutions.

This is a great idea on how to improve communications between all parties concerned, cut complaints and at the same time make Cheerleaders for you!

Restoration companies should always photograph the loss during their initial site visit, then keep taking photographs from the same angle periodically during the job and include a final shot of the finished product. Then periodically e-mail a progress report to both the customer and the adjuster and include each series of “time-lapse” photos.  Now the home owner feels “in control” and actually can see the progress which makes them feel good.  Plus as we all know, a contented home owner makes for a Cheerleader Adjuster that will fight to get you in on his or her future losses!

“Before and after” photos are such a powerful restoration marketing tool if they are used properly. I can think of at least four ways to piggyback onto this concept:

1. Make copies of the photos and present them in a nice photo album along with hand written notes from your workers (include a photo of each one) at the time you finish the job, but before the home owner fills out their “Customer Comment Quality Assurance Survey“!

2. Send the photos and the glowing Satisfaction Survey to BOTH the referring agent and the adjuster at the time of job completion.

3. Ask your customer “since their home restored so beautifully” if you can put the “before and after shots” in your scrap book to show other customers?

4. Don’t forget to tactfully remind your customer, “If you have been pleased with our service I would sure appreciate you posting a review on Google Places about our company.”  Then e-mail them a short “How to post a review on Google Places” tutorial as a reminder.

NOTE:  Learn how to dramatically increase your web site traffic for free with our new SFS Special Report:  “How to Dominate Google Places for Carpet Cleaners- Step by Step”. (All the techniques work for restoration companies too!)

That’s a lot of mileage off just a few photos!

Steve

Many SFS members have fought back by going straight to the source. How?  By marketing to their existing customer base, property managers, realtors, insurance agents (who have a much different agenda than adjusters) and the ever popular PLUMBERS.  I mean, after all- who gets called first on a water loss! The plumber! However, plumbers get solicited constantly by cleaners for their referrals. This QuickTIP puts a spin on things:

Instead of bugging plumbers asking them to refer YOU, why not stop by and ask them for THEIR cards to give to your flooded clients?  Now you have an opening to inform them about your emergency water damage services. Hopefully the plumber will now ask you for some of YOUR business cards!

This is an old trick called “The Law of Reciprocity” as in “I’ll give first which of course puts you under an unspoken obligation”, etc.  Actually someone far wiser than any of us summed it up well around 3,000 years ago when he stated, “Send out your bread upon the surface of the waters, for in the course of many days you will find it again.”  (Ecclesiastes 11:1) Plus, who knows … you just may need a plumber some day!

Steve

P.S: The main motivation for anyone (even a plumber) to recommend your service is that their customer will be delighted with your service.  Screw the job up and their name will be mud!  Learn how to create ecstatic Cheerleaders out of scared, traumatized clients with flooded homes in my free Special Report: “Recession Proofing Your Restoration Business”

NOTE:  Our very own SFS Restoration Marketing Expert (and SFS member) Ivan Turner chimed in with these ideas:

“Steve, don’t forget that Risk Managers can be a very lucrative source of work for restorers.  Municipal, state and federal government buildings along with almost all larger institutions including hospitals and colleges will have Risk Managers on staff.  Sometimes they go under the title of Facility Manager but their job function and authority (which can be considerable!) are the same.

Also, speaking at or sponsoring the local Board of Realtors annual meetings are a great way to spread your message or better said, “To tell your story”. (Which is a famous Billy Yeadon quote.) But I suppose that would make for another QuickTIP!”

Ivan Turner

Ivan shares his unique restoration marketing concepts at ShowMeMarketingSolutions.com (I strongly recommend you check this site out.)  He also pops in now and then to share his down-in-the-trenches ideas in our Disaster Restoration section.

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Productive marketing requires analysis, creativity and persistence. In other words, a whole lotta work! Are there any shortcuts? Of course there are! Just look in any industry magazine or browse through your spam folder and you’ll find hundreds of purported “instant” solutions.

However in my experience, the only feasible “shortcut” (which will still require effort on your part) is to develop and nurture “strategic relationships”. In other words, go where your customers go. Buy from and do business with the people your prospective clients do business with.

In this Special Report, we’ll break down the WHY and HOW of creating cross-over marketing opportunities for cleaning companies and/or restoration operations.

You’ll find insightful advice on:

• Key strategic relationship candidates
• Easy tie-in products
• Insider tips on how to attract specific niches
• Specialized restoration hub marketing opportunities
• Commercial cleaning networking to get your foot-in-the-door

All of this and more is included in the following download.

Bill

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