There is nothing simple about being a water damage restoration specialist. We are expected to deliver high quality work in a timely fashion without neglecting our commitment to safety. We need to manage homeowner expectations while sticking with the estimate we gave their insurance company before the job began. We need to communicate well, market ourselves well, and spend countless hours training our staff to do their jobs well.
It’s a lot, isn’t it? The endless tasks that make up our workday can certainly be overwhelming. That’s why we make a point to come back the basics at the beginning of each job. We remind ourselves, and our team, of the foundational principles we need to observe before getting to work on a home. The principles are essential to the successful completion of any restoration job, no matter the size of the space or the extent of the damage. With these basics under your belt, you can begin your restoration work each day with confidence.
Document Everything
When you’re working in a home, don’t neglect to treat the homeowners belongings with exceptional care. It is always important to approach a job with empathy, remembering just how disruptive a flood and restoration job is to an individual and moving their belongs in and out of their home will only create additional anxiety.
Of course, no matter how careful you have been while in a home, there is always a chance your client will take issue with you or your crew. Documentation is essential to protecting your crew from false accusations and it is also necessary for making sure you are keeping tracking of everything you remove from the home. Before beginning to dry out and clean out a home, restoration specialists must properly pack out a home. A proper pack out is well documented, through careful logging of the location and condition of each item removed from a space, you can guarantee beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are able to return everything to it’s original condition.
Thorough Extraction Saves Time and Money
A flood or leak turns a homeowner’s life upside down. The sooner you and your team get their home back to it’s pre-loss condition and get out of their home so they can move on with their life, the happier they will be with your business. Keeping clients (and the insurance companies writing the checks) happy requires water damage restoration specialists to dedicate themselves to working quickly while keeping costs down.
When faced with a challenging restoration job, don’t jump to demolition before being certain you have thoroughly extracted water from a site. Through uniquely effective extraction methods using the newest technology is water extraction, you can save time and money by saving as many of the original belongings and elements of the home. When it comes to extraction, it is always best to be open to trying multiple methods before tearing a room apart. Using double extraction to dry the carpets or using pressurized drying systems can achieve different results.
Don’t Cut Corners When You’re in a Hurry
We work in an emergency business and working quickly is key to customer satisfaction. That being said, there is no benefit to working so quickly that we neglect to follow proper protocol. Rushed work is rarely done well since rushing often leads to mistakes and miscommunications. Some mistakes are an easy fix but others can cause issues like cross-contamination, requiring completed tasks to be repeated to repair the damage done.
At More Floods, we have created systems that make following protocol simple if crews are willing to work slowly and thoughtfully throughout the entire restoration process. Protocols exist for a reason, to protect worker and homeowner safety, to accomplish tasks in the most efficient way possible and to avoid excessive spending on restoration jobs.
Relationships are the Foundation of a Strong Business
The last foundational principle of an water damage restoration job is to remember that strong relationships are essential to a strong business. Whether you are experiencing conflict with an employee, a homeowner or their insurance agent, the health of that relationship is always more important than proving a point.
As the owner of your company, you should never be so focused on getting work done that you forget to prioritize the care of those around you. Make regular connection with your employees a habit by checking in on their families and their satisfaction with their job. Be patient and empathetic with stressed out homeowners. Be quick to apologize when you are in the wrong. Building relationships with people you can trust and who trust you in return always holds more value than proving a point or getting your way.
At More Floods, we have created operational resources that make observing foundational principles feel automatic. Through the implementation of our proven systems and participation in our effective training courses, you can improve the performance of your company and build you reputation as a company who completes every job with care. To learn more about joining our network, click here or call 1-866-667-3356.