Managing Your Restoration Business

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Remote or third-party estimating companies focus only on estimating. Their specialist teams are made up of estimate writing wizards, geniuses of graphical estimating and magicians of macros. These dedicated estimators may have gravitated away from managing trades and keeping up with client communication, while leaning toward the technical aspects and nuts-and-bolts of how each trade handles tasks. Could remote estimating enhance your business?

“By setting and sticking to your core values, the culture you have built and the standards for the quality of work you have established won't be compromised by changes to company size and makeup. These simple ideas have guided us as we've grown from a small operation into a national leader in disaster recovery,” Jeff Moore writes.

On its surface, restoration doesn’t seem synonymous with “soft.” It’s a hard industry that operates in physically and emotionally tough working environments. Restoring a property to pre-loss condition requires a particular set of hard (job-specific) skills and tools. But there is a soft side that, I’d like to argue, carries more weight.

A coach’s immediate strategy is grooming their silver medalists to become the gold standard in future Olympics. The same can be said for finding talent to add to your team. Many times the silver medalists (“B” players) are undervalued and passed over while an organization searches for the gold.

Is there one leadership style that is better than the other? Which specific leadership style is best for creating a culture that retains employees? Can one have multiple styles at once? In this column, Nicole Humber shares her perspective, and those of her employees, on effective leadership styles.

In this episode of Ask Annissa, Annissa Coy answers the following question: “I was wondering how you handle so many different specialty type things that we need to clean when it comes to contents restoration. For instance, I have a home that had a light fire and they have a six-foot, mounted bear that was in the living room.” 

How is the adjuster to know if you handled the job like Stan in a Van or a top-shelf company? The answer is documentation. The problem is that too many restorers don’t understand the mechanics of how to put together a good file that properly supports the invoice. They expect the adjuster to simply take their word for it. 

Xactly byGTE finds and places talent – from technicians to executives – with restoration companies of all sizes. In this episode of Ask the Expert, Gregg Taylor, managing member, speaks to the unmet expectations of candidates and employees. He makes the case for rethinking recruiting and retention strategies, and offers best practices for businesses.

Barry Rice, CSP, reviews successful methods for preventing hand injuries, one of the most common injuries in restoration work. He provides advice on choosing the right glove and glove training implementation.