Restoration Rewind

Delta Development Group Monthly Newsletter

August 2015

2016 Convention to be announced September 1st!!

The plans are in the works! Your Delta Development Group team is in the process of outlining our 2016 National Franchise Convention. You can bet it will be as extremely beneficial and rewarding as it has been in past years. This year we are going to require that not only are owner/operators to be present, but we are also designing a program that will require your business development representatives also be present. Mark your calendars now for March 11th and 12th, 2016! More details will follow in the coming months!

Vendor Programs - Racking Up!

When Delta Disaster Services of Denver opened in 2006, all insurance company vendor managers were contacted about this great company that was coming into the market to help their policy holders. Sound familiar? It took the Denver location about 2 to 3 years to prove ourselves to these program managers and then be chosen to be on the program.

We are now starting to see many of our offices around the country be chosen to be on specific vendor programs. It goes without saying that our other locations are continuing to solicit the vendor managers and share with them the success their company has been having over the years. We are still seeing that if a good mix of vendor business is

what you are looking for, the work is out there.

Many companies come knocking, few companies produce at a high level, and even fewer companies keep in touch over the years.

For those of you that are still knocking on doors, DON’T GIVE UP! You will be noticed and you will be given an opportunity.

Delta Disaster Services offices have been put on the following insurance company’s vendor programs. You can also reference this list to the vendor managers of programs you are soliciting. It certainly helps to say that other Delta Disaster Services offices are under various programs and are successful.

• USAA • Nationwide / Allied • ASI • Pure • Farmers insurance company • AAA insurance of Southern California • American Family • Chubb insurance company • Allstate

Delta Disaster Services of Northern Colorado puts on a winning golf tournament for the

Kawasaki Kid’s Foundation with the help of the NFL.

We are so proud of our locations that have taken on a fund raiser activity to help their local community. Delta Disaster Services of Northern Colorado has taken their fund raiser to new heights, putting on a golf tournament that has made some huge noise all across Northern Colorado and even further, gaining the attention of Budweiser and the NFL.

The two day event kicked off with a splendid gala Sunday night and then golfing on Monday culminated by a silent auction and wonderful luncheon. In total the group was able to raise $43,000 for the Kawasaki Kids Foundation! General Manager Caroline Hornback said of the event, “We are very proud to have raised over $40,000.00 for Kawasaki Kids Foundation! Thank you to the generosity of the members and businesses of the Northern Colorado community. The funds raised will be used for research, education and helping those affected by KD. We look forward to making next year even better”!

Enjoy some amazing photos from the event. If you are interested in getting involved with the Delta Disaster Services of Northern Colorado annual golf tournament, please contact Caroline Hornback chornback@delta-us.com or Cammy Seaman cseaman@delta-us.com for more details.

Weathering the storm of lightning claims (to the tune of $10 billion)

Lightning strikes the ground in the U.S. an estimated 25 million times every year, carrying between 100 million and 1 billion volts, and billions of watts of energy. A single lightning strike can heat the air around it to between 18,000 and 60,000 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Severe Storms Laboratory. This awesome force of nature can be very beautiful, but it's also deadly and destructive. The cost of lightning strikes In 2014, the Insurance Information Institute recorded that lightning strikes killed 26 people, and in 2013 accounted for an estimated $674 million in Homeowners insurance losses. They noted that the number of claims paid was falling (partly due to more widespread use of lightning protection systems), but the average cost of claims was rising (along with the value of electronic equipment). The average cost of a claim in 2012 was $6,400. However, determining the true cost of lightning is very difficult. In addition to industrial and household fires, lightning causes 15% of wildfires but is responsible for 60% of the acres of territory burned by them, reports the journal Science. In addition to the damage caused to electronics in homes and offices, lightning is responsible for 30% of the power outages, costing up to $1 billion a year says the National Lightning Safety Institute (NLSI). Taking these loss events and many more into account, the NLSI has estimated the total U.S. lightning losses and costs may be in excess of $8 to $10 billion a year. To make matters worse, a recent study by ClimateCentral.org has warned that for every degree Celsius increase in global warming there could be a 12% rise in the number of lightning strikes. This could amount to a staggering 50% increase by the end of the century.

Capturing lightning in a bottle Historically, investigating claims of damage due to lightning has been a highly problematic and often subjective matter. A local thunderstorm may bring a flood of claims of dubious veracity. Witnesses or policyholders may report hearing a thunderclap and genuinely believe that lightning has struck.

When Vaisala Inc., experts in the manufacture of meteorological equipment and the current operators of the National Lightning Detection Network reviewed 14,000 claims, they found that in approximately 30% of the cases there was no lightning strike recorded in the vicinity. Advances in lightning detection and recording have armed claims adjusters with the detailed and specific information they need to begin their investigation.

The National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) has been in operation since 1989, but until the 1990s, strike locations were only accurate to 10km. Now, detection rates

are estimated at between 80-90% and locations are accurate to 500m. Doppler radar is another invaluable tool to confirm the presence of a lightning strike. However, like many complex new technologies, it is wise to enlist the help of a qualified forensic meteorologist who can effectively interpret the results and correlate them with other sources of information regarding the weather.

The importance of investigation Technology which can confirm the presence of a lightning strike is only part of the picture for claims adjusters. In addition to the immediate risk that a fire will be started, lightning can cause massive power surges which destroy electrical equipment and powerful shock waves capable of fracturing walls, windows and even foundations. This damage is not always immediately apparent, and many policies exclude electrical surges and shock waves which originate outside the property. Only a thorough investigation will confirm that lightning is the cause of the loss, and that the loss is covered by the policy.

Lightning damage expert LM Griswold has noted that as soon as lightning is mentioned, many insurance carriers pay out on total loss HVAC claims without any investigation – a detail not lost on unscrupulous HVAC companies. The 2015 Annual Claims Report produced by HVAC Investigators recorded that when claims were subsequently subjected to an independent, field-based investigation, more than 44% had been incorrectly attributed to lightning. In some cases, damage was due to wear-and-tear, in others there was in fact no damage, and many of the claims were withdrawn.

The perfect storm With an increasingly turbulent climate and an unsteady economy, claims adjusters and investigators may find themselves weathering the perfect storm of rising claims costs, increased levels of fraud and increased incidence of loss events. However, armed with new weather-measuring technologies, and employing good old-fashioned investigative skills, there is nothing to fear. The clouds will soon clear and the sun will shine again.

Profit! Profit, prof·itˈ präfit/ noun: “A financial benefit that is realized when the amount of revenue gained from a business activity exceeds the expenses, costs and taxes needed to sustain the activity.” Sale, sāl/ noun: “A sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation.”

The difference… You can have a million dollars in sales and not make a penny in profit. If your expenses exceed your sales, your profit is nonexistent! Without profit you will not remain in business. The hard, cold truth is without the proper profit margins on jobs you will not make money and you will not remain in business…

So, how do you ensure you have the proper profit margins? There are not many construction professionals who would show up on a job site without the correct tools to do the job. As a construction professional, you want to use all tools at your disposal!

First, is your estimate correct? Are you having your estimate reviewed by Denver? (If Mike is not available, just let Ragan or Dixie know and we will find someone to review your estimate.)

Are you reviewing P&L’s on all closed jobs? This is your opportunity to see what is making money, how much the job is making or has made and determine what went right and what went wrong. This is a

great tool for improving your processes in the future.

Other Tools in your Profit Toolbox:

Mitigation:

• Are you using the “Money Sheet”? • Are you capturing all billable items? • Are you watching/controlling your labor costs? (This one can bite you

really fast!) • Are you watching all supplies and buying at best prices? • Have you asked subcontractors for discounts?

Construction:

• You should know what your margin is BEFORE you start the work. • Are you building your scopes and PO’s in DMS? • Have you built the sub scope correctly? • Are you using the correct subcontractor for the job? • Are you factoring the sub scope correctly? (This category is your number

one opportunity to either make your margin or not make your margin.) • Are you watching/controlling labor costs? • Have you asked for discounts where you can?

Go out and make some SALES and bring in the PROFITS! Please remember we are always here to help. If you need assistance reviewing estimate or P&L’s just ask. If you need help building your scopes & PO’s just ask. If you would like to understand how you can better build and use your subcontractors, just ask. We are always here!

Optimizing our Delta Disaster Services Web Presence

We are in the sea and the wind is changing! We, as a network, all need to have a better presence on the internet. We need to be more “relevant”. We need to be more searchable, easier to find, and have better internet rankings. We need to encourage the overall community we service to make positive comments about us on rating sites such as the Better Business Bureau, Google and the like.

The three sites we need to begin with are Facebook, LinkedIn and Google reviews.

Facebook: Every Delta Disaster Services office needs to have a business Facebook account. Many of you already do. We have learned that a dormant account is almost as bad as no account at all. With that account you need two things; weekly, if not more, posting. And gain followers! Many – many followers. Follow and like other Delta offices, follow others in the industry, ask your friends and family to follow and like your page. The more the better.

LinkedIn: You should have multiple accounts. One for your Delta Disaster Services business as well as an account for you as the owner and individual accounts for all of your key staff. These accounts also need to be monitored and posted to on a regular basis. And the same follower rules apply. Follow other offices, follow others in the industry, you get the picture.

Google: Begin having your customers, referral sources and subcontractors go to google to grade and write a review about what a great company you are! It is a simple process and all of your reviews appear online.

Ok, now get to work on it!

Here’s how it’s done!

LinkedIn – Search for the company you are looking for in the top tool bar and click on the page you want to visit and follow. Simply click follow on the page

Facebook – Search for the company or page that you would like to visit/follow in the top search bar. Once on the page click on follow to begin following that page.

Google reviews are just a little bit differently in that a user has to have a gmail or Google+ account in order to leave a review. For these people, entering a review is very simple. From their google search they can click anywhere it says “Write a Review” and they will be brought to a page where they can write their review and give a star rating.

As we all know, unfortunately you won’t be able to please every single customer. These reviews should not take the place of your general customer satisfaction surveys and you should use those a list of customers that can translate their excellent reviews to a google review. Any negative reviews should be addressed by a manager with the homeowner directly. If the resolution comes out positively, you can use that opportunity to ask the homeowner for a review to highlight how easy you are to work with and how easily they got their problems corrected. There are many opportunities for great reviews.

Delta Development Group, along with Delta Disaster Services of Denver, is going to focus on building these internet channels just as much as we would like to. Ragan will be posting weekly in website blogs and social media sites. She will also be posting all of her posts to each locations website, in the blog section. If you would like to take those posts and link them to your Facebook or other sites, please feel free. If you have any questions about blogging, social media posts, etc. please contact Ragan. And remember, not monitoring or posting to your accounts is just as bad as not having them at all.

MONEY! MONEY! MONEY!

The winner for this month, bringing nearly $300,000 in the door last month, goes to Emmis Chellman and the rest of the staff at Delta Disaster Services of Southern Colorado. Congratulations to the team! GREAT JOB!!

You need to get the right people in the right seats on the right bus.

Sound familiar? Success and growth is all about finding the right people with the right skills to be put in the right organization. Many of our offices are going through growing pains. One of the keys to success is finding the right people to build along with your company. We look for people in many different ways to support our business growth. We start out with letting our current staff and subcontractors know what personnel we are looking for. Good people know good people! We give our employees a referral fee when a person they referred hits their 90th day of employment.

You need to be very clear on what you’re looking. It all starts with your job description. Posting your job in a multitude of areas will give you the candidate flow that you need. Some of the more common posting websites are:

Indeed.com

Craigslist

Monster

Don’t let the pressures of work volume pressure you into make incorrect hiring decision. Make sure to stick to Delta Disaster Services policies and procedures when it comes to hiring and when it comes to final decision making, stick with your gut. As entrepreneurs we are great receptors of people with similar traits. Choose those people to help take your business to another level.

And we will leave you with this…