Rain Jobs
It can be very frustrating, they all want you there right now!
As hard as it is, we need to slow them down enough to find out the important issues with Rain losses.
Where did it come in from? Because if it’s ground water the bill is going to be paid by them!
Many times a homeowner assumes that since the basement is wet and they have insurance they are covered. Most do not know that their policy does not cover foundation seepage.
Has it stopped coming in? We shouldn’t go out until the water stops coming in. It just not cost effective to have us try to keep up with water that continues to seep in.
How big an area is wet? As cruel as it sounds, I’d rather do 1-big job, than 3-tiny ones.
We can send a crew out, we will need a signed work authorization and we normally
collect a check for $250.00, $500.00 after hours, will that be a problem? If they don’t have the cash offer Visa or Mastercard
Remind them that average water loss is $2500.00, it could be more depending on factors like: Deep Water– Means more is affected, dry wall, insulation, framing
Larger areas-Larger areas will most likely mean more equipment, thus more expensive.
Large amounts of furniture– Lots of contents means more time to move them, thus more expensive.
Contamination– carpet and pad that are Cat 3 should be discarded, which will generally increase the time spent on the job
We should not send a crew out if the water is still coming in!
Despite what customers want at the moment, they are always mad about the cost later when they get a large bill, because we were trying to keep up with water ground water.
Give them reasonable ballparks, they are generally going to be paying this out of their pocket unless it is covered under a sump pump clause.
When all hell breaks loose we realistically can not be everywhere, so we have to go to the jobs that: We have the best chance of being paid
Are going to best benefit the company (larger)
They are on Emergency Preparedness Plan or regular customer
Once you have all the available crews out, you need to tell the callers that everyone is out on water losses. Ask them if they want to be added to the list, if so get their information and add them to a list. This will give you an opportunity to cherry pick the best ones, this means you’ll have to be vague to caller about where they are on the list.
