Water damage restoration is almost entirely customer service. While that does mean performing quality work, it also means communicating effectively with your customers. Your customers are less likely to have an issue with your work if you have good communication skills.

As you already know, water damage and disaster mitigation is unpredictable. Our goal is to provide every one of our lead generation partners with as many viable leads as possible.

To ensure you get as many leads as possible, we send automated SMS text message about calls in counties that surround your current service area. The text message includes the name of the county and cost per valid lead.

Responding to SMS Text Messages About Calls in Surrounding Counties

If you would like to add that county to your account,

Storm chasing has become popular with disaster mitigation contractors. Considering that the 2017 hurricane season was one of the costliest on record, it makes sense that so many restoration contractors consider following the path of devastation.

While chasing storms may pose some challenges, it can be extremely lucrative work. Whether you’re experienced at storm chasing or looking to take advantage of this year’s storm season, here are some tips to ensure you are successful.

Google recently made changes to their review policy and submissions guidelines and they now prohibit the practice of review-gating. As such, we are releasing an update to our review acquisition system Acquirly in order to comply with Google’s policy changes.

What is Review-Gating and Why is Google Making the Change?

Review-Gating is a practice used by many review generation systems including Acuirly that asks customers about their experience before prompting them to leave a review. Google made changes to their terms of service because they feel that review-gating prevents reviews from being entirely honest and fair.

Google’s new policy requires customers to have an equal opportunity to leave a review, regardless of whether they had a positive or negative experience. We expect Facebook, HomeAdvisor, and the Better Business Bureau will release similar requirements in the near future.

Disaster mitigation and restoration is often a feast or famine industry. While severe weather often drives calls, hurricanes don’t happen every day. Therefore, it’s important that you get the most from your water damage leads. We listen to a huge volume of calls and talk regularly with our partners. From answering the phone to completing the job, we’re highlighting the most important ways to maximize your leads. While these designed these tips to help our current partners to convert more water damage leads into jobs,

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Despite changes in marketing, water damage and disaster mitigation still remain predominantly phone-based services. But are you asking qualifying questions when you answer the phone?

The Value of Asking Qualifying Questions

One of the biggest mistakes we hear on calls is waiting too long before asking qualifying questions. We’ve seen calls run fifteen, twenty, and even thirty minutes long. While these customers likely had plenty of questions, talking about a job you can’t see isn’t helpful.

While you should answer questions, the goal should always be to set the appoint. In our experience, the longer you talk the less likely you are to book the job. By taking control of the conversation early on, you have a better chance of either setting the appointment or getting off the phone so you can take another call.

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You’ve undoubtedly had customers call you asking for another company. While you could tell them they called the wrong number, you are missing out on a job opportunity. By being proactive on the phone, you will be able to convert a few cold leads into jobs.

Why They Are Asking For Another Company

There are two main reasons a caller is asking for another company.

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One of the most common arguments against using lead generation companies is that you aren’t building your brand. True, lead generation companies typically don’t advertise your business directly. However, you can definitely still build your brand while using a lead service.

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Whether it’s sorting through a stack of folders for a specific document or updating the status of a project, you’ve probably wasted time organizing and maintaining paperwork. That’s exactly why our friend’s at Job-Dox created their project management software.

Tired of wasting time maintaining their paperwork, they developed their own solution to streamline project management, improve communication, and increase efficiency.

By going completely paperless, they also eliminated the chaos of a desk full of papers and file folders. With less time wasted managing paperwork, they were able to increase profit by devoting more time to jobs.

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Due to nature of water damage and disaster mitigation, you can’t predict when customers will call. There will be times when you’re working a job and get a call about another. Good organization and communication skills are the keys to prioritizing multiple jobs. Whether you’re an owner-operator or are operating several crews, these skills will keep all of your customers happy.