Insurance restoration can be unpredictable. “You can never really anticipate what's going to happen,” says owner Carl Krueger. “You have a distraught homeowner who's just had a fire or some other disaster, and that's definitely a challenge.”
Also, since many of the company's clients request upgrade work beyond the scope of the insurance claim, that means change orders and two sets of accounts for each project. The company has risen to the challenge — and surpassed revenue goals — by streamlining processes and building key relationships.
“We're a member of Disaster Kleenup International [DKI], which means we're a pre-qualified and background-checked independent contractor that insurance companies can trust to send homeowners to,” Krueger explains. “DKI is an advocate for our company and helps us get on preferred vendor lists, which has helped our growth a lot.”
Good customer service helps, too. Every item removed from a client's home for restoration receives a bar code. “Crews scan items when they start and finish a work order, which makes tracking and work flow much easier,” Krueger says. It also makes items easy to find. “If the homeowner wants their son's baseball bat for his game, we can find the barcode and identify exactly what box the bat is in in the warehouse.” That helps homeowners get back to feeling normal. “The sooner they can get back into their homes, the better,” Krueger says. “We know how important that is.”
- Lauren Hunter
