iRestore | iRestore Restoration Software - Part 3

The Value Of The “Call” After The Initial “Call”

The phone rings and you are called to duty. Whether it is a new water loss, fire, or mold, you have been given the opportunity to serve and the opportunity to fulfill your mission as a restorer.  As important as it is to deliver high-quality services in a timely manner to your new customer, we do so with the understanding that beyond each individual person you serve lays more opportunity. Consider the following:

  1. Branding: The neighbors of the new customer will see your truck with your company logo and phone number.  Everyone who sees you in action on the way to that job will be touched by your brand. Keep your fleet looking clean as they are out and about representing your organization; this will help lead to referrals from those in your community who “saw your trucks.”
  2. A New Happy Customer:  Once you have successfully served your new customer, you have a new fan.  Consider the power of a new promoter of your organization. The following Harvard Business Review touches upon the concept of a Net Promoter and the power of developing the relationship:
    • Reviews: The Acquirly system is a great tool to engage your new Promoter to give you a raving review online, positively impacting your SEO and your credibility with the next potential new customer.
    • Referrals: Friends, family, and neighbors who have a disaster are likely going to hear from your previous customer regarding who they should call for help.
  3. Other Relationships to Develop: Serving a new customer gives you the opportunity to build relationships based on credibility and trust.
    • Adjusters: Communication and well-documented loss information can help you build a foundation for a long-term positive relationship.  Read more in the following article: Adjusters are People Too
    • Agents: Insurance agents are at times in the sphere of influence during an insurance claim.  Serving a mutual customer is a great way to start or build a relationship.
    • Other: There are a variety of other contacts and interested parties that may be involved in a job that may lead to opportunities to build and foster relationships for future referrals.

HOW TO GROW YOUR COMPANY FROM ONE INITIAL “CALL”

To enjoy all the opportunity that lies within each loss and call, your team must consistently operate at peak performance in their service to others. Although there is not a simple formula to ensure this, the following is a list of things to consider:

  1. Execution:  There are processes and details that must be consistently executed and documented.
    • Checklists
    • Contracts
    • Moisture Monitoring and Logging
    • Scopes/Pictures/Notes
    • Equipment Tracking and Documentation
    • Tasks
  2. Communications: Effective and proactive communications are essential within the organization, both with those served and interested parties. There are a variety of means and preferences of communication in today’s world: email, phone, and text, to name a few.  The expectations of those we serve regarding quality, quantity, and types of communications is a constantly evolving demand that must be met.
  3. CRM:  Managing and engaging the new positive relationships that were formed is necessary to enjoy all the benefits from the new customer, the new referral sources and the new opportunities that can be enjoyed from successfully serving.

AN AFFORDABLE SOLUTION TO MANAGE THE JOB, THE RELATIONSHIPS, AND THE COMPANY

iRestore is a restoration management software system that is affordable, user-friendly and designed by Restorers for Restorers.  It is a solution to effectively manage the job from the time the phone rings until it is complete.

This software includes a fully integrated CRM that will even allow you to continually engage previous customers and other important relationships.

iRestore can help you realize The Value of the “Call” after the initial “Call”. Although iRestore will not be able to clean your vehicle, it can help you keep your fleet running and well maintained.

How Customer Reviews Will Grow Your Restoration Business

The Importance of Asking For Reviews:

How Asking Your Customer For Reviews Will Grow Your Restoration Business

By: Jeff Rooks, Content Editor at 33 Mile Radius

For the last seven years, 33 Mile Radius has generated exclusive water damage leads for restoration contractors. In addition lead generation, 33 Mile Radius also offers Acquirly, a review acquisition app designed to get contractors more positive reviews.

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Roughly half of all customers read reviews before hiring a restoration contractor and 85% of consumers said they trusted reviews just as much as a recommendation. Despite their importance, many companies still don’t have a strategy for getting reviews. While some assume customers will leave a review on their own, the majority of companies are not asking for reviews. The simple truth is you’re missing out on restoration jobs if you don’t have a strategy for getting more reviews.

Let Your Customers Advertise Your Business For You

Possibly the biggest benefit of reviews is that your customers are advertising your business for you. Whether it’s paid search or traditional mail marketing, you are probably running some advertising campaign. No matter how effective that messaging is, customers know that it’s coming directly from you. While you can make any claim you want in your marketing, reviews from customers build trust and add credibility to your business.

Reviews Influence Organic Search Rankings

Most customers with water damage will use a search engine like Google to find a restoration company. Since they are likely to call one of the top results, it’s important to rank near the top of Google search results. Crazy as it may seem, more reviews will actually help you move up in search rankings. Google, Bing, and Yahoo use many factors to determine where you appear in their search results. Reviews influence factors like engagement and trust, which in turn lead to more website traffic.

The Easy Way to Get More Reviews

We’ve had many restoration contractors ask us how to get more reviews and they are often surprised by the answer. While most assume that reviews are difficult to get, the simple truth is all you need to do is ask for them. In fact, 68% of customers will leave a review when asked. Asking for reviews should be part of your routine after finishing each job. Thank the customer for their business and ask them if they would be willing to leave a review of your services.

If the customer agrees to leave you a review, specifically mention the sites you’d like them to leave a review on. The process should be easy for your customer, so avoid asking them to post on sites that require them to create a new account. Most customers are likely to have either a Google and Facebook account and many will have both. Focusing on those sites is effective because most consumers are familiar with them. This also means more people will see those reviews.

Responding to Reviews Shows You’re Engaged

If you’ve claimed your Google My Business and are actively managing your Facebook page, you’ll get alerts every time you get a new review. You made an effort to get that review so don’t just ignore it. Maximize the influence of reviews by responding. Thank them again for their business and mention something related to their comment or job. While you’re responding to a previous customer, you’re actually influencing future customers. They’ll not only see you’re a quality restoration contractor but that you appreciate your customers as well. As we discussed above, responding to reviews will boost your engagement and improve your search ranking.

Dealing With Negative Reviews

Many restoration contractors thinking every review should be perfect, but a few negative reviews actually legitimize your positive reviews. If you only have good reviews, customers are likely to assume they are fake. While you should respond to negative reviews, avoid blaming the customer or starting an argument. This only validates their negative review and pushes customers away. The best way to reply is to apologize, even if you don’t think you did anything wrong.

Let them know you value their opinion and will be calling them soon to resolve the issue. While you won’t be able to resolve every negative experience, at least this moves the conversation out of the public eye. As long as your positive reviews outnumber the bad, there no cause for concern. However, a larger number of bad reviews could be signs of a deep problem with your employees or overall service.

Start Getting More Reviews Today With Acquirly

While asking for reviews is effective, the customer needs to remember to take action. That’s why we designed the Acquirly reviews acquisition app. It automatically reminds your customers to leave reviews and even directs them to your chosen review sites. Plus, Acquirly is easy for both your staff and customers to use. No matter the level of technical experience, asking for and getting more positive reviews has never been easier.

Just ask customers if they would be willing to leave you a review, then have them enter their email address and phone number in the Acquirly app. The app then sends them a request to leave a review. It will even follow up every five days until they respond.

Grow Your Restoration Business By Asking For Reviews

One of the easiest ways to grow your restoration business is remembering to consistently ask customers to leave reviews. Make sure you follow up when you get reviews and avoid arguing with customers. Whether you choose to use Acquirly or decided to manage your own strategy, asking for reviews will play a big role in getting more restoration jobs. From building trust with potential customers to increase your search ranking, reviews are a free way to market your restoration company.

33 Mile Radius’ New Tracking System

Contractors can now easily measure the performance of their marketing campaigns thanks to 33 Mile Radius’ freshly launched call tracking system designed for disaster mitigation, restoration and home services contractors. Check out their recent press release to learn more:

 

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33 Mile Radius recently announced a new call tracking system for disaster mitigation, restoration, and home services contractors. Their new call tracking system takes the guesswork out of measuring the effectiveness of marketing and advertising campaigns.

Contractors can now create their own individual call tracking phone number for each marketing or advertising campaign and easily see which is performing the best. They can requisition both local and toll-free phone numbers, which are then routed through the call system to their chosen destination number.

“As a core component to our lead generation platform, we’ve learned a lot about call tracking over the last seven years,” said 33 Mile Radius CEO Tim Gill. “We’ve built all of that knowledge into our new call tracking system. Contractors can now track the performance of their marketing campaigns from our easy to use call tracking dashboard.”

Through the call tracking dashboard, contractors can easily create and manage call tracking campaigns. The dashboard also provides call statistics, a recording of each incoming call, and a field for notes.

There is no contract or set up fee for the call tracking system from 33 Mile Radius. Each phone number is billed at a fixed monthly rate, with a call usage charge of 4¢ per minute. Local numbers cost $5 per month and toll-free numbers are $10 per month.

How to Log a User Out of iPad or iPhone

As you may know, the iPhone and iPad version of FileMaker can save the user’s login in the “keychain” making it easier for them to access in the future. But what do you do if a new user accesses the iPad and needs to log in under their own ID. Here’s how you can delete the saved credentials and log in a new user:

1. From inside of iRestore, hit “Logout” on the Main Menu:
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2. From the FileMaker menu, hit the gear in the top right corner to open the Settings menu:
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3. Tap on the “Manage Keychain” option:
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4. At this point, you will see a list of “Solutions” at the bottom, and one labeled “iRestore_AB_####” that would match with your database. Slide that left, and then hit the delete button:
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That’s it! That will log the user out of this iPad. You can then go back to your Home Screen, tap the iRestore icon again, and this time it will prompt you for a login.

iRestore’s Task Feature

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Tasks are one of the most under-utilized features of iRestore. The “Task” feature within iRestore allows you to assign specific tasks and detail responsibilities at the job level. The universal “Task” icon provides everyone in the company with a trackable and easy to manage a task list.

 

Job Tasks:

1. To create a new task for a job, simply hit the Task Icon from the Job Detail Screen.
– Assign a team member and add the detail and/or instructions
– Notify the team member of the assignment with a click of a button

2. Team members can provide task updates in real-time from all platforms, including their phones.

3. Individuals have easy access to their complete task lists from all platforms.

4. As tasks are updated and completed, iRestore manages and stores your task lists per job along with its corresponding notes.