Restoration Rewind Delta Development Group Monthly Newsletter
May 2018
2018 Convention! By being a team member to the Delta Disaster Services network, you must know a little something about our wonderful brand. Hopefully one of the main things that you know and have learned is that it was built with intent and purpose. With the intent to be the greatest, FullService insurance restoration organization and a purpose of providing “Peace of Mind…During Uncertain times” The Delta Development Group team knows that great things are never stagnant. And while we know we have a great brand, we also know that greatness can be taken to even another level. In order to elevate our brand to that next level we are working with consultant, Suzanne Tulien, of Brand Ascension through Brand DNA, a 6-month program to uncover the DNA that makes up our STRONG Delta Disaster Services brand and use it to elevate to our next level. This program will culminate with a ‘Brand Awareness’ event at our annual convention this August.
One of the best parts about being in a strong branded network like ours is that everyone has the ability to affect and effect change. It doesn’t matter if you are a coordinator, an emergency services technician, a construction supervisor, a department manager or a franchise owner; you still have the same responsibility to maintain all that our brand stands for. Below we have created a description of a “Change Agent”, those people in an organization who can affect, and effect change and ultimately brand elevation. Most certainly when you read this description, you will find that you have one or more of these traits within yourself. As you hear, learn and implement the brand elevation initiatives that we will be introducing over the coming months, think back to these traits. Remember that you were brought into your organization because you have these qualities and you have now been entrusted to use them with positivity to effect and affect change within the Delta Disaster Services brand. Understanding how change agents think, act, and behave can help you develop the attitudes and qualities needed to help lead your organization through change and brand evolution. Key change-agent characteristics to look for in your employees: •
Flexibility – While change agents need to be disciplined in their approach, roadblocks and constantly evolving priorities are par for the course, especially when building a new business. Change agents need the flexibility and creative instincts to respond to unforeseen challenges that arise.
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Patience – Organizational change does not happen overnight, which is why the leaders of effective change management require enormous patience and perseverance.
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Intentionality – Change agents must be diligent if organizations are to complete a strategic initiative on time and on budget, or even at all. Every activity relating to change management must be intentional and clearly contribute to the adoption of the new way.
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Confidence – Change agents need to have confidence in others to deliver, but also confidence in themselves. Leading individuals or teams through change can cause tension and stress, the agents of change need confidence in their vision as well as confidence in their role as a mentor, facilitator, and leader, etc.
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Communication – Communication is one of the key activities for change agents. They must get the appropriate message to the right people in a way that moves them towards the desired vision. Good communication eases tension and encourages buy-in among the “fence-sitters” and “holdouts”
The Brand DNA program is designed to enlist, equip, and engage every team member to fully comprehend our Brand’s DNA and leverage it within your local organization and marketplace. We are very excited to be sharing with you the things we have come up with. We look forward to your engagement and your feedback. We look forward to seeing everyone at the new elevation of Delta Disaster Services.
Marketing Corner Calendly Scheduling meetings is important, and yet it can often be one of the more difficult things we do. It may only take a couple of minutes of your time but can quickly become a huge time suck when you need to fit three or more different time zones in one slot.
Luckily, there’s Calendly, a beautiful scheduling app designed to make the entire process fast and painless. From selecting the best available dates to sending out confirmations, Calendly automates each step so you never have to worry about spending too much time booking your calls, conferences, or meetings. And since booking is so much easier, you'll be glad to connect with anyone with questions, ideas, or concerns—you won't mind setting up appointments anymore.
Creating events is the first thing on the list. You can choose between a one-on-one event (e.g. 1-1 meetings) where invitees can choose time slots that fit their schedule, or a group event (e.g. webinars, workshops) where people can sign up for the same slot. You’ll then provide the event details, such as the event name, description, location, event color and link. You can share this unique link to anyone who wishes to book a meeting or call with you, and all they need to do is select the time slot that fits their schedule. Once they’ve signed up, notifications of event changes and cancellations are sent automatically, so that everyone is always in the loop.
Are you currently building your email list? Want to get more buyer information from your upcoming webinar? Calendly has additional form options where you can capture other relevant information, such as their current location, whether they use your product or service, questions for the speaker, and the like. These appear on the signup form as soon as you’ve selected a slot for the event. One of Calendly’s strengths is how easy it is to book a time slot without needing to convert time zones yourself. The app automatically displays available slots based on the invitee’s current time zone, saving them the trouble of figuring out if the schedule is a good fit. This is a huge plus for remote startups and companies that hold group and one-on-one meetings on a regular basis.
Another highlight is how Calendly integrates with your favorite calendars. Apart from saving events automatically, Calendly checks your Google or Outlook calendar to see if there are scheduling conflicts that will require rescheduling. Once you’ve selected the best time slot, saving the event to your chosen platform is just a click of a button. No sign-up or registration required. All of Calendly’s core features are available to everyone who signs up. With their premium plan, you’ll get premium support, the ability to customize automated reminders and notifications, and the option to redirect your invitees to a page on your website to further enhance their experience working with you. Metrics and reporting are also available to premium users, which provide useful insights, such as where invitees are scheduling from, what triggers them to schedule, and the like. Business owners and marketers can leverage these tools to better understand and engage with their customers.
Calendly allows you to regain control over your schedule, all while saving time and money from missed meetings and opportunities. It's one of the simplest ways to get your appointments scheduled, without the headache of worrying about conflicting time zones and schedules.
https://calendly.com
Good, Better, Best. As expected the acquisition with HRI has opened new doors for us and started some new exciting conversations. We are also double dipping in the benefits as we are getting some great attention from ServiceSoftware and their new parent company Xactware. This is very exciting and the discussions speak to nothing but great things for everyone. Last week two engineers from Xactware spent almost two days in the Denver office, we have been the only restoration company that they have visited. Prior to their arrival in Denver, they spent time on the phone with Ragan Neblett discussing Delta’s use of DMS and the other Xactware products. Once in Denver and in true Delta fashion, we whisked the computer engineers out into the field with our Emergency Services Technicians. The two of them spent the better portion of the day shadowing our techs and observing their use, or lack of use of the various software platforms and their various devices. They came back with pages and pages of notes, and tons of photos. One of the best parts is that they actually came to Denver with a software demo to show us and decided to take the night to redesign that demo based on what they observed in the field. GOOD STUFF! The next morning the engineers meet in the conference roof with many DDS of Denver employees. Voices like Josh Schneider, Emergency Services Manager, Brandeigh Jarret, Senior Coordinator and Bobby Torrez, Emergency Services Supervisor and Kristian Fackenthall, Construction Manager; were in that meeting to add their knowledge and experience to the conversation. In that meeting we were able to see the demo that the Xactware engineers had created and offer our direct feedback. Brandeigh also took them through how MoistureMapper works and that was a huge eye opener for them. We are very excited to see the development of a native phone application that would sync directly with DMS. It would not only have the ability to manage jobs like one would expect from such an app, but now with our input we see the app having the ability to take the place of many of the emergency services field documents that we use, connect to a FLIR device via Bluetooth, and even allow for effective sketching from the app. There was genuine excitement after that meeting from both sides, we are looking forward to seeing the first product and be a part of all of the testing along the way.
CASH IN THE DOOR Based off March’s royalties…DELTA DISASTER SERVICES OF SOUTHERN COLORADO lead the path. Great job team and Emmis!
Finance Corner TRACKING YOUR WORK IN PROGRESS Tracking your Work in Progress, Work in Process, Committed Contracts. One and the Same? For our purposes, yes! It is very hard to grow the business without tracking your Work in Progress or “WIP”. Think of it this way: We will use FOUR $10,000 jobs as our example. You have all four contracts signed and in your files in DMS. You start working, spending money and labor and hiring subcontractors. Accounting Practices say you cannot count the job as Income until the work is done. You start all of these jobs on May 1, May 2, May 3 and May 10. Job one has the drywall finished. You have spent $1,500 so far. Job two has the drywall and flooring finished. You have spent $4,000. Job three has had the estimate approved and ready to start. You have spent $400. Job four if almost finished. You have spent $6,800. You have spent $12,700 but have no income to “off set” this expense. You have $40,000 of work that will become income on your P&L when the jobs are done.
June 1, You decide you have been in business long enough, and want to open a Line of Credit at the bank. When the bank says you have no sales, what do you tell them? You say “what do you mean no sales, I have four jobs under construction.” Being able to physically show those four jobs on your financials is invaluable for both the bank and for you to properly manage your business. With all accounting you want your income and expenses to be in the same accounting period. With Construction, rarely does this happen without adjusting the financials. If you spend money for material, you want the income or amount you will be paid for the material to show as income at the same time or within the same accounting period. Our jobs typically move fast. Because of this, we usually do not book any of the income until the job is complete. The best way from an accounting perspective is to track the job with Estimates and Sales Orders. Then have your CPA adjust your financials at the end of the month or quarter (based on the amount of work you have) will give you a true “Snapshot in time” of what your profits are.
Here are some other values of tracking your Work in Progress: It is the end of the month and you will be able to determine what your income or sales are for the month. You have a far better idea what your cash flow is will be in the future. It will help you know what your upcoming expenses and payables are going to be. Most of all, it will help tell you if you are making money; how much money and what your True Margins are! Here’s a website that will provide additional information: https://blog.zlien.com/constructionpayment/construction-accounting-what-is-work-in-progress/ Good Luck! Always call or request additional training if you have questions.
Crawford Contractor Connection Convention The Crawford Contractor Connection Convention and Expo is going to be held June 6-8 in Indianapolis. It’s a great opportunity for those of you that are on the program to take additional classes that support Crawford’s requirements as well as classes that help you as a franchisee be a better employee or business owner.
This year we will be having our franchise dinner on Wednesday, June 6th at 7pm at: McCormick & Schmick's Seafood 110 North Illinois Street Indianapolis, IN 46204 (317) 631-9500
And we will leave you with this…