Restoration Rewind Delta Development Group Monthly Newsletter
October 2013
Growing Again‌
Delta Meets the East Coast Delta Development Group would like to officially introduce and welcome our newest franchise, Delta Disaster Services of Southeastern Pennsylvania! Erik and Faith Bones have established a successful presence as remodelers in the eastern United States and we are very excited to have them. They have very little time to breathe, with franchise training beginning the second week of October and their grand opening scheduled for early January, their wheels have just begun to turn. Over the next few months, most of you will have the chance to interact with them on some level, but feel free to reach out to the Bones’ and welcome them in your own way.
Once again from all of us at Delta Development Group, WELCOME!
Happy Birthday Southern Colorado Delta Disaster Services of Southern Colorado recently celebrated their first year in business. They had met all of their Small Business Association proforma goals…and then the flood hit! The business brought in from the floods of the late summer will ensure they end their year in very good standings. The floods have also given their operation an opportunity to truly make a mark in the community, strengthen all of the agent/adjuster relationships as well as give them plenty of sources for new referrals. Congratulations Emmis and team!
Answer All As most of you know Delta Disaster Services of Denver uses an answer service for all after hours calls. They are a national company and they can provide services in any location. It is a very inexpensive solution and offers you some freedom from having to stop everything you are doing to take a call. If you are interested in their services you can speak with Kathy at Answer All, her number is (303) 428-7521. This might be a huge help for any office needing after hours phone coverage.
Colorado Floods What started as a few days of heavy rain, has ended with what experts are calling the “1,000 Year Flood” in the front range of Colorado. Statisticians estimate that 80% of the Colorado population has, in some way, been effected by these events. We would like to give you some insight on how Delta Disaster Services of Denver, as well as our Northern and Southern Colorado offices were affected by these events. It is almost impossible to count the number of phone calls that came into the three offices during the five-day period (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday). The three offices immediately started working tireless hours in an attempt to stay on top of all the incoming emergencies and to help as many people as possible. Abe Urbina, Lead Mitigation Technician in Denver, clocked 97.5 hours during that week. Adam Hornback, in Northern Colorado and Emmis Chellman, in Southern Colorado may have in fact beaten Abe, they just didn’t track all of their actual time! In Denver, where nearly 500 incoming phone calls quickly resulted in nearly 300 jobs, a waiting list was created, a list that still continues to get updated daily. We were getting homeowners projections on when we could be onsite as best we could. By the end of the initial five days of flooding, we were already two weeks out from being able to get to losses.
The floods presented another early challenge for all Delta Disaster Services locations. The majority of the losses coming in were actual flood events and were not covered by insurance. While we did not want to turn a homeowner away because of lack of coverage, we had to cover ourselves as well. If we knew a homeowner did not have insurance coverage, we required a credit card payment of $1,000 over the phone in order for a crew to be dispatched. We quickly found out this initial deposit was low and very less strict compared to our market competitors. In many cases we were able to get on site without a deposit, and give a general estimate of mitigation charges and then negotiate an upfront payment. Our years of expertise in insurance work also allowed us to determine some unique coverage parameters that helped clear up coverage questions on many jobs. Numerous sump pump failures were caused by the flooding and were in fact granted coverage by some insurance carriers. When the sewer system backed up in the City of Boulder, it triggered a sewer endorsement from the state. While this endorsement is limited, it will offer some benefits to insured. All of the offices were quickly in tight supply of drying equipment. In Denver, we rented and also purchased drying equipment. We did our best to work with our vendors and rent equipment at approximately 50% of Xactimate pricing. We also contacted Labor Ready once we saw this was becoming a large scale event. The labor expense in Denver for the first week was well over $8,000, and it was well worth it. Week two of the catastrophe brought additional challenges. One being employee burnout. Office employees trying to manage the jobs as well as the technicians who were actually out in the field were beginning to feel the effects of the overtime hours. During the second week, the Denver office controlled the hours of the mitigation team very closely. Technicians were
typically out of the shop and into the field by 8AM and were normally returning to the shop by 6PM. It was important that our technicians be able to get the adequate amount of sleep they needed to continue to perform at a high level. Our task then turned to prioritizing work. We have a number of insurance companies that refer work to us on a regular basis and we had to make sure that their customers were a priority. We are also on a number of vendor programs that automatically assign work to us. By day six we had come to the point where we had to turn ourselves off from those referral lists and not accept any more new jobs. We later found out that we were one of the very last firms to turn off from those lists, most other firms on those lists were turned off after 3 days. Our company was essentially on a modified disaster management plan for nine days. All existing customers, primarily those in our construction division, were put on a temporary hold. We made calls to them to them to inform them of the situation. Almost all of our customers were understanding. Post catastrophe, our goal is to address receivables. We have many estimates to address and we must finalize those and get them processed to facilitate proper cash flow. It is just as easy to go out of business by taking too much work during an event such as this, and not being able to pay your bills. We were very realistic in what we were able to take on. We pushed the limit both in manpower and financial expenditures.
Overall we practiced what we preach as a disaster relief company. Everything happened in real-time and required real-time communication. In 10 days the Denver office booked approximately $250,000 just in mitigation work. And the work is continuing to come in, as the second phase of work, mold remediation and FEMA work is beginning to roll in.
Equipment – Field Tested to the MAX! Delta Development Group has field tested the Phoenix GuardianR Pro HEPA System and we are authorizing its use as another Phoenix product for you to add to your restoration equipment. The write up from the manufacturer on this product provides a lot of valuable information: The Phoenix GuardianR Pro HEPA System is the most compact, portable, true HEPA air-filtration device made. Its energy-efficient rotomold design is durable, lightweight and stackable, making it the ultimate blend of portability and performance. Whether it is set up as an air scrubber or negative air machine, the Phoenix GuardianR Pro HEPA System has been independently tested to verify true HEPA performance of not just the filter but the entire device, while delivering over 500 CFM of filtered air flow. With variable speed control (between 250 CFM and 500 CFM) the GuardianR Pro delivers the right amount of desired airflow. The efficiency doesn’t end with the filter performance and airflow. The GuardianR Pro draws less than 2 amps of power. This makes the system perfect for a variety of remediation projects where space and power are at a premium. A single GuardianR Pro will
provide 4 air changes per hour (the recommended minimum) on 7500 cubic feet (more than a 30’ X 30’ X 8’ room). The GuardianR Pro weighs in at a mere 33 lbs. and has a compact design with a 14 inch height and a small 22” X 24” footprint. Designed to operate both horizontally and vertically, the large 16-inch diameter inlet maximizes the capture zone of airborne particles. The detachable outlet duct ring makes attaching lay flat duct quick and easy, so that you can deliver HEPA filtered air where you want it. The molded handle and stackable design make the GuardianR Pro easy to hand carry, transport and store. The GuardianR Pro also has built-in GFCI outlet and 12 amp breaker to conveniently provide 10 amps of power for other devices while operating at a high speed. A “change filter light” automatically alerts the restoration professional when the filters should be checked and possibly replaced to maintain maximum CFM performance.
GuardianR Pro HEPA System Specifications Part No.
4031350
Power
1.9 Amps, 110–120 VAC
Blower
500 CFM
WxHxD
22″ x 14″ x 24″
Weight
33 Lbs.
The GuardianR Pro’s 2-stage filter design removes virtually all hazardous particles from the air and the optional carbon/potassium permanganate filter can be used to absorb a wide range of odors and gases.
Failing to Plan, is Planning to Fail It becomes very easy to get caught up in the day to day of our business and forget about thoroughly planning for the future. Just as you set goals and did a business plan before you opened your Delta Disaster Services, we want you to thoroughly plan for the next year, for every year. Believe it or not, it is time to start thinking about 2014. If you start “thinking� and jotting down notes to yourself now, when we reach January 1 you will have a very good plan for going forward. We have scheduled two Wednesday Webinar sessions, November 6 and December 4 to help you with your business plans. In the first session, we will discuss the items that need to be addressed in your 2014 business planning. As well as answer any questions that you may have about your goal setting and business planning. In the second session, we will look deeply into finalizing your plans to be ready for the beginning of the new year. After the two webinar sessions, we will schedule individual calls with each franchise for an in-depth look at their 2014 business plans, objectives and budgets. Some of the items you may want to start thinking about:
Objectives (Sales and Production) Sales goals for the year Mitigation Construction Marketing: New Accounts Plumbers Agents Fire Departments Direct Repair Programs Events: Golf Tournaments, charity events, etc. Others? Budgets Marketing Mitigation Construction Overhead Expenses Employees Training and Education New Employees Capital Expenditures Mitigation Equipment Vehicles Office Equipment, Computers
Vendor News Delta Development Group is currently finalizing a national contract with SHUBEE. This is the company that supplies the Delta red booties and red floor protector. They also supply Tyvek suits and other protective items as well as employee ID badges. Brian Chestnut is our representative and you can reach out to him at (866) 317-7899. There will be more information very soon regarding the national account discounts that Brian is offering.
Update on the DDS of Denver Fire Loss This will continue our monthly update on Delta Disaster Services of Denver’s large fire restoration project. 30 days ago we were contacted by an Allstate adjuster to take on a fire in the neighboring city of Westminster. Day 30-60: Delta Disaster Services of Denver was not contracted by the carrier or the homeowner to address personal property or contents. Needless to say, there were very few items that were restorable. A content specialist from Allstate insurance company was brought out to document all of the nonrestorable contents. As of this writing, this particular adjuster is doing the content evaluations on a room by room basis. Delta is then coming behind the adjuster and doing the demolition of that particular room. It is a slow process that is being orchestrated by the carrier. To date we have about 90% of the dwelling complete. Another challenge has been to have a
temporary electrical pole set up at the back of the house. Our state electrical carrier, Xcel Energy, is about 2 to 4 weeks out from inspecting and turning power on for these types of temporary power poles. This is making all parties extremely frustrated, including the customer. The customer has an extensive garden in the backyard and wanted to be able to turn on their automated sprinkler system by having that power connected. Without that power the customer’s hand watering the garden on a daily basis. The single most important item that we are waiting for at this time is the engineering structural report. The engineer stated that he wanted to be able to look at all aspects of the damaged framing after Delta completely addressed all of the demolition. The engineer has been on site periodically during the demolition and we have heard rumors that the engineer is considering taking off a majority of the second floor of the dwelling. This concerns us; the reason this concerns us is due to policy limitations. Based on the amount of coverage, we already feel we are close to the policy limits. However, with the complete removal of the top floor, which includes all of the roofing members and the roof, we feel we could exceed policy limits. Unfortunately, this is something that we cannot control. The customers that own the home are of course devastated. For this article we will call them Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Mr. Smith was so traumatized that Mrs. Smith immediately sent her husband to the East Coast to stay with friends until she could get her head wrapped around what needed to be done. Mrs. Smith, on the other hand, is a first generation Eastern Bloc citizen and is used to getting her own way by being very aggressive. We understand there is a cultural difference and we are trying our best to appease her and accommodate her. She often feels that in order to get what she wants she has to yell and sometimes even put down people
around her. The next 30 days will determine many factors as to how Delta will continue, or possibly not continue with this project.
We will leave you with this:
In your hands you hold the seeds of failure or the potential for greatness. Your hands are capable, but they must be used and for the right things to reap the rewards you are capable of attaining. The choice is yours. -Zig Ziegler-