Restoration Rewind Delta Development Group Monthly Newsletter
October 2014
Time Flies… Delta Disaster Services of Western Colorado reached their 90 day mark in September. It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating their grand opening. As with every 3 month anniversary, Mike Mastous was at their location in Grand Junction to deliver their first Continuing Education Class. He presented A Fire Loss – A Case Study to about 17 attendees, it was a great class. We almost always present the fire class as an office’s first CE class because it is an interesting, engaging class that gets the attention of the referral sources in a local market area. And hopefully it brings in some fire losses as well. In the case of the Western Colorado office, they not only have already worked a fire loss, but they had TWO going on at the same time as the class! One of them was a large residential loss in the local Grand Junction area. The second was a commercial loss at a Four-Star resort in the Moab Utah area. This unique situation gave Mike the opportunity to not only teach the class, but then to visit the job site with Owner Bruce Milyard and get eyes on their job. At the time of the job walk, the Delta team was about halfway through the pack out of the smoke damaged contents. It was no shock to see that they were following industry standards and practices. Congratulations to the employees of Delta Disaster Services of Western Colorado. We are so proud to see what you have accomplished in your first 90 days. We can’t wait to see what the future holds.
Let Us Help Written by Michael Mastous
Are you getting the most out of you Franchise support? As our franchisee, we want to be sure you are maximizing all of your potential profits by utilizing all of the information that your franchisor already possesses. That is one of the greatest benefits of being part of a franchise system, particularly one that has a successful working business model! There are two very important areas of our franchise support that we do not see being utilized enough: Estimate reviews and proper construction jobs set up.
Estimate reviews Even today, when I create an estimate I have someone in the office review it. I'm always surprised and amazed that even today, after years and years of writing estimates, there are little things that I missed. Maybe it's not an actual line item, but another form of methodology can sometimes change the entire face of an estimate. Be clear, we are not talking about over scoping. We are just talking about being thorough and getting a second set of eyes on your estimate. In our Denver office every estimate that is sent out has at least two reviews. Are you having another person review estimates before they are sent out?
Setting up scopes and purchase orders in advance of the job This relates to construction. Are you purposely setting up separate scopes for all of your disciplines and defining your profit margins before you begin the job? Are you using the budget system that you were taught at Delta training? Are you modifying your subcontractor budgets to meet this type of business model? I have spoken with a number franchises recently that are still running their Delta business like they were running their general contracting company. This doesn't work. In most cases, you’re leaving money on the table. Our franchise system and franchise model has proven to be very successful. And while many of you are making good profit margins currently; in many cases there is more margin to be made if you utilize the systems that are part of your franchise package!
Cash in the Door We are going to begin periodically recognizing the top producer in the network based on monthly royalties. Who will be next at the top spot!
Based on August 2014 royalties we would like to recognize: Mac Urie and Delta Disaster Services of Southern Utah as the top producer in the network. They exceeded $80,000 cash in the door!!!
Change is Good The sky has opened up and pigs have flown down into Denver; Mike Mastous has approved changes to the Delta Disaster Services dress code! The changes have been tested in the Denver office to make sure that the professional standards of the Delta brand could continue to be upheld and it passed with flying colors. Below are the new dress code standards for all Delta Disaster Services employees. The majority of the changes effect office personnel. Please review the changes and implement them into your operation as you see fit. Always remember that you reflect that entire brand in everything you do, including the way that you dress. Make us all proud!
Technicians, Field Supervisor, Carpenters (Construction & Mitigation) Khaki Carhart pants Red T-Shirt Red Sweatshirt Black Carhart Coat (Optional based on weather) Red baseball Cap (Optional) Black Beanie (Optional) Black Belt, Black Boots (Must meet Ansi Rating of 75 or greater) Manager and Supervisor (Construction and Mitigation): Khaki Slacks (Dockers or similar) Red Polo (Cutter Buck or Port Authority) Red Button down Dress Shirts (Port Authority) (Please button the collar) Black Belt, Black dress shoes (black boots when needed) Red baseball Cap (Optional) Black Port Authority pull over “Golf Shirt” Black Port Authority Letterman’s Jacket Administration, Coordinators (Primarily “office”) Female: Black or Khaki Slacks, Capris or Skirts (no leggings)
Female: Red Blouse (Blue Generation) Female: Black Port Authority V-Neck Sweater Female: Black Cardigan Sweater Male: Red Button down Dress Shirt (Port Authority) Male: Khaki or Black Slacks Black Shoes/Dress shoes (No Flip Flops!) Black Belt Marketing Follow Admin and/or “Professional” Dress
Let us know how these new changes go within your office.
Helping the Community Delta Disaster Services of Southeastern PA recently undertook a charity event at their office. In conjunction with the Red Cross, the organization held a blood drive on September 11 to commemorate the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 event. According to the American Red Cross, every 2 seconds an American receives a blood transfusion, which equals approximately 5 million patients that will need blood this year. For their charity event, the Red Cross provided a “blood mobile” which was parked and manned right in the parking lot at the Delta Disaster Services facility. For every pint of blood collected about 3 lives can be saved. Through the event, the office was able to collect 19 pints of blood, that’s enough to save 57 LIVES!! Congratulations to the folks of Delta Disaster Services of Southeastern PA.
Vendor Information Just a quick note for anyone that interacts with Interlink. Our friend and contact, Brandon Titus has left Interlink / Bridgewater to seek other endeavors in his life. We will miss working with Brandon, but we are certain he will be replaced with another amazing employee. We will keep you posted on who will fill his position for us within the Interlink organization.
New Referral Source UPDATE! A few months back we told you about a new vendor program that is available in many of the states that Delta Disaster Services operates in. The ASI insurance program was first introduced to us by Marc Elakman with Delta Disaster Services of Palm Beach. Marc has been on the program for some time now and has received a number of jobs from them. Typically a new vendor will test a restoration firm with a few small jobs to see if they meet their standards. Marc has serviced those jobs with top notch reviews and last month he received the biggest job to date out of the program. Marc was on the job from the very beginning and was even forced to purchase additional equipment to take on the increase in volume. The billing on this loss is in excess of $15,000 so far and that is just on mitigation alone! Currently they are just getting into the reconstruction portion of the job. Upon realizing the value of this program, Marc brought in Delta Development Group and Steve Chapman visited their corporate office and met the National Vendor Manager. The visit combined with the raving reviews from Marc’s work allowed doors to open for more of the Delta Disaster Services network. Currently, Steve is working behind the scenes to submit applications for the eligible locations. Once we have more information on those approvals we will let you know.
Golfing for the Vets Delta Disaster Services of Southern Utah held their annual golf tournament again this year on September 11. The group has seen great success with this tournament in the past and this year was no different. The office hosts the tournament every year to benefit the local veteran’s home. The tournament this year was highly attended and the group was again able to raise some great funds for the veteran’s home. Many of our offices have seen some exciting success with hosting charity golf tournaments. If this is something you are interested in doing, please do not hesitate to contact us or any of the offices that have put on these tournaments.
Profit! Profit, prof·itˈ präfit/ noun: “A financial benefit that is realized when the amount of revenue gained from a business activity exceeds the expenses, costs and taxes needed to sustain the activity.” Sale, sāl/ noun: “A sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation.” The difference… You can have a million dollars in sales and not make a penny in profit. If your expenses exceed your sales, your profit is nonexistent! Without profit you will not remain in business. The hard, cold truth is without the proper profit margins on jobs you will not make money and you will not remain in business… So, how do you ensure you have the proper profit margins? There are not many construction professionals who would show up on a job site without the correct tools to do the job. As a construction professional, you want to use all tools at your disposal! First, is your estimate correct? Are you having your estimate reviewed by Denver? (If Mike is not available, just let Ragan or Dixie know and we will find someone to review your estimate.) Are you reviewing P&L’s on all closed jobs? This is your opportunity to see what is making money, how much the job is making or has made and determine what went right and what went wrong. This is a great tool for improving your processes in the future. Other Tools in your Profit Toolbox: Mitigation: • • • • •
Are you using the “Money Sheet”? Are you capturing all billable items? Are you watching/controlling your labor costs? (This one can bite you really fast!) Are you watching all supplies and buying at best prices? Have you asked subcontractors for discounts?
Construction: • • • • • • •
You should know what your margin is BEFORE you start the work. Are you building your scopes and PO’s in DMS? Have you built the sub scope correctly? Are you using the correct subcontractor for the job? Are you factoring the sub scope correctly? (This category is your number one opportunity to either make your margin or not make your margin.) Are you watching/controlling labor costs? Have you asked for discounts where you can?
Go out and make some SALES and bring in the PROFITS! Please remember we are always here to help. If you need assistance reviewing estimate or P&L’s just ask. If you need help building your scopes & PO’s just ask. If you would like to understand how you can better build and use your subcontractors, just ask. We are always here!
And we will leave you with this…
Being positive in a negative situation is not naïve, it’s called leadership! Ralph Marston