Communication DilemmaI have been a Disaster Restoration contractor in the water fire mold damage disaster business for over 18 years. Every time I ask what adjusters or property managers want from contractors the answer is always the same. They say "we want better communication between us and you the contractor". Most contractors' obvious answer is "you bet, we will communicate with you at the highest level and when you call we'll be there!" Interestingly this is the usual quick and fast answer to a problem that has never been solved. To really understand the issue for those who are not an adjuster or a property manager , here are some examples of the communication problems that have plagued the minds and frustrations of many adjusters and property managers.1. THE CONTRCATOR WAS SUPPOSE TO START TWO WEEKS AGO AND NOT HAS NO ONE SHOWED UP, PLUS NO ONE HAS CALLED! - A classic that still to this day still is as is popular in years past. There is no excuse but bad management. Here's my personal stance. If you can't handle the job don't take it. Now some may say that the contractor was just pure irresponsible and inconsiderate (among other things).In some instances this may be true. Some contractors may just have no consideration and try to schedule as many projects as they can. Although in the beginning they may be a good juggler of projects, eventually like the best jugglers they drop a ball. But then what is the main issue besides the fact that the contractor shouldn't have taken the job due to many "balls". The main issue is that the contractor should have at least called the insured/customer and the adjuster/property manager to let them know what is going on. The question is how do we solve this issue'2."I HAVE CALLED THOSE CONTRACTORS A THOUSAND TIMES AND THEY NEVER CALL ME BACK." Having been a "customer "myself I understand this situation myself. There is nothing more frustrating than hiring a contractor and putting your trust in them and then they let you down. But lets turn the situation around and let's assume that the contractor actually did call and left messages. The contractor actually left several messages with the husband, son and the daughter. How many of you have had messages left with a family member (especially teenagers) who forget to write down or forget to give you a message. Now I understand that not all teenagers forget to write down messages (just mine) but it does happen. The question is do we blame the message takers or do we blame the contractor? 3."THE CONTRCATOR SAID THAT THE JOB WOULD TAKE ONE MONTH AND NOW IT'S TAKING THREE MONTHS".Oh boy here's another great example of what looks like either bad communication or just bad contractor management. The question you should ask is who we would believe the contractor who swears that he told the customer that the project would take three months or the customer/insured who says one month. As a contractor myself who is now acting as innocent bystander (i.e. adjuster or property manager) this is a bad intersection to be in. Any of the two could be telling the truth, lying or a pool of misunderstanding. Again the question is how do we prevent this situation from happening again? THE SYSTEM I wish there was a magical wand to wave over this and any situation and make it more "communication friendly". Although there is no magic wand, there is a system that has worked for SI Restoration (www.si-restoration.com). The system is a combination of our job production software and Micheal Cohn (the owner of SI Restoration) communication design to prevent communication mishaps and customers jobs falling in the cracks. The whole system is managed by Mike Stiles are C.O.O and we will see that he can manage and supervise the whole system from his desk. Here's the process of the system:Step 1: When a mitigation (water damage, fire damage, mold damage clean up) is called in to our office, the information is put into our system simultaneously as the customer is being scheduled for a crew to be dispatched. The job production software has already been programmed to automatically contact the estimator, job inspector and the customer service representative. These folks will call the customer and set appointments and call for their respective duties. Step 2: The estimator has 4 hours to contact the customer ( live or by message) . The estimator then has 48 hours from the site visit to send an estimate to the adjuster. PART 2 WILL BE SENT NEXT MONTHFOR QUESTIONS CALL JEFF COHN 410-458-5371