The Restoration Sales Process That Wins Jobs Inside the Home

Why fast estimates and urgency win more self-pay jobs.

If you're a restoration business owner, I've got a question for you: Are you noticing that our world is becoming much more "self-pay"?

Deductibles are getting higher, so people are afraid to file claims. They’re choosing to handle the costs out of pocket, and if you're seeing that out in the field, you're not alone. My clients are seeing it all over the country, and it’s a trend that is only going to continue to snowball.

I want to talk to you about a simple process you’ve got to put in place right now to get ahead of this. If you don't, you're just going to keep losing jobs.

The Sure Way to Lose a Job

I’m not trying to paint a picture of doom and gloom. Not at all. There are people out there who are winning at the self-pay game, but first, let’s look at how most people lose.

Here is the "sure way" to lose a self-pay job:

1. The intake person schedules the inspection.
2. The technician goes out, sees the damage, and hears that the homeowner wants an estimate.
3. The technician takes some notes and says, "Okay, somebody will get back to you with an estimate."
4. The technician gives that info to the office.
5. The office provides an estimate in a day, two days, or—even worse—a week and a half.

Guess what happens? You lose the job. In a self-pay world, that delay is a deal-killer.

Creating Urgency from the First Call

The people who are winning are setting expectations right from the start—beginning with that very first intake call. They are setting the expectation that they are coming out to work, not just to look.

If you’ve watched my other videos, you know the importance of the intake call: showing empathy, showing confidence, and creating a sense of urgency. This is where that urgency pays off. Talk to the property owner about why you need to take action right away. Explain that with the passage of time, the damage gets worse and the job becomes more expensive. Let them know you intend to avoid that by starting immediately.

The On-the-Spot Estimate

People want estimates more than ever before. To win these jobs, you cannot leave the job site without providing one.

I have clients who handle this in different ways. Some send a manager out first to write the estimate. Some use Xactimate, while others use a production management CRM with built-in estimating features. I’ve even seen people use a simple spreadsheet on an iPad or a form on a piece of paper.

I love technology, and ideally, this is all done digitally. But don’t wait until you have the perfect digital solution to start doing this. Be prepared to write an estimate on the spot and get the work started immediately. If you do that, your chances of winning the job go up exponentially.

Stop Losing Jobs to Delay

If you want to learn more about how to price jobs in the field and what a successful process looks like, just book a call with me.

We’ll have a conversation about it, and you’ll leave the call with actual action items to help you sell more jobs. That’s what I love doing—working with restoration businesses to help them get more profitable, reduce the chaos, and build something that’s sellable when they're ready to move on.

Book a call with me, and I’ll see you in the next video.