Summer disasters can come in all shapes and sizes, from wildfires, hurricanes and floods, to smaller everyday disasters such as a house fire or burst pipe. They happen all over the country and at a moment’s notice.
In franchising, your number one goal is to support your franchisees with all the resources, tools, and training to help them succeed against adversity. As a disaster restoration company – as well as a franchisor – our mission is to make navigating through disasters as easy as possible.
Our clients are in need of specialty restoration services such as art, documents, electronics, and textiles. As a franchise network, our expertise is expansive, and we service many different types of clients. Our abilities range from homes, office buildings, churches, medical facilities, manufacturing facilities, and many more. The corporate staff has many experts in these spaces to provide the franchisees with any information and support they need.
Catastrophic events can get overwhelming very quickly. As summer weather events are predicted to increase in both number and severity, it’s becoming more important in all parts of the country for our franchisees to get prepared before they happen. The development of local relationships for resources that may be needed during major summer disaster events is imperative. Equipment, protective safety gear, hotels, cars, fuel, etc. are the lifeblood during these moments, and having partnerships in place ensures that you have what you need at hand, if and when the time comes.
Organization is key
Over the years, we’ve found that the most important thing during an event is to stay organized. The calls come in quickly, and when disasters are widespread you’re sometimes traveling hours between customers. It’s easy to lose track of how many sites you’ve visited, who you need to follow up with, and what service they may need.
We have created many support tools to navigate these events, but hosting calls with our franchisees who are located in the stricken area has proven to be one of the best and most effective. These allow us to not only collaborate with our franchisees to navigate their support needs but enable them to collaborate with the other franchisees in their area as well. After all, the spirit behind franchising is collaboration. As a home office support team, this allows us to support the franchises with whatever resources they need in the moment.
“Many franchise systems provide initial training and then take a hands-off approach regardless of the outcome. But by providing ongoing support, regardless of the day or time, in sales, marketing, customer service and operations, and sending your own staff into the local markets to evaluate business strategies, you can help franchisees lay a roadmap for success,” said Jim Wohlers of Prism Specialties of Metro Atlanta.
Dealing with the aftermath
Fortunately, most businesses and homeowners only experience a loss event once in a lifetime, but if it happens they don’t know what to expect or understand their role in the process. They have many questions and concerns. We spend our days in the field helping customers who have just experienced the worst day of their lives.
The emotional toll of disasters on franchisees can be heavy. Helping as many people as possible is often the goal, but it’s also important to rest and recover. Burnout can happen quickly because the needs are many.
Often, all the motivation our franchisees need is knowing that they have a strong support system, and they’re not alone. You can support your franchises and customers most by being available when they need you to be.
“We don’t chase storms, instead we prepare our clients for them”
Aaron Ellis, chief marketing officer at Honest Abe Roofing
Here at Honest Abe Roofing we’ve developed a method of running roofing appointments that focus on efficiency and attention to detail. When homeowners schedule an appointment with us, they’re never looking to replace their roofs because of aesthetic reasons. Homeowners are looking to replace their roofs because they’re experiencing a problem.
When it comes to summer disasters, you have limited options available after the damage is done. It usually involves a full replacement or a heft repair. You truly have a better chance before the storm – so our business premise is that we don’t chase storms, we prepare our clients for them.
When people think of preparing for things like summer disasters, they tend to take the DIY approach. That is, draping tarps over parts of their home, nailing boards to windows, and securing furniture using whatever materials they have to hand. While some of these DIY methods are necessary to prepare for a storm, there are a lot of things that a roofing professional can take care of for you. By doing so, you can ensure your roof is getting the best possible care in advance of a severe weather event.
We provide ample training to our roofing professionals so they can deliver excellent service to our clients. We pride ourselves on outstanding customer service, and the only way we can guarantee this service is to spend hours of time training and preparing our franchisees and staff to provide the best assistance and experience. After all, when setting yourself up for a summer storm, it’s nice to know you are speaking to someone who really does care and knows the information.
As a roofing company that spans multiple states, you have to be prepared for any kind of summer weather. Some locations experience tornadoes and hail storms, while others go through devastating hurricanes. Honest Abe Roofing has taken into consideration the various disasters that can happen, and we’ve thought of everything. It starts with the first part of our process, the initial appointment. We send out trained professionals to make a thorough inspection, identifying weak points and any existing damage. If all it needs is a repair, our roofing professional comes stocked with tools and materials to get the job done the same day. If it’s a replacement, we move on to the next biggest part – the design of the roof.
We have made sure that every location has access to the best materials for our roofs. Our executive collection roofs, such as our rib panel roof, come with class A fire ratings, class 4 impact ratings, and can withstand gale force winds.
Throughout the whole process, we’re checking quality to make sure everything goes the way it should. You can only be completely prepared if the roof is installed properly, and with the training we provide our locations and employees, we guarantee it will be done the right way.
To prepare for these summer disasters, our roofing professionals make sure our clients are following some best practices, like cleaning out the gutters to prevent clogging, and water flow back up. Our clients should also be inspecting any limbs from surrounding trees that could damage their homes.
When it comes to weather, the best we can do is prepare. We know that preparing is the key to success and our training efforts and methods of operation help contribute to that preparation.
The author
Kaneallia Parsons is the director of operations at Prism Specialties.
