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JimF
USA
1014 Posts |
 Posted - 02/07/2003 : 11:14:25
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Don E. mentioned setting up a team concept which has been successful in working cats.
Please use this thread so share how working as a 'team' may have worked for you. Perhaps your team is a spouse or boy/girlfriend or your best friend, relative or a newbee you're mentoring.
How do you separate tasks? What have you learned to make the process work better or discovered that doesn't work.
Please share your thoughts and ideas so we all can learn. |
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CCarr
Canada
1200 Posts |
Posted - 02/07/2003 : 11:27:17
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| Tom, if you could or would, I would really appreciate hearing about how you and Janice handle this. From its beginning of how it started, its evolution, its fine tuning (if that occured); and how you now see it as a 'machine' and a very fine arrangement. This type of arrangement has been on my mind for some time. Thanks in advance, and the same to others who may wish to share the inner workings of this type of unique situation. |
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Dadx9
USA
143 Posts |
Posted - 02/07/2003 : 11:47:31
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Jim,
Gary an I teamed up starting in 1997, mainly because he could bankroll me until I got on my feet. Gary and I subscribe to the "purple ink" philosophy. As the customer, whatever you want you get. You want it it in purple ink? You got it. Because of that, and Gary's infectious nature, we became very popular as a team. Whenever I or Gary got a call we always included the other as a part of the 'Kansas City Boys'. We began to meet others on the road who subsribed to our 'purple ink' thoughts and / or shared our men of integrity position. We also met some younguns here on the board and helped them get started. In time we had a stable of 7 or 8 adjusters (male and female) who were part of our team. This really culminated during Hurricane Georges (Pensacola, FL) in '98? We were receiving calls and taking up to 400 claims at a time. Man, was the purple ink flowing. So what started out as two best friends needing each other and became the Kansas City Boys. Today we still have relationship with all who were part of the team. We laugh, cry and pray together often. I see most are still working and investing themselves in others. That has become very satisfying.
Now, Gary and I (and others) have aligned ourselves with others here on CADO. We have yet really all worked together, but are in contact weekly. This site is very important to me and my family. We are constantly building relationships. (Right Kahuna?) That's what it's all about.
I highly recommend teaming. It supports you, eductaes you and holds you accountable.
I wish I could bankroll a new team. A team of the finest that would always provide the best. But, the best swim in many different streams and that's a good thing.
Hope this helps.
Don
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Don
"To be held in the heart of a friend is to be a king."
Bruce Cockburn |
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JimF
USA
1014 Posts |
Posted - 02/07/2003 : 11:54:08
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Don, did you find greater acceptance of your team concept with vendors and carriers?
Are/were there any special problems which working as a team concept can present, and if so, how did/do you overcome those obstacles?
And were you working at times directly with carriers while bypassing the vendors?
What suggestions would you make to others who wanted to emulate and imitate your success?
While I understand the term and grasp as well what I think you are saying, please explain further what you mean when you say you wish you could 'bankroll' another team? Are there special considerations for bankrolling a team which one would not encounter on an individual basis?
Did your 'team' share in income equally, or did you work as a team, but receive income based on individual production and performance?
Don, thanks for sharing so others may learn! |
Edited by - JimF on 02/07/2003 11:58:50 |
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Dadx9
USA
143 Posts |
Posted - 02/07/2003 : 12:04:57
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In the past, I have always worked through vendors. They have been my customer. Recently, I have been approached to 'go direct' or participate in being the vendor.
Suggestions? I guess the same as I do for my kids. Set the bar (standard very high) realizing we only attain about 80% of what we shoot for.
I believe in creating the best, detailed estimate you can. The old rule of, if the President of the company (who has never adjusted a claim) picks up his old friend's file. That file should speak to the reader even if they have never been there. Thank God for the note taking abilities and Spell Check in all the new programs. I utilize the notation parts of the estimating programs. If you didn't write it down it didn't happen. I utilize the Short Form Report on most claims.
This is what has brought me to the dance.
My experience says that the vendors and eventually the carriers like the team concept. I believe the husband and wife teams are the best and most widey appreciated.
Down to 5 at home, so who knows? Maybe Robyn can come with me someday. |
Don
"To be held in the heart of a friend is to be a king."
Bruce Cockburn |
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CCarr
Canada
1200 Posts |
Posted - 02/07/2003 : 12:47:57
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I have considered and debated the 'team approach' to claims for years. I have seen it work well in cat situations, and I have also heard the postmortems of failed attempts at this approach.
In non-cat, day to day claims, I am a proponent of a team approach for large or complex claims. I seem to be in a minority among former and current comrades, regarding this view. Often those in disagreement say, 'this is my claim, I want it all, I don't need help'. I disagree and see many offsetting benefits to the eventual outcome when tackled in a team concept.
As I suggested in some other post, long ago, the first 48 hours after a loss report are critical; be it cat or otherwise.
I think that a team (of 2) should have one adjuster as the 'control adjuster' for that file, who manages the direction and implementation of all the steps required, including the direction of the other team member. But, that other team member can be a large benefit in that process.
I recognize cat vendors welcome a professional team, but don't see or hear about that same enthusiasm by day to day vendors or carriers.
In my carrier days, I used to initiate claims teams, mostly as a training initiative, but on large or complex losses to speed up the process of getting a handle on the situation.
I personally do a far bit of team work, and like it, more recently with a few fellas with myself as the 'supporting' team member. However, most of this is done without the knowledge of the carrier or vendor, and in an effort to maintain that veil, more of it done 'behind the scenes', in a wide variety of functions; that still contribute to the resolution of the claim.
Can anyone enlighten me on this perceived attitude of singleness that seems to prevail, other than with a cat vendor? |
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Janice Toll
USA
40 Posts |
Posted - 02/08/2003 : 13:32:39
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Our working as a team began in 1991, Hurricane “Bob”, in MA, and came about because Tom was going and I had nothing better to do. My assistance to Tom at that time was limited to writing down what he said, assisting insureds in completing a spoiled foods list, and, as Tom felt my handwriting better than his, writing (yes, we still did it that way in ’91) the estimate Tom dictated to me. There’s a lot more to that storm story, and I’ll cover it under the appropriate thread.
Our next year was working for an independent firm in their Tampa office. When “Andrew” hit, Tom immediately went to Miami, with the same firm to work aircraft losses initially, and I a couple of weeks later. 12 to 15 hour days were spent in the office. When I got home I helped Tom with commercial property estimates (thankful for computers), and in the remaining 3 to 4 hours, I slept. We were in South Florida two years, chose not to go to California for the earthquake (due to the state of our minds, bodies, and spirits), and returned to Arkansas.
Tom and I continued to do storm work; several hail storms, hurricanes, and tornados. Tom and three other General Adjusters were kind enough to share their knowledge. I studied, learned all I could from anyone willing to teach, and became a licensed property adjuster. By the way, I’m not a one-peril adjuster; I’ve worked just about all types of property claims.
We don’t feel the team concept would be right for all husbands and wives. When you’re an adjusting team, you’re together 24/7, usually in fairly cramped quarters, and that sometimes puts a strain on even the best marriage. While Tom and I don’t always agree on everything related to property adjusting we work well together. We tried working separately and that was O.K., with one exception – Tom didn’t much like staying home with only the dogs for company. We’ll still work separately if the situation arises, but enjoy working together.
We tried doing things in different ways until we developed a method that works for us. We feel it was the fine tuning of our organizational methodology that allowed us to inspect approximately 400 buildings in Lafayette in less than two months. When we arrive at a storm site and receive claims, I sort the claims by severity and enter the loss addresses in the DeLorme Street Atlas. Once this is done, I start calling and scheduling appointments. While I am doing this, Tom enters the claims in the computer.Being independents, we want that first paycheck as soon as possible, so I try to schedule a mix of claims, both minor - that can be closed quickly, and severe - which will take longer, in the same general area.
When we go out to do inspections, Tom drives and I “tell him where to go”. Seriously, Tom watches traffic and I watch the DeLorme. We tried turning on the voice command, but find the voice just annoys us. When we arrive at the loss site, I get the ladder out of the truck and set it up (it’s a Little Giant, light, quick and easy to set up), Tom takes the risk photo, and I greet the insured. We also carry Tom’s Big Giant and mostly he handles it, cause it is heavy; however, it is about 8 pounds lighter than the quadra-fold I used to carry. By sharing putting up the ladder and taking it down, we preserve energy throughout the day. We ask the insured to tell us about their damages. We also spend a little time with the insured to allow them to vent their frustration of the loss and to tell us “their story”. By listening, you learn.
We then inspect the roof. When we get on the roof, we both perform the inspection and then I prepare the diagram and measure while Tom takes photos. If there is interior damage, we go inside, and essentially the same sequence is repeated. I make scope notes and take measurements while Tom photographs. One reason this works so well for us is that Tom is a much better photographer than I. I cannot fail to mention that Tom always enters the photos in Photo Adjuster before we leave the site, to ensure that all photos are as they should be. As some of you already know, Tom has extorted this virtue for a long time, and I finally got the message while working in the Denver, Colorado area. I had a loss in Greeley and everything went great until I started to do my photos and discovered I had a bad disk. Was my face red when I told Tom what had happened? You bet it was, and it took me over a week of trying at least once a day and leaving messages, to reach the insured to schedule an appointment to go back and re-take photos. Tom always takes more photos than we submit and saves them on a CD in case some dispute comes up. His philosophy is and has always been, a picture is worth a thousand words.
When we return to base camp, Tom describes and prints photos, I return any necessary phone calls, make first contacts on any new claims we have received, and work on estimates and reports. When Tom finishes the photos, he too works on estimates and reports. When we finish, we check each other’s work for possible mistakes.
This exact sequence is not always the best, but we’ve learned by working together to identify situations where some other method is better.
I don’t require a lot of sleep; and even find it difficult to sleep during a storm, knowing that all those people are waiting for me to complete my part of their claim process. For this reason, and because Tom and I have fine-tuned our teamwork, we generally can close all but the most severe and some of the commercial claims right away. This helps the bank account and makes the insured and those we work for happy.
I apologize for being so wordy, but feel that to answer all of Jim’s questions and those of Clayton, most was necessary.
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Janice R. Martin-Toll |
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Newt
USA
657 Posts |
Posted - 02/08/2003 : 14:18:40
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Janice, Remarkable story, and I love the way you and Tom work together. Since I am organizing an LLC with my daughter who also has her license, I thought I would try the team approach. I have two grandsons who also have their license we may include them. The way you and Tom work together was kind of what I had in mind. I don't sleep much either, after 5 or 6 hours, I feel like I am getting bed sores. Thanks for the lay out, and it wasn't wordy at all.
Clayton you had a very interesting article about a month ago, under marketing with a team approach. It is what got me to thinking about it. See, I wasn't asleep in class. thanks |
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mshort68
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - 02/08/2003 : 14:19:22
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If I am going to pay someone, it is going to be myself. I'll work the longer hours when I'm out there because I know that I'll be home with all of MY money in the bank. If you have to train someone, that is a different story, but I work better by myself than having someone get in the way.
I've used the team concept as a staffer and we knocked out 10 ice claims in three hours. All first contact settled. Of course the averaged payout was only $2500, but everything thing was complete. Now that is two guys who knew what they were doing and got after it. I couldn't afford to pay him what he is worth. |
The grass is always greener on the other side, but it still has to be mowed! |
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CCarr
Canada
1200 Posts |
Posted - 02/08/2003 : 17:15:23
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Janice, thank you very much, that one goes in the 'vault' for later use.
I'm getting too old or homey, to venture away any distance for any length of time anymore, without my long time butterfly with me; other than on some fishing or hunting trips.
After 30 some years, we seem to tolerate each other better all the time, and it seemed like a pretty good start way back when.
This could be the answer for me / us, to renew my thirst for 'hitting the road'. |
Edited by - CCarr on 02/08/2003 17:21:07 |
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Dadx9
USA
143 Posts |
Posted - 02/08/2003 : 17:49:03
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mshort 68,
I agree with what you're saying, mostly. The teanm concept that first mentioned was a group of individual adjusters 'joining' up together for support and friendship. We also found it benefical to 'bounce' things off each other.
I do however not believe that having admin. people very benefical if you are on a storm site and someone can type, telephone, etc. Our time is extremely valuable when we concentrate our efforts.
But my experience is much like yours, I usually do it all.
Just some thoughts about earning as much in the shortest time. |
Don
"To be held in the heart of a friend is to be a king."
Bruce Cockburn |
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'Team' Adjusting On Cats
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