May 22, 2023
Marketers often charge into a prospect’s office with a list of ‘problems’ they’re going to help them solve. The marketer has been conditioned to be a problem solver, so they tend to focus all their energy on how to fix whatever issue the prospect is having. Even many coaches and advisers that teach
marketers and salespeople how to ‘sell’ are spewing out the primary theme of solving problems. Unfortunately, marketers are usually trying to solve ‘problems’ that aren’t the number one issue with their client.
“Every problem has a solution, although it may not be the outcome that was originally hoped for or expected.”
Humans are natural problem solvers. The fact that we’ve endured as long as a group of people as we have is evidence of that. Human beings are also natural problem seekers. Let that one sink in. You know it’s true. And I’m not talking just about those associates we are involved with every day! It’s daunting and takes focus to avoid. We just spend so much time solving problems, that we naturally seek problems to resolve, even if we don’t have those difficulties right now.
Group–think pervades customer service. Most believe that if we (or our marketers) can be courteous, responsive, helpful and resolve a customer issue quickly, then we’ve excelled at the art of customer service and by extension, solve their problems.
But resolving today’s issue usually doesn’t prevent future issues, either the same one or a related concern. Leading service companies are realizing that there are predictable patterns to prospect issues (at least within a specific vertical), and sometimes across the board. There’s even the misconception that it’s related to a complaint about the company you represent. Reality, though, many times it’s directly related to the prospects’ own issues or problems. Business people (your prospects) do have issues, concerns and problems that you can solve.
Three simple steps to solve problems.
- Identify the problem. What is the problem? Get some background of what happened and when. Clarify and learn as much as you can. What issue or challenge does it present to them or their business?
- Ask and answer the best questions. Don’t blow past this step and rush to a solution. How prevalent is the problem? Are we dealing with it every month? Week? Day? Who is involved in the problem? Same people every time or different? How long has this been going on? Has something happened that has caused this to happen? Did something stop happening that caused this to happen?
- Decide who owns the solution and be clear so they can be accountable. If they aren’t directly able to accept and use your suggestions, you’re barking up the wrong tree.
The ideas listed above are over-simplification, but it’s important to start somewhere.
Typically, more often than not, the problem first mentioned is not the one they need the solution to! Many times, prospects, clients, customers will beat around the bush and NOT tell you their primary pain or concern up front. They keep it to themselves either out of embarrassment or they don’t know their main pain. Let’s face it, solving problems is hard. You must deal with uncertainty, set aside large amounts of time dedicated to working through a solution, and sometimes you don’t find a solution!
That is why the rewards in our society go to those people who solve problems. The more people that experience the problem you are solving and the greater they value a solution, the more you will be financially rewarded for your solution. Just be careful that you don’t charge in there like some knight on a white horse tackling the first issue they mention. Dig deep. Ask lots of questions and listen to what they are really saying.
Co-authored by Beth Hinton and D Wagner
May 2, 2023
In a land where there are around 75,000 mitigation and restoration contractors in the US, each performs their work by doing similar services. We all
extract water approximately the same way. Fire and Smoke remediation is also very much the same. Even mold abatement is cleaned up using just a handful of processes. How will you be different than your competitor if you all do the clean-up in a similar way?
Even more important than how you perform the remediation, is what do you do (or offer) that separates you from the other competitors in your market? When everyone is removing water from the carpet the same way (using truck-mounts or portables), or Xtreme Xtractors, there’s no real reason to use one company over another. Yes, even the drying processes are also very routine. Everyone seems to use dehu’s, air movers, and sometimes air scrubbers.
If each company in your market confirms with the property owner the way you will dry their property, then there’s no compelling reason they need to use you! The less you are different, the less likely they are to use you. Lots of differences – lots of reasons to hire you. When you all do very similar services, it often comes down to who is the cheapest. If you were buying Heinz Ketchup at one grocery store for $4.00, and it was priced at $2.00 at another store nearby, you’d probably not pay $4.00. Why would you, it’s less.
One important factor in differentiation is whether you are different or unusual enough that prices are suddenly not as big a factor. Think of buying a car… one dealer has the car on his lot with exactly the same features as another dealer does a few miles down the road. And the dealer down the road has the same price, but he’s offering free maintenance for a full 4 years! All things being similar, (and even equal), you’ll likely buy the car from the dealer that has the best freebies.
So many contractors tend to make it about the price, but when they demonstrate how different, unusual, or remarkable they are, suddenly price isn’t much of a factor anymore. The customer’s home is like his ‘castle’ and the company chosen will be the one that offers empathy and shows the homeowner how they (contractor) will give them the white-glove treatment, and truly provide services they won’t or can’t get from the other companies.
We’ve learned that people make purchase decisions based on emotion. When it’s “all about price” it falls into a commodities situation, and then it IS about the price. How you demonstrate empathy, offer special ‘concierge’ services, or are willing to work with the homeowner’s schedule, all of a sudden they quit 
worrying about the cost. They are focused on your concierge services, a bundle of special things that only your company offers.
Few of us can legitimately state we are unparalleled or unique. We need to launch solid Differentiation, clearly separating us in some way from our local competitors. The days of being one up on your competition by having a special piece of equipment or process are gone. So is your ability to say you are “unrivaled” in what you do as part of the mitigation or restoration process.
Offering to do things for them that aren’t normally available from the other companies, such as: providing personal concierge services, or paying for them to stay in a hotel the first night. These little things amount to huge differences between you and the others. Especially combining several small things together as a bigger offer. Providing them with an emergency kit, compiled by your company, will help differentiate you from other contractors.
In the emergency kit, you might want to include toothpaste, tooth brush, deodorant, and several other personal grooming items. One client we work with includes a teddy bear in the kit. These kits work well for Fire or Smoke, or even Mold projects where they have to move out of the house temporarily. When you decide that you are not special and offer the same thing as everyone else – then and only then are you in a position to be creative and Different. Simply, to be different, you need to offer something the rest of your competitors either can’t or won’t offer.
Differentiation has two major components: overall distinction and perception of scarcity. Ask a buyer why they selected one provider over another when they make a purchase and there’s usually more than one single reason. There’s a collection of distinctions that ultimately makes the front-runner stand out in the customer’s mind. The companies winning the job are often the ones who help buyers see what’s possible, different, and bring new ideas to the table.
Also, when a potential customer perceives that something is scarce, it stands out to them, and they tend to desire it more when it’s difficult to find.
Co-authored by Beth Hinton and D Wagner
Mar 23, 2023
You need to see what the problem is made of – before trying to solve it. So many restoration contractors, (and even marketers) tend to dive into the issue 
without considering what’s really needed. We’ve had contractors call us for equipment or supplies and often “shoot from the hip” without thinking through what they really need. We’re happy to sell you a LOT of equipment or just a couple pieces.
A perfect example is someone needing more air movers or dehu’s and just “winging it” – asking for some random amount of equipment. Little thought was given to what models or quantity they really needed – especially considering that need was during a mini-CAT, or even a hurricane.
Please don’t take this the wrong way – but we like to help a client out when they know exactly what they need – or at a minimum – discuss with us what the situation is, and then we can help solve the problem without selling you too much or sometimes worse – too little.
One of the big differences between First Choice and the “big boys” (major supply houses) is we aren’t motivated to ring up the big dollars each time. So many of those big boys have a huge monthly rent on their warehouse and many employees – all contributing to the need to charge a lot more and sell you even more than you need. Sure, they claim to have value-added services such as training and classes, but that may not be necessary when you need to buy equipment.
With our very low overhead and just a few quality people on staff, we can usually provide you with not only superb service, but also excellent prices on what you need. National supply houses may claim to buy huge quantities from the manufacturer, but there is a real cost associated the warehousing, and handling of that equipment.
Often, buying too much can take valuable resources (money) away from your cash reserves. Certainly the last thing you need is to be short on cash and not be able to make payroll. The “big boys” want paid right away, and suddenly you find that your other bills are delinquent. First Choice will work with you, and when it’s a major purchase, we have financial resources from third parties to help.
If you are local to Colorado, you might even consider renting some items from us. We have many pieces of equipment that can be rented at incredibly reasonable rates.
It’s important for you to remember that we sell NEW, Buy and Sell USED, and have supplies in quantities that make sense. All our USED equipment is completely checked and serviced as needed so you have confidence in the used equipment you buy from us.
And don’t forget, if you own trailer-mounted generators or desiccants, Wade is on staff to service machines making them able to properly work for you when you need them (often in the middle of the night)!
Authors Beth Hinton and D Wagner
Mar 6, 2023
We get phone calls all the time asking how much drying equipment we should put on the water-damaged property. So many contractors don’t know whether the equipment they plan to use will be supported by the available electric system.
First – let’s address the amount (size, type, and quantity) of Dehumidifiers. Many contractors simply use what they have on the truck – or in their warehouse. It’s a terrible rule of thumb to operate this way.
Most contractors have a basic knowledge of scoping a water-damaged facility and can calculate how much area has been affected. So, you can then determine the cubic feet of the area affected. The quick “rule of thumb” you can use is quite simple: LxWxHx3/60 = the amount to CFM required. (This is when you are considering desiccant machines).
You should know what the capacity is of your portable dehu’s as well as the CFM of desiccant machines. A simple scenario is as follows:
Length of affected area X Width of the same area X ceiling Height X 3 (air exchanges per hour) / 60 (minutes in hour) – equals the CFM required. You should know the CFM rating of your machines. All of them are different.
And in smaller situations, such as a room 20 feet long by 30 feet wide by 10 feet height = 600/AHAM rating (# pints of water removed in a 24hr period). A typical 200 AHAM rated LGR (low grain refrigerant dehu) means you would need 3 units.
Although this is a simple basic formula, it gives you a reasonable guesstimate of what you’ll need. The IICRC S-500 has a much more detailed and elaborate methodology which would be far more accurate. The E3 system developed by Chuck Dewald III and Chris Laney is easy and even more accurate – taking in to account small details such as brand name of the equipment you will use.
This formula is intended to a quick calculation for when you first arrive at the job attempting to get an approximation of what you’ll need. Once you get into the job you may want to add or remove some equipment.
The other important number you need is “what is the capacity” of the power source on the job. For example: if you are going to use Phoenix Centrifugal Air Movers which draw a maximum of 2.8 amps each and you have one available 15-amp circuit – then you’ll only be able to plug in 5 air movers. Remember that the 15-amp receptacle might be connected to several other outlets on the wall, or in that room!
Many times, you will need far more equipment than you have available electric. That means you’re going to need an auxiliary generator to provide the needed power. We’ve found that many “larger” losses often need a generator on site to power all the equipment. When that happens, you might consider renting (or even owning) a 45kW diesel fired generator.
If you need equipment, Air Movers, Dehumidifiers, Trailer-mounted Desiccant, or even want to own a Generator, First Choice Drying Equipment has what you need – at a price the ’big chains’ can’t give you. First Choice has been in business for 30+ years and is there when you need them!
![Maintenance After A CAT]()
Feb 6, 2023
You had a very successful run during the Hurricane. So now what? Aside from recouping your expenses, which I hope you have done, and aside from collecting all of your invoices, you used a lot of equipment for a few weeks.
And they really did get used heavily during the Hurricane or if you didn’t travel, they equipment was all out on jobs during the last major recent freeze. Air movers, portable dehu’s, air scrubbers and desiccants all were put into action.
Now is the time to take the next step. Maintenance, service and repairs should be one of the next steps that you perform. You may be able to service and replace small parts on your air movers or air scrubbers but may need a thorough servicing of dehu’s and desiccants.
If you own, and operated trailer-mounted desiccants, 2000, 5000cfm, or larger on recent jobs, it will be necessary to perform a complete maintenance of that equipment. You may already know it, but generators, especially larger trailered generators require oil changes and other service every 100 hours of operation. That means just over 4 days of use! Particularly if you’re running your generator every day or over an extended period.
Even if you haven’t used your generator much lately, it will still need regular oil changes to ensure that it starts when you need it. Since both generators and desiccants are rather complicated, very few companies are truly qualified to properly service and maintain the machines.
I’ve known of many contractors that were well-qualified to handle large losses and ow large drying equipment. Unfortunately, they didn’t get their desiccants or generators regularly serviced and had egg on their face when they set up at a large loss only to have the equipment fail to start or fail to stay running at the jobsite.
Even worse is when the adjuster arrives, and the equipment is on-site but won’t start. Talk about embarrassment – I’ve heard of times when the contractor got thrown off the job just because the equipment was working. It becomes the perfect excuse for a large-loss adjuster to bring his own buddies onto the job.
We usually don’t think about portable dehumidifiers as needing service, but they aren’t much different than the bigger equipment. You may experience a dehu that:
- Isn’t working effectively or efficiently
- Overflows or leaks from a loose hose or failed pump
- Freezes up because its either low or out of refrigerant
- Bad odors from being dirty, or in a previously dirty environment
- Noisy because fan blades are damaged or parts inside are loose
- Doesn’t extract water because the coils are dirty
Aside from flat-out not working or not dehumidifying, standard cleaning and filter changes should happen regularly. Nobody wants a filthy machine in their home or business.
Over the past few years, contractors have purchased and have in inventory, equipment that is heavy and often requires two people to load, unload, and take down basement stairs. Especially when only one guy is on the job, the dehu’s get jostled and bumped around. This can cause machines to fail at the most inopportune time.
First Choice Drying Equipment sells used equipment. Everything from air movers to desiccant dehumidifiers and more. We make sure the equipment undergoes a very elaborate maintenance check and we assure that it is in good working order before we release it for sale.
We buy used equipment, so if you want to sell some or all of it, call (719) 240-4929 about the equipment you would like us to consider buying. We are a certified provider of service and repairs for Phoenix and Xpower equipment under warranty. We also service non-warranty desiccants and dehumidifier equipment on an hourly agreement.
Authors Dick Wagner and Beth Hinton
