The DYOJO Podcast

Contractor, if YOU do not value YOUR time, no one else will.  Contractors must value their time. Contractors must set a precedence so that the customer will value their time. A customer will waste a contractor's time without thinking twice about it. Some of them don't care, but many of them don't understand. You must understand the real costs that go into all of your services, including thing...

What Contractor Isn't Familiar With This Frustrating Story... A contractor takes a call for service from a new client. After a brief conversation, they set up a time to inspect the customer's home. The contractor drives to the worksite (30 minutes*). While onsite the contractor spends 30-60 minutes* discussing the project with the customer, performing a detailed inspection of the conditions, takin...

Would you say that wasting time is a challenge in your business? On the last episode of The DYOJO Podcast, I made a promise that we would dive deeper into this concept of the Letter of Intent (LOI). Contractors often debate on whether they should be Charging for estimates or providing them for free Getting a contract signed before an inspection Or various hybrid approaches For a guest appearance w...

There's a lot of back and forth on socials about whether contractors should be charging for estimates. Before we can argue this point, we need to define a few terms.    Estimate.  An estimate is also known as an informed guesstimate; a rough (non-binding) verbal quote based upon the parameters provided.    Proposal or bid.  A declaration of the scope and estimated cos...

As an entrepreneur in the skilled trades, what do you want?  You want to feed your family.  You want your business to have a fighting chance at success.  You want to compete year-to-year. For Episode 89 of The DYOJO Podcast, we discuss Profitability, Project Lifecycles, and introduce the Letter of Intent (LOI) as we grow our businesses.  As we discussed in a prior episode (86)...

We discuss profitability, profits, and introduce the letter of intent as we grow our businesses What do we all want as contractors? We want to provide a good service and be paid for our work. Where does this process start? As we discuss on Episode 86 of The DYOJO Podcast , positive project outcomes start with a clear and consistent client intake process. OVERHEAD & PROFIT  The client inta...

In this podcast conversation with Josh Zolin, I asked our guest if there was a recent business or leadership catchphrase that bugged him, without skipping a beat he said, "Yes! Give it your best effort." Josh is an advocate for helping young people recognize opportunities in the skilled trades, which is the impetus behind his book and podcast, both by the same name, Blue is the New White. As promi...

For the upcoming Episode 88 of The DYOJO Podcast , we have a conversation with a returning guest who shared a thought-provoking question that I believe all leadership teams should consider, “ Which is more important, effort or results? ”  Josh Zolin is an advocate for helping young people recognize opportunities for gainful employment and career development within the skilled trades. This pas...

Property restoration historian and watchdog, Pete Consigli, writes, "Lloyd [Weaver] introduced the first specialty designed Porta Dryer for on-location wet carpet drying. While that might not seem like much in today's sophisticated world, 35 years ago (written in 2007) Lloyd's methodology challenged the rug cleaning establishment and its in-plant wet carpet service."   Lloyd Weaver is an...

Industry icon and property restoration founding father Cliff Zlotnik can be heard weekly on the O.G.'s of industry podcasting, IAQ Radio. Among his many contributions to the professional practice of water and fire damage remediation, Cliff developed an anti-microbial product that was ubiquitous in the industry. There was a time when you would be hard pressed to find a carpet cleaning extraction va...

Martin "Marty" L. King's vision was to, "See the business of insurance restoration and damage repair become a profession."   In this video, which originally aired as part of The DYOJO Podcast Episode 85 , we talk to John Pletcher. Mr. Pletcher was awarded the 2022 MLK Award at the Restoration Industry Association (RIA) Annual Convention. John shares his fond memories of being mentored by and...

The DYOJO Insurance Claims Standard is a guiding principle that will assist owners, managers, and aspiring professionals to train their mindset and habits for success in the property restoration industry.  "Restore the property to resemble pre-loss conditions, with materials of like kind and quality; no more and no less."  The content of this audio is adapted from Chapter 1 of Jon Isaacs...

Pain Points & Profitability: New Client Intake What is one item that most property restoration owners and managers will agree is an issue in their business? Within the Top 5 pain points for restoration contractors will be some aspect of documentation. The Key To Getting Paid Anyone who has been working with water and fire damage mitigation or renovation for more than six months knows that docu...

Project Management Resources with guest Purdue Professor Dr. Randy Rapp. On The DYOJO Podcast, Episode 85 we discuss elements of property restoration history and development of resources such as the Restoration Industry Association (RIA) Body of Knowledge. Pop-ups and shout-outs from restoration past and present include: Cliff Zlotnik Pete Consigli Bob Bonwell (RIP) LA House at LSU Paul LaGrange C...

Homeowners need to educate themselves on a few key items as it relates to insurance claims:   What is covered and what is NOT covered (excluded or capped) in the insurance policy that you purchased?    How should the insurance process work when I hire a contractor to assist me with water or fire damages to my home?    Who decides what the right scope and price is for resto...

Developing Your Leadership Skills  The DYOJO Podcast    Season 3, Episode 84 Are you an aspiring professional looking to grow your career?  Are you a new manager looking for some direction in your roles and responsibilities?  Are you an owner or general manager looking for some fresh perspectives on helping your team develop their leadership skills?  This episode is f...

The DYOJO Podcast   Asbestos and Mold Testing for Home Repairs  Season 3, Episode 83    To start off we discuss the TWO THINGS your company needs, no matter how big or small, to be successful 1) Happy Customers and 2) Profitable Projects.  Resource - thedyojo.com/chart We discuss the importance of identifying and mitigating hazards during water and fire damage restora...

The DYOJO Podcast  The Power & Practice of Questions  Season 3, Episode 82   Contractors who specialize in navigating insurance claims, know that the process can be contentious. In this episode, we discuss mindsets and habits that can assist you in achieving better project outcomes.  According to Merian-Webster, to negotiate means to, “Obtain or bring about by discussion.”&...

The DYOJO Podcast Leveling Up As An Industry Season 3, Episode 81 This episode provides you with some behind-the-scenes and recap items from the 76th Annual Restoration Industry Association (RIA) Convention and Expo 2022. A few items of note include: New membership pricing for RIA Ongoing discussions with Xactware (Verisk) and Symbility (Core Logic) Advocacy and position papers from the AGA - incl...

The DYOJO Podcast   Common Estimating Shortfalls  Season 3, Episode 80  Lisa Lavender, Restoration Technical Institute (RTI) reached out to me about developing a course around the principles in my first book, Be Intentional: Estimating . While this book centers around the mindset and habits for insurance claims estimating success, the course will dig deeper into the technical a...

Large loss specialist and trainer Jim Thompson sat down with Jon Isaacson to discuss his life experiences and the content of his new book, “My Life Is One Disaster After Another.” Jim started from the ground up as a public adjuster, moved into cleaning and property restoration, before taking some time away to work with NASA (yes, THAT NASA). Jim didn’t think he would return to the industry but fou...

The Xactimate Sessions from The DYOJO Podcast   File 007: Xactimate Claims Negotiations   Season 3, Episode 79  Guest: Mathew Allen, AdjusterTV (Whitefish, MT)     This is the final planned episode of our series The Xactimate Sessions. File 007 includes a discussion with Mathew Allen of AdjusterTV.com on some of the ways that contractors can learn from adjusters and v...

I recently had a fun conversation with Randy R. Rapp, who is the Professor of Disaster Restoration and Reconstruction at Purdue University and Associate Professor of Construction Management Technology.    As our conversation, which will later be released in episodes of The DYOJO Podcast, drew to an end, I asked the Professor if he had any closing thoughts for those professionals aspiring...

Have you considered making videos for your business to share on YouTube or social media platforms but you are worried that they may be too cringe? Embrace the suck. As Paul T. Long says, "People bank [insert your business] with people." When he was deciding whether or not to create content for his business he considered:   Start with educating the public on the value of your products and/or s...

Obligations For Insurance Claims Investigations  According to the state of Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 284-30-370:   Standards for prompt investigation of a claim.  Every insurer must complete its investigation of a claim within thirty days after notification of claim, unless the investigation cannot reasonably be completed within that time. All persons involved in the inve...