hello my name is Lorenzo kennedy my question to you : how are you able to offer a discount off on prem. please contact me at 409-626-1761 or visit my web site at www.rhishome.com
Hi, Rodney, congrats on your referral! I have another question for you about the size of your house... was it all one floor or was there a basement or 2nd floor? The reason I'm asking is, and anyone who has comments or suggestions please feel free to chime in:
I inventoried my sister's house this weekend and it took me 6 hours and 300 pictures! It's a 1428 sq ft house with full un-finished basement (1428s q ft), 2 stall garage (fairly empty), 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. I feel like it took me WAY too long! Even though her basement was un-finished she still had a loveseat, couch, entertainment center, pool table, foosball table, tons of storage stuff. I don't feel like she has an excessive amount of stuff, either. It's not like her house is jam-packed full of junk.
I am having a hard time balancing the need to be detailed in order to have values (which came from her) so the customer has totals to compare to their homeowners policy versus not taking too much time. Part of our Comprehensive Package is so they can ensure they have enough coverage or get riders, etc. But if we don't specifically document and put a value to each thing in the house, how do we give them an accurate inventory with accurate totals?
I also feel like I took pictures of the same things over and over again. Yet, in my general room photos, items like the couch or entertainment center were a bit too far away to use that photo for those items. I felt like I had to take close-ups of those things even though they showed up in other photos.
Talked with my customer yesterday and have gotten a referral and some more input...I need to charge more...She pretty much confirmed my evaluation of my pricing. I told her about using a factor based off the ins. premium and she thought a 10% discount off the premium was a great start...I will stay at 17% for now....
As this industry grows we need to be thinking outside of the box...
Remember -- our customers aren't just the homeowners -- they're the insurance agents and the law enforcement officers (in the event of burglary). Our services make their job easier! As this industry grows, insurance agents and law enforcement officers are going to be two of the best sources of referrals...
I wouldn't agree with you more! Being my first inventory I was going with the flow and seeing how it would go. I believe also serial numbers are critical for police recovery. This is one of the selling features of the service....again 1st inventory was a learning experience....thanks for your input and wisdom!
The flat rate is just an arbitrary factor I formulated for my target demographic. I looked at the fact that many (if not all) in the industry were basing their pricing on square footage which is fine I thought originally. But now that I have done one and knowing how much time it took and what I actually DIDN'T do that I thought needed to be done, pricing (for me) based upon square footage was insufficent. According to the III(.org) the average homeowners ins. policy is$838.00 in California. Many homes here are 500k to 1 million dollars which means alot of space and items for a minimal amount of homeowners investment. I am babbling so let me make it real plain....they are not cheap and my service is not cheap...it is profesional and we strive for a spirit of excellence which I feel just meets their perceieved expectations.
Reagarding inputting of values....the homeowner did not have any receipets and just gave me a perceived value which was dcumented in the inventory as "homeowners stated the value was $xxxx. They gave me this info as we were doing our initial walk through and I just wrote them down at that time. I would follow the same procedure if they had receipts for me.
The home was 2000 square feet, 4 bd, 3 bath.
FYI...I did not do any computer work while in the home except to download pictures into a folder in My Pictures.
Congratulations on your first paid inventory, Rodney! Glad to hear that it went well for you. I have a question for you, in #5 what do you mean the flat ratio tied to annual homeowners ins.? Also, did your customer have you input values or did she have a lot of receipts to go through? If you did input values, did you do it as you went along or did you have the customer give you the values at the very end? (I'm still trying to find out what works best with inputting values) How big was the home?
Hi, Rodney! Glad your first inventory went well. Things will speed up as you get more practice. You'll find ways of doing things that work well for you (there are EXCELLENT ideas on here, and some you'll adopt, and some you won't).
Regarding item #7 -- while the homeowner wasn't concerned about serial numbers, you should be! Documentation of major electronics serial numbers (there is debate about when they can't easily be accessed, but that's a topic for another thread) is a key issue when it comes to item recoverability. While the insurance agent might not need the information to process the claim, the local law enforcement authorities (for the police report) will. And it's not just about RECOVERY of the stolen goods; it's about crime detection and prosecution.
I remember many, many years ago (it's probably been 20 years now) that my aunt's home was broken into. She had a record of her electronic serial numbers (she was WAY ahead of her time, even then!) The thief stole a TV, but more important to her, he also stole some irreplaceable jewelry. Because she was able to give the police the serial number for the TV, they tracked the stolen items to a pawn shop. Also at the pawn shop was one of her rings. Because they found the TV, they were also able to find the ring, and return it to her. And they were able to identify and prosecute the burglar.
Even if the client doesn't think it's important to document serial numbers, we should know better.
Ok here goes....I like to keep messages on the board to the point so here is the highlights
1. I spent a total of 4 hours in the home with 1 hour return visit 2. I spent 2-3 hours inputing inventory into software 3. I charged $300 since it was my first 4. I included jewelry at no additional fee (for practice) 5. I am changing my fee for service to a flat ratio factor tied to the annual homeowners ins. policy. 6. Initially when thinking/reading through biz opp, I considered 2 inventories a day, 4 days a week. Now I am considering 3 inventories a week. The entire process may move faster with more experience but time will tell. I am going to market exclusively to high income earners....professionals/athletes etc... 7. Homeowner was not concerned about serial numbers of electronics and I am sure this would have added more time to inventory. Home owner left me to myself so I did not get bogged down with chit chat. It was a professional enviornment. Start to finish process took longer that initally thought. 8. Homeowner very happy and referrals are coming. She gave copies to her Farmers agent. 9. My contract needs to be revised regarding payment...50% down balance due upon package acceptance. She paid in full at the end of 1st day inventory which was great but I found myself undisciplined in getting the final product to homeowner. 10. The excel spreadsheet looks great but I used a yellow paper notepad which served me well. I will stay with it! 11. I revised my website californiahips.com and am using a free service which is available to everyone. FREE is GREAT when running a biz! 12. Note to self...Join NAHIP
Please feel free to comment or ask questions....We are in this together!
