There is a legal axiom that the restorative drying industry would do well to follow: If it isn’t documented, it didn’t happen. Documentation plays a significant role in communicating job progress and completion. The records produced contain job specific data that is more accurate and credible than any other form of communication. Providing high- quality and accurate documentation ensures that the right message is received. For example, incomplete paperwork, sloppy penmanship, and inaccurate or inconclusive information have the potential to lead to incorrect assumptions and damaged client rapport as well as loopholes for liability. Conversely, accurate documentation delivers a clear concise message that can actually help you get invoices paid faster!

Those of you who have attended the Dri-Eaz University Applied Structural Drying program learned how to estimate daily pint removal by using the following formula:

CFM x 60 x 24 ÷ 14 x Grain Depression ÷ 7000 ÷ 8.34 x 8 = pints

This formula is a great way to prove that your equipment is working and get paid for it. The problem is the formula is REALLY LONG! So, after indepth consultations with the sharpest minds at Dri- Eaz (people who use phrases like “distributive property of multiplication”), we were able to shorten the formula significantly! Here it is:

CFM x Grain Depression ÷ 71 = pints

With the time you’ll save, you can do more marketing!

Any business that wants to grow and succeed should be asking its customers questions and listening to their answers. Good, bad or otherwise, you need to know about your customers’ experience and perceptions regarding the services you provide. Many businesses don’t ask because they don’t want to know, but it is a missed opportunity. While you can ask customers one-on-one, the majority of people will not share what they really think and you lose the ability to gain useful information and assess trends.
You can create a very basic survey and mail it with a letter that says “thank you” for your feedback. Keep the survey short—three to five questions—and make it easy to fill out and mail. Offer customers the choice to be anonymous, and include questions like: rate your satisfaction with our service, rate your satisfaction with our technicians, would you recommend us, how could we improve, etc? Information like this can help you focus your business approach to improve results.