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Often in the restoration world, we focus on the big stuff: cleaning and drying, remediating mold, getting rid of debris, and the things that are directly related to restoring the property. It's important to remember there are a lot of little things that also need to be done well to make sure your company runs smoothly. Documenting everything clearly is a great example of extra steps you may take for training your employees. Let's take a look at why proper documentation is so important for your business and how you can best train your technicians on how to document their work properly.
Proper documentation is necessary to make the process work seamlessly, provide more accurate documentation for insurance, and because it’s the standard.
Ensuring your technicians have proper documentation procedures in place will keep them on task and focused. This will help your techs be able to complete the job faster. Proper documents save you money and time as well as keep your customers informed through all stages of their restoration project.
Proper documentation can be a game-changer for your restoration business. The more accurate, detailed and complete the documentation is, the easier it will be to get paid by insurance companies. It's important to realize that in many cases an insurance company will have no idea what you do unless you provide them with thorough documentation. These documents explain exactly what happened, how much damage was caused and how much time it took to repair.
Documentation is the standard of any restoration company. It's not a matter of if you should do it, but rather how well you document your work and the materials used. Documentation protects your customers, your employees and yourself by making sure the right things are being done at the right times.
Without proper documentation, there’s no way for your customers to know if they’re getting what they paid for. You should follow a standard process to ensure the work is performed correctly from start to finish, in accordance with industry standards and best practices. This minimizes surprises for the client and the insurance adjusters.
Your first step should be to standardize the process for your technicians. When the process is standardized, it makes it easier for your technicians to remember to document everything. Proper training also allows the restoration process to go smoother and makes it easier to interpret the documentation.
When you standardize the documentation process, you will want to standardize time of documentation and mode of documentation.
By standardizing the time of the documentation, you will make it easier for the technicians to get into the habit of documentation for every single job. If your documentation process involves documenting every hour, or moving equipment, it will be easier to get your technicians to document with an expected standard.
When you standardize the mode of documentation, you are making it easier to keep track of it in general. Standardizing the mode of documentation can also make it easier for everyone who is working the job to have access to the information they need. Whether you do everything on paper or everything digitally (recommended), keeping it consistent can make it easier on everyone.
Documentation is a critical part of every restoration job. It helps ensure that the process goes smoothly and efficiently, which means less downtime for your business and less stress for your technicians. When you train your technicians on proper documentation procedures, they can be confident in knowing how to stay organized while also meeting industry standards.
