As you can imagine, inspections require drive time. Approximately 69% of my time is spent in the field performing inspections. Whether it's local inspections or taking road trips to other states, it can be a grind.
Since starting in 2018, I've logged 900+ inspection days on the road with 150,000+ accident free miles. Efficiency is key when performing inspections.
If I'm performing local inspections I'll schedule them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, leaving Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to complete the field work.
Out of town work requires scheduling inspections the week prior and working in the field the entire week so I can get home for the weekends.
In my last post I talked about routing work that makes sense. I want to spend as little time on the road as possible and routing work efficiently accomplishes this goal.
There are times when that's impossible because of inspection locations, but for the most part, I'll spend between four to six hours in the field.
When there's a lot of mileage involved, the work day can stretch between 6 to 8 hours, sometimes more. And depending on the type of inspection, it can last 30 to 60 minutes per inspection.
When I'm in the field the car becomes a second office. In addition to the phone, tablet, and GPS, I also use a handsfree device so I can take / make calls while driving or parked, and it's a requirement by law to use handsfree while driving.
My Apple iPad has become an invaluable tool in the field. Not only can I access the OneDrive folder system for inspection tickets and phone numbers, I can also complete 85% of the inspection forms on the inspection company's website.
I'm also able to make notes, sketch footprints, and my favorite, listening to podcasts.
Each day in the field starts with a phone call to the insured, letting them know I'm heading to their location and include an ETA for arrival via GPS. The process repeats for every insured on my route for the day.
There are times when an insured needs to travel to a location and requests a call ‘x' number of minutes or hours prior to arriving to allow them time to travel.
So that I don't forget I'll jot a note on a previous stop's ticket reminding me to call / text that insured. I also call / text them when headed to the location. It's all about communication.
During the scheduling process in the office, I always give the insured the option to meet me on location if they don't actually reside or work at the inspection location.
I let them know the interview can be done over the phone, and nine times out of ten, they opt for the call unless they are on location and can meet with me.
There are times when the insured is not available, meaning a point of contact (POC) was given to me during the scheduling process and then it's a call to the insured while on location to ask questions.
After arriving at the inspection location, I'll introduce myself to the insured or (POC) and give them an opportunity to ask questions. If there aren't any questions I start the inspection and let them know when it's time for the interview.
With residential properties I always do a courtesy door knock to let tenants know what I'm there to do on behalf of the insured. I ask if there are any locked gates or animals present. If nobody's home, I continue the inspection.
I typically start outside first. This helps if bad weather is present or it's getting close to dusk, or low light. There are times when I start inside first, usually due to the insured / POC having limited time or needing to leave for personal reasons.
The key is to stay flexible and accommodate individuals needs so I can get the inspection done.
I take more than the required photos (helps me remember things), sketch the footprint if required, and then work my way inside the property. Commercial inspections will always require interior photos.
There are some cases that an underwriter will accept exterior photos, but it must be approved and documented. Some residential inspections may require interior's too, just depends on the type of inspection.
After I'm done with the photo profile I'll spend a few minutes inside the inspection company's ticket entry system, usually LC360, and begin filling out the forms. About 85% of forms can be filled out prior to conducting the interview.
Answers to some questions may require additional forms. The goal is to complete as much of the forms as possible, which translates to less time with the insured during the interview, and on the computer at the office completing tickets.
If the insured is present I'll sit with them and complete the last 15% of the forms. If I'm calling the insured to complete the inspection I'll sit in the car.
Spending as little time with the insured helps with the work flow and they appreciate it. I often get the comment, “that's it?“, yep!
When I'm done with the interview I'll check the forms for accuracy. If it all checks out I let the insured know the data goes back to the inspection company for quality assurance checks.
I'll set the expectation with the insured that a return phone call to gather additional information may be required if the inspection is pushed back by QA for additional information.
There are some handy phone apps I use while in field in addition to mileage tracking, I outline them here. There's seems to be an app for everything these days. Maintenance apps, insurance apps, fuel apps, the list goes on.
When scheduling inspections I'll use Google Maps to zoom into an area and while talking with the insured to verify streets, and / or landmarks with them to make sure I have the right location.
This really helps if I'm in another state and not familiar with the area.
I've been on inspections where addresses are not posted on the building and there are no mailboxes where I can see sequential addresses.
Basically, I'm not sure if I'm even at the right address. GPS isn't 100% accurate.
If the inspection is one where the insured opted for an interview over the phone, I can call to verify if I'm at the right location. But if I'm in a bad reception area where I can't call I use an app called GPS Camera.
This app, when loaded, pinpoints your location via GPS and displays the address and has a compass. Pretty handy…
There's nothing that's ever 100% accurate. In the case of bad reception areas, I'll take photos and drive to a better area to call and verify with the insured. This is not ideal because it requires time.
I will say in most cases 10% of these are residential locations in rural areas where technology hasn't caught up with growth.
The inspection process is not hard, it's basically photos and interviews. The challenge is scheduling and routing. As I've gotten better at both, the workflow has gotten easier. Now let's talk numbers…
