When asked, most contractors will tell you that they are the best contractor in their market place. If they are trying to convince a third party administrator (TPA) to use them, they will say things like, “We do quality work” or “We are not the cheapest, but we will give you a good job.” The interesting part is that most of them have never seen comparisons of themselves to other contractors in their market place. When this is done, their first shock is that it really doesn’t matter what they, the contractor, think. The second shock is that it matters a great deal what the policy holder thinks and what the insurance company thinks as a result of the policy holder’s thoughts.

 

One of the best opportunities for TPAs to consider is to show the contractors that participate in their program exactly where they rank with other contractors in their different categories. Contractor Connection has done an excellent job with this. In fact, contractors get really excited when they rank at the top of the different categories. They become very willing to travel to different parts of the country on their nickel to be honored for the achievements! No surprise though, most people like to be recognized for being the leaders in their profession.

 

A lot of TPAs are unwilling to show contractors where they are ranked. Knowing where you are ranked allows a contractor to determine where they are doing a good job and where they need to make adjustments to improve their performance. Without feedback, the contractor, or anyone else for that matter, is unaware and therefore unable to make necessary adjustments. In psychology there is a term called “feedback loop.” The idea goes along the lines of reasoning that when an action is being attempted and it’s not going as well as it could, that positive feedback on how to improve is very helpful to achieving improvement. It’s best received when the feedback is coming from an independent source of information and not being filtered by anyone who is viewed as influencing the outcome for their own benefit.  

 

So what is a contractor to do, if they are being judged and they are not aware of what is being said and written about their performance? They have no way to adjust and improve performance. I believe that it is fair to say that we are in a metrics-driven business.  

 

Insurance companies want and need their policy holders to receive exceptional service. They are constantly surveying the policy holders and how they are feeling about how they are being serviced when they experienced their loss. This feedback is then used by the insurance company as to how they allow their policy holders to be serviced by their TPAs in the future. This information is then used by the TPAs as to how they want the contractors to handle their claims.

In my business I’ve found that when everyone involved in the process is allowed to see the data, they respond in the correct manner to best service the client and the client’s wants, needs and desires.  

 

There is effort underway in the industry to try to get all elements of the industry together in the same room and discuss how we can improve. The effort is being called the Property Industry Conference (PIC). The sixth meeting of the PIC is scheduled for November 18 to kick off the PLRB LARGE Loss Conference in Jacksonville, FL. It is a meeting that is not meant to be confrontational or put anyone on the spot. It is meant to allow a forum to listen to each other and to determine what we do agree on and moving forward to build a trust relationship. This will allow the industry to be able to look at how to solve situations that apply to the industry with all members that want to participate, able to participate.

 

I think that it’s fair to say that no one likes to be told what to do without being able to be involved in reaching a solution to a problem.  

 

A loss is a complicated transaction and has many entities involved in the resolution to restore the policy holder to their pre-loss condition. It also has many opinions as to what needs to be done to reach a conclusion that meets the policy holder’s wants, needs and desires. The insurance company wants to keep the policy holder after they have been returned to their pre-loss condition. The TPA wants to facilitate the process and keep all involved moving through their process in a positive manner. The contractor wants to participate in the process and continue to be selected to receive future work. And the agent wants the process to go well and retain the policy holder as a policy holder.

 

I think that you might be wise to consider being more open to listening to others in the industry as to how we can improve the industry that we are all part of!