Especially during hurricanes or major storm times.
Your route marketing has been incredibly successful. You’ve built strong relationships, and referrals are pouring in. Then hurricane season
hits, and you’re getting more calls than you can handle. You have to start turning down work from good referral sources, potentially damaging relationships you’ve spent years building. What to do…
Here are some suggestions to solidify and protect the effort.
- Build a Tiered Service Model
- Description: Design different service levels (e.g., “Rapid Response,” “Standard Response,” “Consult Only”) that allow you to still engage, even when you can’t physically mobilize a crew.
- Benefit: Keeps you in the game without overcommitting and sets clear expectations with referrers and clients.
- Pre-Qualify and Schedule Non-Urgent Work
- Description: During busy periods, separate urgent mitigation work from non-urgent restoration or rebuilds. Offer realistic timelines and pre-schedule lower-priority work.
- Benefit: Manages workload while preserving relationships. Many clients will wait if they trust you and understand the timeline.
- Overflow Staffing Bench
- Description: Maintain a roster of vetted, on-call technicians, temporary workers, or subcontractors who can be activated quickly during surges.
- Benefit: Flexibility without the long-term payroll burden. You can scale up rapidly without compromising quality.
- “Preferred Partner” Loyalty Program for Referrers
- Description: Give top-tier referrers access to guaranteed response windows, higher prioritization, or exclusive value-adds like priority phone lines.
- Benefit: Helps manage expectations and preserves your most critical relationships. With Commercial End-users, sign them up to a PREP plan. Priority Response Emergency Program. Most Hotels and Nursing Homes love this.
- Proactive Communication Campaigns
- Description: Use email or SMS campaigns before hurricane season to:
- Educate referrers on your capacity plans
- Provide tips for preparing their clients
- Promote alternative solutions for when you’re at capacity
- Benefit: Positions you as a strategic partner, not just a service provider.
- Automate Lead Sorting and Intake
- Description: Use intake software or CRMs with logic flows to quickly sort jobs by urgency, size, location, and source.
- Benefit: Allows your team to make faster decisions about what to take, defer, or refer — increasing efficiency and reducing lost opportunities.
- Quarterly Referral Source Roundtables
- Description: Host (virtual or in-person) quarterly check-ins with your top referral partners to discuss performance, capacity planning, and improvements.
- Benefit: Keeps relationships strong and gives partners a sense of inclusion in your business strategy — making them less likely to defect.
Nationally recognized coach, consultant, trainer, and speaker
Creator of the renowned PREP™ pre-disaster program
Co-owner of The CREST Network, LLC
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