Beryl barreling in and bearing down on Texas

Hurricane Beryl is on the Texas horizon.

 

There is no debate. Hurricanes represent the best opportunity for deployment for the rookie independent adjuster. A hurricane has the greatest potential for massive claim volume.

With Beryl spinning its way off the Yucatan Peninsula and bearing down on Texas, all industry eyes are on the Gulf. As I write this article, Mid-America and a host of other independent adjusting firms are putting field and desk adjusters on standby. I wish the new adjusters reading this blog post the best of luck this storm season.

I remind you, however, of the best statement ever made about “luck”:

Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.
Seneca, Roman Senator and Philosopher

The time to bear down on training is now!

I wish there were hard numbers to show you regarding the success rate of adjusters with ample training going into their first storm vs. those thrown into the fire with little or no preparation and training. They would be staggering, I assure you.

I can give you my testimony. I entered the claims adjusting business accidentally (just like many others) when Hurricane Katrina slammed into Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and forever changed the face of the industry. Thousands of newbies like me were thrown against that monstrous storm. Most did not make it long. Many lasted less than a week. Some never worked another storm. I was one of the lucky ones. Despite being underprepared and poorly trained, I had the motivator of desperation on my side. I had no choice but to make it. The red wolf eyes of financial ruin stared lustily at me from the darkness. I could not afford to go home unsuccessful. So, I outworked, outfought, and outlearned others. I rode that storm like Tuff Hedeman on Bodacious, only I bested the bull. I remained for nine months and made more money than in any two years prior.

Adjust U is prepared to prepare you. It’s time to enroll. It’s time to shine.

The trouble came after the storm when the Gulf and Atlantic went quiet for three years. No Hurricanes from 2005 – 2008. I could not get myself deployed to any storm. Hail storms, tornadoes, winter storms…they happened without me. I was forced to seek another way to make a living until Gustav and Ike hit in 2008 and I was on my way, never to look back.

The reason I was given for not being deployable? No proper training and not enough experience. I had no official adjuster rating and nothing from a reputable school to certify that I was storm-ready.

Maybe now you see why I pressed my friends and bosses Zack Meadows and Stacy Story to let me launch a school to train adjusters under the umbrella of Mid-America Catastrophe Services. Now you understand why we relentlessly pursued Jonathan Rice, the best trainer in the business, to join us in the venture. Now you know why my passion is to properly equip new trainers for immediate success.

I asked Zack Meadows, CEO of Mid-America Catastrophe Services to share with me his thoughts on the importance of adjuster training. His answer was pointed and unequivocal:

I feel like too many adjusters underestimate the importance/value of training. This is the way I personally look at training: the knowledge I accumulate ahead of an any event drastically cuts down on the learning curve when an event actually happens. What does this mean? More dollars in my pocket, and more quickly. I never understood why adjusters did not want to prepare themselves in the downtime so when an event happened, they could hit the ground running. When I say prepare themselves, I mean making sure they are efficient in Xactimate (training), making sure they have the proper adjusters licenses in place, making sure they have the proper tools (roof gauge, pitch gauge, metal gauge, ladder, chalk, tape, etc…) No matter what you do in life, you will always excel if you go in prepared. Don’t shortchange yourself. Let us help you today with your training, I promise it will pay off for you tenfold.

We have classes coming up right now in our newest training facility in Mobile, Alabama, more in Florida, and then in our home facility in Grand Prairie, Texas. Get yourself into a class that will prepare you for the opportunity coming. Make your own luck at Adjust U. Do it now.