Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1418957
PSAI Association Insight, October 13, 2021 I 15 Relationships Are the Key to Success When a disaster happens, every business relationship you have today matters. Can your suppliers get you more equipment and consumable supplies? Do you know how to navigate the local fuel supplier, so service trucks have enough fuel? How well connected are you to restoration companies who also arrive to solve insurance rebuild claims without delay? How well do you know and get along with your local and regional competitors? The model that works best is an "all-hands-on-deck" and "boots-on-the-ground" approach to solve as much of what customers need under their primary service provider contract. When no disasters are happening, reach out to those who have experienced them and ask lots of questions. Dumb curiosity is a powerful tool to assist with what you are considering. If you don't ask, you won't (continued on page 17) Is Your Business Ready? Each storm is an equal opportunity provider, regardless of the current size of your PRO business. Ryan Granger had just started Acadian Sanitation in Louisiana when Hurricane Laura made landfall. With only 40 toilets and a few sinks, Acadian Sanitation was able to deploy all their equipment and buy two more truckloads to fill customer needs. It was overwhelming going from part time to 12–15 hour days, but Ryan and his team chose to respond and did more services over the next few weeks and months. When a large disaster strikes, all PROs need to imagine and plan for business demand greater than what the local group of PROs combined can respond to with local available inventory and equipment. In recent years, it not uncommon to have other larger PROs begin to roll in their surplus equipment well before the storm reaches landfall. A good example of this is Service Sanitation in Chicago. When Katrina devastated New Orleans and surrounding cities, United Site Services (USS) had the prime FEMA contract but relied on Mr. John in New Jersey/ New York, C&L Sanitation in Ohio, and Service Sanitation in Chicago. As a group, we set up a mini man camp in a parking lot in Biloxi and went to work servicing thousands of toilets, sinks, and trailers daily. From six active branch operations in New Jersey/Pennsylvania/ New York, Mr. John sent twelve surplus route service trucks, three 5,000-gal. vacuum straight trucks and two Jet-Vacs along with a dedicated Project Manager and Customer Service team member to process paperwork daily — all in support of USS. How you run your business day to day will enable you and your team to possibly join the response. get or know. If not you and your team, it will be another PRO and their team who immediately respond and deploy equipment and provide services. There is room for all PROs willing to collaborate, provide high quality equipment and service, go the extra mile, and work alongside others who you may have as competitors. Version of Your Success Any PRO can be successful — regardless of size, amount of available equipment, trailers, staff, and more. While you define what your success is, all levels of success will come from the way you run your business day-to-day when there is no disaster. Your current systems and procedures, investment in surplus equipment, training and staff, and willingness to stretch beyond what you ever thought possible will bring success. If you have already adopted a deep bench of employees, chosen to have ample surplus equipment and material for general growth, and a few spare trucks, you can quickly deploy all this equipment to respond to the essential needs of the community. Responding to a Disaster (continued from page 1)