I called a field inspector today. I called the cell number first. The message said the cell voice mail was not set up yet. I called a second telephone number and the message said that they were not accepting any calls.
Two telephones and no way to leave a message in voice mail.
So here is the impact of this lack of voice mail. Hiring firms call only ONCE . just ONCE. They will never call again. You have just killed your business. It's dead!
Some of the firms in the mortgage segment of the field services industry have found ways to try to get money from field service representatives even after they have quit working for them as long as two years ago.
The means is called a "Charge Back". It goes like this. The national field services firm claims that the field services representative was the proximate cause of damage to a foreclosure property usually because of failure to take some action. It is now two years after the damage occurred, and the national mortgage field services firm is looking for the field service representative to pay for such damages. Of course, they don't prove that the field service representative is the cause of the damage and they do not document the cost to repair the damage. They just demand money. It's a game.
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Some field inspectors just don't understand the importance of backing up their important files.
Backup hardware is so cheap today. A 32 GB flash drive goes for about $19.99. A 1 TB hard drive goes for about $99. There is no excuse for not backing up your computer files.
Don't be stupid ... back it up!
My name is Richard Law and I am the writer of this blog post.
I find that many inspectors have no name. I am talking about more than half of industry field inspectors or those that want to become field inspectors. Of course, they have a legal given name, but they will not use it. I have seen many field service resumes without a name. They include a company name, but there is no point of contact named person to call. Why don't they include their name? What are they hiding?
Your full name should be provided (and clearly stated) at the start of every business call and included in every email you send. More than half of all of the emails I receive have no name (no name in the email and no name in the body) ... I am expected to guess who sent them. Most emails include no telephone number in the body of the email.
Continue reading "Many Field Service Representatives Have No Name!" »
Art is a field service inspector who has been performing field inspections for about 15+ years. Yes, he is an old timer, like me.
Art enjoys life and on most weekends you will find him sailing (boat in the photo). Art is different from many field inspectors ... he is responsive and reliable.
If you're a hiring firm looking for a responsive and reliable inspector in Wichita, Kansas, email richard@law.name and I will pass along his contact information.
Nice boat!
Adam (not his real name) called me to say that a lease inspection firms called him to perform a RUSH lease inspection. They wanted it done the next day (a Friday). Adam said that he had already planned out his Friday inspection activities (some inspections had appointments) and that he would need to be paid more to rearrange his Friday schedule. He could perform the inspection on the following Monday with no problem. The firm would not pay extra for a next day RUSH inspection and the call ended.
Don't let firms jerk you around with RUSH inspections that pay routine inspection fees. RUSH usually always means more money because you have to adjust your schedule and also because you may lose efficiency in planning a route ... you were in the area yesterday and the RUSH requires a special trip for just one inspection.
Two many RUSH inspections from a firm can often mean extreme disorganization within the firm or a firms that pays below market rates and cannot find good inspectors.
Some firms are real losers. Some inspectors are real losers. Firms and inspectors need a good filter system to filter the good, the bad and the ugly. Wisdom is knowing the meaning of words. When a firms advertises inspections at a Yahoo Group that pay "$4 to $100" you can be sure that 999 of 1,000 inspections pay $4 and that there is one inspection that pays $100 ... the one inspection that you will never receive. Or, the $100 was a typo ... it should be $10.
So you want to cut out the middle-person. Great ... you can earn more money.
But, here is what you do not do. You DO NOT contact the clients of all of the firms you now work for and try to get some of their business DIRECT. This is unethical and also probably in violation of the independent contractor agreement you signed.
An inspector tried this with one of their customers. They contacted a customer's client direct and asked for work. The client contacted the inspector's customer and told them about the direct contact. The customer fired the inspector and called SOFI. We removed the inspector from the National Field Service Directory.
There is plenty of opportunity in the field services industry. Move as close to the top of the food chain as possible and you will make more money. But, you don't try to cut out those firms where you now work. You will get caught and you will be fired. Don't try to steal clients from your customers. You will get caught. You will be fired. That conduct in unethical in every business. Play fair. Don't be stupid!
My 2005 Jeep Wrangler would not start ... sometimes it would start ... but, not every time. The Jeep dealer is about 40-minutes away ... the service call would be expensive. Maybe, I could fix the problem myself. Cars can be complicated ... lot's of electronics ... computers ... required test equipment to get trouble codes. It was time to get some expert advise. I needed to talk to someone ... a real expert on Jeep Wranglers.
I found a Jeep expert (ASE certified) online offering advice for $19. That seemed reasonable. It was not free ... why would someone what to spend their time with me providing free advice. The mechanic suggested that the problem could be the starter relay. He explained to me how to test the starter relay. I pulled the starter relay in the fuse box. The terminals looked okay ... nice and shinny gold. I decided to first take some emery cloth and shine the starter relay terminals. I reinstalled the starter relay. My time invested so far is about 15-minutes.
The Jeep starts fine now ... every time ... thanks to this expert ASE certified Jeep mechanic. I can now take the Jeep out and do some rock climbing! The advice was not free ... it cost $19 ... but, it was well worth the price. The Jeep expert knew how to troubleshoot and find the cause of the problem. He has significant experience with the Jeep Wrangler. He saved me time and money. Most experts will provide a satisfaction guarantee.
The point that I want to make is that there are some great experts that can help you solve field service problems. Their advice is valuable. The real experts charge a fee for their services. The free stuff often is not worth very much and often does not solve the problem. So many people are afraid to spend money to get some expert advice. Talk to an expert. Save time and money. Talk to someone who has been there and done that.
SOFI offers consulting for $20 an hour. Order online at www.sofistore.com
Your competition loves it when you do nothing to grow your business. Your competition has a great resume and they set aside time every day to send out their resume to potential firms. They make calls every day and tell firms about the great services they offer. They advertise at major field service industry websites like SOFI.
Your competition loves it that you have no ideas about how to market your services. They love it that you are so lazy.
So just keep thinking about growing your business and then do nothing. Keep thinking that marketing is hard work and that there is no payoff. Your competition is doing fine thanks to you being so lazy. The great marketers are finding that there is very little competition in the field services industry. When you do nothing you get nothing ... business life is so easy to understand. Try it ... do nothing and watch your business grow ... see if it works.
Developing a GREAT field services resume can create a migraine headache. Take an aspirin before you start. The pain can be great ... like pulling one of your own teeth ... just so that you can say that you can do it and save some money. Or, you can just let Richard Law at SOFI create a GREAT field services resume for you ... a resume loaded with graphics, bold fonts and great colors.
Yes, you can do it yourself ... design your own resume ... provide your own dental care ... but, be ready to suffer from some pain from both. It's probably best to just order your resume at www.sofistiore.com. Provide information about your services by using the online form at www.joinsofi.com.
The United States ranks 25th in the world with regard to mathematics proficiency. The US should be number ONE ... the nation has lost its direction in the world.
Many mortgage field service inspectors rank very low in mathematics proficiency. The simple rule of business is that income minus expenses equals profit. When mortgage inspection fees are low ($2 ... $3 ... $4) and expenses are high, the mathematics shows than profits start to approach zero. It's hard to make a profit when mortgage inspection fees are so low and expenses are so high.
New York (CNN) -- A pastel of "The Scream" by a mortgage field services inspector fetched nearly $120 million from an anonymous buyer Wednesday at Sotheby's in New York, setting a new world record for a work of art sold at auction.
The mortgage field inspector painted "The Scream" on the same afternoon that his national field services firm mortgage vendor manager screamed at him for 30 minutes and told him that it was his responsibility to fix a bad address issued by the bank. Never did the field service inspector expect that this quick pastel painting to help him to relieve some tension would bring in so much money. He said he can now quit performing those $3 mortgage inspections that increased his blood pressure and affected his health. He is feeling much better now.
Continue reading "Mortgage Field Inspector Sells "The Scream" Painting For $120 Million" »
The big back hole in the mortgage segment is background checks. The hole is deep, it is black and no one really knows what is in the hole.
This is how it works. A large bank hires a large national field servicer to perform mortgage occupant verifications and delinquency interviews. They want field service inspectors to knock on doors and talk to the occupants of a property.
Continue reading "The Big Black Hole In Mortgage Inspections Is Background Checks" »
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