Article featured in Franchise Chatter
In the wake of a fire, flood or other catastrophic event, homeowners are often left to address extensive property damage. This encompasses not only damage to the infrastructure of the home, but also to its contents — including priceless heirlooms and cherished family treasures that may be waterlogged or marred by smoke and soot.
Homeowners often assume these items are damaged beyond repair — until they call their local 1-800-Packouts team. 1-800-Packouts is a national leader in contents restoration, helping homeowners clean and deodorize items damaged in disastrous events—sometimes making seemingly-unsalvageable items as good as new. Additionally, 1-800-Packouts helps small business owners recover from natural disasters, restoring critical assets while minimizing operational disruptions.
We spoke with Stefan Figley, President of 1-800-Packouts, about all the ways in which this brand meets consumer needs while simultaneously providing rewarding opportunities for potential franchise owners.
The first thing we do is take a full inventory of all damaged assets, including photos. This inventory allows us to carefully track and document items, providing home and business owners with confidence that their property is being properly cared for. Additionally, we can upload our inventory data to insurance adjusters, helping to ensure a friction-free claims experience. From there we pack and transport these items off-site to ensure they are not further damaged or contaminated. Remember, this process starts shortly after the disaster, which means there may be lingering water or smoke.
Once the items are safely removed from the home, we clean and deodorize them. Once those items are rehabilitated, we provide takeback services, which simply means we take them back to the home or business owner and lay them out just where the client remembers them being.
While restoration, insurance or contractor experience can be a big plus, no industry experience is required.
Ultimately, we seek compassionate leaders eager to make a real difference for homeowners and businesses in times of crisis.
A. Beyond core leadership and business acumen, two traits are especially vital for a 1-800-Packouts franchise owner.
First, discretion is paramount. Our services involve entering people's homes and handling their most prized possessions, so building immediate trust and maintaining confidentiality is critical.
Second, promptness is highly desirable. In the aftermath of a disaster, homeowners are eager for quick answers and efficient action regarding their belongings. Moving expediently is crucial to alleviating their stress and demonstrating our commitment.
These qualities, combined with the compassion and empathy mentioned earlier, distinguish our best owners.
Additionally, our franchise owners gain access to our digital inventory technology, which is essential to the services we provide. This software allows franchise owners to keep a detailed record of all the items they receive from a given homeowner, including photos to document the condition of each item and its placement within the home. This technology ensures that our owners never lose sight of the priceless items entrusted to them, allowing them to consistently exceed client expectations. The inventory system is an essential way to build trust and relationship with clients.
It’s also worth noting that major storms and other natural disasters are becoming more and more common. Homeowners, business owners and insurance companies alike see a growing need for contents restoration expertise. The services we offer have growing market demand, and we are well-positioned to meet that demand.
In short, this is a recession-resilient business model. Individuals, families and businesses will always experience some level of risk, and when disaster strikes, we’ll be there.