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(if you want you can listen to this article with audio above)
This is part 4 of our special series on how to get more catastrophic work. You can check out the other tips at the bottom of this post.
The flood waters were so high it stacked up cars on top of cars, my wife drove in a circle around downtown New York following the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy while I was inspecting vehicles.
The traffic, chaos, pedestrians, and bicycles all were begging her to be in an accident, the madness was enough to make you give up driving….. in fact she didn’t drive after that for six months… it was so crazy.
During hurricane Sandy I worked 2 months and earned $12,000 on my first hurricane deployment, it wasn’t easy, and it almost didn’t happen.
When hurricane Sandy was approaching the United States all the independent catastrophic adjusters crossed our fingers in hopes of getting a late hurricane storm that would fill up our bank accounts before the long cold winter. I was sitting on my sail boat with my wife and two kids prepared to ride out the storm on our boat.
We were safe, but we had no idea what would actually happen. It ended up not going close to us (but we did get some effects), but watching the news predict a possible flooding in New York seemed like pure hype.
Even two days after the storm blew into the majestic city there wasn’t any activity on our phones or emails about getting work. We lost hope and assumed no one was going to deploy us.
So we left on our sail boat content to live a semi-broke, but pleasant winter on our sailboat on the east coast of Florida working remotely. Half a day into the journey I placed a call to one of my only “real” friends in the industry. The only one that was outside my immediate family at that time. He was being deployed by Pilot Catastrophe.
I asked the obvious question, “Should I call Pilot? Are they still deploying people?” He was insistent that YES I should call Pilot and that they would probably deploy me. The rest of my community of adjusters were saying, “No, they said not to call, they’ll call if they need you.” but this one close friend gave me hope and determination.
I hung up and called Pilot who thanked me for calling. I was deployed and ended up working two months! This only happend because I called.
I then in turn told my entire family of adjusters to call Pilot and they also got deployed!
I met so many amazing people during that two months and expanded my network 10x what it was previously and many are still close friends to this day. I ended up getting the awesome opportunity to work auto total loss for over a month inside of a cubicle and learned so much.
What would have happened if I didn’t have that 1 friend? Would my entire family and I have been deployed?
I didn’t have a lot of licenses, I had never been deployed with Pilot, I was a hail and collision adjuster, but never flood.
I imagine I would have been broke for 6 months waiting for hail season to roll around or I would have had to bust my butt to work daily claims in my hometown just to make ends meet and let the sailing dream die.
That 1 friend had a huge impact on my year, career, and life. It only takes one contact and person to make a big difference in your life.
So my #4 Tip for getting more catastrophic work is….
#4 Network
You may need to get to know more people. Not just casual friends on Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn, you need to get to know people that care about your success.
This is one of the big reasons why I created my online adjuster membership, the “League of IA’s”. I had an unofficial group around me and it helped me find work and support whenever I needed it and I wanted YOU to be able to have what I have. I want to help you build your network.
If I have a question about how to do something I know who to ask. If I need work I ask EVERYONE until I find work.
The people around me have been the #1 contributor to my success and for most of them the same thing goes. Licenses are great, training is awesome, rosters are a must, but if you don’t have the connections you are missing a BIG PIECE.
That same friend that told me to call Pilot? I referred for a position as a national operations manager of a large PDR company 3 years later and he got the job….
It pays to have a solid network and just like the last few emails have stated, each time you get a license, each time you take a training, every time you get on a roster, every time you make a new a genuine connection with someone you are opened up to new opportunities.
I challenge you to get to know somebody new this week. Not just a friend request but a genuine conversation with someone inside of the industry.
If you don’t have enough opportunities and feel like you would like a group to rally to you when you need something and you’d like to belong to a group that has each others back you should come on in to the League of IA’s.
Our IA’s are so helpful, answering each others questions, sharing work applications, and sharing our struggles and lives with each other. See what people are saying about it.
And another one…
We have a 7 day free trial so check it out today at LeagueofIAs.com.
We are IA’s!
Your Guide,
Chris Stanley
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