Unless you are needed for a Loss or Estate Inventory, our industry is not considered “essential” so many have seen a drop in business while we participate in social distancing and wait for the Covid-19 Virus to run its course.

If you do choose to provide your inventory service, be sure to do all you can to protect yourself. Wear a mask and gloves and limit touching items as much as possible. Follow the guidelines for social distancing with your clients during the inventory process.

Since you most likely have some spare time now, there are things you can do to work on your business – possibly checking off tasks you’ve had to put off. We are including some ideas offered by NICA members, which they are currently doing to be ready to hit the ground running when the “all clear” is issued. There are even a couple of options that could help you generate revenue now.

Work on your credentials and your marketing:

• Take courses and the Certification Exam to achieve your certification.
• Take a course or two to earn your 5 required CEUs to be recertified for 2020.
• Refresh your website and social media pages.
• Begin a newsletter if you don’t already send one.
• Call or send emails to current customers and referral sources just to stay in touch.

Promote your service:

• Share the National Home Inventory Month information provided on the NICA website.
• Contact estate attorneys to let them know you’re still doing the time-sensitive estate inventories.
• Call current clients to see if they need an on-site update of their inventory; schedule it for May or later.
• Contact those you’ve given estimates to; ask if you can put them on a list to schedule them once business is back to normal.
• Offer DIY help as an activity to stay busy while they’re stuck at home (some might find it a daunting task and as a result call for your service once the stay-at-home directive is over).

Current revenue-generating ideas:

• Contact current clients to check if they need an update on their inventory, and do it electronically.
• Add a “consulting” service for a fee. Provide them with instructions, documents, and guidance, and then offer to keep their inventory for safekeeping (if you offer a back-up service).

An example of being creative to serve your clients was offered from NICA member Tricia Hoekwater. She shared that she did a partial onsite and partial offsite inventory for a mold remediation client.  While onsite, her client brought items outside and Tricia photographed each item. When it came to the bigger items inside the house and getting photos of the room overviews, the client suited up in his hazmat attire and they did a facetime session over several days where he would identify an item and Tricia snapped the photos. Though they weren’t the best images, the client and she were on the same page about accepting lesser quality photos due to the need to get the job done.

If you’ve had a unique experience, please email them to our office and we will share them next month.