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By: The Encircle Team
Inefficient processes in the field
Encircle for field documentation and reports
Exceeding Insurance company performance scorecard metrics
Over the last 50 years, the Paul Davis franchise network has provided complete, 24/7 property damage emergency and restoration services to rebuild millions of properties. Glenn Wilkinson is Managing Partner of Paul Davis operations in Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph-Wellington and the Owen Sound-Grey Bruce region. Since 1985, Wilkinson’s drive for efficiency, attention to detail and progressive ideas around technology have enabled him to establish industry best practices and refine processes.
THE SITUATION
With over 30 years of experience, Wilkinson knows that the key to gaining a competitive advantage in the insurance industry is reducing claim cycle times. With over 1500 jobs in 2016 alone, Wilkinson needed to find a way to make a significant impact to his end-to-end operation. This meant staying on top of insurance company deadlines and delivering quality reporting to insurance carriers. He also wanted to ensure project manager job updates were timely and accurate, which would reduce site visits and still offer flexibility – encouraging field teams to take pride and ownership in their work.
THE CHALLENGE
While the Paul Davis Kitchener franchise had a good management system for internal processes, they needed a better, more reliable system for field operations, and a way of linking field and office processes. Relying on pen and paper, digital cameras and other manual methods created an inefficient and overwhelming administrative burden for project managers. Like all organizations, insurance companies are increasingly focused on ways to better serve customers and reduce costs – they are constantly measuring restoration contractor process times in settling a claim. Paul Davis was looking for a way to integrate their office and field staff in an automated process which allowed for customization of reporting on claims while meeting carrier claim requirements.
Upon learning that the Paul Davis offices in London, Windsor and Niagara Falls had recently completed a trial of Encircle with overwhelmingly positive feedback, Wilkinson decided to evaluate the solution for himself with a free trial. All employees – project managers, estimators, site coordinators, site supervisors, drying technicians and anyone else who touched a claim – were set up on the Encircle Claims platform.
THE SOLUTION
Getting started with Encircle was easy. Two team members were assigned to take the Encircle training with the solution rolled out to all project managers in just a few hours. In a matter of days, Encircle quickly transformed Wilkinson’s field operations. Though they had tried other systems in the past, Wilkinson’s team described Encircle as ‘game changing’ when they saw how quickly they could document cause of loss.
Prior to Encircle, Wilkinson spent a significant amount of time reviewing claims, describing it as a time consuming process. With Encircle’s consistent, customized and quality reporting however, Wilkinson now reviews files in a matter of minutes - thanks to the visibility Encircle offers into all field activities. “Any first responder now has the ability to quickly document a site and instantly send real-time information to all stakeholders,” explains Wilkinson. “Insurance companies love the quality of Encircle’s reports and they really stand out because they’re interactive. The viewer can zoom in on the report and take a closer look at property videos and photos. They just click and see exactly what is happening onsite. There’s no guesswork.” Additionally, since every Encircle report includes project manager contact details, insurance companies do not need to chase down information, and with Encircle’s mobile app, the Paul Davis team can access claim reports anywhere and respond to carrier inquiries in real-time.
“You pay yourself when you invest in Encircle and the return on investment is immediate. The team was able to generate reports that would have taken us at least a day or two to produce in the past - now it all happens in an instant, and the quality is there too. As restoration contractors, we should all be using Encircle.”
-GLENN WILKINSON, OWNER, PAUL DAVIS KITCHENER-WATERLOO
ENCIRCLE DEPLOYMENT
After the free trial, Wilkinson deployed Encircle and fully automated the front-end of his business. Project managers reduced their windshield time by working with field staff to capture the information they need. During an initial site visit, first response field teams preload rooms on a claim file. Site inspection, cause of loss, emergency services, structures, contents and pre-existing conditions are documented all at once. Then Encircle conveniently digitizes information, titling reports by the primary cause of loss, so the insurance company can align coverage terms and quickly make a claim decision.
It’s no surprise that in only six months, Wilkinson is exceeding insurance company performance scorecard metrics, surpassing Paul Davis Headquarters’ goals and increasing customer satisfaction. By using Encircle’s digitized, field-documentation tools to create professional custom reports, Wilkinson can spend more time working on business development and other high-value activities.
THE CONCLUSION
Wilkinson feels that his team is just getting started with Encircle and sees an opportunity to use more of its functionality over time. He believes Encircle will play a vital role in reducing timelines and improving overall performance standing with carriers.
