Sign up for the latest Encircle news and restoration updates.
By: The Encircle Team
Inconsistent documentation processes
Encircle mobile app for field documentation
Crisp reports that speed up review processes and get companies paid faster and in full.
Xact Mitigation Consultants, a third-party estimating service located in Colorado, serves a variety of full-service restoration companies around the United States, aiming to ease the struggle of estimating and billing, allowing them to focus on the physical work of restoration and help people restore their lives after a disaster.
With 30+ years in the industry, Karena George, owner of Xact Mitigation Consultants, asserts that field technicians are a different breed, “they're people that are willing to get up at two o'clock in the morning and help someone in their time of need, no matter how awful the situation is.”
But hard work and willingness to lend a helping hand doesn’t always translate into meticulous paperwork, especially amidst chaotic or stressful situations—which is often where restorers find themselves.
That’s where Xact Mitigation Consultants comes in, “we identify trends in the industry, help companies train their technicians what to do in the field, what to bill for, identify recurring issues that they're having, and teach them what documentation they need to capture, to better combat insurance companies and make sure they’re going to get paid.”
To implement a level of consistency in their business, Xact relies on Encircle—the mobile app that simplifies capturing data in the field, allowing techs to easily snap photos, take notes, and create sketches. Just as quickly as it’s captured, this data can be converted to professional reports that stand up to scrutiny from reviewers and adjusters, painting an accurate picture of the loss and the restoration work that’s required.
So rock-solid is the level of documentation that Encircle enables, that Xact won’t work with anyone unwilling to use it, “if you don't want to get on board with Encircle, then you need to go find somebody else because there's just nothing like it out there,” says George.
THE CHALLENGE
Before implementing the Encircle requirement, the biggest problem George experienced working with her restoration clients was the sheer level of disorganization and inconsistency that existed when it came to their documentation.
Things like lost paperwork, unfinished documentation, having to cobble together different clunky mobile apps (none of which were suited to the complex work of restoration, nor were they easy to use in the field) all contributed to an environment that certainly did not promote a consistent and repeatable documentation process for field techs to follow.
In George’s experience, this guaranteed that companies would miss out on substantial earning potential, receive frequent pushback from carriers, and face significant delays in getting paid at all.
“With all the billing work we were doing with clients, before Encircle, it was just a complete mishmash of everything, everywhere, everyone using different programs. We’d constantly be hunting down paperwork…where are the drying logs? Where are the work authorizations? Nobody was submitting anything properly. Encircle was a huge game-changer.”
George remembers her frustration with the technology that existed in the restoration space before Encircle, “I thought to myself, one of these days I'm just going to build a platform that actually works for our industry myself because there aren’t any out there. I’ve tried them all. I've worked with iRestore, Dash, MICA. I've worked with all the platforms. But when I saw how comprehensive Encircle was, I just went, this is a no-brainer. This is it, this is what I have been looking for."
THE SOLUTION
George touts two main benefits she sees from the app: its comprehensiveness and its ease of use for gathering documentation while in the field.
“There is nothing out there that competes in this industry that is as comprehensive or as easy to use as Encircle in the field. It has everything you could ever need to capture documentation. And in this industry, your money is directly tied to your documentation."
For Xact, Encircle is the tool that allows her to better serve her customers and make them more money.
“Our job is to identify what your company is not doing that you should be, or what you are doing that you’re not properly documenting, that you could be getting paid for.”
“We love Encircle. We love it as billers. Seeing how quickly it makes the billing process go, how quickly everything can go. We can identify immediately, using one platform where there are problems within their company, and train their teams faster, even if their teams consist of a bunch of new hires—a common occurrence for an industry battling an extreme labor shortage.”
THE RESULT
With Encircle, Xact can teach their clients what data they need to capture while in the field and generate professional-looking reports and estimates for adjusters, easing the review process and helping everyone get paid faster.
”Before, we’d be waiting on work authorizations, or other documentation that had to be scanned in. Encircle digitizes the whole process. Everything a reviewer could ever need is signed, and saved, with visual proof, all available in one concentrated area.”
In George’s experience, companies that would send a partial file to an adjuster, would be pushed to the bottom of the list, “it might be two weeks before they're gonna touch your claim. But, if you send them paperwork that’s on point, that clearly paints a picture of the job, and showcases your work, everything just flows that much more smoothly. They open that one report up and can settle the claim.”
George says she’s received feedback from clients that multiple adjusters have said that the Encircle reports make their lives so much easier.
The reports stand out, making the restorers look good.
“The bar was raised for the companies we work with because they are able to get paid faster. It’s more consistent. The percentage that they're losing to adjusters is less because their documentation is clear, on-point, and all in one place.”
On average, Xact is helping experienced restoration companies raise their invoices by 20 percent. For the less experienced, it’s closer to 40 percent.
With owners using Xact Mitigation Consultants to handle their billing and Encircle to create an easy-to-follow, repeatable workflow for their teams, they are free to work on the sales and marketing aspects of their business, and they are able to grow their business at a much faster rate.
