A lot of contractors wonder, “Is there anything I should be doing or saying differently to get more things paid for on an adjuster meeting?”  The reason why I’d like to address this question is because many contractors wonder if they need to be doing or saying something specific in order to influence the outcome of adjuster meetings as opposed to just being a silent bystander and watching things unfold. So what are the magic words?

Meeting with the insurance adjuster is a part of every claim, and it is the most crucial element of the entire project, because this is the moment where the claim is approved or denied. While an insurance adjustment should be very objective and “black and white,” if you’ve been in this industry for any amount of time at all, you know that insurance claim assessments can be very subjective. Every adjuster is different. They all have different personalities, requirements, methods, and personal preferences that accompany the insurance carrier’s own guidelines for adjustments. Many times, your input, recommendations, reasoning, and dialogue can sway decisions on whether or not something gets approved. When items are on the fence and can go either way, you are the X factor or the variable that can sway it in the homeowner’s favor.

Put yourself in the shoes of the adjuster for a moment. They work incredibly long hours, often for days and weeks on end working up to a dozen claims a day, sweating in the heat all day and then being buried under paperwork at night. On top of it all, they meet with many contractors every day, many of which who do not understand how to work with adjusters and can be really argumentative and combative. For this reason, many adjusters are already acting defensively upon meeting a contractor at a claim site. If they are already in the mindset that they are about to deal with another demanding, belligerent contractor who is there to make their job difficult and demand the sun, the moon, and the stars, you can surprise them by being personable, helpful, and friendly. More importantly, you can demonstrate to them that you appreciate what they do, trust them to do their job, and admire their knowledge and expertise.

The key lies in the latter. People want and need to feel competent and trusted. When you show someone that you look up to them for their opinion and guidance because you trust their judgment, it makes them feel good and more motivated and willing to help you. Understanding and applying this concept is the key to getting many items in question bought on adjuster meetings. Now I’m going to share with you how to use it. This one phrase has been extremely effective in getting the scale tipped in my favor on so many occasions, because it embodies the above concept and puts the ball in the adjuster’s court after opening them up to feeling more compelled to lean in my favor by demonstrating I trust their assessment more than my own. When bringing an item into question that may or may not have hail damage, just say this:

“I couldn’t say with 100% certainty that this is from hail, but I couldn’t say with 100% certainty that it isn’t, either. What do you think?”

It’s so simple, and it works. The adjuster sees that you are looking to them for guidance and an opinion, and they are much more likely to lean in the “benefit of the doubt.” They may also agree that they couldn’t say for sure, and that’s exactly the point. If you cannot say for sure that it is storm damage, but you also cannot say for sure that it isn’t, a fair adjuster will always lean in the favor of the insured.

Use this phrase on your adjuster meetings and let it work its magic. Obviously it won’t work every time with every adjuster for every item you want, but it will definitely help you get more items paid for more often, especially if you are being fair and reasonable and make a good impression on the adjuster.

If you want to know more tips and secrets to negotiating with adjusters and learn the mistakes other contractors are making so that you can avoid them, there is much more to learn, and we can teach you! You can enroll in the Roof Sales Mastery Comprehensive Online Course right now and in a few minutes you’ll gain access to over 30 lessons that dive deep into topics like adjuster negotiations, exactly how to get an additional $500-2500 on each of your claims through supplements, and how to get all four sides of aluminum siding paid for on claims. We will even cover a real life example of a supplement on a single residential claim that totaled $30,000, doubling the original claim size, taking it to over $60,000 achieved using the exact methods of supplementing we teach in the course. As a bonus, you get an interview with an experienced insurance adjuster who shares secrets about the insurance companies, the biggest mistakes contractors make on adjuster meetings and how to avoid them, and how to get on an adjuster’s good side.

These strategies are simple to understand and easy to duplicate so you can start using them right away to get immediate results. Don’t waste any more time through trial-and-error, and let us show you exactly how to transform your sales and income this year through our proven storm restoration sales techniques so that you can earn more money than ever before by working smarter, not harder, using honed and perfected techniques and methods instead of continuing to spin your wheels and miss out on sales and income.

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