In this vlog, the pair share tips for companies on how to prepare before a hurricane, the biggest challenges to overcome during hurricane season, the aftermath of the storms and more.
Transcription
Scarlett Nolen: Hello. I am Scarlett Nolan, president of Truly Nolen America. And today I am here to talk with Justin Bellet, our COO, our storm command center and BBC’s hurricane coordinator, aficionado, to talk all things hurricane and how they impact the state of Florida, the southeast region and the pest control industry. So I want to go back to 1992 Hurricane Andrew, of course, hit, and it was absolute devastation. It was recorded to have $25 billion worth of damage, and it was category four. And in Dade County alone, 250,000 people were temporary, temporarily without homes. It was a pretty catastrophic hurricane, to say the least.
Justin Bellet: We had a branch in Homestead at the time.
SN: We did, we did, and surprisingly, the branch was still standing. We didn’t really have too many customers left, but the branch was still standing. And, you know, we’ve, we’ve navigated so many hurricanes for good reason. My father’s first chapter of his book truly original is titled hurricane relief, because that impact with our industry and Mother Nature is so prevalent. So 32 years later, we’re still navigating the storm. We’re still weathering the storm and more of them and more of them, absolutely. So we’re, you know, just off of back to back hurricanes right here in Florida. And like many people have questions. So let’s get into it. So let’s talk about before, before the hurricane starts, we get notice on the news, just like everybody else does, besides securing assets, what advice logistically do you have for companies? Pre hurricane?
JB: I would say it starts off with knowing that you’re going to have to have flexibility with your people. You know as soon as the warnings start to come in, and you can usually tell when it’s serious versus just precautionary. You’ve got to start to ramp up and know that your people need to start to think about their property, their families do. They have to evacuate. And then you kind of start to wait until you start to hear the school closures. Right when you start to hear the school closures, you’ve got to accept the fact that you’re going to have a disruption to your business and start to really embrace your people being able to prepare for their own personal disruption.
SN: How do you gather the team in that preparation time?
JB: So, you know, we have a lot of protocols that we send out on how to, you know, get prepared, whether it’s vehicles, the buildings, and then it gets into establishing communication. Communication throughout the entirety of the event is what, to me, is the top priority. So we establish a first line of communication, a second line and a third line with all of our team members that we think are going to be impacted. And then we have kind of like our own Storm Team that we create that are, you know, positioned geographically, that if one person is unavailable, there’s a secondary everyone knows what their role is, and that Storm Team kind of like they take on their area of expertise, and it’s constant communication every 30 to 60 minutes, we’re we’re in communication with one another. Really critical today.
SN: Really critical. Yeah, before, during and after, what have been some of the biggest challenges during hurricane season that you’ve seen?
JB: You know it really comes down to a the amount of issues that are created with your team members. You’ve got to know that they’re they’re trying to, you know, navigate the challenges of their life with a storm or an impending storm, and you’ve got to keep them in a in a good head space, because if they’re not in a good head space, they can’t go out and treat our customers great. And you also have to think about how to keep their income flowing, because they may be fighting a personal challenge with a tree in their house, or their house is flooded, but if 2-3-4, weeks from now, their income is disrupted, it you just add. Stress to their lives.
SN: After a hurricane, lot happens and Truly Nolen. We’re typically shoulder to shoulder or just behind our first responders. What are the some of the things that you’re most proud of in the aftermath of hurricanes that we do for our people?
JB: One you know, internally, for our team members, you know, we do a lot, as far as you know, giving them food gift cards right after the storm. We offer no interest loans to people. We advance PTO time you and the family. You know, you look at individual situations and you also contribute to their recovery. You know, we ensure that our benefit set their medical benefits. There’s adjustments that are made to give them faster access to prescription drugs. We have a whole team that does wellness checks constantly after the storm. There’s a lot of things that we do, as far as you know, trying to make sure our team members are in a good place. And then there’s the external customer, right? Our actual customers. You have to know that. You have to make you have to adjust your business for the next four to six months. You’ve got to be way more flexible. You have to understand how balances and money is going to kind of get shifted for a little while. And you have to have offerings for the community that serve the community. You can’t just go and look at, you know, how we’re going to go, you know, capture revenue and you’ve got to be about giving back to the people that are supporting your business.
SN: Absolutely. So you’re a Bug Guy, been in this business for almost a quarter of a century. But through your journey, I’ve definitely seen, I’ve noticed you make it your personal mission, mission to really help us weather the storm. This is something that you take on very personally to ensure the safety. Where does that that passion or that mission mind come from?
JB: So for me, you know, I had the opportunity to work with truly for for quite a while. And as you had mentioned in the first chapter of the book, you know, this was something that he really saw as an opportunity to support the team members of the company. And so because of that, to me, this is part of his legacy. And I, you know, that’s why I kind of own it on my sleeve is, you know, out of respect for him and the Nolan family. I know how much they truly cared about this and the family, and you know, that’s why I kind of own it.
SN: And we all appreciate it, how much you put into it, because it’s a lot. So like I said, almost a quarter of a century into navigating hurricanes specifically with Truly Nolen, what have you learned?
JB: You know, I learned that a you know, first and foremost, take care of your people, make sure that they’re in a good place, and then, you know, you’ve got to expect that you’re going to have some real, you know, from small to large, short term impacts to your business. But when you think about what is the long term impact, how you can impact your the community that you serve, how you can kind of cement yourself as the provider, because there is going to be a lot of opportunity when you have a storm that hits you have, you know, whole new ecosystem for bugs that has to be created. But more importantly, you have billions of dollars that’s being pumped into the economy, whether that’s insurance money, however you look at it, people have to spend money right now, and there’s a lot of long term opportunity. So you got to get through the short term. It hurts for a little bit, absolutely. But once you do you come out, if you do it right and you serve the community, you come out right on the other end.
SN: Absolutely. And every single business in Florida is impacted in some way. Some come out financially on the upswing. Certainly, contractors talk to us specifically, the specifics in the pest control industry. What are we thinking about right now?
JB: So we’re thinking about right now houses that are flooded, debris everywhere. All new entry points for rodents, you know, and the entire, as I said a second ago, the ecosystem has been, you know, disrupted. You know, all colonies are trying to re establish themselves. You have, you know, in commercial you’ve got dumpsters full of old food. You know, there’s going to be rats, rodents, ants. Everywhere. And then that’s kind of like in the in the first couple months in the lawn care, you have salt damaged lawns, you have a recovery program to help the lawns come back. And then long term, you know, we do insulation, and there’s a lot of roof leaks with this one attic damage that’s going to create termite and insulation opportunities,
SN: Absolutely. So last question, right now we’re, you know, just after back to back hurricanes between Hilton and Helene and Milton combined them but they felt like one in the same. It felt like one, one big hurricane. What should leaders be thinking about right now?
JB: Right now, it should be, are all your people in a good place? And if not, what do you have to do to get them in a good place? And then you know, what are, what is your offerings to the community? And you have your short term recovery offerings, and then what is your long term strategy on how you’re going to serve the community and look for the opportunities to gain business
SN: Absolutely. Thank you very much. I’m so glad to have you as our hurricane command center and navigating us through all these storms, because they certainly won’t be it won’t be the last and many more to come. So please stay safe out there and see you next time.
<p>The post Truly Nolen leaders share helpful hurricane tips for pest control companies first appeared on Pest Management Professional.</p>
from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/2024/10/30/truly-nolen-leaders-share-helpfu-hurricane-tips-for-pest-control-companies/
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