June 4, 2025 • 20 mins
When disaster strikes, communication is key. Kim Brooks, Director of Communications at SERVPRO, shares how her team turns crisis into calm through their restoration efforts. 🏘️🔧
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Steven (00:01):
Welcome to the Tomorrow's World Today podcast.
We sit down with experts, worldchanging innovators, creators,
and makers to explore howthey're taking action to make
tomorrow's world a better placefor technology, science,
innovation, sustainability, thearts, and more.
On this episode, host GeorgeDavison, who is also the host of
(00:22):
the TV series Tomorrow's WorldToday, sits down with Kim
Brooks, the Director ofCommunications for Servpro
Industries.
She shares how Servpro focuseson a rapid response to
disasters, using a slogan, likeit never happened, to emphasize
restoring customers' lives whilecontinuously innovating through
brainstorming, AI-drivenweather modeling, and
(00:42):
specialized training facilities.
George (00:46):
Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of
Tomorrow's World Today.
And today I have a specialguest.
I'd like you to meet Kim Brooksand she's with the Servpro
company.
Welcome Kim.
Kim (00:56):
Thank you for having me.
George (00:57):
You're very welcome.
I have a lot of good questionsfor you today.
I hope you're ready.
Kim (01:02):
I think I am.
George (01:03):
All right.
All right.
So let's kind of walk back alittle bit into the history of
Servpro.
Maybe we could start there.
Because everything starts withan idea, doesn't it?
Kim (01:13):
Absolutely.
George (01:14):
So somewhere in the past, some If somebody had an
idea, can you walk us back andhow did
Kim (01:19):
that happen?
Sure, absolutely.
Servpro was founded by theIsaacson family back in 1967.
And Servpro actually started asa painting business, if you can
believe it.
And they were entrepreneurs atheart and all about helping
entrepreneurs succeed.
And so looking for ways toexpand and grow their business
and eventually got into thecleaning business.
(01:39):
And from there, we continued togrow and started franchising.
George (01:45):
Franchising.
All right.
So that's when you start tobuild something and then you
want to scale.
Absolutely.
Back in, what was that, the70s?
Kim (01:53):
1967.
So we started franchising in69.
69.
George (01:56):
Yeah, franchising was like the big thing back in the
late 60s, early 70s, wasn't it?
Kim (02:02):
Yes, absolutely.
George (02:03):
Yeah, what a great idea.
I don't know who came up withthe idea of franchising, but it
really helped you guys.
Kim (02:09):
It was a great idea, yes, and we continue to do that
today.
We've now got over 2,300franchises across the U.S.
and Canada.
George (02:15):
Wow.
Kim (02:16):
So we've grown tremendously.
I've been with the companyright around 14 years, and I
think we were around 1,700franchises when I started.
So
George (02:25):
wait, 1,700 when you started.
Where are you now?
2,300.
2,300.
So if we could group that forour audience, about how many
people do you have workingthere?
Kim (02:35):
So at our HQ office, we've got around 500 people.
George (02:38):
And
Kim (02:38):
then we guesstimate around 20,000 across the country serve
pro teammates.
George (02:43):
Isn't that amazing?
It is.
just an idea all those yearsago.
And now we have all thesepeople working there.
Kim (02:50):
They're
George (02:51):
employed, they have families they're supporting, et
cetera, et cetera.
Kim (02:55):
Absolutely.
George (02:56):
It's a great, great story.
Kim (02:57):
And that's one of the things I love about Servpro.
So we're a cleanup andrestoration business.
So if you have a water damageor a fire damage, we come in and
try to help make it like itnever even happened.
But at our core, it's abouthelping people.
And that's one of the things Ilove about being a part of this
brand is just that we go in andhelp people on their bad days.
And then...
On the same note, being afranchisor, we get to help
(03:18):
people grow this business.
Like you said, it helps serveso many families because you're
helping grow their families,too.
George (03:26):
It's so true.
I've had my experiences withdisasters.
I've had house issues, hit bytoo much water, and that was a
big emotional experience for myfamily when that happened.
And right here where we'resitting in this set, in the
original filming of the firstshow of Tomorrow's World Today.
(03:48):
That morning, we had somebodyon a sprinkler, up by a
sprinkler head, and they hit itby accident, and all of this
water came dumping down on theset when cameras were just
getting ready to run, and I wasin a suit,
Kim (04:04):
and
George (04:04):
I was covered in all this blackish water that was
sitting up in those pipes for 50years or whatever long
Kim (04:11):
it was.
George (04:12):
But you know what?
We got through it, andeverybody kind of rolled up
their sleeves, and then we hadthe restoration services.
They were here within hours,and next thing you know, off we
were to the races.
We were filming later that day,which was shocking.
Kim (04:27):
I believe it.
Yeah, I've had a few waterdamages myself at my house.
It's not a fun place to be, buthopefully you will never have
that issue again, but shouldyou, you know who to call now.
George (04:37):
That's right.
Can I have your cell phonenumber, please?
Yes.
All right, so you guys have avery strong brand presence as a
company and you said your sloganearlier I heard it slide right
out of there.
Can you
Kim (04:53):
say it again?
Like it never even happened.
George (04:56):
So that's a beautiful slogan and it really you're
painting a picture like thestory of what it's going to be
like you can get your life back.
So do you have any recollectionon how the idea for that slogan
came about?
Kim (05:09):
Oh gosh well it was definitely pre me but I know
that there was a brainstormingsession with you some of our
agency team and our team talkingabout what do we want this to
look like?
How do we paint that picturefor people?
And that's really what it'sabout is that we want to make
your bad day, your water damage,we wanna give you your home
back.
So how do we do that?
(05:30):
How do we make it like it nevereven happened?
And so I'm not sure the exactorigin, but I mean, I'm sure it
was a light bulb moment and it'sbeen a great, I think it's a
great slogan and tagline forwhat we do.
George (05:43):
Well, when people are on a mission, and they start
brainstorming.
Maybe we could chat about thata little bit.
Our audience loves the field ofinnovation.
So at ServPro, I mean, when yousit down as a team, is that how
you do it?
How does brainstorming kind ofgo about in your world?
Kim (05:59):
Yeah, I don't know if there's a day that goes by that
there's not some sort ofbrainstorming going on.
You know, I think thatultimately, you know, when
you're in a business, no matterwhat that business looks like,
there's always going to be aneed for solutions and
innovation, you know.
And so you've got to get peopletogether and start ideating and
talking about, okay, how do wefix this or how do we make this
(06:20):
more efficient?
And so, I mean, every day, Iknow I sit with my team and I
know it happens across thebuilding.
I'm sure it's happening withinour franchises too.
You know, how do we do thisbetter?
How do we serve this customerbetter?
So, I mean, we sit down andbrainstorm, I'd say, probably
daily.
George (06:34):
Yeah.
You know, that's how you staycompetitive in this world.
It's a very competitive world.
Kim (06:39):
Absolutely.
George (06:40):
If you rest on your laurels too long, you never
know.
Kim (06:43):
You can't.
George (06:45):
Right.
You just can't.
And if you're smart enough, youknow you shouldn't, right?
That's right.
So that field of innovation isreally a special field.
I think it's prettymisunderstood because people
don't know where things comefrom.
You mentioned that the founderswere painters.
And I thought maybe he had somekind of a connection, like he
(07:07):
had an observation that here Iam painting, I go into all these
disasters after these thingshappen, and then he made an
observation that, wait a minute,this would be better if I went
to insurance.
I started going after andsupporting that insurance play.
So as I was studying thehistory of the company, I
thought, yeah, he was prettyinnovative.
And that requires beingobservant.
Kim (07:29):
Absolutely.
George (07:29):
So, and seeking a greater situation, right?
So I think that's part ofbrainstorming as well.
You know, having thatobservational sense about you
and wanting to make thingsbetter.
Kim (07:44):
Yeah, I love that that thought and you know Ted
Isaacson is no longer with usthe founder of the company but
you know we did a great sit downtalk with him you know a few
years before he passed and hesaid you know he had big visions
for the company but even hecouldn't imagine you know where
it is today at that time yeah soyou know I think he'd be even
more amazed now you know at theway it's continued to grow and
(08:06):
evolve to better suit thecustomers needs because you know
you talk about involvinginsurance you know early on we
started this you know paintingthen we move into cleaning and
now we're moving into fullservice so that we can be sort
of this one point of contact.
So if you have a problem atyour home, we can come in and do
everything from start to finishand to truly make it like it
never even happened.
So build back from the lastcoat of paint on the wall.
(08:28):
So back to our roots with thepainting.
George (08:30):
Nice.
So one call, you solve it all.
Kim (08:33):
That's it.
We may have a new slogan.
Are we brainstorming right now?
We are brainstorming right now.
I love this.
George (08:41):
Good stuff.
All right.
So let's talk a little bit morethen if we could What role does
digital marketing play in thisfield of restoration for you
guys?
Kim (08:52):
Sure.
Digital marketing, I think, iscritical these days.
For us, it's all about reachingthe customer where they are.
And we know that, for the mostpart, it starts right here with
their phone in their hand.
George (09:02):
Yes.
Kim (09:02):
So in your time of need, we want to make sure that if you
search water damage, like, whatdo I do right now?
We hope that we're the firstones that pop up.
So digital marketing iscritical in our strategy in
terms of making sure that we canreach people and they know how
to get a hold of us so that ifthey need us, we're there right
away, right at their fingertips.
George (09:21):
So that's evolved.
Absolutely.
If it was the 70s, though, Imean, what was the idea back
then?
Was it just like the old yellowpages?
I think it
Kim (09:29):
was the yellow pages, absolutely,
George (09:31):
yes.
Oh, my gosh.
And there it was, floating inthe water.
Kim (09:36):
That's exactly right.
I don't know if most peopleeven know what the yellow pages
are anymore.
It's the Google pages.
George (09:41):
Right, those days are long gone.
So...
You guys are known for cuttingedge technology.
You've evolved over the yearsand I'd like it if you could
share with our audience some ofyour more recent innovations.
Kim (09:56):
I was thinking about this question because there's so many
different avenues I guess wecould talk about.
One of the things that I loveto talk about that's a little
known and different avenue forus is we do a lot of our own
in-house cleaning products.
So we've got a blending team.
We even have our own chemist onour staff.
They like to go in and theyhelp come up with new solutions
(10:18):
for what our teams are needingout in the field.
They're saying, I may have thisissue that I'm dealing with.
And so they'll go and start tocome up with ideas and try
different formulas to see, okay,let me see if I can determine
this.
And one of the new things thatwe've got is they just released
a brand new line ofbotanical-based products, which
I think is really cool becauseit's a great alternative option,
(10:40):
especially if we've got moresensitive customers like younger
people or older clients So Ithink it's just really neat.
I love to go out to their laband always see what they're
working on.
George (10:50):
So I think that's a great approach.
I mean, so you're talking withpeople who are actually in the
field.
They're doing the work.
They're running into thesechallenges.
Correct.
And then those people and theobservations they're making
create the basis for how ideasare formed and challenges are
found.
Kim (11:08):
That's exactly right.
George (11:09):
And then you bring that back, and so now you're into
solutions.
Yes.
Kim (11:13):
That's
George (11:13):
fabulous.
So you went from painting.
We're all
Kim (11:17):
over the place, right?
Right.
I love it.
George (11:19):
Yeah, good stuff.
All right, how about isServPro, because this world's so
wrapped around AI now, are youguys using AI yet in any
Kim (11:29):
way?
We are experimenting with it insome ways.
So with our disaster relief andresponding to large-scale
events, we're using it to sortof help with weather modeling a
little bit, also help withdetermining where to stage our
crews and teams so that they canget into areas more quickly and
strategically.
So where they can be safely outof the way of the storm, but
(11:51):
then get there as quick aspossible after the storm.
We're also looking at how toutilize it to help our teams
with training in the field.
So to try to make it, I guess,more efficient and easier when
they're in the field, if theyneed to access information.
So that's something that's indevelopment now.
So we're currently working withit to see.
I think it's aboutefficiencies, trying to find
(12:11):
ways to plug it in.
I think a lot of people areworried about AI replay placing
things.
I don't know that we're notthere for sure, but it's
definitely, I think, a goodcatalyst to help.
George (12:22):
Well, I mean, if you can use A as a predictive model
based on, let's say, whereweather and what weather is
doing, and then that lets youprepare in advance all your
franchisees so they can be moreprepared for all the requests
coming in from the customers,that's a much better solution
than waiting around and notbeing ready and you haven't
(12:46):
scaled properly, right?
Kim (12:48):
That's exactly right.
And that's what it's all aboutis trying to make sure that we
can scale appropriately so wecan get and help as many people
as possible once, you know, it'ssafe to do so.
George (12:55):
That's smart.
Very smart.
All right.
So what would you say are someof the biggest challenges that
you see coming in the future,you know, with this restoration
industry and how are youpreparing for those?
Kim (13:10):
I think the increasing weather patterns that we're
seeing and large-scale disasterswill continue.
We're seeing more and more, itseems, as each year goes on.
So it's about continuing toscale and learning how to do
that and learning how tocontinue to increase our
capacity and capabilities.
And then I think it's techadvancements and customer
expectations and just stayingahead of that and trying to find
(13:34):
the best way to communicatewith customers so that they feel
like they understand theprocess and just, like I said,
the expectation of having thatone point of contact so that
they feel comfortable the wholeway through the process.
George (13:49):
Yeah, that means a lot, because if you're jumping around
from one to another to another,that's always a little
unnerving.
Kim (13:58):
You want to know that you can call up and say, okay,
listen, what's going on with myhouse?
You want to know that oneperson that you can talk to
instead of having to go to tendifferent people.
George (14:07):
Exactly.
Unfortunately, I'm familiarwith
Kim (14:10):
that now.
So
George (14:12):
do you have any shorter term plans on growth, like in
the next five or 10 years thatyou could share with us?
Kim (14:20):
Gosh, we definitely have strategic growth plans in place
to continue growing and to tryto continue to bring in
state-of-the-art equipment anddevelop these professional
cleaning products to keep usahead of the curve.
So I mean, I think we want towork on, and again, going back
to the technology and the AIpiece and figuring out how to
utilize that to make sure wehave best in class communication
(14:41):
with our customers becauseultimately that just allows us
to serve them better and itgives a better end result.
So those and then again thesingle point of contact, that is
a big focus for us right now interms of making us sort of a
full service, easy, here you gosolution.
George (14:59):
So you've gone through all these evolutionary steps.
Kim (15:02):
It's
George (15:03):
like constant innovation, right?
And you know, constantinnovation is one, like you can
make small incrementalinnovations.
And then every once in a whilemaybe you find a really big
move, like maybe that jump intocreating the actual solutions
that you're putting on into theenvironment.
(15:25):
So do you have a team ofinventors or innovators or maybe
an R&D lab at your facilities?
Kim (15:33):
I wouldn't say officially, but we do have absolutely a lot
of that going on in a coupledifferent ways.
We talked about the products Sowe've got a lab where they're
constantly innovating andlooking for new formulas to
create these professionalcleaning products.
But then we have a reallyrobust training program.
And within that, we've got twohouses.
(15:54):
One is actually inside our HQfacility, and then the other is
outside.
And we use that for training.
So the one inside, we smokeonce a month.
And so that's how we help trainpeople that are incoming, new
owners or technicians.
So they actually get hands-onexperience Yes.
And then we also have a housethat we flood a couple times a
month, same thing.
(16:15):
But then we've got alsoproduction rooms where they
learn how to do things likecontainment.
So if you've got maybe a moldsituation that we need to come
in and take care of.
So there's always some sort oftesting and things like that
going on.
And our equipment team, theyare always, you go back to their
shop, they've always gotequipment running and they're
testing it.
I always say I want to helpwith the drop tests.
(16:37):
You know, they say, oh, this issupposed to be from a six foot
drop, this equipment shouldsurvive.
I'm like, can you call me whenwe get to do that?
You know, because that soundslike fun.
But so there's always somethinggoing on as it relates to
training and learning how we canbetter our process.
George (16:52):
That makes sense because you guys, you have a lot of
franchisees.
So new franchisees, they comeinto the headquarters.
Yes.
And that's where all thesetraining facilities are.
That way you get the same kindof quality services at scale
throughout the USA and Canada.
So now your customers know whatto expect.
(17:13):
It's kind of like the franchisefor McDonald's.
The fries are the same inMinnesota that they are in
Florida.
Kim (17:21):
We want you to get the same service, whether you're in
Pennsylvania or Tennessee.
George (17:26):
Yes.
So what about intellectualproperty at Servpro?
Is there a portfolio ofinnovation or trade secrets that
are involved?
Kim (17:36):
I think it comes down to we definitely have proprietary
training.
George (17:40):
One
Kim (17:40):
of the things that you learn about when you come into
Servpro is the science of dryingand what does it take to
properly remediate, mitigate,and then dry out a structure so
that you can begin to make itlike it never even happened.
So we've got proprietarytraining.
We've also got, back to theproducts, we've got a couple of
branded products now thatthey've innovated and we've
(18:02):
stamped the Servpro brand on.
And we hope to continue to dothat and grow that process more.
George (18:08):
Sounds like a smart idea.
because everybody's trying tomake something better out there.
So what do you think might bethe next big thing in your
industry?
Kim (18:18):
You know, the basic mechanics of what we do will
never change.
It will stay constant in termsof how we do the science of
drying and how we approach theprocess.
But I think it goes back to theAI and the communication and
how can we better serve ourcustomers.
And so is there technology andinnovation along the way that's
going to make it more efficient,that's going to make them and
(18:40):
feel better about the processalong the way.
Because like I said, the basicswill remain the same, but how
do we just continue to improvethe overall experience?
George (18:49):
Yes.
Do you focus ever on, let'ssay, speed of action throughout
the challenge of solving theseproblems?
Kim (19:00):
Sure.
I mean, I think speed isimportant, you know, not just in
terms of reaching a solution,but when you're talking about
responding to someone's home,the quicker you get things taken
care of, the quicker you areable to prevent POTENTIAL
FURTHER ISSUES, SECONDARYDAMAGES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
PLUS, YOU KNOW YOU'VE BEENTHROUGH IT.
YOU JUST WANT YOUR LIFE BACK.
(19:20):
YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE TOENDURE THIS ANY LONGER THAN
POSSIBLE.
SO SPEED IS ABSOLUTELYCRITICAL.
George (19:26):
I WAS THINKING THAT MIGHT BE IMPORTANT, BECAUSE IN
OUR SITUATION, WE HAD SO MUCHWATER.
AND THE LONGER IT WAS SITTING,THE BIGGER, THE FURTHER IT WAS
GOING UP THAT WALL.
IT WAS JUST ABSORBING IT UPTHROUGH THAT WALL.
SO I WAS THINKING THATSOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE,
GETTING THERE AS FAST ASPOSSIBLE, mediating it, drying
it.
It's such a vital piece beforemoisture sits too long.
Kim (19:52):
And it's really one of those things that can happen so
quickly.
And we always say it's thewater you don't see.
So it is that water that'sseeping up the wall that you
don't realize maybe at firstthat it's happening.
And if you don't take care ofthings quickly, before you know
it, you could have secondaryissues like mold and you never
want that.
George (20:09):
No.
So that's a good...
I'm glad we're ending onthis...
cleaning up the mold, making agreat situation like it didn't
happen.
I can't thank you enough forcoming in today.
Kim (20:20):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's been a lot of fun.
George (20:23):
Well, everybody, that's another edition of Tomorrow's
World Today.
Thank you.
Steven (20:28):
And find us wherever podcasts are available.
Welcome to the Tomorrow's World Today podcast.
We sit down with experts, worldchanging innovators, creators,
and makers to explore howthey're taking action to make
tomorrow's world a better placefor technology, science,
innovation, sustainability, thearts, and more.
On this episode, host GeorgeDavison, who is also the host of
(00:22):
the TV series Tomorrow's WorldToday, sits down with Kim
Brooks, the Director ofCommunications for Servpro
Industries.
She shares how Servpro focuseson a rapid response to
disasters, using a slogan, likeit never happened, to emphasize
restoring customers' lives whilecontinuously innovating through
brainstorming, AI-drivenweather modeling, and
(00:42):
specialized training facilities.
George (00:46):
Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of
Tomorrow's World Today.
And today I have a specialguest.
I'd like you to meet Kim Brooksand she's with the Servpro
company.
Welcome Kim.
Kim (00:56):
Thank you for having me.
George (00:57):
You're very welcome.
I have a lot of good questionsfor you today.
I hope you're ready.
Kim (01:02):
I think I am.
George (01:03):
All right.
All right.
So let's kind of walk back alittle bit into the history of
Servpro.
Maybe we could start there.
Because everything starts withan idea, doesn't it?
Kim (01:13):
Absolutely.
George (01:14):
So somewhere in the past, some If somebody had an
idea, can you walk us back andhow did
Kim (01:19):
that happen?
Sure, absolutely.
Servpro was founded by theIsaacson family back in 1967.
And Servpro actually started asa painting business, if you can
believe it.
And they were entrepreneurs atheart and all about helping
entrepreneurs succeed.
And so looking for ways toexpand and grow their business
and eventually got into thecleaning business.
(01:39):
And from there, we continued togrow and started franchising.
George (01:45):
Franchising.
All right.
So that's when you start tobuild something and then you
want to scale.
Absolutely.
Back in, what was that, the70s?
Kim (01:53):
1967.
So we started franchising in69.
69.
George (01:56):
Yeah, franchising was like the big thing back in the
late 60s, early 70s, wasn't it?
Kim (02:02):
Yes, absolutely.
George (02:03):
Yeah, what a great idea.
I don't know who came up withthe idea of franchising, but it
really helped you guys.
Kim (02:09):
It was a great idea, yes, and we continue to do that
today.
We've now got over 2,300franchises across the U.S.
and Canada.
George (02:15):
Wow.
Kim (02:16):
So we've grown tremendously.
I've been with the companyright around 14 years, and I
think we were around 1,700franchises when I started.
So
George (02:25):
wait, 1,700 when you started.
Where are you now?
2,300.
2,300.
So if we could group that forour audience, about how many
people do you have workingthere?
Kim (02:35):
So at our HQ office, we've got around 500 people.
George (02:38):
And
Kim (02:38):
then we guesstimate around 20,000 across the country serve
pro teammates.
George (02:43):
Isn't that amazing?
It is.
just an idea all those yearsago.
And now we have all thesepeople working there.
Kim (02:50):
They're
George (02:51):
employed, they have families they're supporting, et
cetera, et cetera.
Kim (02:55):
Absolutely.
George (02:56):
It's a great, great story.
Kim (02:57):
And that's one of the things I love about Servpro.
So we're a cleanup andrestoration business.
So if you have a water damageor a fire damage, we come in and
try to help make it like itnever even happened.
But at our core, it's abouthelping people.
And that's one of the things Ilove about being a part of this
brand is just that we go in andhelp people on their bad days.
And then...
On the same note, being afranchisor, we get to help
(03:18):
people grow this business.
Like you said, it helps serveso many families because you're
helping grow their families,too.
George (03:26):
It's so true.
I've had my experiences withdisasters.
I've had house issues, hit bytoo much water, and that was a
big emotional experience for myfamily when that happened.
And right here where we'resitting in this set, in the
original filming of the firstshow of Tomorrow's World Today.
(03:48):
That morning, we had somebodyon a sprinkler, up by a
sprinkler head, and they hit itby accident, and all of this
water came dumping down on theset when cameras were just
getting ready to run, and I wasin a suit,
Kim (04:04):
and
George (04:04):
I was covered in all this blackish water that was
sitting up in those pipes for 50years or whatever long
Kim (04:11):
it was.
George (04:12):
But you know what?
We got through it, andeverybody kind of rolled up
their sleeves, and then we hadthe restoration services.
They were here within hours,and next thing you know, off we
were to the races.
We were filming later that day,which was shocking.
Kim (04:27):
I believe it.
Yeah, I've had a few waterdamages myself at my house.
It's not a fun place to be, buthopefully you will never have
that issue again, but shouldyou, you know who to call now.
George (04:37):
That's right.
Can I have your cell phonenumber, please?
Yes.
All right, so you guys have avery strong brand presence as a
company and you said your sloganearlier I heard it slide right
out of there.
Can you
Kim (04:53):
say it again?
Like it never even happened.
George (04:56):
So that's a beautiful slogan and it really you're
painting a picture like thestory of what it's going to be
like you can get your life back.
So do you have any recollectionon how the idea for that slogan
came about?
Kim (05:09):
Oh gosh well it was definitely pre me but I know
that there was a brainstormingsession with you some of our
agency team and our team talkingabout what do we want this to
look like?
How do we paint that picturefor people?
And that's really what it'sabout is that we want to make
your bad day, your water damage,we wanna give you your home
back.
So how do we do that?
(05:30):
How do we make it like it nevereven happened?
And so I'm not sure the exactorigin, but I mean, I'm sure it
was a light bulb moment and it'sbeen a great, I think it's a
great slogan and tagline forwhat we do.
George (05:43):
Well, when people are on a mission, and they start
brainstorming.
Maybe we could chat about thata little bit.
Our audience loves the field ofinnovation.
So at ServPro, I mean, when yousit down as a team, is that how
you do it?
How does brainstorming kind ofgo about in your world?
Kim (05:59):
Yeah, I don't know if there's a day that goes by that
there's not some sort ofbrainstorming going on.
You know, I think thatultimately, you know, when
you're in a business, no matterwhat that business looks like,
there's always going to be aneed for solutions and
innovation, you know.
And so you've got to get peopletogether and start ideating and
talking about, okay, how do wefix this or how do we make this
(06:20):
more efficient?
And so, I mean, every day, Iknow I sit with my team and I
know it happens across thebuilding.
I'm sure it's happening withinour franchises too.
You know, how do we do thisbetter?
How do we serve this customerbetter?
So, I mean, we sit down andbrainstorm, I'd say, probably
daily.
George (06:34):
Yeah.
You know, that's how you staycompetitive in this world.
It's a very competitive world.
Kim (06:39):
Absolutely.
George (06:40):
If you rest on your laurels too long, you never
know.
Kim (06:43):
You can't.
George (06:45):
Right.
You just can't.
And if you're smart enough, youknow you shouldn't, right?
That's right.
So that field of innovation isreally a special field.
I think it's prettymisunderstood because people
don't know where things comefrom.
You mentioned that the founderswere painters.
And I thought maybe he had somekind of a connection, like he
(07:07):
had an observation that here Iam painting, I go into all these
disasters after these thingshappen, and then he made an
observation that, wait a minute,this would be better if I went
to insurance.
I started going after andsupporting that insurance play.
So as I was studying thehistory of the company, I
thought, yeah, he was prettyinnovative.
And that requires beingobservant.
Kim (07:29):
Absolutely.
George (07:29):
So, and seeking a greater situation, right?
So I think that's part ofbrainstorming as well.
You know, having thatobservational sense about you
and wanting to make thingsbetter.
Kim (07:44):
Yeah, I love that that thought and you know Ted
Isaacson is no longer with usthe founder of the company but
you know we did a great sit downtalk with him you know a few
years before he passed and hesaid you know he had big visions
for the company but even hecouldn't imagine you know where
it is today at that time yeah soyou know I think he'd be even
more amazed now you know at theway it's continued to grow and
(08:06):
evolve to better suit thecustomers needs because you know
you talk about involvinginsurance you know early on we
started this you know paintingthen we move into cleaning and
now we're moving into fullservice so that we can be sort
of this one point of contact.
So if you have a problem atyour home, we can come in and do
everything from start to finishand to truly make it like it
never even happened.
So build back from the lastcoat of paint on the wall.
(08:28):
So back to our roots with thepainting.
George (08:30):
Nice.
So one call, you solve it all.
Kim (08:33):
That's it.
We may have a new slogan.
Are we brainstorming right now?
We are brainstorming right now.
I love this.
George (08:41):
Good stuff.
All right.
So let's talk a little bit morethen if we could What role does
digital marketing play in thisfield of restoration for you
guys?
Kim (08:52):
Sure.
Digital marketing, I think, iscritical these days.
For us, it's all about reachingthe customer where they are.
And we know that, for the mostpart, it starts right here with
their phone in their hand.
George (09:02):
Yes.
Kim (09:02):
So in your time of need, we want to make sure that if you
search water damage, like, whatdo I do right now?
We hope that we're the firstones that pop up.
So digital marketing iscritical in our strategy in
terms of making sure that we canreach people and they know how
to get a hold of us so that ifthey need us, we're there right
away, right at their fingertips.
George (09:21):
So that's evolved.
Absolutely.
If it was the 70s, though, Imean, what was the idea back
then?
Was it just like the old yellowpages?
I think it
Kim (09:29):
was the yellow pages, absolutely,
George (09:31):
yes.
Oh, my gosh.
And there it was, floating inthe water.
Kim (09:36):
That's exactly right.
I don't know if most peopleeven know what the yellow pages
are anymore.
It's the Google pages.
George (09:41):
Right, those days are long gone.
So...
You guys are known for cuttingedge technology.
You've evolved over the yearsand I'd like it if you could
share with our audience some ofyour more recent innovations.
Kim (09:56):
I was thinking about this question because there's so many
different avenues I guess wecould talk about.
One of the things that I loveto talk about that's a little
known and different avenue forus is we do a lot of our own
in-house cleaning products.
So we've got a blending team.
We even have our own chemist onour staff.
They like to go in and theyhelp come up with new solutions
(10:18):
for what our teams are needingout in the field.
They're saying, I may have thisissue that I'm dealing with.
And so they'll go and start tocome up with ideas and try
different formulas to see, okay,let me see if I can determine
this.
And one of the new things thatwe've got is they just released
a brand new line ofbotanical-based products, which
I think is really cool becauseit's a great alternative option,
(10:40):
especially if we've got moresensitive customers like younger
people or older clients So Ithink it's just really neat.
I love to go out to their laband always see what they're
working on.
George (10:50):
So I think that's a great approach.
I mean, so you're talking withpeople who are actually in the
field.
They're doing the work.
They're running into thesechallenges.
Correct.
And then those people and theobservations they're making
create the basis for how ideasare formed and challenges are
found.
Kim (11:08):
That's exactly right.
George (11:09):
And then you bring that back, and so now you're into
solutions.
Yes.
Kim (11:13):
That's
George (11:13):
fabulous.
So you went from painting.
We're all
Kim (11:17):
over the place, right?
Right.
I love it.
George (11:19):
Yeah, good stuff.
All right, how about isServPro, because this world's so
wrapped around AI now, are youguys using AI yet in any
Kim (11:29):
way?
We are experimenting with it insome ways.
So with our disaster relief andresponding to large-scale
events, we're using it to sortof help with weather modeling a
little bit, also help withdetermining where to stage our
crews and teams so that they canget into areas more quickly and
strategically.
So where they can be safely outof the way of the storm, but
(11:51):
then get there as quick aspossible after the storm.
We're also looking at how toutilize it to help our teams
with training in the field.
So to try to make it, I guess,more efficient and easier when
they're in the field, if theyneed to access information.
So that's something that's indevelopment now.
So we're currently working withit to see.
I think it's aboutefficiencies, trying to find
(12:11):
ways to plug it in.
I think a lot of people areworried about AI replay placing
things.
I don't know that we're notthere for sure, but it's
definitely, I think, a goodcatalyst to help.
George (12:22):
Well, I mean, if you can use A as a predictive model
based on, let's say, whereweather and what weather is
doing, and then that lets youprepare in advance all your
franchisees so they can be moreprepared for all the requests
coming in from the customers,that's a much better solution
than waiting around and notbeing ready and you haven't
(12:46):
scaled properly, right?
Kim (12:48):
That's exactly right.
And that's what it's all aboutis trying to make sure that we
can scale appropriately so wecan get and help as many people
as possible once, you know, it'ssafe to do so.
George (12:55):
That's smart.
Very smart.
All right.
So what would you say are someof the biggest challenges that
you see coming in the future,you know, with this restoration
industry and how are youpreparing for those?
Kim (13:10):
I think the increasing weather patterns that we're
seeing and large-scale disasterswill continue.
We're seeing more and more, itseems, as each year goes on.
So it's about continuing toscale and learning how to do
that and learning how tocontinue to increase our
capacity and capabilities.
And then I think it's techadvancements and customer
expectations and just stayingahead of that and trying to find
(13:34):
the best way to communicatewith customers so that they feel
like they understand theprocess and just, like I said,
the expectation of having thatone point of contact so that
they feel comfortable the wholeway through the process.
George (13:49):
Yeah, that means a lot, because if you're jumping around
from one to another to another,that's always a little
unnerving.
Kim (13:58):
You want to know that you can call up and say, okay,
listen, what's going on with myhouse?
You want to know that oneperson that you can talk to
instead of having to go to tendifferent people.
George (14:07):
Exactly.
Unfortunately, I'm familiarwith
Kim (14:10):
that now.
So
George (14:12):
do you have any shorter term plans on growth, like in
the next five or 10 years thatyou could share with us?
Kim (14:20):
Gosh, we definitely have strategic growth plans in place
to continue growing and to tryto continue to bring in
state-of-the-art equipment anddevelop these professional
cleaning products to keep usahead of the curve.
So I mean, I think we want towork on, and again, going back
to the technology and the AIpiece and figuring out how to
utilize that to make sure wehave best in class communication
(14:41):
with our customers becauseultimately that just allows us
to serve them better and itgives a better end result.
So those and then again thesingle point of contact, that is
a big focus for us right now interms of making us sort of a
full service, easy, here you gosolution.
George (14:59):
So you've gone through all these evolutionary steps.
Kim (15:02):
It's
George (15:03):
like constant innovation, right?
And you know, constantinnovation is one, like you can
make small incrementalinnovations.
And then every once in a whilemaybe you find a really big
move, like maybe that jump intocreating the actual solutions
that you're putting on into theenvironment.
(15:25):
So do you have a team ofinventors or innovators or maybe
an R&D lab at your facilities?
Kim (15:33):
I wouldn't say officially, but we do have absolutely a lot
of that going on in a coupledifferent ways.
We talked about the products Sowe've got a lab where they're
constantly innovating andlooking for new formulas to
create these professionalcleaning products.
But then we have a reallyrobust training program.
And within that, we've got twohouses.
(15:54):
One is actually inside our HQfacility, and then the other is
outside.
And we use that for training.
So the one inside, we smokeonce a month.
And so that's how we help trainpeople that are incoming, new
owners or technicians.
So they actually get hands-onexperience Yes.
And then we also have a housethat we flood a couple times a
month, same thing.
(16:15):
But then we've got alsoproduction rooms where they
learn how to do things likecontainment.
So if you've got maybe a moldsituation that we need to come
in and take care of.
So there's always some sort oftesting and things like that
going on.
And our equipment team, theyare always, you go back to their
shop, they've always gotequipment running and they're
testing it.
I always say I want to helpwith the drop tests.
(16:37):
You know, they say, oh, this issupposed to be from a six foot
drop, this equipment shouldsurvive.
I'm like, can you call me whenwe get to do that?
You know, because that soundslike fun.
But so there's always somethinggoing on as it relates to
training and learning how we canbetter our process.
George (16:52):
That makes sense because you guys, you have a lot of
franchisees.
So new franchisees, they comeinto the headquarters.
Yes.
And that's where all thesetraining facilities are.
That way you get the same kindof quality services at scale
throughout the USA and Canada.
So now your customers know whatto expect.
(17:13):
It's kind of like the franchisefor McDonald's.
The fries are the same inMinnesota that they are in
Florida.
Kim (17:21):
We want you to get the same service, whether you're in
Pennsylvania or Tennessee.
George (17:26):
Yes.
So what about intellectualproperty at Servpro?
Is there a portfolio ofinnovation or trade secrets that
are involved?
Kim (17:36):
I think it comes down to we definitely have proprietary
training.
George (17:40):
One
Kim (17:40):
of the things that you learn about when you come into
Servpro is the science of dryingand what does it take to
properly remediate, mitigate,and then dry out a structure so
that you can begin to make itlike it never even happened.
So we've got proprietarytraining.
We've also got, back to theproducts, we've got a couple of
branded products now thatthey've innovated and we've
(18:02):
stamped the Servpro brand on.
And we hope to continue to dothat and grow that process more.
George (18:08):
Sounds like a smart idea.
because everybody's trying tomake something better out there.
So what do you think might bethe next big thing in your
industry?
Kim (18:18):
You know, the basic mechanics of what we do will
never change.
It will stay constant in termsof how we do the science of
drying and how we approach theprocess.
But I think it goes back to theAI and the communication and
how can we better serve ourcustomers.
And so is there technology andinnovation along the way that's
going to make it more efficient,that's going to make them and
(18:40):
feel better about the processalong the way.
Because like I said, the basicswill remain the same, but how
do we just continue to improvethe overall experience?
George (18:49):
Yes.
Do you focus ever on, let'ssay, speed of action throughout
the challenge of solving theseproblems?
Kim (19:00):
Sure.
I mean, I think speed isimportant, you know, not just in
terms of reaching a solution,but when you're talking about
responding to someone's home,the quicker you get things taken
care of, the quicker you areable to prevent POTENTIAL
FURTHER ISSUES, SECONDARYDAMAGES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
PLUS, YOU KNOW YOU'VE BEENTHROUGH IT.
YOU JUST WANT YOUR LIFE BACK.
(19:20):
YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE TOENDURE THIS ANY LONGER THAN
POSSIBLE.
SO SPEED IS ABSOLUTELYCRITICAL.
George (19:26):
I WAS THINKING THAT MIGHT BE IMPORTANT, BECAUSE IN
OUR SITUATION, WE HAD SO MUCHWATER.
AND THE LONGER IT WAS SITTING,THE BIGGER, THE FURTHER IT WAS
GOING UP THAT WALL.
IT WAS JUST ABSORBING IT UPTHROUGH THAT WALL.
SO I WAS THINKING THATSOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE,
GETTING THERE AS FAST ASPOSSIBLE, mediating it, drying
it.
It's such a vital piece beforemoisture sits too long.
Kim (19:52):
And it's really one of those things that can happen so
quickly.
And we always say it's thewater you don't see.
So it is that water that'sseeping up the wall that you
don't realize maybe at firstthat it's happening.
And if you don't take care ofthings quickly, before you know
it, you could have secondaryissues like mold and you never
want that.
George (20:09):
No.
So that's a good...
I'm glad we're ending onthis...
cleaning up the mold, making agreat situation like it didn't
happen.
I can't thank you enough forcoming in today.
Kim (20:20):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's been a lot of fun.
George (20:23):
Well, everybody, that's another edition of Tomorrow's
World Today.
Thank you.
Steven (20:28):
And find us wherever podcasts are available.
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