Recent General Posts

Winterizing Tips and Tricks

11/30/2023 (Permalink)

Wooded house with snow fall This is your reminder that it is not too late to begin winterizing your home.

With the winter season quickly approaching we want to remind you of the importance of winterizing your home. The purpose of winterizing a home is to avoid higher energy costs and any damage caused by cold weather and snow. Here’s how to winterize your home properly so that it can weather the season.

Clean out your gutters: The purpose of gutters is to direct rainwater and snow away from your roof to prevent water seeping in and causing damage. The gutters cannot do their job if they are filled with leaves and other debris. You typically want to clean the gutters before the first snowfall.

Protect the pipes: With temperatures below freezing there is a chance of your pipes freezing and bursting causing major problems. Here are some tips on how to avoid that. Know the location of your main water shut off so that it is easily accessible in an emergency. Drain the water from your outside sprinkler systems and garden hoses. Disconnect garden hoses from the spigot and cover the spigot.

If you're going to be away from home during the winter, be sure to keep your thermostat set to 55 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent your pipes from freezing. You can also open your cabinet doors to allow the pipes that don't get direct heat from freezing while you're gone.

Don't become a victim of a disastrous frozen pipe water damage. Winterize your home!

A Clean Home Sells Faster

2/19/2021 (Permalink)

Red sign. White verbiage. Home for sale sign

You know how when you are selling a car, you’re supposed to get it detailed and washed before hand to make it more valuable? Well the same goes for a house. Going the extra mile and ensuring your home is spotless inside and out is very beneficial. Increased market value, reduced list to sale conversion times, and enhanced reputation for quality listings and quick sales in the future just to name a couple. SERVPRO doesn’t only clean up after major fires and floods. We offer a variety of services to help revive your home and get it into top show condition. These services include:

  • carpet, upholstery, drapery and blind cleaning.
  • ceiling, wall, and hardwood floor cleaning.
  • deodorization
  • duct & HVAC cleaning
  • mold mitigation and remediation 

So whether you are trying to get your home into top showing condition, or just trying to live in a cleaner environment. SERVPRO of Western O’Fallon/Wentzville has you covered!

The Follow Up Is Worth It

2/13/2020 (Permalink)

SERVPRO playing in a golf tournament. Standing and posing with their clubs on a green Do the Networking and ALWAYS do the follow up.

Have you ever seen a quote and think how true it is? I was at the gym the other day. Yes you heard me right I was indeed at the gym. Anyway They have quotes that run across the TVs there. I love them and the nerdy networking geek in me totally always relates everything back to networking. Ok so I love networking and I do not look at it as work but I do know a lot of people who have to do it look at it as work. This particular quote said “The Work Is Worth It” So true at the gym. Also so true in networking. If you want the results, the customers, the new clients in my case the COIs Centers Of Influence, you have to not only go to the events, the lunches, happy hours, coffees you have to work the room, talk to the other net-workers and follow up. You have to do the work. You have to do all of the work. How many times a day do you tell your kiddos “Don't do things 1/2 way”? If your house is like mine you say it a lot. Well practice what you preach. Go to the morning coffee. Listen to what the other net-workers are saying that they need. Tell them what you need. I mean really tell them. Don't go there and say I work at a restoration company I need anyone who has had a fire, any water issues or even mold problems. I need to go there and say “ I work for SERVPRO of Western O'Fallon/Wentzville. Yes we will put your property back "Like it never even happened," and I promise you if you send us a friend who has any issues with Fire, Water, Mold, Air Duct Cleaning, or even bio hazard clean up they will thank you and tell you what a great experience it was working with us. But hopefully you or your friends will not need us. What I need from you however is to let all your insurance friends know about us. We hold Continuing education classes for agents as a way for them to get their needed credits. Also as a way for us to help them become an expert for their clients. So I would love an introduction to Insurance agents”. Make sure you get everyone's card from the event. Or at least as many as you can. Make notes as to what people need and somehow mark the cards so you know where they came from.  Now carry on and go to the lunch, do that 1 to 1, hit the happy hour. Now at the end of the day you get back to your office or you go into the office the next morning do your follow up. Sit down at your computer and send out those emails. Everyone has their own ways of doing this. I will tell you how I go about doing this. How you do it is not as important as doing it. You do it your way. You have to make sure you do it. I type up a basic email. Something like this-It was great seeing you today. I wanted to take a minute to recap some of the things I went over. I talked about Continuing Education classes that we do for our Insurance agents. I would also love a warm introduction to property managers.  If you are renting your home or business space I would love for you to send an email introduction to your property manager.  Something like this.-Hello ______- I want to introduce you to Jamie Gittemeier.  I do some networking with her and she works for SERVPRO of Western O'Fallon/Wentzville.  They can take care of any water fire or mold clean up that you may ever need.  I copied her in on this email in order to introduce the two of you.  after I have the basic email typed up I will continue to copy and past that part of it but then based on who I am sending it to I will start off with what it is that they need.Like- Hey Emily it was so great getting to know you better. I belong to a group called Little Black Book. This morning you mentioned that you really need to get out there and meet as many people as possible that you were just getting out there and would love to be introduced to groups that could help you network and educate you. This group would be an amazing fit for you. Check them out at www.womenoflbb.com.The 1st part of my email would be me helping them out in some way. Maybe I don't have anyone to introduce them to at the time. In that case I would just let them know that I heard them. Hey Emily it was great getting to know you better. I know you said you need to meet someone in the hotel industry. I don't really have anyone that I can introduce you to at this moment but I will for sure keep my ears open. (I really do. I am just saying that as an example to you) But you get the idea.The follow up is just as important as going to the event. Make sure you set aside time to do the follow up. The Work Is Worth It!

Welcome To Our Newest Team Member

1/31/2020 (Permalink)

Mark Lane in front of one of our SERVPRO box trucks with our logo, name and number on it. Mark Lane. Newest Team Member

We are very excited to introduce you to our newest team member.  Mark Lane comes to us with a long history of auto glass repair.  He has an extreme attention to detail.  He started on our team here at SERVPRO of Western O'Fallon/Wentzville the end of January 2020.  He is working out great.  He has a friendly, caring personality.  He works hard and is will to do what it takes to make our customers happy.  Those are all the kind of personality traits a person has to have to work here.  We are glad to have him on the team.

Honk and Wave If You See Greg Out and About!

9/12/2019 (Permalink)

blue F150 on left F150 wrapped with SERVPRO logo on right F150 Before and after

Check out the truck transformation.  We want to thank Schneider Graphics in Weldon Springs for doing such an amazing job helping us stand out in our community,  Greg Young is driving from job to job all day every day and most nights.  When it comes to having Fire , Water or Mold damage SERVPRO of Western O'Fallon /Wentzville will be there for you 24/7.  Now you will see us coming!  If you happen to see this truck around town honk and wave.  Who wants to drive around a boring blue truck when you can drive around in a kick butt SERVPRO of Western O'Fallon/Wentzville truck with Fire water and mold on it.  You will also recognize our marketing truck and our box truck they are SERVPRO green with our franchise name on them.  If you see a house that has one of these trucks in front of them you can bet they are getting the Best customer service.

Should you clean your air ducts?

8/9/2019 (Permalink)

the inside of an air duct

Should you have your air ducts cleaned?  If you remove contaminants from your home’s air duct system, the effects of dust and mold reduced. Clean, healthy, circulating is exactly what people who are sensitive to indoor air contaminants need.  Allergies are at an all-time high in America. These types of people are very likely to notice an instant relief once they have cleaned their air ducts.

Here are some reasons that you might want to have your air ducts cleaned.

  1. Allergies. Air ducts are an ideal breeding ground for bacteria, mold, fungi, and other allergens.  Kids 4 years old and younger are extremely vulnerable. A lot of times this will lead to allergies or asthma.  
  2. Mold.Air ducts that are in a basement have been exposed to water or moister at some time. This will lead to mold growth.  An anti-microbial should be fogged into the system after the cleaning to prevent future growth.
  3. Pets. Animal hair will build up over time. Not only causing allergy problems but also cause the HVAC system to not work properly.
  4. Dust. New home owners can find this particularly frustrating. They will dust and dust everyday only to find that there is always a new layer.  Until you clean the construction dust out of the air ducts this will happen.
  5. Efficiency. By getting rid of the years of build up of pet hair , dust, and insects you will not only have a healthier home but your HVAC system will be able to run at top performance and will in turn last longer.

Employee of the Month

6/18/2019 (Permalink)

Best Fire Content Cleaner Ever!!!!

We want to give a huge shoot out to Janet Hallam.  Janet is an amazingly hard worker.  She is extremely honest and trustworthy, those traits are a must have in our line of work.  She has been with us from the beginning.  she may look familiar to you and that is because she is Joanne's twin sister.  They share a lot of the same qualities.  She is not afraid to get dirty and do whatever it is that we need done.  Janet puts in a lot of after hours time.  She is our main fire content cleaner.  We wanted to Thank Her for all she does and let her know that NO GOOD DEED GOES UNNOTICED!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank You Chris Limpert

6/3/2019 (Permalink)

Greg Joanne and Chris.

We would like to introduce you to our longest tenured employee, Chris Limpert has been with us from the very start. He has seen it all and can do anything. He has been on the worst sewage job, the worst fire job, worst mold job and even the worst crime seen clean up. There is nothing this man can not do. As a matter of fact he has even worked with his heart being 99% blocked. Luckily he caught that in time, got it taken care of and was back to work in no time. Not much can keep this man down. Several years ago he lost his twin brother to a heart attack and has stepped in to help raise his nephew with cerebral palsy. Chris, We want to tank you for all your heard work you put in to help make SERVPRO of Western O'Fallon/ Wentzville the best.

Promoted to Crew Chief

5/23/2019 (Permalink)

Brendan

I want to introduce you to Brendan A Mercurio. As of this morning he has been promoted to Crew Chief. This could not be a more well earned promotion. Brendon has been a part of our SERVPRO of Western O'Fallon/ Wentzville family for over a year now. He is hands done one of our hardest workers. He is always the 1st one to the office in the morning and usually the last one to go home. He is also normally our go to on call tech. Brendan is IICRC trained and Certified with a WRT certification he also has mastered Dry Book. Congratulations Brendan!

The Work Is Worth It

5/20/2019 (Permalink)

Networking

Have you ever seen a quote and think how true it is? I was at the gym the other day. Yes, you heard me right I was indeed at the gym. Anyway, they have quotes that run across the TVs there. I love them and the nerdy networking geek in me totally always relates everything back to networking. Ok so I love networking and I do not look at it as work but I do know a lot of people who have to do it look at it as work. This particular quote said “The Work Is Worth It” So true at the gym. Also, so true in networking. If you want the results, the customers, the new clients in my case the relationships, you have to not only go to the events, the lunches, happy hours, coffees you have to work the room, talk to the other networkers and follow up. You have to do the work. You have to do all of the work. How many times a day do you tell your kiddos “Don't do things 1/2 way”? If your house is like mine you say it a lot. Well practice what you preach. Go to the morning coffee. Listen to what the other networkers are saying that they need. Tell them what you need. I mean really tell them. Don't go there and say I work at SERVPRO of Western O’Fallon/ Wentzville and I need anyone who has fire, water or mold damage. I need to go there and say “I work for SERVPRO of Western O’Fallon/ Wentzville. Yes, we will fix your fire , water or mold damage, and I promise you if you send us a friend who has any kind of damage they will thank you and tell you what a pleasant experience it was working with us. But hopefully you or your friends will not need us. What I need from you however is to let all your insurance friends know about us. Also, anyone you know who is an adjuster.  We work closely with both the agent and the adjuster.  Our goal when we get to any job is to save as much as we can.  We take great pride in our work and we will, in the long run, save the home owner, and insurance company a lot of money. So, I would love an introduction to Insurance agents and adjusters”. Make sure you get everyones card from the event. Or at least as many as you can. Make notes as to what people need and somehow mark the cards so you know where they came from. A good friend of mine, a member of my personal board of directors, owner of Pintos Palace, inspire 70 and Wharf Pharmacy, Shanna Palans showed me a cool little .49 plastic sleeve thing that she got from office max that you can put the cards in and label it. Now carry on and go to the lunch, do that 1 to 1, hit the happy hour. Now at the end of the day you get back to your office or you go into the office the next morning do your follow up. Sit down at your computer and send out those emails. Everyone has their own ways of doing this. I will tell you how I go about doing this. How you do it is not as important as doing it. You do it your way. You have to make sure you do it. I type up a basic email. Something like this-

I am not sure if you remember me telling you or not but at SERVPRO of Western O’Fallon/ Wentzville it is my job to get in front of insurance agents, Property Managers, Adjusters ect… to let them know what it is that we do.  If you have any connections for me, I would love an email introduction.  You could just copy and paste this for me to make it easier on you. –

I wanted to Introduce you to Jamie Gittemeier.  She works for SERVPRO of Western O’Fallon/ Wentzville.  They are a restoration and remediation company.  There main goal on a job is to save as much as they can from the damages.  That in turn saves the home owner and the insurance agent a lot of money.  I copied her in on this email so you can get a hold of her and set something up for the two of you to meet.

after I have the basic email typed up, I will continue to copy and paste that part of it but then based on who I am sending it to I will start off with what it is that they need.

Like- Hey Emily it was so great getting to know you better. I belong to a group called Little Black Book. This morning you mentioned that you really need to get out there and meet as many people as possible that you were just getting out there and would love to be introduced to groups that could help you network and educate you. This group would be an amazing fit for you. Check them out at www.womenoflbb.com.

The 1st part of my email would be me helping them out in some way. Maybe I don't have anyone to introduce them to at the time. In that case I would just let them know that I heard them. Hey Emily it was great getting to know you better. I know you said you need to meet someone in the hotel industry. I don't really have anyone that I can introduce you to at this moment but I will for sure keep my ears open. (I really do. I am just saying that as an example to you) But you get the idea.

The follow up is just as important as going to the event. Make sure you set aside time to do the follow up. The Work Is Worth It!

Networking With Confidence

5/14/2019 (Permalink)

Networking with Little Black Book

Network with Confidence! As a networker do you find yourself being great at getting out there, meeting people, helping people. You have figured out how to juggle all of those great networking events but one thing you just cant get past is getting to the point. What do I mean? You can go to all the networking events there are but if you do not get to the point all you have done is managed to make a lot of friends. How do you get to the point? How do you see to it that you are letting people that you network with what it is that you do. Network with confidence. It helps to love what you do. Be passionate about your product. Ok so what do I mean by that? Be confident? Be passionate? I sell Restoration Services. How do I be passionate about that? So here is what I mean. I have the right mind set. I do not go into a networking event thinking “I sell restoration services” I go in there knowing - I work for SERVPRO of Western O’Fallon/ Wentzville. I work for a restoration company that ALWAYS puts their customer and our Insurance agents first. They see to it that they make a bad scary situation easy for the home owner and the insurance agent. Not only that but they are always thinking about how to make their lives easier. To the extent that we even have classes for Insurance agents to help them not only obtain their continuing education credits for free but to also help the agents be even more helpful to their clients. I am confident. I love what I do. I can not wait to get into that networking event and talk to the people in there about SERVPRO of Western O’Fallon/ Wentzville and what we can do to help. Can you see how confidence can change a networking event? Now I do understand how creating passion and confidence about some jobs may be harder than others. But you have to dig deep. What do you do, where do you work, what sets them apart?Now that gets you in there and networking. When you leave there people will know what you do and what sets your work above the next guy. You need to follow up. That is a whole other post.