Dealing With A Downturn | Restoration Industry Association (RIA)

When the Phone Stops Ringing: What Restoration Leaders Should Do in a Slow Year

Let’s face it—some years just suck. The storms don’t hit. The pipes don’t burst. The phones don’t ring like they used to. And if you're in the Disaster Restoration space, a slow year can feel like a gut punch, especially when your business, your team, and your family are depending on you to keep the engine running.

This is a conversation we dove into on Episode 174 of Head Heart and Boots podcast. And while I can’t give you a magic pill to fix a slow season, I can absolutely give you some practical, hard-earned strategies that you and your team can start implementing today.

Here’s what I believe every Restoration company should be doing when the market feels quiet.

1. Double Down on Relationships—Before the Storm Comes

When work slows, it’s easy to go internal. Tweak a process here. Cut costs there. But the companies that come out stronger on the other side? They use this time to go on offense, especially with relationship-building.

Re-engage referral partners. Grab coffee with property managers, plumbers, roofers, and insurance agents you haven’t talked to in six months. Ask, “What’s changed in your world this year?”. Solicit honest feedback on your relationship and the team’s prior performance. Now’s the time to uncover hidden services or expectation gaps.
Show up without an ask. Find a way to create value for the client/prospect for their sake. Don’t just do the donut drops and lunches. Ensure that you're doing those; they serve a purpose. Example: Find out what goals or initiatives they are focused on and ask how your team can support those efforts. Ask, “What’s one of the biggest performance drivers your team is focused on this year?” or “What is the team focused on that is going to make the most improvements on the business this year?”. Then offer to provide the reward, help drive a contest, etc.

Pro-tip - Do this in such a way that our brand takes the backseat and our contact’s role is highlighted or emphasized. The opportunity here is to make them look like a superhero. Nothing drives loyalty more than someone making them look great to their chain of command.

Re-energize your CRM. If your CRM needs some clean-up due to double entries or inconsistent data, now’s the time to get to work. Ensure your CRM data is locked in and clean so you and your team can see the story arc for each client or prospect. A clear picture will ensure your time and energy are going to the right places.

2. Build Brand While the Noise is Low

Slow periods are ideal for brand building because everyone else is going quiet. Your competitors are hunkering down. That’s your cue to get loud—in the right way.

Show up consistently on social. I’m not talking about some templated stock photo garbage. I mean real, raw content. Behind the scenes at jobs. Quick videos from the field. Staff highlights. Remember, people’s attention spans are limited, so video tends to hit them with a quick burst of dopamine. And if you still need a little convincing that video is the way to go, here are some quick stats:
- Social video is shared 1200% more than text and images combined (G2).
- Video posts on social media get 48% more views than image or text-based posts (HubSpot)
- LinkedIn video posts earn 5× more engagement than other formats.
Tell stories, not services. People don’t remember that you “do water mitigation.” They remember that time you helped a single mom recover from a basement flood on Christmas Eve.
Use this moment to test. Try podcast guest appearances, YouTube shorts, email newsletters—anything that helps your market feel your values and voice. And if you’re anything like me, you are probably asking yourself why would I make a good guest on a podcast, or how do I even get someone interested to have me on? Listen, being a business owner or leader is hard, and there are only so many of us out there. The lessons you’ve learned and the wins you’ve earned carry stories, and those stories can change people’s lives and make them not feel so alone. Consolidate a list of your top 10 lessons learned in ownership or leadership, along with short example stories that brought the lessons to bear. You can pitch that to podcasts that serve your client's needs, and you’ll be shocked how many take you up on it. Content creators are always on the hunt for more content.

3. Invest in Your Team’s Growth

If your team’s standing around waiting for the phone to ring, you’re missing one of the biggest opportunities: training and development.

Cross-train & Coach Up. Have techs train in service lines they don’t normally operate in. Conduct “sales training” for first responders to ensure we increase our chances for success.
Run leadership huddles. Pick a book, a podcast, or an issue in the business, and workshop it as a team. This builds trust, alignment, and future leaders. Don’t make any assumptions and don’t be afraid to start with the foundational elements of leadership. A great example is Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink. This is the most fundamental piece of great leadership and can easily become the bedrock for your entire company culture. Honestly, any search for Top authors or podcasts on leadership and leadership development will provide you with so many choices you could build a calendar out for an entire year and only scratch the surface.
Make role clarity airtight. Use the time to make sure everyone knows exactly what “winning” looks like in their role. Clean up leadership lanes and ensure accountability is clear across the board.

4. Audit the Machine

You don’t wait until the house is on fire to test the smoke detectors. The same goes for your business. A slow season is your chance to do a thorough diagnostic. Where are those gaps between what we “say we do” and “what we really do” on a daily basis?

Revenue & Spending. Where’s the waste? Are your gross margins where they should be by service line? Are we leveraging a consultative approach to ensure every job is maximized in terms of scope, upgrades, etc? What about material costs? When was the last time you shopped for your most-purchased material or consumables? What about your membership associations, like RIA and their savings programs? What other programs may you be a part of where you can save and compare, but just haven’t made it a priority to dig in?
Closing/Conversion rates. Is your team treating every opportunity like it’s the gold that it is? Are we following up and remaining aggressive about moving projects into production? If we lock in an EMS project, are we moving with a sense of purpose to get Recon estimates out and ensure we reduce or eliminate time gaps between service lines?
Every Job Sales Activities (EJSA’s). How consistent is the team executing on those little but powerful things we should be doing on every single job? Are we setting yard signs? Are we conducting the 5x5? Are we asking for the review? Are we asking for the referral? There is a ton of opportunity here that many of us aren’t leveraging, but we’ll need to save this for another article.

The time to fix leaks is when the water isn’t rising.

5. Recast the Vision—Loudly and Often

In a slow year, your people will start to doubt. “Is this business okay?” “Should I look elsewhere?” Your job as the leader is to remove air gaps and ensure the team knows the truth.

Remind them of the mission. Why do we exist? What difference do we make in people’s lives? If this is something that you or the leadership team have yet to build out, then I want to encourage you to make this a priority. It’s mission-critical that we know what we are trying to build. It will ultimately drive decisions, priorities, and set the tone for the overall company culture. Maybe now is the time to dig in and make this a priority?
Name the challenge. Don't pretend it's not slow. Call it what it is, but follow that with a strategy and plan. Encourage them and remind them we are playing the long game.
Pull the team into solution mode. Engage downline team members in process clean up and development of workflows or SOPs or finding solutions to unaddressed issues.

Give your team a narrative they can believe in—and be a part of.

As they say, revenue can cover a multitude of sins. It’s easy to ride the wave when the phones are melting, ignoring red flags and performance gaps. Leverage the slower seasons to ensure the foundation is strong and that systems are in place to take advantage of the next growth push in a profitable way.

Take heart. Take stock. And take action.