Maxim Enterprises

Disasters and How to Avoid Them

OK, so you can't avoid disasters.  There isn't some weather control hotline that you can call to say "we don't want a [insert disastrous weather phenomenon here] this year".  The only thing you can do about these disasters is to either live in a bubble or plan for the worst that mother nature can throw at you.  A study published by the University of Texas shows that only 6 percent of companies that suffer a "catastrophic data loss" ultimately survive.  A scary thought when it comes to the business world, and even if you don't lose data, you still lose business if you are closed. 
This past year at NAMFS, they really hit home the idea of disaster recovery, and Maxim took it to heart.  The biggest issue in disaster recovery stems from a single question "how do you know your plan works?"  With most plans, you have it, but it comes with a hefty price tag to run through the entire plan.  The plan ends up sitting there, unused until disaster strikes, and then you hope that the plan you worked tirelessly on to create actually does its job.
That was the old Maxim plan prior to NAMFS.  When Steve returned from Atlanta, he looked at our plan and wondered if there was a way to make it better.  After discussions with our managed services provider (MSP), we came up with a new plan.
Suffice it to say, our old plan was laid to rest shortly after the new plan was devised.  Working endlessly with our MSP, we have created a plan that is actually testable.  Our servers will exist in two locations, Ohio and Florida.  Since it is never hurricane season in Ohio and mother nature doesn't release 2 feet of ice and snow in Florida, we have the perfect solution.  All it takes is the flip of a switch and Maxim is no longer located in Ohio, but it moves to a bunker in Florida.  This means that we will be able to show that Maxim's downtime will be limited to about 10 minutes instead of 2 days.  So I am leaving out a lot of detail, good for you though as the reader because you don't want to be bored by such technical details when you are looking at a business blog.  The point is, testability ensures survivability.

Training, Training, Training

I recently began the process of getting an IT certification.  It is true that I already have a bachelor's degree in Computer Science, but if there is one thing that I have learned by working at Maxim, it is that no one knows everything about everything.  Maxim improves the odds by providing its contractors training programs to improve the company as a whole, and while no one knows everything, working with Maxim gives contractors the chance to know as much as possible.  Why would anyone not want to know the most they can to improve the day to day operations of their businesses?  No answers to that question?  That's because there is always good reason to be diligent and make your company as prosperous as possible.  The mortgage field service industry is ever-changing, with client instructions, photo requirements, and new forms, and learning as much as you can makes for less stressful completions and a higher return.  Invest a little of your time and train up, the return on the investment will more than make up for it.  As for me, I am learning as much as I can to better my understanding of the ever-changing world of computers.

One size doesn't fit all

It's been kind of a slow day around here for me. Still a steady supply of phone calls and work orders, but not nearly as many as the past couple of weeks. We were recently slammed with an exorbitant amount of intial secures for our Ohio contractors, but BAC seems to have gotten most of them out of their system. Along with those pages and pages of intial secures came a few pages worth of cancellations, which leads me to today's topic. In my time here thus far entering work orders, I have learned 7 different ways to read and enter said word orders. While they all go to the contractors the same way, they come to us very different. We get faxes from NFR and web pages from First American. Each client has different wording, requirements, and expectations. And I've learned (and am still learning) how to interact differently with each set of work orders. The most important lesson learned yesterday, however, is that each contractor needs to be treated differently as well. Logical right? Except that as the newbie I'm still having issues knowing which actions to take if the only thing I'm told to do in a certain situation is lacking a bit of information. Like who do I call or who do I e-mail when a work order has been cancelled and it's already in the field? Do I call the actual contractor or is there someone behind the scenes doing paperwork who would be able to confirm if a work order has been completed? All very important questions, except I didn't know I was supposed to be asking them until I called and e-mailed the wrong people. Thankfully we have very helpful client leads who are patient and can answer my questions in addition to offering more information. Who knew the orange numbers on my contractor contact list connected directly to the person I should be talking to? *Thanks Tiff* I feel like I need a user's manual, but since there doesn't seem to be one I suppose I'll just keep taking notes and asking questions because in this business, one size doesn't fit all.

Sunny Monday

Goal for the week: Begin learning everything I can about this company that I don't already know. I had a nice chat with Sue today about what the processors do, the client leads, how they interact with the contractors and clients and whatnot. Like I said before, everyone has their roles, and they're all very important. As far as my job goes, aside from answering the phone, I do work order entries, which I also feel is very important. They have to get from the clients to the contractors somehow. The days go by so quickly because there's a constant stream of work orders that come in from the different clients I get them from. It's like doing homework assignments all day. Some are the exact same thing 100 times and some are different. This past weekend I returned to my alma mater (Milligan!) and it was great telling people I have a real job and then trying to describe to them what Maxim is. No I wouldnt' say it's exactly what I got my degree in but as someone said, well you're doing a lot of writing. Sure am, and this is my last bit of writing for the day. While the processors have a long night ahead of them (they all really do work so hard), I'm going home finally.

Day 7

Here am I, Kristen Oxley, the newbie, well into my 7th day working for Maxim Enterprises. Steve asked me to write about my experiences here, and part of that experience is that I'm guessing I won't be able to finish this without being interrupted by a phone call. Not that I'm upset about that fact. My primary responsibility is to answer the phone and transfer the call to whomever the caller needs. And let me tell you, Sue is a very popular woman on those phone lines. I'm sure I memorized her extension first. *Please hold while I answer the phone* See, I was right. I'm waiting for the day when I answer my cell phone "Good afternoon Maxim how may I direct your call." Transferring calls, though, is all part of the learning experience of this business. Every day so far I've learned a lot of new information and every *please hold for another phone call* day I'm corrected on things I've done and am doing, and every day I ask a lot of questions. This is a different kind of business than any that I've been a part of, so there is a lot for me to learn. They told me the first day that it takes a year to really get ahold of everything. And now I believe them.

How does a pig know when to stop eating?

Last week was another great week.  I am excited to see the amount of work that we have received from our client in different areas.  However, with the increase in the amount of work there brings the issue of contractor capacity.  I know most of you contractors want to try and take every job possible like it was your last one.  As a result of this, we have developed some tools internally at Maxim to gauge office capacity and contractor capacity.  We are currently back testing the data to confirm our results.   What we have found out so far is that there is a diminishing return when we all take on too much work.  Work becomes sloppy and inefficient thus causing frustration for all people involved.  A great example of this was a situation in PA.  We had one contractor for a large area.  We divided that area as evenly as possible based on the past volumes.  So instead of one contractor in an area, we now have two.  You are probably thinking there goes ½ of my work to another person.  The answer is yes.  However, what we found out was that work all of a suddenly got done in half the time it normally took.  The two contractors worked together and if there was an issue with capacity, they even offered to cover one another if something went wrong.   By turning their work in on time it created the following for them.  Number 1 – fewer mistakes.  Number 2 – better cash flow. And Number 3 – more work from the client.  When work gets out of control it makes everyone’s life difficult.  Knowing your capacity of work is critical for your business to be profitable.  We will be releasing this tool as soon as we have tested to confirm accurate results

Maxim and Bargainlocks at Inc 500 conference

This past week I was at the Inc 500 conference for Maxim Enterprises and Bargainlocks.  Maxim was in the Inc 5000 and Bargainlocks was in the Inc 500 at number 243.  Bargainlocks had gained almost 800 spots from last year’s ranking of 1000 something.  Great job from Mike and his staff at Bargainlocks.  Also, thank you contractors for your support in purchasing from Bargainlocks.  If you have any suggestions or ideas for Bargainlocks please email Mike at mikem@bargainlocks.com.  This year’s conference had a theme of overcoming adversity with the current economic situations.  Last year I listened to Jim Collins about Good to Great companies and what does it take to become great.  This year Jim had talked about the “How the Mighty Fall”.  I thought it was appropriate for Maxim as we transition from some of the most difficult times in this company.  The past two years have been quite challenging from all aspects of the business.  As I listened to Jim, he had mentioned about companies overreaching and thus causing problems.  I related this overreaching to Maxim in prior years of us taking on too much business and not being able to measure performance.  Collins had also mentioned about a “stop doing list”.  Once again I related this to Maxim and took a hard look at our clients and looked at who should we be doing business with or who should we stop doing business with.  But what was really amazing to hear about was the continued theme of “Greatness is by choice and discipline”.    Greatness is not by luck or circumstances or the territory that you cover.  Greatness means making tough decisions and following through.  I feel that over the past two years, there was one point where I wanted to just give up and say forget this business, I am just a victim of circumstances and my luck has run out.  Well, after some deep soul searching and attending last year’s conference and hearing the quote from Collins – “Greatness is by choice and discipline” I had found new hope.  I have this quote on all of my computers screen savers and I say it every morning and night.  You are probably wondering why am I telling you this story.   I am telling you this story because everyone goes through these types of situations and it is important that everyone understands what goes on.  This past week gave me more energy and ideas than prior conferences.  I am very happy with our current situation, not satisfied, and see so many opportunities in the preservation business ahead of us.  We may have had a small detour the past two years, but we are right back on track with our approach with clients and contractors.  I am very confident in each one of our abilities to contribute to the team and make a difference at Maxim.  Thank you all who have met the challenges and have worked on making “The Maxim Difference”.