Action Emergency Services

We sat down with Brian from Action Emergency Services in Revere to discuss using social media to document and promote their work, collaborating with other companies, and the importance of separating the quality of their work from the circumstances that caused them.

Stats

Action Emergency Services

Revere, MA

Facebook

@ActionEmergency

205 Likes

206 Followers

Twitter

@ActionEmerg

Action Emergency Services bills themselves as "the company you hope you'll never need, but will always be there when you do". With a tagline like that, you'd think that using social media to market their services could be tricky. Most people don't shop around for an emergency services company when they're scrolling through their social media feed, and it might be hard to find passionate fan advocates for work associated with tragic situations. However, as Job Supervisor Brian goes on to explain, social media is the perfect medium for Action Emergency Services to use for documenting the professionalism, quality, and timeliness of their work in real time, and this documentation is what gives them brand recognition with insurance companies and municipal departments when catastrophe does occur. 

Tell us about what Action is all about and what your role is. 

Action is a full-service emergency service company that responds to various types of unexpected catastrophic property damage situations 24/7, such as fires, explosions, roof collapses, tornadoes, hurricanes, vehicle-into-building accidents, etc. Our major function is to come in directly after the first responders have completed their duties to make the property safe and secure so that it doesn't pose a threat to the surrounding neighbors and it does not incur additional damage/losses. I am one of the crew managers. We usually work in crews of 3-5 people per job. One of us is designated as the job supervisor. That is my main function. 

Obviously in the Emergency Services field, clients aren't looking for your help until something has already happened. How do you use social media to get your name out there for municipal agencies/insurance companies and the like, so they know about the work you can do and how you can help when it's time? 

Yes, when we meet people at trade shows and other settings, we will tell them that we are the company that they hope they never need but will always be there if and when they do. When a disaster hits, we are not usually contacted by the property owner directly - at least not initially. Most often, it is (a) a representative of the local fire department, police department, or building inspection department or (b) a property damage specialist or insurance adjuster that was hired by the property owner (public adjuster) or an adjuster employed by one of the insurance carriers.These people want and need to contact an emergency services company that they know can respond immediately and has the equipment, personnel, and skills to assess and do whatever is necessary to stabilize the property and make it safe and secure. The best message to these people to gain their confidence is to have them see directly what we have done in similar circumstances. We use social media to show how we have taken care of people in all types of urgent situations. Whether it it is the middle of the night or in broad daylight in a residential neighborhood, there is no time to shop around. We have to make sure people can find us and quickly be convinced that we are the right people to call to make sure things get done right.

What channels work best for you? 

We take a lot of pictures for our website, Facebook, Twitter, etc.These also help us document our work to get paid from insurance companies. It has to be done tactfully and with sensitivity to the situation. People have just suffered terrible losses. Sometimes fatalities. We do not want to use these tragic events for marketing purposes. We have to focus only on rapid response and the workmanship being done on the premises.

Do you use social media to collaborate with other companies? 

Yes, some cleaning companies that handle mainly the water remediation part of the job and environmental companies that concentrate on asbestos, mold and other hazardous materials. 

Have you seen an uptick in the number of jobs you got or in name recognition since beginning the use of social media? 

Yes, the number of jobs have increased, as well as the types of assignments, and the scope of the geographic areas that we are called in to.

Social media marketing is generally associated with retail and E-Commerce companies. What advice would you give to a company like yours looking to start using social media, but aren't sure if it makes sense for their industry? 

In the services sector, customers or people who influence who the end customers ultimately hire want to see evidence that the service provider has successfully completed assignments as close as possible in the scope of work to the job they need to do. We need to feed them solid examples that they can see and say "that is exactly what I need and how I need it done." I recommend high quality pictures taken in real time during all key phases of the work project.

Thanks for speaking with us Brian!