Turning Insurance Inspections into Education

No matter if it’s the fire chief, an insurance auditor, or corporate security, “inspections” should be viewed as an opportunity to learn instead of a test to pass.

What’s this going to cost me?

The night before I departed on my first trip to inspect hotels in the chain I was working for, the CEO called me. “How much is this going to cost me?” he asked. I honestly didn’t understand the question. The travel cost was known, and accommodation and sustenance were covered by the hotels I would visit. “It’s not that,” he said. “How long will the shopping list you come back with be?” My predecessors had helped justify their travel by returning with long lists of investments they felt the hotels should make to improve security.

My approach was different, in part because the chain was growing much faster than my less-than-one-person department was. (My role was combined with other duties.) I would no longer be able to visit every hotel every year, and I knew how GMs worked. If I simply told them what I thought they should buy or do, as soon as I walked out the door, some of them would look at the calendar to see how long they could defer the suggested investment of time or money.

Paid subscribers can read about the success we had by collaborating with our insurance brokers to turn audits and inspections hotels dreaded into educational sessions they proactively asked for! (Image from Unsplash.com)