The Cozy Camper Podcast - Episode 4: Inspections R Us

Mike and Elizabeth discuss their RV business as well as the RV inspection service. 

Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:17:00
Unknown
Hey, y'all, I'm Mike, the RV inspector and technician. And I'm Elizabeth. I'm the wife of the RV inspector and technician. And welcome to our podcast.

00:00:17:13 - 00:00:37:21
Unknown
Hello, Elizabeth. Oh, my. And hello, everyone. Welcome to the Cozy Camper podcast. We would love it if you would just take a second to like this video and subscribe to our channel, then share if you want to too. It's all helpful. Elizabeth. It's been two weeks since we sat here together. We met with the Traveling Titans who are not named Titan.

00:00:37:24 - 00:00:54:12
Unknown
We didn't get to meet them and learn that we did. I didn't. They were in my phone as the Titans. I assumed it was, But it was a lot of fun. It is not. And actually, as I think about it, we never did learn their actual last thing I wanted to ask, but I was afraid to ask on the podcast.

00:00:54:12 - 00:01:22:10
Unknown
And, you know, Titans, what's your real last name? no. Well, so it's us again. And, we had back at our farm. It was very overwhelming. We filmed it outside at an active campground, which was cool. That was awesome. it was a cool vibe. But then people came, and they. They were intoxicated. Came and they came again, and they just kept coming.

00:01:22:10 - 00:01:44:26
Unknown
And it was. I thought that, like, the sight of four people with a camera and broadcast headsets would have been like, oh, hey, those guys are like doing something. Maybe we should, like, give them some space. They sat right next to us and dribbled a basketball and had had drunken conversation. The one guy stood in the back. Yeah.

00:01:45:00 - 00:02:06:26
Unknown
Like what? 30s or like what? What felt like an eternity. He just stood there. Yeah. He just stood there, like, looking. We called him drunk, Dennis. Drunk. Dennis stood there like so. Like a deer in headlights and okay, it was annoying. But we also were doing a socially unusual thing by filming a podcast in the middle of a patio, which, unbeknownst to us, was having a concert that night.

00:02:07:03 - 00:02:24:06
Unknown
So, like, I was on the one side of the table where I could see the stage behind you guys. Yeah, well, I guess you were next to me, but you were in the zone right to it. and I was like, oh. Like I see him, like, doing a mic check, and I could see him staring at us, and I was like, so what's funny is like, start playing and then we're going to this is going to be done.

00:02:24:13 - 00:02:44:29
Unknown
And as soon as we packed up, they started playing like within really hard. Yeah. By and like I picking up their guitars and putting them down and I think they were so we yeah we, we learned a little bit from this number one recording on site this day. Hanging out with the Titans was great. I had a great time doing it.

00:02:45:01 - 00:03:06:01
Unknown
The the lesson here is that we need to have as much control over the environment as possible and not, and make sure if we are going to do it outside, make sure that it's a controlled area. So like if we had done the same camp, same thing in front of our campsite, probably would've been fine, right? You would have maybe heard noise in the background, but it wouldn't have been like aggressive.

00:03:06:01 - 00:03:33:09
Unknown
Yeah, we still would have like we still would have heard the train. Yeah. And I mean, think about the chose a Union Pacific train and a B there was a BNSF train. our sons really into trains, but that was tough. So to the fewer listeners we had last time, I think because of those audio issues. And then it took me like days to upload the podcast on YouTube, like literally three days, to everyone that stuck that one out.

00:03:33:12 - 00:03:50:29
Unknown
Thank you. Yeah, that one was a lot. And I feel like almost like we need to have the Titans again like around two because I love talking with them so much. Yeah listening to them. And I just wanted more. But because I was so distracted and because it was so loud, I felt like we, you know, we couldn't go as deep as I was.

00:03:51:02 - 00:04:13:15
Unknown
My ADHD was fully based. And what's great is that, like so just everybody knows our kids, the Titans kids, were present downrange from us. So I could like see them occasionally. So like you can see me on the camera being like Yep. And that's like literally like you and Blake went and it was like Sam and I were locked in you and Blake like went into hypervigilance mode.

00:04:13:15 - 00:04:29:26
Unknown
Like like at one point like one of their kids was running and you just see Blake like, and then you could see me going the other way. Yeah. And then, but then like, frequently, like you're clearly you're watching our kids, like like what is happening. So like there was it made it challenging to edit some of that stuff out.

00:04:29:27 - 00:04:43:03
Unknown
To be fair, I was also worried because the train was like, right there. I mean, you could hear it, but like and there was no, I mean, you in the campground, the train tracks run in the campground. So in the back of my head, my anxiety was like, no one's going to go up there, no one's going to go up to the train.

00:04:43:05 - 00:05:03:16
Unknown
It is right there. There's no barrier. No one knows better. If anyone knows better about trains and safety, it's normal. And. But I was still in the back of my head like, oh God, he's like, he's left alone. He loves trains. And it's right there. Yeah. And these other kids might go, and I just might. I was trying to be present and focused, but also I was like, oh God, this is it.

00:05:03:22 - 00:05:28:06
Unknown
So, you know, learning occurred where we're going to where we have we Thomas Thomas, coach, coach, they're our next guests. So we're trying to figure out our schedule, talk to them when we've already worked out some of these logistics going in that are, we know going in now what we need to have. Yes. Just a quiet spot. I think if that we think of and if we took anything from this, this first one, just a quiet spot.

00:05:28:10 - 00:05:47:18
Unknown
Yeah. Reasonably private quiet spot, even if it's outdoors. you know, I liked being outdoors. I think I said that in the podcast I liked. Or maybe before it, it was like, that's what we're trying to do here is just have a casual conversation and just be where the people are. And in this case, they were on an awesome campground at a really cool location right?

00:05:47:21 - 00:06:08:13
Unknown
I think in theory, it would have been great to be where we were at, just not in practice. It was not the best. I don't regret doing it. I think it was really cool. It's what we were aiming for, right? It did not it out the way. Operationally. It did not go the way we hoped, but we we achieved our objective and that we recorded a podcast with them.

00:06:08:16 - 00:06:27:17
Unknown
And one of the things we talked about was just making incremental progress on each. We need to remember. Right. So like we did. Yeah. So we did the hard thing. And now we've learned from it. The Titans were our guinea pigs and Thomas. Yeah. And Thomas's will benefit from that because that podcast will be a little better than the one we did the first time.

00:06:27:17 - 00:06:49:26
Unknown
And I think we talked about this, about having the Titans on again in like a year from now. And every they were number three. So we said every integer three. Yeah. So there'll be like 33 right. Exactly 300. We just have them. There are number three special. But yeah that was oh my God we get that I don't know, just getting this ready tonight was a battle.

00:06:49:28 - 00:07:06:16
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah I was going to say no, I was, I was I was tired tonight we we, we keep not doing it on Sunday which is what we said because it's a day off. And then like tonight I worked in the field all. And then we had a showing and I was gassed. But you have to do the hard thing.

00:07:06:18 - 00:07:27:17
Unknown
We do the hard thing now. So tomorrow I can edit this after we get back from an inspection. But I wanted to, we have to discuss. We have a lot of RV business owners that that aspiring RV business owners or current business owners that watch, we like to do the high and low points of the of really the last two weeks.

00:07:27:20 - 00:07:39:05
Unknown
So I guess Elizabeth, what were the high and low points for you over the last couple of weeks? Well, the high was going camping. We went.

00:07:39:07 - 00:08:03:20
Unknown
Our son and we took our niece and it was lovely and really liked that. I feel like that was a nice taste of camper life. Yeah. As we talked about with the Titans, the resort is always really nice. I love the resort. And that's like you might think like hey like we're talking about business taking time off for yourself is as important as anything else is.

00:08:03:22 - 00:08:22:03
Unknown
If you're trying to run your own business. Because if you if you're it's easy to have your identity be assumed or assimilated like the Borg, to into the business. So it's like, all right, we needed a couple days to, like, shut down. Yeah, we still did a little work while we were there. You added. I did do some editing.

00:08:22:05 - 00:08:39:07
Unknown
I did, yeah. Thank goodness for Starlink that I was able to still get that stuff done. Yeah. That's true. I get two houses because it was two weeks. Yeah, I do it. My second high would be that, the week picked up and like I think on Monday we booked for inspections for this week. So that felt good.

00:08:39:07 - 00:08:57:14
Unknown
It did. And why did that feel good. I suspect that's your next low low life to lose it. You know I have a couple a few lows. It was a rough little stretch there for me. I don't want to lie or sugarcoat it, but, the week after the 4th of July was so slow. Dead as a doornail.

00:08:57:21 - 00:09:14:29
Unknown
We had some things like that we scheduled prior to the fourth. Like, like, way back at the beginning of summer. Right? You had a couple repairs, but nothing much. and you and I both struggle with that. And it's okay to be slow. We give each other pep talks, right? Like this is good. Let's just be present and enjoy it.

00:09:14:29 - 00:09:33:29
Unknown
Because next week or the week after, you'll be busy again. we won't have time together, and let's just sit with it. And then by Wednesday, we're like, oh, God, this is the business. We're done. Do it. I had budget talks were like, yeah, which is all good. Yeah. We talked about how that was. It is good. This is your hand.

00:09:33:29 - 00:09:52:22
Unknown
But also like here we are again back to being busy. Right. We're slammed this week like this. But when you're in it you're like oh God, oh God. What's happening. Right. And then we said we actually looked at the data from this time last year and found that we had we had experienced to the day the exact same slowdown.

00:09:52:22 - 00:10:12:28
Unknown
And then we looked at it and we were like, oh, it's going to pick up on this day. And as sure as the day is long, it came right back. Right. And you had more validation today. You went to an inspector breakfast. Yeah. Yeah. that's that's one of my highs is that I got to meet with effectively what, a rival RV inspectors.

00:10:12:28 - 00:10:33:04
Unknown
But they're also, like our only sort of colleagues, right? Their coworkers effectively. And there's there's enough business for everybody, really. But it was great to get with some other professionals in this space and just chat about like, things they encountered and what business has been like. And they all, all of them were like, because that was my thing.

00:10:33:04 - 00:10:53:10
Unknown
I was like, did something happen? Like, if I did, I get blacklisted. The week after 4th of July and we, come to find they were all dead. All of them were dead. There was no business like that week after the 4th of July, and even academically understanding that we saw the data, right, we knew it was going to come back and it's still stressing me out.

00:10:53:10 - 00:11:12:15
Unknown
Dude, it was very stressful being like boom, boom, boom, boom, like nonstop to just literally nothing. I mean, except for, like I said, just a couple repairs, no inspections that week, right? That was the first. That was the first time we haven't had an inspection on a week and I don't know how long. And I do want to praise this.

00:11:12:15 - 00:11:28:24
Unknown
I think more you than me. I'm pretty good about praise me as much as you are good about like, relaxing and well, that's a lie. I'm not good at relaxing, but I feel like you did a really good job of being present, right? As much as you could. I could see it on your face and some moments were harder than others throughout the week.

00:11:28:24 - 00:11:47:04
Unknown
But I think you did a really good job of. We did some fun things that week. Right. Because we made it was over the holidays last year that was like our first like prolonged, slower period. And we made the agreement. Then we're like, hey, the next time we encounter slow period, we're going to lean into it and enjoy the time.

00:11:47:05 - 00:12:10:21
Unknown
And we did try and I do think you did a good job. It's it's hard though as like a the the the business roller coaster comes and goes and it's easy to like, you know when. Yeah. At the RV inspector breakfast, the other inspectors are like how do you do what you do? Like you're posting content every day and like, you know, like we have a closed Facebook group and we talk like you, you know, you share your stats.

00:12:10:24 - 00:12:31:01
Unknown
It is exclusive. I don't even tell you about it, but but, yeah, you know, you're not welcome. but like, we talk about, like, what we're doing and stuff and they're like, you know, you're so busy, and then you make all this content, it's like, that's not easy. And, you know, you might look at me and or us and then be like, oh my God, those guys are so busy.

00:12:31:03 - 00:12:53:14
Unknown
Like, we're still a small business. Like we have a great presentation. But at the end of the day, at the end of the day, really, I'm a sole practitioner. We have some people that we work with, but it's it's really we're at the phase of the business where it's just us and really like me alone in the field, like you do a great job here in the office, but like, and you because of your force multiplier, we do better.

00:12:53:17 - 00:13:15:08
Unknown
But you're not actively like, you know, there's no billable hours for what you're doing. And and because you're in that phase where, like, if I'm not working, you know, I'm weird. Our family's not making money. That's stressful. And we do have those periods and and that, like, it's all kind of feeding into it. And while we're okay and rationally realize we're okay.

00:13:15:11 - 00:13:35:12
Unknown
Right. Just the unknown. Exactly. So that's that is I agree with you. That was the low point for the week for these last weeks for me was Milo I haven't oh, oh you do have another low, another low. And we knew we knew it as soon as it happened. Yeah. So I, sent you quite a ways up to, temple, Texas.

00:13:35:13 - 00:13:44:25
Unknown
You did? Which is what, like, what would you say our about 90 miles away.

00:13:44:28 - 00:14:13:20
Unknown
Without some pertinent information? Absolutely. Mission critical information. I forgot to tell the seller that it was a 6 to 8 hour process, so he understandably was like, well, I have to go to work. And you were like, understandably. Well, then we can't do this today either, right? Either you give me the keys and trust me, or we reschedule this for another day.

00:14:13:21 - 00:14:33:17
Unknown
Now, to my defense or in my defense, it turns out that there was some other miscommunications along the way with other parties was not our fault. It was. I should have I well, what you just described, we we have to own that. But the other part should have gone. So I called the seller and left a message. That seller then texted me and I responded via text.

00:14:33:17 - 00:14:54:20
Unknown
But then because it was a text, I didn't think to say my usual spiel about 6 to 8 hours, so I left that part out. so my lesson learned was like, I will always call the seller and I will not text with the seller. Like even if the seller texts me right to return a call. Yeah, you have to have to talk and have a conversation because that's how things go.

00:14:54:22 - 00:15:20:29
Unknown
And if you are, if you are in an RV business or any business, calls are taught physically. Talking to someone is always better than. And I looked in and I learned that lesson a while ago, right? I got I got bit before you came on board. I got bit by the same thing. It it it it's great. And I think many people that are in sales in any industry because it's like it's easy just to like, oh, you get a text, whatever.

00:15:20:29 - 00:15:41:01
Unknown
I'm not even going to read it. Right. Like, okay, just hit him with the K right. you know, even when we send checklists in and because we do we send checklists, we send emails. But like, it's good to get someone on the phone and just ask them, hey, this is what we need. Do you understand this? And then, you know, and how did I describe it to you?

00:15:41:01 - 00:15:55:10
Unknown
I compared it to when I was a police training officer. You said it was like being third stage, right? Because the the for because of the in the first phase we have to teach you everything. The second phase, you know, we kind of let you go off on your own, but I'm, I'm still you're training wheels to help you.

00:15:55:13 - 00:16:13:05
Unknown
The third phase, we allow you to fail forward so that you feel the magnitude of your mistakes. Yes. I definitely felt it. I know I messed up, and I really I'm grateful that it wasn't just on me, but I still messed up. And it's a crappy feeling no matter what. And so I'm mostly worked through it.

00:16:13:05 - 00:16:30:25
Unknown
I still feel great about it. Right? It also is what it is, and we rescheduled the inspection. It's fine. I've got to work on Sunday now. Yeah, it's not ideal. It worked out. Thankfully, you were able to use your police negotiating or whatever you call the Jedi mind trick. Yeah. You're able to calm both parties down. No. Tensions were high.

00:16:30:25 - 00:16:54:26
Unknown
Calmed me down a little. A little de-escalation, verbal judo. Yeah, and it worked out, so. Yeah. No, no, but that's the thing. Okay. And then. But like, again, as a business like you're going to have some failures like success is not linear. This is not the last failure will ever have. You came out of that. Right. So you had your you you had your emotions.

00:16:54:28 - 00:17:11:29
Unknown
You had your feelings. That's great. But you've come out of it now. And like I see the change, right? Like you came out of it. You're like you're you've seized it now where like before, maybe I was kind of asking you like, hey, did this get done that get done? And then the answer is typically yes. But now you're like, hey, I did this.

00:17:11:29 - 00:17:30:04
Unknown
It's done right. And like, I see that the change has occurred and it's because your new in this space. And you pointed out, like, I've been doing this for a few years, you're new to this space and you learned. And that I think is it's hard for a lot of business owners. They think success is this linear path.

00:17:30:10 - 00:17:58:08
Unknown
And it's not. There's ups and downs and sometimes sometimes you're just going to the bed and all you can do is be ready to wash the sheets. Man. Like that. I know how deep it out. It's fine. I've got I've got the buttons right. so, but yeah, I think that's that's it. I think it needs to be talked about.

00:17:58:11 - 00:18:14:20
Unknown
Work through it like I'm, I'm working for the business and supporting the business. But I'm also home with our son and trying to sell our house. So I'm making sure it's ready for showings. And I'm doing all the things that just took the car to the mechanic. Right? You're doing all these other things while also trying to focus.

00:18:14:20 - 00:18:29:11
Unknown
And so sometimes my brain struggles. It's not because I don't know what I'm doing, but because my brain's not fully on that task. So you I feel like you'll ask me like, hey, did you talk to this person? And it's not on the front of my brain. I did talk to that person, and I obviously know what I talked about.

00:18:29:11 - 00:18:57:06
Unknown
I just need a minute to be like, wait a minute. Hold on. Jessica. What? What did. Yes. I talked to Jessica about this. Yes. And so we did. We come up with came up with a little plan. Yeah. We did. So, we said that every day when I get home from whatever field work I'm doing as soon as I walk in the door, we're just going to take it doesn't always work out, but as soon as, as soon as practicable, because our son is the Tasmanian devil right now, but as soon as is practicable.

00:18:57:08 - 00:19:18:29
Unknown
when I get home, we're going to just take ten minutes and, you know, after action the day and just be like, all right, where are we at on this? What's going on with that? This part come in. It is a little more on the front of my brain. Right. You randomly and like when you work together. Like the business is such a huge part of our life, there's not a clear separation.

00:19:19:06 - 00:19:38:20
Unknown
Right? So I could be, like cooking dinner and feeding our son and taking care of the dogs. And you'll be like, hey, did you make this phone call? And if we do it that way, my brain's not thinking about this. Yeah, you've got this side of things. So, like, I like this new plan because then it focuses my attention on the business, on what we need to talk about, where it is more or less.

00:19:38:21 - 00:20:01:11
Unknown
Right. And then we and we talked about how like, kind of your half of the business is like to use another cop analogy, right? Is your blanket getting in the way? Elizabeth has on a blanket for those that are listening because she's cold, can't we are cozy. She's fully emerged from the blanket now. no. But we talked about how I kind of your role is, just by its nature, a little bit more like a first responder kind of attitude.

00:20:01:11 - 00:20:17:00
Unknown
Right? When you're sitting here wearing a headset, you're like a dispatcher, right? But like, but like you're you're going, you're like. You're like living your life. You're dealing with whatever with. No. And the phone rings. Right. And maybe it's a customer complaint, or maybe it's a new customer and you have to like or stop. Hang on. Let me let me get into this gear.

00:20:17:00 - 00:20:36:04
Unknown
Right. And like, when I called you, it was before kind of business hours started and I called you and I'm like, dude, this is all jacked up. And, like, you're probably like, having coffee hanging out with our son, right? It was very early, and I was. That's cool. That must be wonderful. You're so welcome. For my service.

00:20:36:07 - 00:20:54:13
Unknown
I appreciate it. Also, once my day starts, it doesn't stop. So no on the bed part of being awake in the bed as long as I possibly can. Because once I'm up, you like to be horizontal. I don't want to be horizontal. So he does like to be horizontal. It works out, but we work through it. We came up with a strategy.

00:20:54:15 - 00:21:11:20
Unknown
it was just it was a lot. It was overwhelming. But it worked out. But did did learning occur? Learning did occur for all of us. Thank you. Right. We know you're welcome. I'm no longer an officer. For those that are listening, when we first started dating that you were always an officer. You said it never shows. Yeah.

00:21:11:20 - 00:21:26:16
Unknown
That's some like. That's some. That's some d bag rookie thing. I mean, you met me and I was still in the D didn't meet me, but we started dating when I was still in the academy. A lot of fights in those early days because we'd be at a restaurant, you'd be like, oh, my God, this is safe. And then you're like, turn it off!

00:21:26:16 - 00:21:50:28
Unknown
And you'd be like, I can't turn it off. Yeah, and I can totally turn it off. I turn it off. I used to because you're training me as a, like an. Well, I'm just saying these are these are valid adult learning techniques. Okay. But like, if you, if this were actually there was I had and I had a trainee once and they were telling me their whole life story while we were driving around in the car and I'm like, hey, do you think we should like, maybe go out and do something about those two guys that are fighting over there?

00:21:50:28 - 00:22:08:27
Unknown
And they're like, what, what, what? And it's like, yeah, that's it's just it's it's a different. And then afterwards we able to debrief and be like, hey, listen, like I'm a Chatty Cathy two I want to talk to you. But we do have to be aware of what was going on. In that case, two homeless people were fighting and I thought maybe we should stop the one from, you know, beating the other one.

00:22:09:00 - 00:22:29:05
Unknown
but adults. But I have some background in educating adults. Not because you're training me, but because I want to be good enough. I want to be, like, strong enough. I want to be. Yeah, enough. All the things you want to be as a person. And I'll tell you right now, I don't mind you training me, but my emotions are still very well.

00:22:29:05 - 00:22:58:07
Unknown
And that's what I was going to say is. Is that. Yeah. Training. Training your wife or your spouse. Yeah. It's it's it's it's I think a little trigger. Yeah. I know as well you should. Right. because that is like the most it's just counterintuitive and it's difficult to do because like, is we're having if I screw up and you come to me and you're like, hey, you screwed up, screwed up, screwed up, scrotum, no.

00:22:58:09 - 00:23:15:12
Unknown
We found out we have buttons. so we, but that's like, it's a really challenging thing to do because. Are you talking to your coworker or are you talking to your spouse? And you're kind of talking to both. Right. And so we made the joke, like, you know, we came home and I gave you a big hug, and I told you that I loved you.

00:23:15:15 - 00:23:30:10
Unknown
And I was like, I never had to hug any of the trainees. You did say that. And then I didn't know how to feel about it because I was like, sometimes my jokes don't land. And well, I was like, and that was one of the jokes that didn't land. I mean, I knew what you meant, but I also feel like we're supposed to be equals in this.

00:23:30:10 - 00:23:47:29
Unknown
And so then I was like, well, wait, am I below him? Like, I'm like, is he my boss? And it works. But then I, you know, I think about it and I said, process. And I'm like, no, he just means I'm learning from him. Well, if if you actually looked at the org chart, you would see that I am your boss.

00:23:48:02 - 00:24:14:04
Unknown
I know that's going to be carrying the benefits though soon, not you. That's true. So because I'm the boss and I have my golden parachute so that if anything goes wrong, I can, I'll just land on my golden parachute. Will be fine. I tried it did. our. Yeah. I'm going to get beat to death. So, at please in the comments, ask for periodic photos of me with that day's newspaper for proof of life.

00:24:14:06 - 00:24:39:04
Unknown
Yeah, that's clearly photoshopped. Bruises on my face. No, that was for me. so, yeah, it was challenging, but also, like you had you you've experienced, like, some rapid growth because of that. Like, like you came out on the other side, lit a fire under me and I, if you will, and I think I told you that I went through the same kind of phase where I wasn't.

00:24:39:04 - 00:24:59:13
Unknown
I had been an employee forever. And now I'm a business owner. And and like, you're trying to figure out that balance and it's it's hard to do. So we like to have these because they're we you're learning from the benefit of our experience, right? Because there's there's in this industry, there are a lot of husband wife teams, particularly among RV inspectors.

00:24:59:13 - 00:25:19:05
Unknown
A lot of times they're both inspectors. And it's like that's going to be challenging sometimes. And that's that's okay because it's probably challenging. And then let me let me actually double down on that. I would call any husband wife team that was like, it's not challenging. I would call him a liar. There's no way that you can be without challenge.

00:25:19:07 - 00:25:38:12
Unknown
I don't know and didn't like even like Bill and Melinda Gates get divorced, right? Like so it's it's it's challenging for everybody, but. Well, they had the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation. I still think they still do. I don't know, I want to talk about those guys. But all that to say, and it takes work and it takes effort.

00:25:38:12 - 00:25:56:25
Unknown
And I think just like everything in our lives, we're doing our best to be honest about it and open about it. We try not to sugarcoat a lot of things right, and this is one of them. This is a big part of our lives. Yeah, it's channeling like we, you know, we're taught as something that that was shaken out by this whole thing is like we're talking about our finances.

00:25:56:25 - 00:26:14:25
Unknown
So, you know, we go through and it's like, all right, can we can trim some stuff out. Everybody has had the budget conversation where you're like, oh, do I really need Netflix? Do I need HBO Max? You know, the YouTube thing where you don't get ads or commercials? I would argue, I would argue that I do need those things, but I think that it was only on your phone.

00:26:14:25 - 00:26:31:25
Unknown
If you're going to pay for this service, at least put it on all of the devices. And I probably, I probably could have done that. We should have done that. We've canceled it now. it's a little bitter, you know, that you got so long without ads, and I've been here like a peasant watching commercials. Sorry, dear. That's.

00:26:31:26 - 00:26:49:06
Unknown
It's gone now. It's all. It's all. Look at all these companies. But they. Exactly. And that's. This is the point I was trying to make is, you know, we we we had to have that conversation and then we're like, all right, well, we know December in January, our slowest months. So how are we going to get through December and January.

00:26:49:06 - 00:27:07:18
Unknown
We're like, how do we want to tackle that? And and those are conversations that you have to have now, even though we can't really predict it because like if our if our house sells, we have one plan and if it doesn't, we have a different plan. just right. Yeah, I'm going to start it. Only OnlyFans. it's actually an opposite.

00:27:07:18 - 00:27:27:06
Unknown
Only fans though, where people pay to keep my clothes on and if they stop paying, They come off. But, but yeah. So I thought even though that was a low point, a lot of good came out of it. So I don't want to have like low points just to be sad. It's like, hey, we had this low point and then here's what we did to that.

00:27:27:10 - 00:27:47:26
Unknown
At least learn, even if you can't fix it, like we at least learn something from it. And you know, I think that's huge. Yes, I agree. Oh I feel better talking about that. That was nice. Right. Well that's the end of our show, guys. Now, we wanted to. Are you are you good? Yeah. Yeah. Okay, cool. I'm feeling great.

00:27:47:26 - 00:28:10:16
Unknown
Honey. We wanted to take a second and talk about the. As we've been talking about broadly about having a business we want to talk about specifically our business. And it's like, hey, like a lot of our followers like or like vaguely. Okay. He does something with RVs. I don't really know for sure what it is like. Even my dad a couple weeks ago was like, hey, what?

00:28:10:16 - 00:28:33:11
Unknown
What is an inspection? Like what? What's an inspection? You talk all the time. So this one's for him. Where we're going to we're going to we're going to tease that out. And I want to talk a little bit about some of the weaknesses and obviously the strengths of this industry. but first we didn't know what an RV inspection was like four years ago.

00:28:33:13 - 00:28:55:19
Unknown
We'd never heard of it. We didn't know what it was. And the RV inspection, as a thing is like ten years old. Like the most experienced RV inspectors have been doing this for like 8 or 10 years, like they used to teach it. Like, I love a trailer. and things have changed. And now it is emerging as, like a whole niche within the RV industry.

00:28:55:19 - 00:29:15:06
Unknown
And I think we're probably among the first, like, sort of independent to take it right and pick it up. Not that there haven't been inspectors before. There's certainly some very successful ones. But we're we're on a podcast right now talking about it. Right. And so I wanted to talk a little bit about that and what it is and really what it isn't.

00:29:15:08 - 00:29:32:19
Unknown
And because I think what surprises people when we talk about RV inspections is they I think they think it's more like if you hire a mechanic to, like, go out and look at a car before you buy it. And yes, there's certainly like a component of that, but it's really about it's really more like a home inspector that's coming out.

00:29:32:19 - 00:29:58:09
Unknown
And we actually even use the same software that the home inspectors do, and we go out to an RV at a dealership or a private seller, and we evaluate the coach on the client's behalf from top to bottom takes like eight hours. And there's a little sidebar we were talking earlier about. We have all the different social media channels and they all are a little different.

00:29:58:12 - 00:30:22:16
Unknown
So we have like Instagram, which is like typically pretty supportive people. And Facebook is kind of angry people. YouTube, we're so new to I don't really have, but it seems like it's really hard to get traction on YouTube. Takes a while. Yes. And that's like, hey, I'm all we got our 50 listeners last time. Sweet deal. Right. and then TikTok is if you're a TikTok, I'm sorry, but TikTok is a dumpster fire of its own.

00:30:22:23 - 00:30:42:09
Unknown
And yeah. And like people come into the comments and they're like, all right, tech 6 or 8 hours, blah blah yourself. So you got like a ridiculous amount of viewers in like 847,000 on one single video. It was just like an a low effort video with all those comments. Yes. Things you're dealing with. It also like took off right.

00:30:42:11 - 00:31:03:28
Unknown
Like within like an hour. Right. But it's like, yeah, we're new to TikTok as well. And we've been putting all of our eggs in the Facebook Instagram basket. But anyway, all that to say that the comments about the RV inspection on TikTok have been particularly hateful. And it was like, how are these? How do you justify is taking like 6 to 8 hours?

00:31:04:00 - 00:31:26:20
Unknown
And it's like, because if we were going to draw, if we're going to use the home inspector example, like we had a great home inspector who came out three times and, you know, he inspected, found things every time that he came out. And the RV inspector people are like, well, it does cost more than the home inspection does, but not if you think about like having we had him out three times right.

00:31:26:21 - 00:31:50:06
Unknown
And that was about what a home inspection or an RV inspection cost, and also in the RV inspection. So we're going to evaluate the whole roof, all the sealant. We're going to evaluate all the sidewalls, all the sealant there, the tires on the ground, the axles, all the running gears. The walls move. It has a motor. It has different electrical components, 2 or 3 different electrical systems.

00:31:50:06 - 00:32:08:13
Unknown
It has multiple water systems. It has propane. Right? Yeah. Right. And it has inverters and converters and you have to test them both. And so all of that, then you have to go on the inside. And unlike a home inspection you have to test the TVs to make sure they, they get like channels. You have to make sure the speaker.

00:32:08:13 - 00:32:26:11
Unknown
Yes, you have to make sure the TVs like the kit channels and the radio speakers work. And you have to evaluate the condition of the recliners, like sit in the recliners and test. Actually, what I do, you're going to laugh. So I had one. I had an inspection where I tested the TV, which was on a TV, which you don't know what Hellevator is.

00:32:26:11 - 00:32:43:10
Unknown
It's like a machine that causes the TV to hide behind a wall. And then it comes up and I, I tested the TV and I tested the recliner, and then the client called me after they bought it, and they were like, you did not test the TV? And I was like, yes, I did. Here's my photos. He's like, I cannot get it to work.

00:32:43:10 - 00:32:59:21
Unknown
And he was still here. So I drove to go test it out and I he handed me the remote. I turn the TV on, there was no problem. And then he said, yeah, but look. And he sat in the recliner and he could not turn the TV on because the elevator did not raise high enough for the, the receiver to be visible.

00:32:59:23 - 00:33:19:09
Unknown
So now I sit in the recliner with the TV, with the TV remote to test it. And if I can't control the TV from the recliner, I write it up in the report so that they can raise the TV on the elevator like a half inch to make it work. That is the level of detail that goes into this thing.

00:33:19:09 - 00:33:44:16
Unknown
How many hours out of the 6 to 8 would you say are spent doing the TV? Reclining it? I you know, it's funny, is that by the time I get to I'm so angry at the RV. Like for all the things I found, my God, anybody buy this? And I sit down in it and that's when I have like my it's it's towards the end of the day, it's like one of the very last things I do it I'm like at the very end of the day, I'm like, that's nice.

00:33:44:19 - 00:33:58:29
Unknown
Yeah. Like I sit down and I'm like, let me go through my report in like, so like I lose 15, 20 minutes. Like I'm like, I'm just going to catch up. Even though I'm in the last ten minutes of the inspection, I'm like, I just need to take a break and like, I'll go through and like labels and photos and stuff, and that way, no, no.

00:33:59:00 - 00:34:20:20
Unknown
When I call you, I'm like, what are you doing right now? I'm at the TV. You're like, okay, taking a break, but that's the the level of detail. And the thing is, is that no dealership or private seller is I don't even think it's a question of them being willing to do it. They're not capable. The economics aren't there because we talk all the time about like dealers like, oh, they didn't do this or they didn't do that.

00:34:20:20 - 00:34:41:15
Unknown
It's like they're not there's the economics of it aren't viable for a dealership to spend eight hours with it, like not billable hours. Right. Because they can't you know, whatever every manufacturer has like a different PDI amount. It's like 2 hours or 4 hours for some. And if you're going to ask them to do it in eight, then that means four hours are unpayable for the dealership.

00:34:41:15 - 00:35:01:21
Unknown
So on the one hand, I get it that they're putting these RVs out and they don't really know their condition. Right. And then I'm the one who finds it. And as an RV business owner, there's like two ways that you can like branch that path, right. So you can be a de-escalated approach and be like, hey, yeah, exactly.

00:35:01:24 - 00:35:19:10
Unknown
Be like, hey, you know, call the client and be like, hey, can I talk to the dealership about this water damage? And then you talk to them about it. But if you go in there and you act like you're the king duty, you're going to upset everybody. So it's about, like, a little bit of client relations there.

00:35:19:10 - 00:35:39:26
Unknown
Two factors into it to just be diplomatic about your findings, like as grandiose as we are on the internet and about our findings, I never act like that in person, in person. That's why it's one of the reasons I don't identify the dealers. Right? Is like, I'm not gonna dunk on them on the internet, right? That would be crazy to do instead.

00:35:39:29 - 00:35:47:18
Unknown
And I think there's a difference between some of the fine.

00:35:47:20 - 00:36:02:24
Unknown
The water was literally falling from the right. Like you're telling me you didn't see that you turn on the light, you would see that as soon as I walked in the door, I saw it like, that's what I think the difference versus something like internal that they couldn't know unless they opened up the RV and did a deep dive like.

00:36:02:26 - 00:36:22:00
Unknown
And I think there's a difference. Yeah. And what it comes down to for me is like the dealer attitude. Like, if the dealer attitude is, hey, it's a used RV, we haven't really touched it yet, you know, let us know what your guy finds in Cady, right where you went for a ride. Yeah. Like that dealer was equally shocked as you were, right.

00:36:22:02 - 00:36:49:10
Unknown
He was like, this is unsafe. Please don't drive it right. Like we'll leave it alone. They genuinely they didn't know. And that's okay. That happens. Like, just be open about it. Right. And that's like, you know and we see around here the dealers have become pretty cool. But like we see it all the time where dealerships, the best dealerships are the ones that say cool, have an inspector let us know refines or they say we don't think you need one, but if you want one, go for it.

00:36:49:13 - 00:37:11:03
Unknown
We had the one that lasted us. We did. And almost. Yeah, he I don't know what you're going to find. Right. And that's that's okay I get the I understand it but it's the ones that like they play. Somebody sent me a screenshot the other day where they told a lie. the dealer was like, yeah, some RV inspector fell off the roof.

00:37:11:06 - 00:37:31:14
Unknown
And, I've asked, there is no record of a RV inspector falling off a roof and, you know, causing some kind of litigation. To my knowledge, it hasn't occurred. If it has, and you can prove it, I would. I would love to know, but send it to us, camper dawg. But to my knowledge, it is never occurred.

00:37:31:16 - 00:37:46:03
Unknown
And then the other question always is look at what if the RV inspector breaks something? I have a $2 million policy, so if I fall through the roof like our insurance, we've never used it. But I called the dealer today to set up an inspection and he was like, great, come on in. Do you have an insurance policy?

00:37:46:05 - 00:38:07:27
Unknown
Yep. And we sent him all 90 pages of that insurance, like, thanks, we're good to go. And then, you know, it's fair they can ask for it. I think it's it's a reasonable request to. Yeah, yeah. And then just like that's the comparison I make is like we're selling our house right now. I know an inspector. Not allegedly, but like, an inspector is going to come and evaluate this house.

00:38:08:03 - 00:38:25:28
Unknown
And I have some concerns about things he might find. Right. There's some areas where either they weren't built well, or maybe I did a hasty repair or something like that. Like that. I just haven't gotten around like that shelf over there, that I never have gotten around to fixing. But if I fix it, the project will be over.

00:38:26:00 - 00:38:47:10
Unknown
Yeah. But anyway, and so it's like, yeah, I know that we're going to lose some money when we sell the house. Yeah, we I know that he's going to find some stuff. Either I'm going to fix it or adjust the price. Yeah. Cool. If you're a dealer, you know that too, right? Because if I go in there and I find it, or the customer goes in and maybe he's he or she is particularly skilled and they find it, it doesn't matter.

00:38:47:10 - 00:39:05:24
Unknown
It's going to it's going to affect the price. And so what we try to do is just be an impartial third party to go in there and make recommendations. That's it. We're not going to try and torpedo sales. We're going to be like, hey, the roof is fine or it's not, and I think we should talk to. I get a lot of it is late.

00:39:05:26 - 00:39:14:01
Unknown
I get a lot of questions when I'm on the phone saying, like, what do I do?

00:39:14:04 - 00:39:36:14
Unknown
You put like, what's the category for when it's like a life? Yeah, like a life. So there's there's really four categories of findings. There's life safety, which means yeah, life safety is don't occupy this RV until you fix this because it threatens your life. And that's stuff like electrical damage or propane leaks. So you lay it out there in a way that makes the the clients fully understand.

00:39:36:18 - 00:39:59:14
Unknown
Yeah, because of what they find. So the clients then know, like, oh, okay, this isn't yeah. Like I can still make a deal on this RV, right? Or this is like a non-negotiable. Can't buy it. Yeah. It's like the next category for example, is is major findings. And that's like stuff. Literally the icon we use is a dollar sign because these are things that that are expensive to fix.

00:39:59:14 - 00:40:17:28
Unknown
Or maybe it's not expensive to fix, but it's something that isn't working. Right. So like if like a slide doesn't go out, that might be, you know, a fuze that's out, but the slide isn't working. And because we don't know what is causing it, it's potentially a huge issue. And then minor issues are typically maintenance level or cosmetic.

00:40:18:00 - 00:40:35:20
Unknown
The TV doesn't. Yeah. And then the lowest level is just like noteworthy comments, right. Where it's like if somebody has removed all the decals from the outside or if someone has, you know, replaced the original manufacturer or stairs and you might put a note in like, hey, I can see that this has been replaced. but yeah, you're right.

00:40:35:20 - 00:40:47:23
Unknown
So that like breaks it down and it's like, all right, what do you do with it? Well, you figure out what's important to you in that report, and you either ask the seller to fix it or you get a price adjustment, or maybe they don't do anything and then you fix it. Do they have to show the dealer the report?

00:40:47:26 - 00:41:07:05
Unknown
No, they don't have to show anyone. They don't have to show anyone. It's just for them to the dealer. No, we won't send it to the dealer because it's the property of the client. I have done it at client request before, but I kind of hate doing that, so I. I really resist it. And the other thing is, I'm like, hey, don't send the whole report to the dealer.

00:41:07:07 - 00:41:24:22
Unknown
Just you can make a list and you can use our software to make a list because it's brutal to send like and then sellers have called me and been like, I don't know what to do with this. Can I just yeah, it's 100 pages long and like for the owner because they can keep that then and like, oh, hey, what's I need the serial number for my fridge because I have a warranty claim.

00:41:24:22 - 00:41:50:15
Unknown
Let me go through this report and find it. but you know, for the dealer seller, they don't really need that much info. Just like, what do you want me to do? And so our software has you can make a list and have the little just generate like a punch list with pictures. It's funny you should say. Ours was like 100 pages because we have that customer call us like a couple weeks ago and she couldn't remember if she used you or somebody.

00:41:50:18 - 00:42:06:01
Unknown
And she was like, I'm gonna report was great. It was like 11 pages. And as soon as she said that. Yeah, it wasn't us. Not us. Mike's is not, you know, my summaries are usually longer than 11 pages, so I just thought that was funny because I was like, no. Mike is known for his very long, thorough reports.

00:42:06:01 - 00:42:24:16
Unknown
And you can, you know, you don't have to read it all. Now go just to the life. Right. And it's it's summarized the first like couple of pages. Here's this. And then if you want to get into the detail, you can go into the report and find all of this. You also do pictures. There's if I, if if I'm yeah.

00:42:24:16 - 00:42:45:18
Unknown
If I'm saying something. Yeah. Yeah. If I'm, if I'm, if I'm saying a thing is something in the report. There's a picture of it or video or audio recording with a caption that explains what it is. Right. And that's and that's the thing is, like so many people there are there are Facebook groups about people who feel they got hosed on deals and I'm in them and I'll be like, hey, did you get an inspection?

00:42:45:18 - 00:43:02:17
Unknown
No. Did you get an inspection? No. Did you get an inspection? No. And it's like, okay, cool. Why didn't you get inspect? And, you know, it was a thing. The nose thing wasn't offered to me. Didn't know it was real. If I were down and I would have avoided this and that because particularly with used RV's, they're sold as is, which means the seller has no responsibility to fix it.

00:43:02:19 - 00:43:27:12
Unknown
It's on you, the client, to do due to do your due diligence. That's hard. And thank you. And, you get this RV figured out the same way. It's it's it's outside of the seller's disclosure. When you're buying a house, it's really the, the responsibility of the buyer to do their due diligence. That's why the buyer pays for the inspector.

00:43:27:14 - 00:43:46:13
Unknown
and we'll talk about that, too, here in a minute. But all it's all that it's designed to do is part of our little pyramid of worry free camping, right? Is we want to get out ahead of problems. So if you can buy an RV and at least you know what's wrong with the thing or what's right, then you, you're not stressed about it.

00:43:46:13 - 00:44:08:27
Unknown
You're not worried that the first time you take it out, it's going to leak. And a question we get, I get a lot is what guarantee is there that you found everything you know. Yeah. It's like, well what happens if you don't. Right. And I and I see an online like the again the this is where I was going with TikTok earlier is like people are like there is no guarantee and there needs to be a warranty if you aren't fixing.

00:44:09:00 - 00:44:42:24
Unknown
I don't know why that was my voice, but you well you you want to. Okay, so, but like the same is true. And this is. If we had a home inspector sit here with us, they would have the exact same answer. And it's like, no, what we're doing is we're documenting things as they are right now. So if the air conditioner works right now, we're going to say that it works right now, if we look at the air conditioner and it works right now, but like maybe the fan is loud or it's not cooling as well as it should, we'll write that up too, and we'll be able to prove that it does that

00:44:42:24 - 00:45:05:09
Unknown
thing. If the air conditioner is fine, and then it goes out three weeks later and someone calls me and I'm like, well, here's my video of the thing working. And the test we did it was working at the time of inspection. Then there's no fault on the the inspector the same way that if a water heater in your house worked at the time of inspection and then three weeks later went out, well, the inspector couldn't have known that.

00:45:05:09 - 00:45:40:07
Unknown
They're just verifying things that are functional. Right now so that it doesn't do anything but but if an inspector were to be negligent and miss something that's a different, you know, a different conversation altogether. And so to give you kind of like a story, I inspected this motorhome a the generator worked. I took video of the generator working like six months later, the client called me and was like, I don't think you inspected the generator.

00:45:40:09 - 00:46:03:14
Unknown
it doesn't work. And I like that's my anxiety button. So I stopped what I was doing, got out the external hard drive from that era, plugged it in, looked it up, produced the video of the. And what I do is I might take a wide shot and then I zoom in on the serial number while the thing's running, and then I come back out, to show that I'm like, here's the video of your generator running.

00:46:03:16 - 00:46:22:12
Unknown
And that ended that conversation because, like, I don't know what's happened to it since then, right? Maybe you didn't change the oil. Maybe you ran it for 500 hours. I don't know what happened over these six months, but I do know is that when you bought it, it worked. It worked. And what you've done to it since then, I couldn't connect a paper trail track record.

00:46:22:15 - 00:46:40:27
Unknown
Right, inspectors. There's literally from the software, there's a CIA section. Cover your ass, and you're supposed to put your photos in there so that if somebody was like, hey, this wall was laminated when you inspected it, like, nope, here's the photo where it wasn't laminated. I did, however, call out a bunch of areas on the roof that had bad sealant, and maybe that's why it's now D laminated.

00:46:40:29 - 00:46:59:25
Unknown
So we have never had a verifiable claim where somebody was like, hey, you were negligent. and you missed this. We do have errors and omission insurance so that if there were some allegation and I couldn't prove, you know, our innocence. So to speak. Yeah, there's a claim there. And I think it's part of why you shop around for an inspector.

00:46:59:25 - 00:47:26:29
Unknown
Because not we've had this conversation, and we'll have it time and time again. Not all inspectors are created equal, right? To get to a place where we are, where everyone is held to the same standard. But that's not how I know. And that's that's what we're going to talk about. Like kind of weaknesses of the RV Inspection Service and the the big weakness is that everyone is well, I think it's I will die on this hill, that it's a valuable service.

00:47:27:01 - 00:47:51:04
Unknown
And most of the inspectors are very new at their jobs. They've only had it's only been it's only been around for a couple of years. And most inspectors are very new at their jobs. And how I want to say this, most inspectors are in a season of life where confidence is not an issue, and I am not in that season of life.

00:47:51:07 - 00:48:21:10
Unknown
We are in the season before that. So, and, and so I think what I, what I hear from dealers all the time is somebody will come under the lot and not know what they're doing, not ask for help and then break something or be wrong in their report. Right, because they don't know any better and they didn't ask for help and they won't admit it or like, resolve it exactly as as Mr. Data said, the beginning of wisdom is, I don't know.

00:48:21:12 - 00:48:41:04
Unknown
So if you if you don't know something genuinely and this happens to me with like really old motorhomes, like before I do an inspection, I go to the manuals, some of the old modern motorhomes. Typically there's like a leveling system. I really need to do anything to it, but on the old ones, you'd have to like dump the air out of the bags manually, and then you'd have to like, release.

00:48:41:05 - 00:48:57:12
Unknown
And now most of the computers will kind of do it themselves. But, I remember one time I went in, and you don't need to be a technician to do it. You just have to like, does it work? And I, I had a good relationship with the shop manager, and I was like, hey, this thing was built when I was in junior high.

00:48:57:15 - 00:49:09:29
Unknown
I was like, I see everything else. I'm like, can you? I'm pretty sure I know how to do this. Can you please just walk me through how to do this? Right? He's like, yeah, you got to dump the air. And then you come over here and turn this on. And then when you're done, you dump, you refill the air.

00:49:09:29 - 00:49:28:15
Unknown
And I was like, oh, okay, cool. That's what I thought. But I wasn't sure. So I asked for help. And and in the scope of an inspection, you don't need to get into the weeds of like, you know how the thing works. Does it work or does it not? And did you operate it all? You need to know is how to operate it correctly.

00:49:28:18 - 00:49:42:20
Unknown
You don't need to get into the weeds whether it did. Exactly. And and that's it. And so, you know, hey, like a lot of these things, somebody send us a complaint where they wrote up a bunch of things, they said we're wrong. And like, I read it and I was like, oh, it's just operator error like that.

00:49:42:20 - 00:50:10:25
Unknown
Inspector didn't know what he was doing. That is the weakness. Yeah. So what I encourage people to do is we can't be everywhere. You know, there's other good inspectors out there. There's you know, I think there's four master inspectors now spread across the country. And it's like, all right, so find an inspector that has these things, find an inspector that has multiple positive reviews over a period of time, not three reviews.

00:50:10:27 - 00:50:32:20
Unknown
It's ten or more reviews would be my metric. And they're five stars. And they describe clearly what this person did have that when you talk to this person, they should sound like they're excited to come to your inspection. They should sound professional, and they should have contracts and inspection points that govern everything they're doing. Right. So like even before you even go to sign it, just like, hey, do you have a contract for me to.

00:50:32:22 - 00:50:54:11
Unknown
Yeah, yeah, here it is. This is what this is. What is governance and what is it? That way we know what the relationship is exactly. And I think that just those couple of things go a long way. And the other thing is, is what training have they done besides the inspectors certification. Like, you can look at ours and we've gone to Lippert and we've gone dometic and I'm doing aqua hot right now and it's okay.

00:50:54:11 - 00:51:16:16
Unknown
This person has done something beyond their, you know, beyond their the minimum required because ndVi certification, that's the National RV Inspectors Association. Their training is great, but it's the entry level step. It's the stuff that comes after it that I think is important. So it's like, there's nothing wrong with hiring a new inspector. I was new inspector at one time.

00:51:16:18 - 00:51:35:04
Unknown
I think you should know that you're hiring a new inspector and have realistic expectations of that new inspector. Should the price should reflect that they're new, right? They should be forward. Like, yeah, I went to school two months ago. just get my feet wet. I'm doing 60% off of what I would what I would like charges. We did inspections for free on rental RV just to get reps in.

00:51:35:04 - 00:51:59:04
Unknown
Right. And then I had somebody look over and give me feedback. and I think that that should be a thing because currently there is no mandatory like field training process for new inspectors. Like you go to the training and then you're cut loose with everybody else. And that may change one day. But that is the the current status of the inspection industry.

00:51:59:04 - 00:52:14:20
Unknown
So you do as a consumer, you do have to do a little homework. And so when people call me, when they call us and they're like, oh, why should I choose Cozy camper? Like I love it when they call me cold and they don't know who we are. And I'm like, okay, so listen, there's other great inspectors in town.

00:52:14:20 - 00:52:31:03
Unknown
I had breakfast with a bunch of them today. Right. there's other great inspectors in town. Here's why you choose Cozy Camper. Right? Because you can see our customer reviews one, I'll show you the paperwork that we're talking about. My training is visible. And if you want to know about my inspection product, you can just go on our social media and see our portfolio.

00:52:31:05 - 00:52:52:02
Unknown
Like you can see all the RVs that we've inspected before. Media is that it's all out there for you to see. Like, I mean, if you're on the fence about getting an inspection, just watch a handful of our grills. And that should solidify exactly. And not that everyone needs to be like a little micro influencer, which which is the technical term for what our, our follower status is.

00:52:52:05 - 00:53:10:13
Unknown
It's so goofy. But, not that everyone needs to do it, but like, yeah, I think that having a social media presence is a good reflection of like, oh yeah, this guy, you know, maybe he only has 100 followers, but he's posting on there three times a week with what he's inspecting. I can see. Okay. Yeah, he did a motorhome this week, did a fifth wheel look.

00:53:10:13 - 00:53:35:14
Unknown
Oh look, he's got ten Google reviews. Okay. That means he's there. Probably a he or she. I was criticized for not pointing. There are tons of female inspectors. I was criticized for that. I was use he. But sparkle RV services in Missouri. Right. So, so the, but, she always shares our video, so I'll get real little plug, but but, stuff like that just goes a long way, right?

00:53:35:14 - 00:53:57:21
Unknown
Because you can see that this person is invested in their business and you can see their portfolio. so I think that's important to tease all those things, those things out before you hire an inspector. So, you know, first, the first test is go to the dealer. Can I get an inspection? I wouldn't even buy from a dealer if the answer wasn't sure.

00:53:57:23 - 00:54:08:01
Unknown
Go ahead. Do whatever you want. Can I get an inspection? It seems like even in the short time we.

00:54:08:03 - 00:54:25:17
Unknown
This is not quite what it was. You know, years ago. It's gotten easier. Yeah, right. Like even in my short time. Only one so far. And he didn't even say no. He just was kind of a no. He actually. And then he actually turned out to be pretty cool. Okay. So he turned a corner. Yeah. He like like I have no one's told me no yet.

00:54:25:21 - 00:54:56:11
Unknown
Right. Several different dealers. All right. Got any any Houston? Nacogdoches. Lubbock. Right. Like we've gone all over the hill. Phoenix, Arizona. Right. And no, that's the only like I just said, was kind of a little bit of a route. Yeah. It's no, no. So that's I mean yeah someone described to me when they hired us, they're like hey yeah they knew who you were and they were nervous about having this is a quote a fearsome inspector from the internet come onto their lot.

00:54:56:13 - 00:55:19:21
Unknown
And I was like, oh, it's not that way. Like, guys, it's not that way. but yeah, most of it's getting easier. I mean, hopefully as we get more awareness around it and talk more about it and I think, I think it's yeah, it's, it's just such a, it's such a new thing and it's kind of disruptive in an industry that doesn't really react well to change, like the RV industry.

00:55:19:24 - 00:55:39:09
Unknown
If there is an industry that their slogan could be, that's the way we've always done it. It's the RV industry, you know, like just trying to get these guys to take the VCRs out of, you know, they still make them with DVD players. Like target doesn't even sell DVDs anymore. So, so yeah, it's it's just there's it's a it's very hard.

00:55:39:09 - 00:56:06:07
Unknown
The RV industry is a huge ship with a t itty bitty rudder and, like, we're, like, cranking on that rudder, trying to get it to turn. But I think it is better. I think it's a valuable service. And it you I think five years from now I would like to see my vision has always been I'd like 50 to 75% of all RV purchases to have an inspection tied with it, and then the demand for RV inspectors would be great to be a mainstream thing.

00:56:06:07 - 00:56:30:03
Unknown
Maybe we'll get to a place where doing two a day, right, where we're so efficient. You know, we figured out the bumps and we're doing today, and it's a whole industry within an industry. I would like to see better price. And at the same objection, when I was a cop, I would love to see some inspectors that have bad attitudes self-select and find new careers.

00:56:30:06 - 00:56:55:02
Unknown
And I would like to find people that are resistant to learning and change in this industry. Belle and I would like to see better ongoing training for RV inspectors. Yeah, because you do, you do. There is a requirement to do ongoing training for us. But like, you can that's what training is because there's so little training out there.

00:56:55:04 - 00:57:13:22
Unknown
Like you can get like you can do like online webinars. And that's part of the training. And I do that. But I don't get anything out of it, you know. So like I right I've paid to go to in-person trainings just because they're better to actually go on, on hands on. And I would like to see better ongoing training and standards over time.

00:57:13:29 - 00:57:36:20
Unknown
But the association is so young and it's so new and it should be totally transparent, so small. It's hard to do that right now. But if you know, we were inspecting a half million RVs a year, that would be I think we can get people like us. Our goal is to spread awareness not just to the, you know, clients, but also to other inspectors.

00:57:36:22 - 00:58:03:15
Unknown
Right. And that's we were talking about that, we had the inspectors breakfast this morning. I was talking about that there where I'm like, hey, yeah, do I want to advertise coach? You camper 100%? I'm also trying to increase the visibility of the service just broadly. And not just you, not just me. And I was I was telling them I was like, hey, I'm right now advertising for your businesses for free because I'm saying like, hey, yeah, fine, go to the locator, hire an inspector, do these things.

00:58:03:15 - 00:58:26:15
Unknown
I'm like, yeah, what am I going to ask for them? Nothing. Right? But I'm like, if I can, if we can just raise awareness of the service, then benefits. Everybody wins. I was going to make a call to the president, but he's having a rough week, so I won't do that. It benefits everyone, hurts nobody. Right.

00:58:26:17 - 00:58:47:18
Unknown
And so, like. Yeah. So the inspectors are happy because they're busy. The clients are happy because they're buying RVs. If I'm a dealer I be like, yeah, have your inspector come in. And then if the inspector missed anything in the client was upset, I would throw that inspector under the bus so fast. And then, honestly, if they know there's more scrutiny, maybe the dealership or the industry does a better job producing these things.

00:58:47:21 - 00:59:10:23
Unknown
The long term benefit is that stronger, better RVs are being produced like, talk about it. That's the roof. That's where it all kind of starts. Right? And that's it's the the mismanagement of expectations. If dealers were just forward, looks like it's going to storm. If dealerships were just forward like, hey yeah we don't really know what shape this thing is in.

00:59:10:24 - 00:59:26:18
Unknown
Yeah. It would go a little high and then like, oh, this thing is so great. You're going to love it. And it's like, like we were at a dealership recently and like they're telling me all about the RV. And I was like, I know more than you. Yeah, right. And hits like don't. And then as soon as we said that, he's like, oh yeah, you're right.

00:59:26:20 - 00:59:42:14
Unknown
Like, I'll back down. And then he answered, Mike, we found the things I didn't know. And I was just like, hey, can you answer this? Yeah. And he said, absolutely. Yeah. He, he, he called he called the manufacturer and got the answers like he did it. While we were there. He called his guy at the manufacturer and got the answers we wanted.

00:59:42:16 - 01:00:04:06
Unknown
Be that guy that doesn't know the answer. That's huge. Right. And we were talking. We remember when we were talking to, not the Titans and, you know, you know, she was talk about how she interviewed, like, 20 different dealers to find the right 115 trying to give her some credit, but it was like, remember, she was like one of the questions was like, hey, you know, do you know about X, Y, and Z?

01:00:04:09 - 01:00:20:02
Unknown
And if somebody bluffed their way through a conversation, just hang the phone up, right? We're done dealing with that, that dealer. If the answer was yes and they were right, that's awesome. But if the answer was, I don't know, let me find out. That's fine to you. Yeah. Just that no one I don't know every single thing about RVs.

01:00:20:02 - 01:00:44:09
Unknown
I know a lot, but I don't know every single thing. I don't even know every single thing about you. Right. no. A lot you probably. You probably know more about me, but I know everything. But that's the, that's the long and short of it. And we do technician stuff, too. Something that I think is an important distinction is we can't be your inspector and your technician.

01:00:44:11 - 01:00:55:14
Unknown
We can't tell you the air conditioners broken and then offer to fix it because it's a conflict of interest. And that's, I think, what the something that the NVA.

01:00:55:14 - 01:01:22:18
Unknown
Okay. We're back. We had a little technical drama. Something the NVA does really well is separate the two so you can be a technician or you can be an inspector. We do both. We do both services, but not for the same customer. And truth be told, I would love to get out of the RV technician business, but there's just not enough inspection RV inspections.

01:01:22:20 - 01:01:51:06
Unknown
So someday we'll get there. But not this day. That's okay for now. We take what we get. That's right. So what is coming up for us in our business over the next week? We're busy again. Yeah, quite a bit of repairs. I just kind of sound kind of fun. Yeah. I turned yellow. Is that better? Yeah. Okay. A lot of repairs coming up and that have been on the schedule for a long time.

01:01:51:09 - 01:02:11:05
Unknown
Yeah. Talk about failures. We have one client. He's got an air conditioner problem. We had to go there twice to fix it. And then on the third visit. Yeah. Supposed to be. It was supposed to be the final visit. And his, the fan blade broke while I was taking it out. So now we're going to go back.

01:02:11:06 - 01:02:30:16
Unknown
I'm excited to have that one be done. I think he's excited for that one. Yeah, we told him though, like honestly wasn't the best choice to try and fix this air conditioner. Yeah, it's going to cost him more in the long run than to just replace it. But you get it. They're expensive, so I get it. But. You know we'll get through that.

01:02:30:16 - 01:02:51:13
Unknown
And that was kind of a low point for me is like you know I forgot about that. That was a downer in that day. Yeah. It is going to solve the problems for the customers. And then. Yeah. it's really hard. It's a bummer. So but we also have a bunch of inspections. Yeah. coming up, we're starting to book in the next week of inspections and only, one morning of repairs.

01:02:51:18 - 01:03:10:23
Unknown
That's right. It's funny how it changes from week to week. Totally different. And then, I guess this is a place where we close out for people that are in the Phoenix area. What are the dates? We're going to be in Phoenix. Where to put me on the spot and get your phone out right now. We will be in the Phoenix area, so I'm going to Phoenix.

01:03:10:26 - 01:03:29:29
Unknown
over a long weekend, somebody brought me is having me go out there to do an inspection on an RV. So we have limited availability for RV inspections. Theoretically, we can do two more that weekend through 10th August, eighth through 10th. So one of those days is already claimed the week we have availability on the other to do an inspection.

01:03:29:29 - 01:03:49:02
Unknown
So if you're a Phoenix area listener or Phoenix Mesa, I don't know what's around there, but we have a rental car, so we'll be able to get it done. But, let's get you on the schedule sooner rather than later. Elizabeth, thank you for being here. Everybody else, thank you so much for being here. Please subscribe to our channel.

01:03:49:02 - 01:03:54:10
Unknown
Like and share this video. See you next time. See you then.

01:03:54:10 - 01:04:04:00
Unknown
You.