Onsite Insight Podcast by RV Housing Group

Serving, Not Selling: RV Housing's Mission

• RV Housing Group

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Brad Iturriaga, CEO of RV Housing Group, shares his philosophy that authentic service to displaced families creates business success in the temporary housing industry. He explores how prioritizing people's needs over sales goals has helped his company thrive while providing genuine stability for families during crisis situations.

• Difference between selling and serving: businesses that prioritize service naturally succeed at sales
• Authentic care isn't sustainable if faked - it must be in your DNA to truly help people
• On-site RVs provide stability for families by keeping them close to their property during repairs
• Many families initially skeptical about RV living end up grateful they chose this option
• Company philosophy: "Just because it's not our fault doesn't mean it's not our problem"
• Measuring success through being clients' automatic first choice, not just financial metrics
• Staff are instructed to treat every customer like they would their own family members
• Continuous improvement through honest customer feedback and filling service gaps

Connect with us online at rvtemphousing.com or reach out directly on LinkedIn.


Speaker 1:

When disaster strikes, families need more than just a place to stay. They need stability, comfort and a solution that works for them. Welcome to Onsite Insight, the podcast that gives insurance reps and housing agencies the tools, strategies and insights they need to make temporary housing simple, effective and stress-free. I'm your host, drew Powell, and each week you'll hear from Braddy Turriaga, ceo and founder of RV Housing Group, how we can streamline housing placements, serve families better and take the headache out of temporary housing, because when people need help, the right solutions make all the difference. Let's get started, brad. What's going on, man?

Speaker 2:

What's up, buddy? How are you?

Speaker 1:

Dude, I'm crushing it right now. I just got back from Denver. Spent a couple days out there.

Speaker 2:

Now I'm back in.

Speaker 1:

Nashville. And life is good, man. What have you been up to?

Speaker 2:

Awesome, yeah, just been busy. We've been busy, man. Work has been good, consistent. We're actually looking at a big project up in Michigan for Ford. Have you ever heard of them?

Speaker 1:

A little startup company, a little startup.

Speaker 2:

You haven't told me about this yet. I know, give me some teasers here or maybe we have to talk offline. This sounds, yeah, they need, uh, they need like 80 units. Um, yeah, because they're building what they're calling the, uh, the oval kingdom or something, I don't know. I know oval office, but, um, yeah, so, and they want to. They you know it's, it's in a remote area. They want to be able to house their house, their crew there.

Speaker 2:

So, um, so, yeah, that's exciting I had a long conversation with them a couple days ago, but saturday I'm flying out to california for a conference in san diego. What conference is that? That is the chpa conference corporate housing providers of america. So good, yeah, doing, doing that.

Speaker 1:

Um, flying out saturday, and uh, that should be fun yeah, dude, you're taking me to a conference with you in Indianapolis. I want to go to the one in San Diego. I don't want to go to Indianapolis in the winter, I want to go to San Diego in the winter.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I hear you. Well, part of it is I'm having a meeting with. One of my meetings is with somebody I wasn't sure that you'd be able to go to that. His name is Gavin Newsom. You heard of him.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, right, you don't trust me in a meeting with him.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I don't trust myself in a meeting with him.

Speaker 1:

I'm usually the guy reeling us back in. It's not me, it's you.

Speaker 2:

No, no, that would be, that would be no bueno that's funny.

Speaker 1:

Well, dude, today we're going to talk about some some kind of real life, real impact stories. We're not going to mention names and stuff like that, because we, you know, we'll protect the people that we're we're working with and serving. But, you know, at the end of the day, our, our wide r housing group, it's really about helping these people that have been displaced. Even like when you're talking about Ford, it's a little bit different than an insurance client, but the heart is still the same. How do we serve these people? And I was even thinking about this in general and I'd love to get your thoughts on this, because you're entrepreneurial and business-minded and all this kind of stuff so, before we dive into it but the difference between selling and serving I've been thinking about this because you've been in sales a long time, even before you started this company, and a lot of people struggle to sell, like you know.

Speaker 1:

I don't want to push myself out there or whatever, but if you change your mindset from selling to serving, how do I serve people? Well, I've got a product or service that I believe in and I just want to talk about it in a way, because I know that it helps people. And so from your perspective as an entrepreneur, business leader, salesman, all those things, how does that impact just your approach to what we do, whether it's Ford or an insurance client, where we're not necessarily selling them our services, but we're trying to show up and serve them?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so that's good. You know, I think I think, foundationally, you know if you, if you exist to serve people, then you'll be able to sell them things you know, Right? I think that if it's the other way around, you have a real hard time. You know, because people see through that, people see through the salesmanship. You know Exactly the overselling, the you know and, at the end of the day, like you know what sales is is really, is really.

Speaker 2:

I'm selling myself, right, I'm selling what I stand for, what I believe in, and service and serving people is a huge part of that for me. But that's not for everybody, right? So in sales, it's often just close the deal, close the deal. Whatever I got to do to close the deal, right, right, and what happens with that mentality is you're closing the deal and moving on, right, you're closing the deal, so it's all about money, right, money, money. How can I make money? The problem with that mentality is, eventually, that's going to be figured out by people, right, right, yeah, he's just all about money. Or they are just all about money, she's just all about money, and they don't really care about taking care of people. Right where, if you can, if you can exist to really serve people and take care of them. Then the money comes anyway, you know yes.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

And so you know, and that's, that's us, right, I mean I'm, I don't, uh, and what we do, for sure I don't try to oversell, over promise under deliver. You know that kind of deal, um, you know, I just try to speak truthfully about who we are, what we do, why we exist, um, and what we're going to do for you, our client right and your customers and I think the proof is in the pudding, right? I mean that's why we're still in business.

Speaker 2:

You know what I mean there's so many businesses, I think that would be in our space, especially because it's pretty cutthroat, that would not be in business anymore and that's because they're selling. They're not serving, Right, and what I have done is I my thing to to our clients, you know, when I'm pitching them to, to trying to onboard new clients, is just give me a shot and let me prove to you, right, let me prove to you what I'm telling you and I think that I just, um, you know, thankfully I have an aura about me that is authentic, that they're like you know I may be able to woo people and and help them, you know, and like, really help them to see what I stand for and and what I'm trying to do with my business and if they do business with us, what they're going to get and my business and if they do business with us, what they're going to get and all of those things. But I think really, ultimately, the proof is in the pudding and you don't have long, right, you don't have, your leash is not very long there, because they're hearing the same spiel from everybody, right? I mean, I'm not really any different. I may just be a little more believable.

Speaker 2:

Potentially. I may just be a little more believable potentially, but it's so important for me to back up what I'm telling them Right, and I think that's what's really set us apart. And I think that if you have that mentality of serving people and really caring man, you know it's so hard to fake that Right. That just doesn't last. It's unsustainable, I think. But if you have that in your dna to really care about people and take care of them, um, then the proof will be in the pudding right, and then the sales and growth and all those things happen yeah, it follows.

Speaker 1:

Well said man. I love that we'll share a story about someone that we've been able to serve, um, just because we we do love stories around rv housing group, because that's our, that's our why. You know, hearing stories of people we've been able to help and, um, is there any stories that kind of you know come to the top of your mind, um, either recently or when you first started the business, that really represent your why and why we do what we do represent your why and why we do what we do.

Speaker 2:

You know, I think it's, I think almost every, every family that we deal with you know it reiterates our why. You know, um, are there some that stick out to me? Yeah, probably because their house burned to the ground and you know they barely escaped. And you know, um, you know, just a crazy, crazy tragedy or maybe you lost an animal or something.

Speaker 1:

I mean something. A lot of times where people, the trauma is pretty deep.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely yeah. We just had a family that they lost an animal and you know I mean they were crying on the phone and it's understandable, because when we're involved it's so quick after this happens. You know, this is not like they've had weeks to grieve and process and everything like that.

Speaker 1:

I mean we, they're putting the pieces back together.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we're there pretty quickly, um, in the aftermath, but, um, you know, I think, I think, really, you know, each cause, each situation is unique, um, but so often, each one has their their own level of tragedy to it. You know, and I think that that's that's why, um, that's why we exist, man, we exist um to really serve these people, to take care of these people and to be, you know, to to be the, hopefully the brightest spot in their situation. Right, I mean, they're dealing with, they're dealing with, insurance companies, they're dealing with contractors, are dealing with, um, uh, you know, remediation companies, and, and you know what, what I'm striving for is for them to say, at the end of all of this, that you know what RV housing, housing group you guys really stood out.

Speaker 1:

You know, you really stood out to us in our situation and we're super grateful to how well you took care of us well, that you just led me perfectly into the next question I was going to ask you you know, what are some of the feedback that families typically give after staying in one of our rvs on site, I mean or maybe some of your favorite feedback that you've heard um, you know when, when people are actually moving back into their home? You know, I'm curious.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Um, you know, I think that, uh, the the best feedback is it's not as bad as they thought it was going to be, you know.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

Um, because you know, when you're you're dealing with this, this tragedy, right, whatever that is and you're having to move out. You have so many emotions going on, you have so many things you're trying to keep track of and all that stuff, right, and maybe you have kids on top of that and life doesn't necessarily stop, and all of those things. Um, you know, I think that, uh, sometimes people aren't 100 sure that staying on their property in a trailer is the best thing for them, right?

Speaker 1:

right. It's almost like they have to do it because of circumstances and they're not. They're like we'll take a risk, but I need to be close to my property, but yeah yeah, for sure, and they're talking to other people, right?

Speaker 2:

you know what should I do? Talking to your friends, your family know what should I do. Talking to your friends, your family, like, what should I do? And everyone may have an opinion, right, and so you're just trying to process all of this. You know, it's like you know information overload.

Speaker 2:

Man, you know you're trying to make the best decision for your family, but you have all of these options and you end up landing on on-site housing and staying in an RV and you're not 100% sure that that's the right decision you're making at the time and I understand that. But I think that ultimately, we hear so often that they're glad they did that and they weren't really sure at the beginning. And I go back and I remember hearing about conversations from the team or whatever, and I'm like, hey, that's great, because I remember that family and they were not easy to deal with at the beginning because they were so afraid that this wasn't the right decision, right, sure, so they were super skeptical. So they were super skeptical, you know. And so I think that, I think that you know, hearing that at the end is really good and I think that, if you know, I think those people just have to get over the fact.

Speaker 2:

Right, because you're, you know, you're looking at all the information, you have trying to, uh, trying to make the best decision and you're and you decide to go with an rv, you know, you just hope, you just hope you're making the right decision at that point. Right, because these other things trump, right, it's like pros and cons. Okay, so house versus an rv, being on my property versus not. You're weighing all this stuff out and you just hope that you know that you're making the right decision. And I think it's. I think it's so. It's so great for us at the end when we hear that you know what. This was absolutely the right decision for us. Yeah, um, for our family. Our kids were able to, you know, continue hanging out with their friends and you know, whatever. I mean, there are so many reasons why, but, um, but I, you know, for me that feels so good, um, to know, because, look, we're an integral part of that decision at the end, right them regretting or not regretting it right right and you know what, we took really good care of them.

Speaker 2:

You know what I mean like, or hey r group man, they were there every step of the way and when we had issues they took care of us and that made us feel so good because we didn't have to wait. We weren't waiting for someone to come out and service the unit because the AC wasn't working properly or the heat or whatever. It is right. So you know that's we're a huge part of of their experience, obviously making sure they're getting taken care of in a timely manner, and that's, you know, that's obviously of utmost importance, not just to me but to our whole team, as you know.

Speaker 1:

And yeah, so yeah, man that's good, and I was thinking as you're talking. I mean, it's one of the differentiators between us and some of these. You. You have these companies that pop up all the time, some smaller companies that want to get in this space and they want to. You know, the one thing that about rv housing group that I think really stands out is that the care of of the people that we're working with and you know a lot of these smaller um companies they just don't have the, the bandwidth or the personnel to care for the needs. Sure, even after the RV is placed, once it's there, it's like they just kind of set it and you're like well, good luck, see you at the end. I hope you don't have any problems.

Speaker 1:

They just don't have the personnel to serve during the whole process, which is something I know you're passionate about, which is it's not just about getting the RV there and getting it on the property. It the time that the RV is on site and making sure things are working and I've heard you say this before. You know, a lot of these RVs in some ways are just they're not built for to live in long term, and so there's just a lot of times there's issues with them that need to be, you know, taken care of, and it's it's important for us to make sure that we're on top of all those things. So, in that regard, I mean talk about some of the challenges that we've overcome during specific placements. I mean, what are some examples of things that we've had to kind of overcome to make sure that living experience is good for the people we're serving?

Speaker 2:

Oh, I mean, I can remember one recently where they clogged the toilet and it overflowed. You know, the toilet overflowed into the bathroom and basically rotted the whole floor out in the bathroom. And you know, I mean really not our fault, obviously. But just because it's not our fault doesn't mean it's not our problem, you know. And so we had to get involved there. And you know, golly, it was the next day that we got all of those. You know, we had to replace the subfloor and all that. But we got a tech out there the next day because, you know, hey, they couldn't even really go in the bathroom or they were going to fall through the floor, essentially, right. So we got a tech out there the next day, pulled up the subfloors, replaced it all, and they were extremely happy and obviously they felt terrible for what happened.

Speaker 2:

But it's not like we're always asking, hey, who did this? Whose fault is it? Is this your fault or is this our fault? So we're not people in dying people in that way. It's just like, look, man, they have an issue. We got to take care of them, right, either. And that's the choice that every company has to make. You know, you know some, some, some business owners, you know, would say uh you know that that really is their fault.

Speaker 2:

So we've got to make sure we build them or whatever. And I'm more about. You know, I can see the forest through the trees, right when we look at our client and tell them, hey, here's all the things that happened, have happened over the last month or two months with with this client, you know, with this customer, this customer, this customer, this customer, and we can say listen, at the end of the day, we just want you to know that it matters so much to us to take care of these people and that, look, man, and the business that we continue to see on a regular basis is proof, right? I mean, so we can get hung up on hey, who owes us for that service? Call, right, 200 bucks here, 200 bucks there. Who? Whose fault really was that, you know? Or we can just take care of people and know that our clients see that and appreciate that and they continue to the business, right?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love that about, about what we get to do and, on that note, I wanted to get this might be a little weedsy, but I want to talk about just kind of the feedback process and even how that works both for, like just even for our reps that are listening right now. You know, I know something, that you're constantly implementing new strategies and systems to get us better at a, at the feedback loop, even from, like the moment an rv is dropped off, making sure we go through a checklist, making sure that we're all on the same page all the way to when it's. Can you just talk a little bit about that process and how we make sure everything is right when it's there, but also how we kind of protect all parties involved with a good feedback system?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, I mean, you know we're we're constantly checking in, Right, and I've been known to make phone calls to tenants and ask for their feedback on my team. Hey, how did the delivery driver do? Did they give you an orientation? Was it thorough? Do you feel like they were trying to rush you or do you feel like they really cared and wanted to make sure that you had all the knowledge you needed to to, uh, have a successful stay in there?

Speaker 2:

Um, so, I think it's just communication. We're just always communicating, right, always asking questions, and and we're not just asking questions to to hear the answer, we, we want to hear, right, right, we're asking questions to hear the truth, you, you know. So, if, if there are holes in our system, we want to know that. Man, I certainly want to know that, right, and you know, I've had conversations with with tenants where they've been very honest with me and there's been times where it's like, ooh, all right, you know, wish that would have been different, where it's like, ooh, all right, you know, wish that would have been different. You know, sometimes I will say it's more their perception, you know, because of the emotional state they're in. However, their perception is their reality, right, and so you know. It just helps me to look at our systems and processes and see what we can do to make sure we're always getting positive feedback right. Right, but positive, honest feedback, right, not just telling us what we want to hear.

Speaker 1:

Right, absolutely. A couple more questions for you, brad. I think this has been awesome. I'm just curious what would you want insurance reps to know about the families that we serve, like if you could talk to them about it, like just knowing, because and they're interfacing with them as well, but just from our seat, you know speak to that rep, and what would you want them to know about, either how we serve the clients or about the clients themselves?

Speaker 2:

Well, I mean, we certainly talk to them about this and we let them know on a regular basis that we care deeply to make sure these people are taken care of. But you know we are speaking to a potential tenant, right, an insured, and they are, you know, they're kind of telling us their story. I want you to picture this is me to the team right. Picture your mom, your dad, your grandmother, your grandfather right, and her uncle, some family member that's on the other end of that phone call, and I want you to take care of them exactly how you would take care of your family, right? And I think that that goes such a long way for us, man, it's, you know we are, you know we're extremely empathetic. You know we really try to put ourselves in their shoes and, you know, and just do as good a job as possible of making sure that they're comfortable, that they know that we care about them, that they feel secure in the decision that they're making too.

Speaker 2:

Going back to that, you know it's certainly not. You know it's not something that we want to push on people, right, we want them to really make the decision. We just we want to push on people, right, we, we want them to really make the decision. We just want to give them the information. Right, we'll give them all the information, um, but if you want to be on your property and they're you know, and you have your your reasons why, we're going to give you all the info and allow you to make the you know the decision.

Speaker 1:

But if you know, if you decide to go that route, obviously hey, we're here to take care of you and we're going to stay with you all the way to the end. Yeah, and you've kind of already covered this a little bit, but just kind of wanted you to close out with this thought, as far as like, how do we as RV Housing Group, or even for you personally, how do you measure success beyond the logistics? Right, okay, so you've got this like the success of it happened and we're you know, the drop-off went well, everything's worked out great, but what is at the end of the day?

Speaker 2:

what does success look like for you, beyond operations and logistics? Um, you know, success for me.

Speaker 1:

You talking about me personally well, I just mean for you, for the, for you personally, as it applies to the business, right when you're looking at your business at the end of the day. What do you? What do you say?

Speaker 2:

we were successful when oh, oh, that's easy, man, that's easy. Uh, when I hear from our clients that they like working with us the most, you know that that when they have a need that comes up for on-site housing, there's nobody else that they're thinking about. Right, there's an, it's like an automatic trigger. Rv housing group is is my go-to. That, right there, man, is phenomenal. I freaking, I can't hear that enough that you know what I mean. That's worth, that's worth more than money to me. Um, and I would say that, as well as hearing from the families at the end, that you know what you guys, you guys blew us away with your service. You know, like I, you know, and then they'll give specifics. I remember when we had this issue or this issue, and you know, and we were taken care of. You know so quickly and, and you know I could, were taken care of, you know so quickly and you know I could just tell that your team cared. And you know, man, it's, it's, it's.

Speaker 2:

That's why it's in my DNA, dude, like yeah, the money, you know owning a business and being successful and all those things, and you know having a nice home and and you know assets and blah, blah, blah. That's good man, but that does not, at least for me. That doesn't bring me joy, it's not really fulfilling, it is so temporal. But hearing this kind of feedback from our clients and our customers, man, that right there, is what drives me to continue to create and ide and, you know, and ideate right and try to be better and hire more people, because I'm like, oh, there's a hole here. Uh, we got to fill that because, if you know, I don't want any holes. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2:

So, and you know that, about me, right, I've continued to hire people, Um, and and you know cause? I just I want to be the best man, Like. I make no bones about it, and I have told our clients that numerous times, and so they know that about me. But you cannot say that you want to be the best and not back that up with action.

Speaker 1:

Right, Right, Love it, I love it, dude, I love it Hearing your passion come out. When you talk about caring for people, serving people, hospitality. I mean that's where you come alive, man. That's that's always been for you and and the core of this business. Well, I appreciate you, man. Uh, have a great time in San Diego. Yes, sir, it's going to be awesome. What else you got going on the rest of this week, anything fun?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm actually going to stay in cali for uh, for a couple days, and you know, actually I've never been there before, so really, as much as you've traveled, I'm surprised that you've never been. I know, I know I think it's because it's so far away, but uh, but yeah, yeah, man, so I'm gonna stay for for a couple extra days and, uh, check it out, find the, find the good restaurants, as you know oh, dude, you're such a foodie.

Speaker 1:

That's why I love traveling with you, because we always eat good, no matter what.

Speaker 2:

Yeah man, yeah, yeah, I'll find the best steak for sure, no matter where I'm at.

Speaker 1:

Yeah well, I'll follow that, man. Hey, thanks, good stuff today, man. We'll talk soon. All right, man, take care. Well, thanks for joining us on Onsite Insight, where we break down the future of temporary housing and how you insurance reps and housing professionals can make the process easier for your clients and your team. If today's episode gave you new ideas or insights, we'd love to hear from you. You can connect with us online at rvtemphousingcom or reach out to us directly on LinkedIn, and if you found this valuable, don't forget to subscribe and share this episode with someone who needs it. Until next time, I'm Drew Powell and this is Onsite Insight, where housing meets solutions.