FCB #048: Is Your Appraisal Business Ready for Take-Off?

Airline Pilot's Checklist

I was just watching a YouTube video titled “Beautiful Female Pilot Take Off Her Boeing B737-800 | Cockpit View | GoPro.”  You can watch the video here:

https://youtu.be/pHCEP6I6q6U?si=ZgzcVLJz-6wM7mrm

The one thing that struck me the most was her tablet mounted at her right side which allowed her to check off items real time on her pre-takeoff checklist as she and her copilot went through their takeoff checklist routine.

You can see a copy of the two-page “Normal Checklist” for a Boeing 737-800 here:

https://flyuk.aero/assets/downloads/resources/checklists/UKV-PRD-B737-CHECKLIST-V2.pdf

Checklists for Different Functions

There are 15 sections on Boeing's Normal Checklist with a total of 176 checklist items.

The 15 sections and number of checklist items in each are as follows:

1. PRE FLIGHT FLOWS - 4
2. PRE FLIGHT CHCKLIST - 32
3. BEFORE START CHECKLIST - 8
4. ENGINE START CHECKLIST - 6
5. BEFORE TAXI CHECKLIST - 16
6. TAXI CHECKLIST - 2
7. BEFORE TAKE-OFF CHECKLIST - 15
8. AFTER TAKE-OFF CHECKLIST 6
9. CLIMB-OUT CHECKLIST - 7
10. CRUISE & DESCENT PREPARATION - 19
11. APPROACH CHECKLIST 10
12. LANDING CHECKLIST - 10
13. AFTER LANDING CHECKLIST - 15
14. PARKING / SHUTDOWN CHECKLIST - 16
15. SECURING AIRCRAFT – 10

Of course, in case of emergency, I’m sure there are other specific checklists they can access immediately depending on the type of emergency.

Safety Rates: Flying Versus Driving

The fatality rate for passenger cars and trucks on U.S. highways is 0.50 deaths per 100 million passenger miles.

This is 50 times greater than the near-zero (0.01) death rate for air travel.

Why do you think air travel is so much safer than driving in the U.S.?

Does Your Surgeon Use a Checklist?

A favorite business book of mine is “The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right,” by Atul Gawande, a best-selling author, public health researcher, and edocrine surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

He is also the Assistant Administrator for Global Health at the U.S. Agency for International Development.

In "The Checklist Manifesto," Dr. Guwande shares the story of the creation of a simple 19-point surgery checklist that reduced the rate of inpatient complications and deaths by more than a third in a multi-city, multi-national controlled study.

So, what’s the common theme here?

YES! CHECKLISTS WORK!!

Does Your Appraisal Business Use Checklists?

If you are an appraisal business owner and want to improve your business operations, start with creating simple checklists for the following 12 core business functions.

1. New Client Prospecting
2. New Client Onboarding
3. RFP Bidding or Quoting
4. Job Award Engagement
5. Assigning Jobs to Staff
6. Assistant Checklist
7. Appraiser Checklist
8. Reviewer Checklist
9. Invoicing & Delivery
10. Processing Reviews
11. Payment Processing
12. Aged A/R Collections

Don't Make Systemization So Hard

Don’t make systemizing your business harder than it needs to be!

Start by creating simple checklists and templates for repeatable tasks.

Once you get those down pat you can move on to more detailed SOPs.

Start with the 12 core functions above. 

Do one a week: finish is one quarter!

Start With Checklists

Airline pilots don’t read a 1,506-page operating manual* before takeoff.

Surgeons and their scrub nurses don’t either before they do surgery.

If you want your business to be a soaring success, use checklists!

If you do, you’re liable to reduce your problems by over a third!

*Special Note

You can read the entire 1,506-page operating manual for a Boeing 737-800 here:

https://toulouse747.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Boeing-B737-700-800-900-Operations-Manual.pdf

Until next time...

Here's to your success!

• Calvin Cummings
• Appraiser2X Coach
• MAI, Non-Practicing

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