Recently we received a call from our friends at Iron Claim, the pre-eminent public adjusting firm in the world. Public adjusters represent insured people against their own insurers. Most people don’t realize that when your home or business burns to the ground or is destroyed by some other misfortune you don’t have to automatically accept what your insurance company offers in settlement. You can hire your own adjuster who knows the true value of your claim and will represent your interests with the insurance company to make sure you are paid everything owed to you.
Their call was in regard to a Canadian oil boomtown, Fort McMurray, Alberta. The town had been leveled by a fire, and the New York Times estimated the damage at $9 billion dollars. They wanted to work those claims and help people who had sustained severe losses recover quickly, which is what they do. Their question was simple: Did we know anyone in that area with the influence to introduce them to people who needed their help?
For anybody but us, this would have been an impossible task. One of Players Capital Group’s Managing Partners, Jeff Brubaker had played for both the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers, the Canadian province of Alberta’s two NHL teams. He was still in touch with several of his former teammates with both clubs.
His first call was to Jim Peplinski, who had been the captain of the Calgary Flames. Peplinski referred Brubaker to an executive in his leasing group who promptly referred him to several prominent Fort McMurray civic leaders.
His second call was to PCG Partner Kevin McClelland, who had won four Stanley Cups in Edmonton during their glory days of the 80’s. Kevin said “Oh yeah, I still know several people up there… call this guy for starters”…
It’s a 38 hour drive from Atlanta to Fort McMurray. In less time than it took Iron Claim to drive their disaster response vehicles up there we had introduced them to a $9 billion dollar market. Not only were those introductions to the right people, they were immediately well received because they had come from Stanley Cup Champions!
This is a perfect example of how we use the Full Spectrum of Capital. In this case we used intellectual capital (our network of well connected former pro athletes) and combined it with emotional capital (the recognition and acceptance of a famous sports brand). How could you use your own financial and other types of capital in conjunction with ours?
