What does it take to excel at Xactimate?

​Have you ever googled how to do something in Word or Excel and found out it was very simple, but the next time you attempted it you could not remember because you had not done it in a while? That is essentially Xactimate. It is actually a very easy, large program. So why is it so daunting. First, you don’t know what the program is capable of. If you did, you would know what to search for. This is why you take an Xactimate class; to learn as much as you can but more importantly, to experience what the program is capable of. If you know it is possible, you know what to search for if you can’t retain it. For example, how do you change the manner of calculating so that Xactimate calculates waste on a 15-foot-wide carpet instead of 12-foot-wide carpet? If you don’t know it can be changed, you won’t look for it. Even though we concentrate on retention by repetition in class and the information is easy, there is only so much your mind can retain especially with 3 days of information. At some point the hard drive (your mind) gets full for that period of time.
 
What does it take to excel at Xactimate? In one word…practice, especially when it comes to sketch. It’s all muscle memory. No level of intelligence is required. And the more you practice, the easier it gets and faster you become. And speed and efficiency equal more money. A lot of bad habits are formed when someone is self-taught and it is hard to break those habits. Even when they are taught to do it correctly, if they don’t practice it until it replaces the bad habit, the correct method is forgotten & the bad habit returns. I tell my students to practice sketching correctly everyday until they master it. I don’t care if it is only 5-10 minutes a night drawing a part or all of their house. Then delete it and do it again & again & again until it is so easy, they can draw it in their sleep. Then move on to new challenges.
 
I don’t worry so much about my Public Adjusters or Contractors, because they have work waiting for them so their practice is back at their office. I do worry about the IAs because unless they have a deployment right after class & if they don’t have the discipline to practice, they will be lost and leaving tons of money on the table when that deployment does arrive. A deployment is the absolute worst time to try and learn Xactimate.
 
That is why we give unparalleled support on all of our classes & products. Anyone who registers for any class with us will receive a free 1-year membership which gives you access to the online self-paced training videos for the class you select. What this means is that you can keep retaking the class information or refer back to any part of it for a year! We wanted to make sure that any part that you missed, didn’t understand or forgot was still available for you.

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