Mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and home systems services
Growth Can Create New Problems When the Business Is Not Ready for It Home services companies work hard to create more demand, but growth can quickly put pressure on the rest of the business. More marketing can bring more leads. More leads can create more appointments. More appointments can turn into more sales. That sounds … Read more
A Certificate on File Does Not Always Tell You What Is True Today A growing home improvement company may collect proof of insurance when a contractor first joins the team. At that moment, everything can look right. The contractor has coverage. The company has the record. The job can move forward. But time changes things. … Read more
When Customer Expectations Change, Trust Cannot Be Left to Chance Home improvement companies are serving customers who have more choices, more information, and more ways to judge a business than ever before. A homeowner may find a company online, read reviews, speak with a sales rep, receive project updates, and share their experience with others. … Read more
Power100 is continuing its nationwide evaluation of thousands of home services companies, examining the leadership, culture, community engagement, and customer experience practices that help define durable industry leadership. One company being spotlighted during that ongoing review is Villara Building Systems, a Northern California mechanical contractor and home services provider with roots dating back to 1947. … Read more
A contractor sitting across from two or three financing proposals rarely lacks options. What they lack is a clean way to compare them. Every rep says their approvals are the highest, their fees are the lowest, and their funding is the fastest. Somebody is wrong, and figuring out who requires questions most contractors never learned … Read more
Dale runs an HVAC and plumbing operation out of Kansas City. Like most owners in the trades, he did not build his company around spreadsheets. He built it around trucks that need fuel, techs who need parts, and a phone that rings differently depending on the season. But for years, the financial side of his … Read more
Contractors rarely see the fee. They see the deal close. They see the customer sign. What they do not always see, buried inside a dealer agreement or subtracted quietly from a funded amount, is exactly how much of that job’s margin just walked out the door in the form of financing costs nobody explained clearly … Read more
There is a particular kind of hesitation that shows up right before a homeowner fills out a contact form. It is not doubt about whether the roof leaks or whether the tub has become a hazard. It is doubt about the visit itself. Will there be pressure? Will it take all afternoon? Will a stranger … Read more
More Marketing Channels Are Making Growth Harder to Measure Home improvement contractors have more ways than ever to reach homeowners, but that has also made marketing harder to judge. A company may invest in paid search, paid social, organic marketing, television, OTT, third-party leads, direct mail, events, and canvassing at the same time. The problem … Read more
When Growth Creates Distance, Strong Leaders Find a New Way to Stay Close As companies grow, one of the hardest things for a CEO to protect is the connection with the people doing the work. In a smaller business, leaders often know every employee by name. They see them in the office, visit the same … Read more
