Qualified Remodeler Magazine

MAY 2017

Qualified Remodeler helps independent remodeling firms to survive, become more professional and more profitable by providing must-have business information, namely best business practices, new product information and timely design ideas.

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about Remodel Direct, a dealership offering home modifications specifically for homeown- ers looking to stay in their homes and age-in- place. With 78 million baby boomers in the U.S. moving into their retirement, the timing for the offering seemed right. "After having my first conversation about Remodel Direct and what they bring to the marketplace, I was so excited," Boehm recalls. "I immediately called my business partner and said, 'OK, I found our next thing.' ere is no- body out there bringing what Remodel Direct is to the marketplace. You can go somewhere and you can get stair lifts. You can find someone to make a ramp for you. But there is no one who comes in there and does a comprehensive evaluation of your home and your situation that gives you a plan to follow." Boehm was among the first 10 dealers signed up by Remodel Direct since its launch at the International Builders' Show this past January. And though the company is new, its leaders have been in the home improve- ment dealer space for many years. Founder and president Rick Hirschhaut helped BCI Acrylic with its successful Bath Planet dealer offering. Prior to that, he spent eight years with franchisor California Closets. e oth- er key senior leaders of the company are its marketing leader Dave Wilson, a veteran of Liners Direct, and sales leader Jim Eldredge, a veteran of Sears Home Improvement and e Home Depot. THE REMODEL DIRECT OFFERING "Recognizing that baby boomers are getting older and recognizing why so many home im- provement companies want to sell into that very large demographic, there is this dichot- omy, they want baby boomer business but they lack the tools to do so, " Hirschhaut says. "Almost all remodelers treat this unique customer, who is at a unique point in their lives, just as they would a regular customer for siding, windows and roofing. It shows they really don't understand what their needs are. And they don't know how to market to them. ey don't know how to speak to them, so we wanted to create a brand that did all of those things." In addition to offering tub-to-shower con- versions, which is a fast-growing specialty in home improvement generally, Remodel Direct also offers stair lifts, ramps, walk-in tubs and a together all of the tools that they will need," Eldredge says. A big benefit of the program will be leads from a national marketing program via the company's marketing efforts. Marketing Director Dave Wilson estimates between 10 and 20 percent of a dealer's local leads will come from the corporate program. Wilson's extensive lead-gen background will allow the company to test a variety of national ads and use data to quickly optimize around the most effective messaging. at messaging, in turn, will be shared with the dealers. "Generating leads will be very important to us, but perhaps more important to the dealer will be the learnings we pass along," Wilson says. "And from my background with all the different sophisticated advertising tests and national ad-buys that we can do corporately and because these folks roll up under us on the lead-gen program, we can really help lower lead costs in the marketplace as well as help dealers get smarter, quicker." COMMITMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS e company feels the perfect Remodel Direct prospective dealer is already a home improve- ment entrepreneur—someone who has the experience and skills to run a company. e idea is that once the right partners are iden- tified, the obligations to Remodel Direct will not seem onerous. ose obligations will be measured in product ordered on a monthly basis and will be set at very achievable mini- mums that no party to the agreement will be satisfied with for very long. "ere is an application process," Hirschhaut says. "It is not a situation where you raise your hand and all of a sudden you are a Remodel host of other modifications designed to mesh with the exact needs of the client. e company manufactures many of these products, which are proprietary only to its dealer network, Hirschhaut explains. "People want a specialist—somebody who understands what they are going through. ey truly don't know what their needs are. ey want a blueprint for staying in their homes for the rest of their lives," he says. "When people take on some of these projects after they ex- perience a fall or something serious happened to them, it is typically the wrong time. ey need to think about these things before that, which is why we have to ask questions and educate them." Beyond the in-home assessment tool/sur- vey, Remodel Direct aims to offer a complete business kit-of-parts for remodelers or home improvement professionals entering the aging- in-place modifications market, Eldredge says. For the "right business person," the company is offering exclusive dealership territories, a pro- prietary customer relationship management (CRM) system, a digital product and pricing catalog, as well as a digital configurator that prices each job. ere are also 3-D tools available to its dealers—everything from branded vehicle graphics to full-scale product displays for use at home and garden shows. eir home show displays are equipped with a 5-foot-wide show- er display on one end and a walk-in shower on the other end. In between is a large-format display of the company's product offerings. "We have put together a start-up package for dealers that allows them to open anoth- er market segment for their businesses and come out of the gate running, because we put People want a specialist, somebody who understands what they are going through. They are unique customers in a unique stage of their lives. They truly don't know what their needs are. Rick Hirshhaut, Remodel Direct Co-founder and CEO QualifiedRemodeler.com QR May 2017 41

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