Remodel Works Bath & Kitchen used to stick to the kitchen and bath basics. But requests to expand the physical space of the kitchens the company was working on led, in 2012, to the staff taking on additions. “And we got good at it,” says chief operating officer Dave Shultz. 

The long-established and fast-growing business got its start as a plumbing wholesaler. Eventually, the company started receiving requests for installation and bathroom remodeling. Having been in business through the ups and downs of the California real estate market, the company operates with systems that are highly refined and effective.

Remodel Works is growing into its additions business the same way it become a kitchen/bath remodeler. “First we did a handful, then, the next year, a dozen and a half, this year two and a half times that many,” Shultz says.

Takeaways

  • A Remodel Works representative visits the house, but for prospects to see the sales presentation they need to schedule a visit at the showroom where they can make selections (“Ninety percent of the products we sell come from our showroom," Schultz says) and sign the contract.
  • Remodel Works uses a point-and-click estimating system accurate to the point tha,t in the last eight years “we haven’t been more than a half a percent off between what we did the job for and what we billed for,” Schultz says.
  • The company is “growing” into its additions business the same way it become a kitchen/bath remodeler. Not content to “give away those leads,” Schultz says, “first we did a handful, then, the next year, a dozen and a half, this year two and a half times that many."
  • To control its use of subcontractors, Remodel Works sends out a work order five weeks in advance “that tells them exactly the scope and exactly how much they get paid and exactly the day they are going to start.”
  • The firm overhauled its marketing program in 2011 to dispense with traditional marketing (newspapers, radio and TV) and instead focus on an SEO, social media and Pay Per Click strategy. It has two full-time employees and a marketing coordinator in the marketing department.
  • The company boasts of having eight on-staff designers. “And they can all sell,” Schultz says. “That’s the key to our growth.”