Adam Olschewske has come a long way from the days he was working out of his apartment. This second-generation exterior remodeler has a staff of 21 and his company is growing fast.
It started with a dedication to customer service. “We work in an industry where a lot of times the customer doesn’t hear back from anyone, or they sign a contract and no one shows up for six months,” says Christine Natale, the company’s marketing director. “That’s not the way we work.”
Marshall Exteriors really started taking off when Olschewske implemented basic business building blocks. Instead of job costing from the gut, he brought in a management team to put together an estimating tool that helped increase the average sale from $6,000 to $9,000 and produce 70% year-over-year growth. “We’re not letting people use numbers in their head anymore,” Natale says.
For the all-important lead generation, Marshall is educating Realtors about how to tell when it’s time to replace roofing, siding, and windows and how to talk to homeowners about those costs. When it comes time to do the work, guess who gets a call?
And when that call comes in, the company is ready to wow customers with technology that not only measures the scope of the project, but also lets them see what the finished project will look like. “We’re long done with climbing on a roof and measuring it,” Natale says.
Marshall is working to make sure there are enough workers to keep it growing. The company funds a construction scholarship for the local high school and works with a workforce agency to train new workers.
