Retooling the Remodeling Business

A high-tech experience may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of residential remodeling. But putting those two things together has skyrocketed Los Angeles-based Treeium’s annual billings from $800,000 to $36 million in just seven years.

We were lucky enough to get Treeium’s CEO and Founder, Moty Ginsburg, to sit down with us and share some of the secrets to his company’s success. A veteran of the 90s tech boom, Ginsburg emphasizes the importance of taking a modern approach to a traditionally low-tech business — combining branding, technology, people and diversified service offerings to create a uniquely unified customer experience.

1. Begin with a brand.

Ginsburg first broke into the remodeling industry as a marketing consultant following a successful career in the world of electronics. Immediately, he saw the opportunity to apply the same principles to differentiate his business from his competitors and build the reputation to become a household name.

“Remodeling is a very tough market,” says Ginsburg. “I come from the technology world in the 90s. So, when I jumped into consulting to this market, I decided, ‘I see this this is where the market is going — more into recognitions and branding.’ And that’s why I stayed in this market.”

In 2010, Ginsburg purchased the remodeling company that is now Treeium — and in 2012, he branded it with the care of a high-tech trailblazer. “I said, ‘OK, let’s brand it in a way that it’s like a Google or Yahoo,’” says Ginsburg. “And that’s where we came up with the name Treeium. It’s not generic to remodeling, construction or California. We trademarked the name, registered it immediately and trademarked the logo. It’s the only name in the world. If you Google Treeium right now, you’ll get to the 20th page and it’s only us.”

2. Use technology to create an exceptional user experience.

One of Treeium’s key differentiators is the simple technological interface it uses to keep its clients engaged throughout every step of their projects. When Treeium first meets with a client, they develop a portal through which the company delivers photos, videos, audio recordings, contracts and billing information. Clients can make payments through the portal and even write and receive text messages and notifications about their projects. Communicating through this interface not only keeps clients engaged and informed, but it also helps to build their confidence in the Treeium brand and its remodeling process.

“Part of the technology — where we engage with you — is also the experience of the process of doing work in the remodeling industry. Because everyone knows what remodeling can be: headaches, dust, the contractor shows up late, he promises a month but it takes six months, he takes money but doesn’t show up — all those stories. So, we are very transparent about how we do business.”

Of course, another benefit to the technology is lead conversion and retention. The presence of a full customer relationship management interface allows Treeium to control a high conversion of leads and a high execution of appointments to contracts, says Ginsburg. And at the end of the day, that helps the company keep customers in the ultra-competitive California market.

3. Invest in people.

Even the best branding and technology can’t help you if you don’t have the right people in place to do the work, says Ginsburg. And to that end, it’s vitally important to invest in the people you hire to represent your business. For Treeium, this means offering attractive benefits and highlighting its modern approach to home services to attract new talent.

“It’s not just about recruiting and trying to recruit good talent into a remodeling company, but it’s showing that this is the Tesla of the remodeling industry,” says Ginsburg. “So, when Tesla is recruiting people, it’s not like you’re going to work in Detroit for GM or Ford, right? You’re going to go work for a technology company. So, come to Treeium and you work for a technology company that does remodeling. That’s the idea. And that’s the way we attract people.”

Treeium has further invested in its employees with the creation of Treeium University — an online training designed to efficiently educate new employees about Treeium and the company’s various work processes and technologies. Making it possible for trainees to access Treeium University trainings from anywhere at any time of day has not only better prepared Treeium’s workforce, says Ginsburg, but it has also considerably shortened the process of bringing new employees up to speed.

4. Diversify your service offerings.

Lastly, Ginsburg encourages offering a purposeful range of services. “At the end of the day, if you only offer jobs at $100,000 and up, you narrow your market,” he says. “You can still do it, but what about using the same technologies, and the same brand and the same people to do a $10,000 or $15,000 job?”

Offering a range of services at a range of prices allows you to get your foot in the door for smaller projects, explains Ginsburg. And when you do them right, you leave the house with a good review and the trust and confidence of the customer — and this leads to bigger opportunities later on.

“If you capture somebody on the $10,000 job and you give them the best experience ever, they will come to you and do the $50,000 job, the $100,000 job, the $500,000 job,” says Ginsburg. “You open yourself to customer acquisition. You can eventually offer that something else in the years to come. And this is really something you can offer when you control processes — when you have the brand, the people and the technology in place.”