- Award category: Sales & Marketing
- Speciality: Exterior remodeling
- 15 years in business
- 2009 volume: $8.3 million
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Staff: 5 office, 19 field
Credit: Keith Key/Key Photography
Before the new-home construction market in Atlanta shriveled, Roone Unger, founder of Exovations, built a company installing siding on new housing for builders. It included a residential replacement division. Today that division does a lot more than just siding and generates almost all Exovations’ revenue. “The remodeling business has continued to grow and do well,” Unger says. Sales to builders, by contrast, are a fraction of what they were in the boom.
Exovations brings to exterior remodeling a level of systemization, such as its 20-item pre-construction checklist, normally associated with design/build companies. Many of the company’s jobs today involve installing products in combination.
One process Exovations has found to be successful is the way it schedules sales appointments — they can be at 9 a.m., 1 p.m., or 5 p.m. That’s it. No negotiation. This has, effectively, weeded out prospects who are not serious. “We want to deal with educated people who are willing to pay more to get more,” Unger says.
BEST PRACTICES
- Consistently ranks high in consumer ratings such as Kudzu.
- Does roofing, siding, and window replacement, as well as decks, doors, painting, and sunrooms.
- In an industry where the public perception is often of low customer service and high-pressure sales tactics, Exovations set out to brand itself as exactly the opposite. For instance, the company does a 12-point home inspection as part of its sales call to prioritize exterior improvements that need to be made.
- Jim Cory