By Craig A. Shutt
"No matter how good your heart surgeon is, if you need an eye operation, you're not going to go to him," says Carl Hyman, CEO of Alure Home Improvements, East Meadow, N.Y. "You want someone who specializes in eyes. So why would you go to a general remodeler if you want siding or windows?"
That's the thinking that prompted Carl to organize his full-service remodeling firm into different specialty divisions. By running his business as a collection of specialty services, with individual "specialists" to do each type of work, Carl assures clients that they receive the kind of personal service usually associated with smaller companies while being able to take advantage of the better prices offered by a large one. And the client can access virtually any remodeling service under the Alure umbrella—without needing a second opinion.
Alure promotes its services in three key specialty areas: 1) exterior remodeling of siding, windows and roofing, 2) kitchen and bath remodeling, and 3) a new franchised basement-finishing operation that lets individual tradesmen sign on as franchisees. Alure markets itself as having experts in each segment, which don't overlap. Having the same company remodel your kitchen and put on a new roof doesn't make sense, Carl explains to customers. That's why his kitchen-and-bath workers stay off the roof and out of the basement, while his specialists in the roofing and basement divisions steer clear of kitchen-and-bath territory.
One job leads to others
Once Alure installs windows professionally, the satisfied customer will return for siding, roofing or other work. And when the homeowner needs interior work, he can return to the same company but to different specialists. "You never have to go anywhere else for remodeling work," says Carl, "but you still get specialists working on your home."
The specialty approach allows customers to receive focused attention with competitive pricing from a large company. It also allows a window-replacement project to expand easily to include siding if necessary, which a strictly window company couldn't offer. Each of the three Alure divisions has its own project managers, who coordinate the projects and take calls for problems or follow-up activities.
Alure stays in touch with past customers via newsletters and a brochure. The effort generates repeat and referral business that accounts for about 70 percent of company sales. "That's an unheard-of percentage for a large remodeler," Carl says. It's also business that a true specialist, such as a window installer, will never receive.
The company also promotes its specialties via a 5,000-square-foot, two-level showroom with large displays covering products for each type of specialty work.
The approach has paid off for Alure with rapid sales growth, from about $14.5 million five years ago to about $29 million in 2004. During this same period, net profit has grown from 7 percent to 10 percent. Carl estimates that sales will reach as high as $40 million in 2005. "The company is growing fabulously because we've got specialists in every field we work in."
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