Episode #8: Driving Disruption: How the Wrench Group Is Shaping the Future of Home Services with Meghann McNally

Change Your Filter with Tall Paul

Key Insights 

• Create meaningful engagement with your customers and make their experience enjoyable.
• Don’t be afraid to interact with your customers online.
• Employ marketing strategies to recruit and retain employees.

Great leaders. Great cultures. Great markets. Those are three tenets that the Wrench Group lives by. In episode 8 of the Change Your Filter podcast, we are joined by the Chief Marketing Officer of the Wrench Group, Meghann McNally!

Before Wrench

Meghann has been a marketing professional for over a decade. She came to the Wrench Group from AGCO, where she worked for just under 10 years. While at AGCO, Meghann gained experience by undertaking unique transformational projects and initiatives.

While at AGCO, Meghann gained experience in a number of different roles.  Her greatest strength soon became her ability to bring together fragmented teams. With significant experience in the blue-collar trades and growth-oriented businesses, Meghann knew there was a plethora of new opportunities in this growing industry. She was able to continue her passion of bringing diverse locations and diverse groups together.  When Wrench eventually came into her life, she knew it was a perfect fit!

The Wrench Difference

Meghann was hired as the Chief Marketing Officer for Wrench Group in 2018. Meghann emphasized the fact that what Wrench does is very different from other private equity companies. 

The Wrench acquisition process is different they don’t immediately look to make changes when they acquire a new contracting business. Instead, they partner with their newly-acquired companies in an effort to stay true to their existing business model – that of maintaining “decentralization.” Their hope is to bring together similar organizations doing the same thing in different markets. Wrench’s goal is to positively impact effectiveness and efficiency, while not negatively impacting existing day-to-day business operations. They don’t want to negatively affect the existing culture nor impede successful business practices already in place.

The 3 Pillars of Wrench Group

Wrench Group operates by 3 pillars in order to ensure their partners’ success:

1. Digital engagement

How can technology be used to affect a better customer experience, which in turn increases revenue?  It’s important to allow technology to create both a better user experience and a better customer experience. Having more knowledge about the customer increases conversions and increases average ticket size, thereby growing revenue.

2. Data-driven marketing

Wrench utilizes AI and predictive analytics in order to drive decisions and explore areas ripe for additional growth.

3. Brand strategy

Wrench ensures the brand is everywhere! With the evolution of technology, there are an increasing number of places to play on the web.

The goal of these pillars is to help increase brand value while not getting in the way of daily business operations. They seek to understand how best to use technology and data to make better decisions. 

Customer Experience is Evolving

All of us are consumers. We live in a time where we want things faster, cheaper, and more personalized. We don’t want to waste time on brands that don’t know or understand us. The era of receiving information from companies that don’t make sense to us is over. This is especially true in the home services industry.

Within the home services industry, we need to get better at personalizing and digitizing our services for the consumer. We need to create more meaningful communications with our customers within our new digital world. This includes real-time scheduling, increased online commerce, and personalized marketing to mobile phones. The industry has to get better at these skills or risk falling behind other industries.

Meghann notes that you should never be afraid to initiate a relationship with a customer online. There are a growing number of people who simply don’t want to talk to a rep via a live conversation.  This will only increase with future generations.

How to WOW a Customer

In order to play within this new digitized realm, you must have the ability to WOW your customer. Meghann states that you can accomplish this with more personalized communication with customers. Meghan evangelizes the immediate cessation of “spray and pray” marketing strategies. This change requires data, and that’s where Wrench provides much of its value.

Additionally, you must engage in “after-the-fact communication” post-visit. It’s important to create a personalized connection point that helps create lucrative future connections. Whether it’s a small gift, a thank you note, or a small personal action,this type of behavior goes a long way.

Finally, you want to make sure your brand is everywhere! Whether it’s in a traditional advertisement or a TV ad, your brand standards must resonate. It helps to be curious and to challenge yourself on your existing branding in order to avoid getting stuck in the old way of doing things. 

Qualities of a Great Market

One strategy that Wrench initiated is to “green-field” instead of partnering. This means taking already established businesses and bringing them into a new market.

Meghan states there are three important things they look for when trying to expand into a new market

• Is it undersized? Is there an existing and established company knocking it out of the park
• Climate – is it hot? Is it cold? Is it volatile?
• Size of the market

Meghann notes that there is no silver bullet, and every market is different. Therefore, Wrench continuously looks at markets where enhanced operations, a strong brand, and data will create an immediate competitive advantage!

What Contractors should be thinking about

Meghann states there are two main ideas contractors should be thinking about, but are not.

1. Creating meaningful connections with customers

Meghann believes we must be more focused on “easier ways” for people to do business with us. Things will continuously change with technological advancement, so we must continually adapt to ensure both survival and success. Understanding how to serve customers, whether that be by virtual appointment, online commerce, or partnering with companies like Amazon, will increase in importance moving forward!

2. People

Contactors must focus more on employee recruitment and retention. Marketers can even apply most of their existing skills and methods they use on clients within their recruitment strategies. Every brand marketing opportunity is also an opportunity to reach a potential employee. We should all ask ourselves, what are we doing to make the skilled trades desirable? How can motivate employees to stay once onboard? Whatever your role, you should be working as a team to answer these important questions.

What the Future Holds

Meghann shares that she is eager & excited about so many different things.  Currently, she and her team are continuously working on pushing the envelope at Wrench Group. When she envisions the possibilities within the industry and sees how her new locations are performing in the market, she begins to realize that this is only the tip of the iceberg!

She’s also excited that more young people are becoming interested in the trades. There is a growing awareness that college is clearly not the only option, nor the best option for many. Meghann is also excited that more women are entering the trades. She really hopes the industry creates an environment that attracts more diversity to the workforce.

Lately, she is most excited about the possibilities that exist for all the new locations within the Wrench Group ecosystem, both individually and collectively!

TRUSTED BY HUNDREDS OF CONTRACTORS