Scottsdale Progress - 06-14-2020

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BUSINESS

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JUNE 14, 2020

Business

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Modern Resolutions opens window to success BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer

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t a time when many businesses struggle to stay a�loat, others are thriving – like Scottsdale-based home window and door installation company Modern Resolution Windows & Doors. By harnessing the power of social media, video chatting services such as Zoom and online advertising and marketing, relatively new Modern Resolution doubled sales this spring. “Generally, this type of time of the year is the busiest time in terms of it’s right before the summer, so people are rushing to do their improvements on the home. It’s just a good time of year, overall,” said Jacob Secrest, director of operations. The coronavirus pandemic could have impacted sales, as it did other industries, but the Modern Resolution team quickly pivoted to utilize Zoom to conduct online consultations. “So, instead of having both homeowners for two hours in a room, we can go online, sit down on Zoom and just talk. Then we send the measure tech out after,” Secrest explained. “It worked in ways that I wouldn’t have expected,” he added. “It’s just become so much more ef�icient.” Secrest said switching to online consultations is an idea that’s been tossed around within the home window and door installation industry over the past few years. But owners have been hesitant to switch from a model that so heavily relied on inperson, face-to-face interaction. “There’s some foundational things about the industry that are up for change. And since we are still young, we still can maneuver to where we can actually make windows way more affordable,” Secrest said. The consultation goes a little something like this: Historically, someone comes to the

Scottsdale-based home window and door installation company Modern Resolution Windows & Doors doubled their sales amid the pandemic by embracing technology, like Zoom. (Modern Resolution Windows & Doors)

home, gives a long, drawn-out p re s e n t a t i o n about windows, and only after will they give an estimate. “That kind of selling is, in my opinion, on its way out,” Jacob Secrest is the Secrest said. director of operations “What we did of Modern Resolution is something a Windows & Doors. (Modlot more pragern Resolution Windows & Doors) matic.” Secrest believes what has sets Modern Resolution apart from its competition since its founding in January 2019 is their unique lead conversion approach, which relies on transparency and honesty. “Honesty trumps everything, especially this type of business,” Secrest said. “What we’re trying to do,” he continued, “is just make it very common, like, ‘Hey, windows are going to be $600 to $900 a window.’ What we do is hone in on the fact that you’re going to get a good deal. We’re

honest with you in giving you every single option in regards to installation.” Secrest doesn’t call it a sales pitch; rather, he describes the consultation process as marketing. “It’s more of an education rather than a sales pitch. And people are really liking that,” he said. And during the Zoom consultations, the Modern Resolution team gives clients a “100 percent accurate quote” with no price changes – “at all, period,” he said. As businesses reopen and nonessential employees gradually return to work, Secrest said Modern Resolution will “one hundred percent” embrace online consultations moving forward. “I think people are getting more open to the idea of doing something like this online because it creates a level of comfort,” Secrest said. “I would say it’s a big part of the ‘new normal,’ without question,” John Waters, owner of Waters Business Consulting in southern Scottsdale, said of businesses leveraging technology in the wake of the pandemic. To help businesses survive and even thrive during the pandemic, Waters pub-

lished a business plan entitled “10 Points for your 90 Day B.E.S.T. Plan (Business Economic Success Tools).” No. 7 of that plan is “use digital and online” for communications, marketing, sales, operations, �inance, and more. “Leverage technology and get used to it,” Waters wrote. “This will change how we do business going forward once this pandemic is over.” Waters said not only will businesses likely become more �lexible with their remote work policies, but they’ll also embrace online to become more ef�icient. “The online is huge in terms of creating relevance for yourself out there, both on the social platforms and also �inding opportunities to do webinars and to promote yourself,” Waters said. “You’re going to see more ef�iciencies come out of this, more technology coming out of this, new innovative marketing coming out of this, ways to �ind new business, new industries,” he added. Alexi Venneri, co-founder and CEO of Digital Air Strike, the leading consumer engagement technology company, agrees. Venneri said that now is an important time for business owners to re-evaluate their tools and processes while embracing new ways of doing business. “When the dust settles, retailers that have learned to adapt will come out of the slowdown much faster and be more ef�icient. Consumers will ultimately win and appreciate retailers that are doing business in a new way,” Venneri said. Though Modern Resolution started with “super-organic” face-to-face marketing, Secrest said they aren’t afraid to try something new. “We have to completely reorganize and restructure the way we have to market,” Secrest said, “but I would say, for the most part, we’ve done extremely well during this time.” Information: modernresolutionwindows.com