Eight months ago, Hatch was a “just” a text messaging platform for home improvement companies.
There was also no COVID, working remotely was the exception and not the rule, and we were flying twice a month to events and shows to meet customers in person.
Things sure can change on a dime.
Here’s a recap of what I learned over that time.
I spent the majority of my efforts in the past eight months digging in with our customers. Spending hours on zoom calls learning about how our customers are adjusting and what’s changed for their business.
What I realized very quickly, was that this “change” or this “adjusting” period, was a catalyst for permanent change.
Our customers needed solutions to solve age old communication problems in their business, and they needed to do it with less resources and less expenses than ever before.
I realized that Hatch had to change with them.
So we shifted from being a “text messaging platform” to a “business solutions platform”. We have to solve the communication challenges our customers have from pre to post sale in order to bring THE most value to our customers.
Now, we offer solutions-based packages that give you out-of-the-box strategies in our product. That way our customers can tackle their biggest challenges in their business head on, and be up and running quickly.
I wanted to list our four most popular strategies (knowing for SURE this will evolve, change and grow). Knowing these strategies can shed light on areas of your business you may not even know are an issue yet. 
What we found is that home improvement, and really consumer businesses in general, is predicated on speed.
Responding to a consumer instantly can be the difference between an appointment or a wasted lead - how many unsold leads are sitting in your CRM right now? Just think of all those sunk advertising costs, simply because your team couldn’t respond fast enough.
To solve this, our team built Hatch to integrate with website forms, lead sources, and chatbots to grab your leads and instantly respond to customers via text, email and voice.
RESULTS: Our customers are setting 2x (i.e. 50 a month to 100 a month) more appointments AND doing it with less resources.
Going into COVID, we were entirely focused primarily on rehash. But we realized there’s simply more to the sales process than just 48 hour follow-up.
While Hatch still helps companies solve rehash, it also helps you stay in communication with homeowners at every step of the buying journey. And THAT is the key to increasing your sales team’s efficiency.
RESULTS: Our customers are following up with every potential customer completely hands-off with automation inside of Hatch. This nets a 7-10% increase in close rate, which is HUGE for home improvement companies leaving thousands on the table per deal.
This is the big one. We found that installation scheduling and appointment reminders were such a big lift for project managers–the to-do list is too long.
As a result, customer communication tends to fall to the wayside. This leaves a lot of customers wondering what the hell is going on, ESPECIALLY after putting a 50% deposit down.
As a result of this customer confusion, deals were being lost and reviews and referrals were non-existent.
To solve this, we couldn’t just remain a sales tool. We couldn’t ignore this so-called “dark period.” Hatch became so much more for a lot of home improvement businesses who just couldn’t keep up.
RESULTS: With this being our most recent release, it’s hard to quantify the impact. That being said, I’ve heard directly from our customers that this is the BIGGEST quality of life improvement in their day-to-day operations.
As we approach the traditionally slower season, businesses need a way to continue building the funnel. Home shows are up in the air, and you can’t rely on a digital experience to have the same impact for your business as an in-person conference.
As I mentioned before - there’s probably thousands of dollars in unsold leads sitting in your CRM. Have you devised a strategy around this yet?
We did - and built it in the product to give our customers a simple experience to launch personalized messages to these older leads. It’s become a reliable way to not only recover lost leads and generate repeat business, but also to clean your CRM and tidy up for 2021.
RESULTS: On average, our customers are seeing an additional 10-15 appointments per month based on the contacts they have in their database. This is HUGE, especially as the slow season approaches.
In more ways than I can count, this past year challenged our company (as I’m sure it did yours). But each of those challenges forced us to get better - and I’m not just talking about the product.
From leaders to interns, our entire team came together to build a better experience for the home improvement industry and businesses like yours.
We’re proud to say we helped customers sell and thrive during the most challenging business climate we’ll probably ever face. At the end of the day, that’s what matters.
Want to see how our product has changed and how it's continuing to evolve? Join me and our Head of Product, Susan Stavitzski, for our second State of Hatch webinar. We'll discuss how Hatch is continuing to add features and evolve for the industry. 
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Bill and I both are sales people who have been a part of large sales organizations for a combined 25 years of experience.