This sales rep-turned-coder wants home improvement to go paperless

Steve Stencil started using a spreadsheet to compile lots of different information, but he knew there should be a better way.

While working in sales for home improvement jobs, Stencil had to carry a lot of paper to a home when getting together a price. He wanted a digital way to take paper-based price guides and binders of brochures that were involved in estimating prices for the jobs he was dealing with in home services, which spans roofers to kitchen remodeling to landscaping.
For a while, a spreadsheet worked. Still, he wanted a central point for not just all of the information he needed, but also the processes that were associated with the job. Seeking a tech solution, he found some apps.
“There are some really good ones, but they don’t do everything a sales rep needs in the home,” he said.
Stencil picked up coding as a hobby, and began to develop his own app. What started as a tool for Stencil spread, and became Leap.
“I had companies that started calling me to use the application,” Stencil, who is the CTO of Leap, said.
The app designed to provide measuring tools, make the process of estimating a price easier and generate digital contracts that can be signed electronically. Through partnerships with other companies, Stencil said the app can also offer financing options for a job onsite, and integrations with CRMs like Salesforce.
“We are the hub that connects all of the pieces of technology that a contractor might use…with the sales rep,” Stencil said.
It keeps everything in one place for the sales reps just as much as the customers. Leap offers data on what’s happening during home sales, and the CRM integrations can help make the process of finding business more efficient.

“We bring it to them and say, ‘Listen, everything you do to sell that job can be done from inside of this tool,'” Stencil said.

A screenshot of Leap. (Courtesy photo)

Stencil started taking the app to market in the last six months, and is offering a tiered subscription model to home services companies, who then provide it to sales reps. Based out of Hanover, the company is currently looking to grow. That means hiring for developers, customer service and sales.
While big tech players are starting to make many verticals feel crowded, Stencil said opportunity remains in the home improvement space.
“Our industry is one of the only industries that’s left untapped with technology,” he said.
We’ve seen multiple home improvement marketplaces across Technical.ly markets, but Leap takes a unique approach in that it is provided directly to companies and is not a two-sided marketplace. Plus, the scope of jobs it can help handle in the wider home services space.
“Companies of all sizes, no matter if you’re an owner operator or have 150 sales reps, you’re still doing same in-home sales process,” Stencil said.
The need for tech adoption within the industry could be a barrier to rapid growth, as well. That’s where Stencil believes the unique insight that a sales rep/developer will make a difference. He saw how it spread initially, and believes it can do so on a larger scale.

“I made a tool that made my life easier as the end user,” Stencil said.