Power Home Remodeling is working to reprogram its industry from the inside out — and these devs are here for it

When a colleague referred Diego Borges for a dev gig at Power Home Remodeling, Borges had a hard time imagining what a home remodeling company could offer in terms of technology.

“Once I started, I saw that technology was actually core to the business,” said Borges, a developer who works remotely from Brazil. “I had it all wrong — Power is not a home remodeling company, it’s a tech company that rebuilds homes.”

Operating within an industry ranked second in consumer complaints, Power’s classification as a tech company is an important differentiator. By approaching the category from a tech-first perspective, Power has been able to reimagine the entire customer experience from top to bottom, and execute that vision by custom-building its proprietary, state-of-the-art collaborative intelligence platform, NITRO, in-house.

“Power is a giant machine, and we are constantly trying to optimize our business processes,” said Borges. “Everything runs through NITRO — leads, appointments, automation. The more you learn about the business, the more you figure out how our technology can be optimized.”

Diego Borges. (Courtesy photo)

At Power, technologists like Borges work on building and improving the company’s internal operations. Guided by Chief Operating Officer/Partner Tim Wenhold’s “build-not-buy” ethos and agile methodologies, tech teams are tasked with consistently reexamining internal processes, using data analytics to prioritize new features and functionality, and building applications from scratch.

For some employees, tinkering with the engine to enhance the inside of a company has been more satisfying than expected.

“One of the coolest projects I’ve worked on was redesigning the workflow for our customer assistance contact center,” said Sebastian Kopp, a NITRO developer at the company’s Chester headquarters. “It was challenging at first. It took a lot of bootstrapping to modernize the original code and to make the right improvements.”

Kopp and team used asynchronous script to develop a faster system for connecting customers with their agents. The result was a more empowered customer assistance team, able to take on 5 to 10% more calls and provide quicker access to homeowner information.

“Seeing it improve our business as a whole and make our coworkers lives easier was so gratifying,” said Kopp.

Sebastian Kopp. (Courtesy photo)

Another feat of innovation solved the time-consuming loan process. In the past, after Power’s remodeling consultants sold customers on an idea, it could take up to a couple of weeks to find out if the homeowners were approved for a bank loan. Automating the process would eliminate the waiting game, leading to a more likely sale — so that’s what Borges’ team did.

“We made it so our system talks directly to the banks’ systems,” said Borges. “Now we get results from the bank within a few minutes, while our remodeling consultant is still on the phone with the customer. Hearing how much easier that feature made our remodeling consultant’s jobs and seeing the success in sales was huge for us.”

At some point, Power may plan to issue its own loan applications to homeowners.

Both eager advocates for where they work, Kopp and Borges believe the emphasis on clear communication is key to the health of Power’s internal culture.

“Being a dev isn’t just about code, it’s about being able to communicate with other parts of the business, and your peers,” said Kopp. “Here we get constant feedback — we’re constantly iterating and solving problems.”

A national leader in the exterior home remodeling industry, communication is the thread that has allowed Power to grow without losing its culture.

“I’ve watched it change from a tiny office to giant, Google-like headquarters,” said Borges. “But the people in charge have remained the same. They really care about what we are doing and our wellbeing. It’s one of the healthiest environments I’ve ever worked in.”