Started in 2009, Tundraland has grown to more than $18 million in sales. The secret, Brian Gottlieb says, is company culture.
“I don’t believe in just hiring a bunch of skilled people and then motivate. I believe you hire motivated people.” And in order to keep those people motivated, Gottlieb has instituted benefits to attract a specific kind of person, someone looking for an opportunity than a job. “If somebody graduates and has college debt, we’ll help them pay it down. It attracts a different type of personnel. While they like a salary and bonuses, they have debt. The most important thing is to pay that debt down.”
Leveraging that culture for sales, Tundraland has adopted a team selling process. Instead of just one salesmen, a team of designers is sent out for whatever parts of the home the customer is looking to remodel. “The customers appreciate that. The customer feels like they have a team assigned.”
Takeaways:
- Tundraland only sells products made in the United States. Combine that with a lifetime product and label warranty, and there’s a commitment to quality that Gottlieb feels should be part of buying any product. “It’s so frustrating when you go to the store to buy something and you expect it to break within the first few years. You should only have to spend your money once.”
- 20% of Tundraland’s marketing budget goes towards things that don’t bring in leads. Instead, they give back to the community in creative ways. “We do replacement windows. What do we do with the old windows? We take them and we commission local artists and celebrities in the community. We’ll be displaying them and doing a silent auction.”
- Any homeowner that works with Tundraland gets access to a web portal so they can see where the job stands at all times. That goes all the way up from smaller replacement jobs to full remodels.