Mesh Quick Snaps - Freemodel

Tell us about yourself?

So, a little bit about myself.  My name is Adrian Raskulinecz.   I am the head of operations here at Freemodel.  I am based out of Southern California, Orange County and our company is based out of the San Francisco Bay Area in Burlingame, California.

What was the challenge?

This is really an important must-solve problem for us because one of the things that we're trying to build in our business is a very streamlined, fine-tuned process that is not people-manual process heavy, more automation or better so we can keep our headquarters lean and our profit margins higher. And in my past experience, this verification of our contractors has always been a very burdensome, very manual, time-consuming process. When we came across Mesh, it really gave us some promise and some hope that we be able to very easily take away most of the manual process and work with a more streamlined, quick, to-the-second product to get the verification.

What did you do before Mesh?

Prior to Mesh, we were making phone calls. We were actually collecting a physical copy of the contractors' license and insurance and picking up the phone or going to a website to verify the status of that license and insurance that goes along with that and really keeping a copy of that in a folder here in the office. It was really manual and time-consuming, and with our contractor onboarding team, we really didn't have the manpower to continue to expand and scale this process to anything that would be reasonable across the multi-state process. So, we found a partner in Mesh that really helped to answer that question.

Did you consider other options?

We looked at a handful of other products. And most of the other products that we looked at were not as specific to what we were trying to do. And what I mean by that is we have a very specific need to have insurance and license verification. It's not a big, complex, multifaceted process that we're going through. And everybody wanted to put this really heavy platform on top of this process. What worked best for us was that it was pretty simple. They said they saw our needs, answered our needs and solved our problem very simply.

What features are important to you?

Yeah, I think some of the most important features for us so far with Mesh are the set-and-forget feature of monitoring the licenses. The easy-to-use dashboard that shows us, you know, who has submitted their license, the status of the license, who's pending, who's not active. Really being able to have a one-stop view of all of the activities that we're going through has really helped our onboarding team stay ahead of the curve. Some of the other things that have been very useful for us would be the direct link that we're able to provide to our contractors when we are looking to onboard them. We provide them with a simple link. They are able to click on it themselves and upload the information. We don't have to do that for them. So, it's really a direct feed right from the contractor into Mesh for instant verification.

How did you find Mesh?

Well, we were in the market for a third party verification company.  And we were searching through all the various options.  And one of our partners came across, Mesh through the Houzz network and we added the interview to the list of possibilities.  And after that interview we knew that [they] were going to be the right partner for us to help us grow and build out our contractor verification process.

Why did you choose Mesh?

We decided to go with Mesh for a couple of reasons. The first reason was that we really felt comfortable working with the team we had interviewed, ensuring we had the rapport as we are building our platform. It was crucial that the people we work with are individuals we could get along with. They were great people, making it easy for me to decide that they were going to be the right team. The problem we were trying to solve is our third-party contractor verification. We are in the remodel business, and it is important for us to work with highly qualified, fully licensed, and insured contractors. We were running through this process manually, verifying their licenses, collecting copies of their licenses, making all the phone calls, and following up on that. We just needed a partner that could help automate and streamline our process so that we did not have such a burdensome manual process.

What do you value about Mesh?

What I value the most about the Mesh product is really the set and forget it. I know that once that contractor is verified and I have that little green checkmark that tells me they’re ready to go, they're monitoring it. I don't have to worry about that. And if anything changes in that status, I'm going to know right away without having to lift the phone or do any research on my own. It’s going to be taken care of for me. That's the most valuable feature for us.

What is it like to work with Mesh?

The experience so far with working with Mesh has really been very simple and eye-opening and feels like a little bit of customization, even though I know that we're running on their uniform platform. The questions that they ask and the way they interact with us really help me feel like they're answering our questions personally and solving our problems specifically. So, it's been an incredible partnership with Mesh and I wouldn't trade that for a less personable relationship with one of the other companies that might be more software-based, I guess you could say. This personal approach that they've been giving to us has really been amazing.

What is the ROI?

The ROI to Mesh’s solution for me is probably not so much measurable ROI as much as it is a manpower ROI. It could be tens and thousands of dollars at the end of the day for us because we do not have to hire a new person to manually take care of this process. I haven't done any math on that yet to find out what that true number will be but it's absolutely saved me at least one hire so far this year and I imagine it's going to be several new hires that we're avoiding the burden of in 2023.