While watching Undercover Boss Canada, Franklin and Cunningham spotted a segment on WOW 1 DAY Painting, and it immediately caught their eye. “We connected with the concept of a great paint job completed in one day,” Franklin says. From there, the business began.
Franklin’s military food services background and Cunningham’s construction project management and IT experience made them a natural choice for the company, as well as a good fit with each other.As the sister company of 1-800-GOT– JUNK?, both women knew they had the backing of a strong franchise system and that factored strongly in their final decision to purchase WOW.
In the beginning, there was a lot of skepticism among painters and the public about the one-day concept, but Franklin explains that their philosophy is simple:”small jobs, small crew, big jobs, bigger crew.” Having a systemized and organized approach allows the team to do a lot in a day, especially with four or five painters in the house. “We waste no time when we arrive at 8 a.m. Everyone has a job,” Cunningham says.”It’s not unlike playing on a sports team. Everyone knows their teammates, how the game is played and what their role is to make it successful.” Both say that they are very focused on making their customer feel comfortable, secure and confident that WOW will get the job done. Eighty per cent of their residential repaint projects are completed in one day. The other 20 per cent are more complex projects and require a bit more time, usually two to three days. In all cases, the team prides itself on on-time production.
Franklin and Cunningham attribute their steady growth through referrals. “It’s important that we deliver an exceptional customer experience each time,” Franklin says. The process begins with an estimate booking (which can be done either online or via a customer care agent), and moves to the no obligation but fully detailed written quote that includes assistance with colour selection. Once the customer approves, the project planning and scheduling occur. This includes set-up at the beginning and a final walk-through by the team to make sure everything is perfect. Both women take pride in their team of painters who really deliver extraordinary service. “Wealways impress upon our team the importance of doing one extra ‘wow’ thing each time that shows we care about what we do. The details matter.”
The team also believes that giving back to the community is very important. In addition to their own personal volunteer activities, the duo are also participating in a bigger effort this year called The WOW 1 DAY, a company-wide day of community volunteerism on August 26, 2016.
“For that day we are looking for a project that will allow us to support our senior community,” Cunningham explains. Cunningham and Franklin have also committed to green and environmentally friendly business practices. In addition to using paints with low and zero VOC (volatile organic compounds) provided by their Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams and Dulux paint suppliers, the team takes things one step further and recycles the empty paint cans, which diverts thousands of cans each year from reaching landfills.
Providing a top-notch customer experience is important for Franklin and Cunningham, and the pair is excited to see where their business will take them. At the end of the day, both women want to make sure that the “wow” goes into WOW 1 DAY Painting.
“We are really focusing on making people happy. We always want to see a smile.”
Photo by Alain Chan.
