Home Systems, Inc.: Simplifying the User Experience

In "The Godfather," the Corleone family didn't take business personally. Abe Vigoda's Tessio character epitomized that philosophy when after his plot to have Michael Corleone killed was discovered, he said, "Tell Mike it was only business. I always liked him."

But mixing the B and the P words is not always a bad thing. Pompton Plains, N.J.-based Home System's Ralph Scrofani, president, and Ron Roslasky, vice president, are testament to that. When the two came together and launched their company they gleaned the best of what a union of business savvy and personal friendships can possibly yield.

Scrofani and Roslasky, friends since high school, have been business partners for some 23 years and have managed to strike a successful balance -- and bottom line. Installers of integrated residential electronics, this business team has not forgotten what it is that brought its business into reality all those years ago -- customer satisfaction.

Today, the company engineers, builds, and tests systems at its facility in Pompton Plains, N.J. It provides structured wiring and system integration for home theaters, media rooms, music systems and distributed entertainment, lighting and shade automation, and networking for wired and wireless audio, video, and telephone distribution systems. Its systems are sophisticated, yes, but its approach to customer satisfaction remains simple: to make the technology as understandable and easy to use for the end-user as possible.

It's a philosophy that has sustained Home Systems since its beginnings. Those beginnings were born of a basic consumer demand to absorb new technologies. Primitive as it may seem now, the pioneer piece of equipment -- the good old VCR that inevitably and annoyingly flashes "12:00" for most users -- is what paved the way for Scrofani and Roslasky's business.

They were working at the same large retail electronics store at the time. "Customers were buying VCRs by the hundreds, and returning them the next day or calling to complain that they couldn't get them to record cable television, or even work at all," Scrofani recalls.

When people started offering them cash to come over and help set up their VCRs, they recognized a need for consumer-electronics professionals who made "house calls." What began as a side business finally revealed itself as a full-time business opportunity, once they realized the potential market for residential electronic systems installations.

Recognizing a Market

Home Systems concentrates on mainly on high-end custom integration and installation in new-construction and retrofit projects. This niche has been the most successful for Scrofani and Roslasky, and allows Home Systems to support its infrastructure.

"Once we settled on the number of installers and vehicles we were comfortable with, and established our labor and service rates, it became clear that we would not be able to service a very broad market," Roslasky explains.

"The amount of effort to do a small, new construction project is not very different from a large project. It makes sense for us to concentrate our efforts on the larger ones. The difficulty that we face in the higher end market we service is the amount of details involved in executing these projects and the demanding nature of this high-profile clientele. Other considerations are the amount of time it takes to build a multi-million-dollar home and maintaining our desired profit margin after real labor time on the project is analyzed."

Home Systems has stayed true to what makes them successful, and never wavered from keeping a close eye on these considerations, delivering trusted service to clients, and refusing to let manufacturers use their company or client's homes to test their new products. "We sell systems that work," says Scrofani, "and are not seduced by new products that promise the world and rarely deliver.

To discern which products to bring on board, the Home Systems staff checks out new products at industry trade shows, learns of them through its reps, or sees them in the trade magazines.

"We have a strict policy about jumping blindly into new product categories." Roslasky explains. "We are traditionally slow to adopt new products or disciplines, but once we feel that they will deliver the performance and dependability that we insist on, we move quickly to incorporate them into our product offerings to better serve our client base."

Home Systems has built its client base primarily by targeting end-users as well as interior designers and architects because they're in tune with the end result. It also follows up on leads from builders. Home Systems prefers to work directly with the homeowner after a builder facilitates the introduction, though, because it looks at the installations from the systems side. The company does not do security installations, so another source of client building comes from the reciprocal referrals it shares with security dealers.

System installs for the company range from $10,000 to $500,000, with popular family media systems averaging about $30,000. Whole-house systems that consist of whole audio, lighting control, infrastructure, media room or home theater, and a phone system average about $150,000, Scrofani says, and go up.

A Typical Project

Regardless of the scope of the installation, Home Systems typically approaches it the same way. Roslasky takes us through the company's approach to process:

"We like to start by visiting the potential client in their home. This gives them a glimpse of how we will conduct ourselves. Then, we invite the customer to our headquarters and they're usually surprised at the size and scope of our operation. It gives them confidence.

"Once the project is in our pipeline, a team is assigned, pre-wire documents are produced, and the pre-wire phase begins. Periodic visits are made at the site by the project manager, and as the trim out phase approaches, the equipment rack is built and populated, programming begins, and the house ceiling/wall devices are installed.

"When the client is ready, the systems are installed, calibrated, and fully tested. The salesperson is given a tour of the system by the lead technician and finish technician to make sure that the features promised are working correctly.

"The customer is then brought in to undergo as many orientations as are necessary. After a period of adjustment and warranty service, the customer can opt for a various levels of a maintenance agreement that will allow us to visit the home periodically to make sure that the system is working properly, and potentially reduce the cost of ongoing service."

Some clients, according to Roslasky and Scrofani, are outwardly interested in a customized system designed specifically for their individual needs. For those who are not, they familiarize them with pre-engineered packaged systems.

"We package some of our more popular designs so customers can choose from the list of available systems without having to pay for design and engineering time," says Scrofani.

"We've installed these systems repeatedly, and they've proven to be packed with values and features that clients want. Once they settle on a particular package, they often choose from a variety of options that will personalize the system for them, such as lighting and shade controls."

Home Systems assembles each system into a racking system in its assembly area. By building and programming the systems in its production facility, it controls quality, makes the process less intrusive in customer's homes and delivers a more finished product.

"All that's left is to connect to the home's wiring, and we can begin startup and testing in a fraction of the time." Scrofani adds.

Partnering with Complementary Retailers

Embracing innovation has not hurt Home Systems. Its project profile for pre-wiring, for instance, is progressive and has resulted in increased efficiency for the company. Scrofani has a spreadsheet that enables the salesperson to detail, room by room, all of the products and features they'd like the design engineers to incorporate into the project. The system designer can then create the system using D-Tools proposal software with a higher degree of accuracy.

Another pioneering decision Scrofani has made to enhance the company's local presence is affiliating with a nearby merchant -- Reno's Appliance at the Crown Plaza in Fairfield, N.J. By showcasing a home theater installation there which offers an affordable solution for people purchasing kitchens through Reno's, it attracts new customers looking to smarten up their homes with audio/video with shading and lighting control.

"We believe in taking our concept out to retailing and trade showrooms to co-brand ourselves with a business with foot traffic in our desired target market," he says. "It's a win-win situation for both of us."

Managing Minutes

Time management is key to any business, and for Home Systems time is managed by adding people. Roslasky and Scrofani analyze sales and income statements as well as lead trends from some of their key trade partners to determine whether or not to add installation technicians.

"As a partnership, [Roslasky] and I have the advantage of applying extra manpower to sales and project management when necessary, or collaborating on marketing strategies or management decisions," Scrofani points out. "We also individually concentrate on managing certain departments."

Currently, the company employs four installation technicians, one system assembly and startup person, two engineers and programmers, one bookkeeper, one purchasing/project coordinator and three sales/project managers.

Employee retention has not been a problem Home Systems. "We offer a variety of benefits and a work atmosphere that allows for individual growth and independent thought," Scrofani notes. "We feel that many of the project processes are redundant from engineering, purchasing, right through to installation and accounting so we encourage our employees to be self-directed and see these processes through without constant supervision.

"Our lead technicians also have field project management responsibilities on the projects that they are assigned. This allows for more efficient communication between them and the internal project management team. We want all of our employees to feel that they have a stake in the outcome of our combined efforts."

A personal stake in the business? It may be that Home Systems is evidence that "personal" and "business" can mix.