Any successful product-based company understands the value of customer service before and after a sale. The way a customer service team handles assistance calls, delivering timely, attentive and thorough advice, reflects the entire company. Quality service builds a loyal following willing to share their experiences, often becoming a significant sales asset. 

Ron Long, Alula’s vice president of operations and customer experience, and his 20-member team recognize the importance of their work. And they’ve set a high bar for themselves, aiming to settle all requests for service with a single contact.

“We’re pretty proud of the service we provide in the marketplace,” says Ron. “We take every piece of feedback and use it to coach our teams to make the overall service experience better and better for our customers,” says Ron. “Our target for resolving issues in one customer contact is 95% and we’ve surpassed that target every quarter going back to 2019’s Q2.”

He said Alula’s technical support team members handle about 170 calls a day in their Customer Solutions Center. At any given moment, there may be as many as 40 active product and service calls underway. A typical call has the team on the phone assisting a service professional with an on location with a homeowner.

“We have a lot of support material available across our website and Partner Training Portal that is always available,” says Ron. “But we’re still there to lend a hand if and when a problem arises during an installation.”

Although virtually all calls received at the Customer Solutions Center come from dealer partners, Ron remembers one standout call from an end user of an Alula system. The person had trouble getting the Alula mobile app to arm and disarm the home’s system successfully. It took a while to figure out why it wasn’t working.

“It turns out they had somehow managed to launch the app in our demo mode and it’s very realistic,” he says. “It will show you all the capabilities and features of the app, but in that mode, it will never interact with a home system.”

Ron joined the company 5 ½ years ago as part of the original leadership team that merged two companies to form Alula. He credits much of his success to his team, including Emilio Estevez, who leads the Customer Solutions Team; the Order Management and Regional Account Management team headed by Eric Finkler; and Customer Success Managers Keli Falls, Ryan Matznick and Chris Bartholomew. 

Ron is happy to make himself available to Alula partners through his email, ron.long@alula.com, or by phone at 832-668-0385. He says he also frequently visits the Alula Professional Dealers and Installers Facebook forum and is available via his LinkedIn site.

Alula recently launched its Builder Program to help meet the increasing demands of homeowners for the comfort, convenience and security of a professionally installed integrated solution when they buy a new home. We recently spoke to Brian Motheral, general manager of Republic Elite Integration, a leading Northern California dealer and advisor on the formation of the Alula Builder Program, to gain his insights on how the program benefits dealers and integrators.

Homeowners expect functionality and control

He said consumer expectations have changed with the average price of a new home topping $800,000 in his area. 

“For that price, the average buyer expects some basic functionality and control over their home,” he said. “I always use the analogy of a car. You wouldn’t buy one today without Bluetooth and a navigation system. It took time for some builders to understand the concept, but they have come around. These systems changed builders’ marketing. Now, they’re quick to say their new projects are smart-home ready.”

When Motheral talks to builders, he reminds them they’re already putting locks, thermostats and garage door openers in their new homes.  The cost of turning these into smart devices is relatively inexpensive. Motheral estimates a basic home automation package costs about $500 – maybe adding a couple of dollars per month over a typical 30-year loan.

He said installing home automation systems into new homes still isn’t a large portion of Republic Elite’s revenue – most new home business still involves pulling wire and related activities. But he sees that changing as he works with larger and more nationwide homebuilders.

“We want any builder, especially a national developer, to make home automation systems a standard in every single home,” Motheral said. “We want to install as many of these as we can. We never lose money on an install – the builder is paying for it.”

How Alula helps

The Alula Builder program also presents opportunities for Motheral’s team to boost RMR. Republic Elite dispatches service techs to set up the Alula app and power up the system as the homebuyers move in. 

“The builders love the extra white-glove attention we provide,” he said. “That visit also gives us a chance to ask homeowners if they want a camera in the backyard, extra contacts on all doors and windows and monitoring.”

Motheral said monitoring home security and interactive services represent potential RMR. To hook new homeowners on the value of these offerings, he works with Alula to provide a free year of interactive services. 

“This is an area where Alula stepped up for us,” he said. “The Builder Program gives me the flexibility to determine what I want that trial period to be. At the end of the year, I’d guess up to 80% of the homeowners say, ‘Hey, wait a second. I still want to be able to control my home.’ We tell them we can make it happen, but there’s a monthly fee for that.”

Sleek design provides excellent aesthetics 

Motheral also gives Alula credit for designing a modular system that easily enables the addition of video doorbells, cameras and additional sensors. He said he adds as much as homeowners want to the Alula platform.  It’s more customizable and cost-effective than other platforms on the market, and he praised Alula for building sophisticated devices not resembling a child’s toy, like some other manufacturers’ offerings.

Among its many other benefits, the Alula Builder Program offers model home discounts, remote service activation and an optional Asset Protection Plan for during-construction coverage. The program is open to all Alula dealers. For more information, visit https://alula.com/builder/.