It has received Jae’s best direct sales growth award for the second year, beating 34 other branches throughout New Zealand, and branch general manager Sara Winter reckons it is going for the threepeat next year.
"To win last year was amazing when you are up against such professional branches. To win a second time really gave us a sense of achievement that our hard work and consistency has paid off.
"My people enjoy coming to work. They have a real sense of achievement when a job is completed to a high standard and our customers are happy. I see this as an award not for our branch but for our people; they deserve the recognition of a hard day’s work," Ms Winter said.
Up against branches in much bigger centres, like Auckland and Wellington, she believed it was the only time a branch had won the award for two consecutive years.
"That was really cool — it’s a big achievement. For me, it shows we’re doing something right, we’re providing a service customers want and we’ve got good people. You can have a great service or product, but if you haven’t got the right people, you can’t give that to your customers," she said.
Each branch was individually owned and operated — it was not a franchise system — and the branches worked as a group with the aim of being the best restoration company in New Zealand, she said.
While most people knew Jae for its insurance work for floods, stains and fires, the branch tended to operate under the radar like many other successful businesses in Dunedin.
"We just get on with it without making a fuss."
It covered an area from Owaka to Lawrence, Middlemarch and Palmerston, and services included carpet, rug, drape and building cleaning and mould removal.
While she attributed some of the growth to customers cleaning, rather than replacing, their carpets and soft furnishings to make them last longer, rather than the expense of replacement, it mostly came from the people.
"People want to go out and do a good job. They get a real buzz out of a great result and repeat customers," she said.
Whether it was a residential lounge or a large commercial property, every job was treated the same and the team got "a real kick out of solving problems".
"There isn’t much we haven’t come across," she said.
Money had been invested in equipment, vehicles and technology and it was a completely paperless operation — fully app and cloud based.
