What Home Services Leaders Discussed at QR Top 500
At this year’s Qualified Remodeler Top 500 Live event in Las Vegas, NV, leaders from across the home services industry shared how their companies are approaching growth, customer experience, technology, and talent development.
The presentations offered a range of perspectives, but several themes appeared across the sessions: growth requires strong operating systems, the homeowner experience depends on every step in the process, and technology is most valuable when it addresses a specific business need.
Building systems to support growth
As companies expand across markets, products, and teams, the processes that worked at a smaller scale can become harder to manage. Leaders from Power Home Remodeling and Home Genius Exteriors described building capabilities and systems to support continued growth while maintaining consistent execution.
Power Home Remodeling shared examples from its technology ecosystem, which connects areas such as sales, scheduling, installation, employee communication, and customer updates. Home Genius Exteriors discussed an incremental approach to growth: continuing to improve existing activities while adding capabilities to support the next stage.
Leaf Home’s combination with Erie Home highlighted another dimension of scale. Bringing businesses together creates opportunities to share strengths, while requiring thoughtful attention to teams, processes, culture, and local market needs.
Improving the homeowner experience
Across several sessions, speakers emphasized that the customer experience is shaped by the full journey, from the first inquiry through installation and follow-up.
Marketing leaders discussed measuring performance beyond cost per lead, including contact rates, appointments, sales conversion, and completed work. Marcus Sheridan focused on how homeowners research and evaluate contractors, highlighting the value of clear pricing information, useful online content, reviews, and convenient ways to request estimates or schedule appointments.
Other examples focused on communication after the sale. Power Home Remodeling’s Project Pulse app provides homeowners with project updates, while Home Genius Exteriors described responding promptly to customer questions and online reviews.
Together, these examples reinforced that reliable communication and follow-through are central to earning homeowner trust.
Applying technology to practical needs
Artificial intelligence was a prominent topic, with speakers describing applications such as call analysis, project-note summaries, recruiting follow-up, manager access to operating information, and after-hours contact-center support.
The discussions focused less on adopting technology for its own sake and more on identifying specific tasks where it could improve coverage, save time, or make information easier to use. Speakers also noted that AI requires monitoring and quality control, particularly when it interacts directly with customers or employees.
Developing people and future leaders
Technology and processes were only part of the conversation. PJ Fitzpatrick’s James Freeman described PJ University as a continuous learning system that includes onboarding, role-specific training, ongoing development, leadership programs, and career pathways.
Other leaders also discussed developing talent internally and preparing teams to support new locations and additional complexity. The message was that growth depends not only on adding people, but also on helping them build the skills and leadership capacity the business will need over time.
Familiar themes, practical examples
The QR Top 500 sessions did not revolve around a single new idea. Their value was in hearing leaders share how they are applying familiar principles in different businesses and at different stages of growth.
The examples underscored the connection between strong operating systems, capable teams, thoughtful use of technology, and a dependable homeowner experience. As the home services industry evolves, those fundamentals remain central to building durable businesses.
How IHS approaches growth
At IHS, we believe strong home services businesses are built by combining local leadership and customer relationships with the resources, expertise, and support to grow. Our brands retain the strengths that make them distinctive, while benefiting from shared capabilities across the platform. The discussions at QR Top 500 reinforced the importance of that balance: supporting growth while investing in people, improving execution, and delivering a dependable experience for homeowners.