How TORQ Coatings Is Scaling Concrete Coatings With Simple Systems and Reviews on 40% of Jobs
Crayton Caudill, Founder ·TORQ Coatings · Chicagoland, IL
Built Local Podcast with Clay Lawrence · · 26 min episode
The short version
Crayton Caudill founded TORQ Coatings, a concrete floor coating company serving Chicagoland and Milwaukee, after about 10 years in home improvement sales. He is scaling it with a simple, repeatable funnel: a call center first, seven to eight lead channels, a brand built in under six weeks and an eight-step in-home sales process. He says more than 40% of the jobs the company completes now end in a Google review, and the goal is 15 to 20 markets in three to five years.
What other owners can take from TORQ Coatings
- 1
Treat a home improvement company as a recruiting, marketing and sales company that happens to install a product.
- 2
Keep every process simple enough to explain to a third-grader, so it can be taught and repeated as you add people.
- 3
Hire the call center first. Without someone setting appointments, the sales team and the crews have nothing to do.
- 4
Apply speed to lead to recruiting: get back to candidates, interview, decide and train quickly.
- 5
Invest in a real brand at the start, with a name you can trademark and use in every market you plan to enter.
- 6
Ask for the business during the in-home appointment. You rarely get that homeowner's 45 to 60 minutes a second time.
- 7
Ask for the review at the end of the install, when the customer's experience is at its high point.
Who is Crayton Caudill and what is TORQ Coatings?
Crayton Caudill is the founder of TORQ Coatings, a concrete floor coating company serving Chicagoland and Milwaukee, with Michigan launching shortly. Born and raised in Northwest Indiana, he has spent about 10 years in home improvement: roughly six in sales and project management for a landscape and outdoor living company, then five in floor coatings.
He does not see himself as running a flooring company. “At the end of the day we’re a recruiting, marketing and sales company,” he said. The widget just happens to be floor coatings.
How does a fast-growing coatings company keep customers happy?
By keeping the process simple enough to teach. Crayton described the business as a funnel from the top down: generate a lead cost-effectively, set the appointment fast, send a design consultant who knows what they are looking at, and start the customer experience off right.
“Keep it so simple you can explain it to a third-grader,” he said. Simple processes can be repeated as salespeople and crews are added, which is where fast-growing companies usually slip.
He also does not try to invent anything. The products, the equipment and the install process already exist. His version of R&D is “rip off and duplicate”: find what works in your industry or a parallel one, bring it back, and assemble your own playbook.
Part of the experience is correcting expectations. Homeowners call every coating epoxy and have heard lifetime warranty claims everywhere. TORQ offers a lifetime warranty on the three things it can control, and Crayton tells customers nothing is maintenance-free.
Who did TORQ Coatings hire first?
The call center. His logic: no leads means no appointments, and no appointments means nothing for a salesperson or a crew to do. The first key hires were:
- Someone to lead the call center, plus people to make the dials.
- The sales team, which he called never-ending.
- A leader who takes pride in running production.
He treats recruiting the way he treats a new lead. Get back to the candidate, interview, make the decision, train. “We’re all in the people business,” he said, and it is the hardest part.
What marketing does TORQ Coatings run?
Seven to eight channels at any given moment, and he expects that to reach 10 as the company adds markets.
- Meta supplies the volume. The balance, he said, is getting a lead for $30 to $60 that still turns into appointments and sales.
- Google and lead aggregators fill out the digital side, and he mentioned radio as part of the mix as the channel count grows.
- Home shows and car shows put the company face to face with its ideal customer, with a plan to set appointments on the spot. It works, he said, but it is hard to scale because it depends on people.
The brand was deliberate from day one. Crayton hired a branding agency, Lemon Seed Marketing, and had a name, logo, color palette, mission, vision and core values in under six weeks. He wanted a name that could be used in multiple markets without a trademark problem.
His advice to owners who start with a quick logo and whatever name comes to mind: “If you actually put some intention to it and you invest into it, it will pay dividends long term.”
What does the TORQ Coatings sales process look like?
A free in-home consultation that follows eight steps. The design consultant:
- does discovery to understand what the homeowner wants
- inspects the concrete and checks for moisture
- takes detailed measurements
- sits down inside to explain who the company is and how it works
- presents multiple options for the investment
Appointments run 45 to 60 minutes, and reps are expected to ask for the business while they are there, because the chance of getting that homeowner’s time again is slim.
What they sell is the benefit. The garage is often the second-largest room in the house. A coating protects the concrete from Midwest road salt, pitting and cracking, is easy to clean, and means less dust tracked inside.
After the install, the crew knocks on the door, walks through how to care for the floor, and asks for the review. Every project has a coordinator who stays with the customer from start to finish. People only have so much concrete, so repeat business is limited and the goal is referrals: a neighbor, a family member, a grandma.
What would he tell another home service owner?
Decide what you want the business to be, then do the boring work. Crayton described a friend with a great lifestyle business who is also trapped by it: when he takes a week off, nobody visits customers and nobody sells. Neither model is wrong, he said, but the company should be structured around the goal.
His own goal is to “own the Midwest” and be in 15 to 20 markets in the next three to five years. Getting there means resisting shiny objects and not being afraid to decide. “When things start to get boring is when you really have to dig into it and keep pushing.”
In Crayton's words
“At the end of the day we're a recruiting, marketing and sales company.”
“Keep it so simple you can explain it to a third-grader.”
“When things start to get boring is when you really have to dig into it and keep pushing.”
“You can separate yourself by just being better and doing what you say you're going to do, showing up on time, being professional.”
Review Harvest Client
What TORQ Coatings says about Review Harvest
Crayton was introduced to Review Harvest by a friend whose small business it had helped. He recalls a reactivation campaign to a customer list of 500 to 800 people that added 60 to 80-plus reviews within 60 days, and says that right now more than 40% of the jobs TORQ Coatings completes get a review. Requests go out automatically after each install without his team having to think about it, and he plans to use it in each new market.
“I hands down tell you that over 40% of the jobs we're doing we're getting reviews on right now. And that's a hard metric to hit.”
Crayton Caudill on working with Review Harvest: “How Review Harvest Helped Generate 40% More Customer Reviews”
Questions this episode answers
Who should a growing home improvement company hire first?
Crayton Caudill of TORQ Coatings says the most important first hire was someone to lead the call center, along with people to make the calls. His reasoning is that without leads there are no appointments, and without appointments the sales team and install crews have nothing to do. After that came the sales team and a leader for production.
How does a concrete coatings company generate leads?
TORQ Coatings runs seven to eight lead channels at any given moment and expects that to reach 10 as it enters more markets. Meta ads supply most of the volume, alongside Google and lead aggregators. The company also works home shows and car shows, where its ideal customer already is, with a plan to set appointments on the spot.
What are common misconceptions about garage floor coatings?
Crayton Caudill of TORQ Coatings says most homeowners call every coating epoxy, and that lifetime warranties in the industry are oversold. TORQ offers a lifetime warranty on the three things it can control, and he tells customers nothing is maintenance-free. He adds that epoxy is not a bad product, just not the right one for a garage floor top coat.
Is branding worth the investment for a home service business?
Crayton Caudill thinks so. TORQ Coatings hired a branding agency and had its name, logo, colors, mission, vision and core values finished in under six weeks, before launch. He chose a name that could be trademarked and used in multiple markets, and says an intentional brand pays off long term because the company stands out and its ads perform better.
What does an in-home sales process for concrete coatings look like?
At TORQ Coatings a design consultant runs a free in-home consultation that follows eight steps. It includes discovery, a full inspection of the concrete, a moisture check and a detailed measurement, then a sit-down to explain how the company works and present multiple investment options. Crayton Caudill says the rep should ask for the business during that 45 to 60 minute visit.
How does TORQ Coatings get Google reviews on its jobs?
The crew knocks on the door when the floor is finished, explains how to care for it and asks for the review. An automated, personalized request from Review Harvest follows, which covers homeowners who were not home. Crayton Caudill says more than 40% of the jobs TORQ Coatings completes now get a review.
Need concrete coatings in Chicagoland? Visit TORQ Coatings at torqcoatings.com.
