Newtech Coating & Waterproofing Specialist is a CIDB-registered and Recommend.my featured partner based in Ampang. They have been keeping homes dry since 2017.
Three years into business, COVID hit, and projects stalled. Just like many other home service businesses, the team at Newtech were unable to make site visits or keep projects going, resulting in huge losses.
But throughout the disruptions, they made sure to take care of their workers. Today, they have bounced back to a team of 20 workers, and have built their reputation as a trusted service provider on Recommend.my.
Here is a first-hand account of their experience:
“We started this waterproofing company in 2017. At first, it was just three of us. We all trained as site quantity surveyors and site engineers since university. With this type of training, normally you would focus on commercial work or new construction sites, because the money is better, right?
But, residential homes need help too. It’s hard for homeowners to engage a proper established company for waterproofing services. Providing a long-lasting solution can be expensive. But if they look for cheaper solutions, they end up with workers who cannot communicate well.
So, we tailored our services to serve residential customers. We wanted to give a good balance between high-quality waterproofing services, with reasonable pricing.”
A slow start, hit by a global pandemic
“But when we started, it was hard to get jobs as we were new to the market. And then MCO hit. So many companies went bankrupt, but somehow we survived. Financially, we had to pay our workers’ monthly salary, even when we don’t have enough jobs to sustain ourselves.
But bit by bit, we grew and recovered. Recommend.my provided an extra platform for us to engage with owners directly, and this helped us a lot.”
Recovery and growth
“The best part was when customers started to pass our contact to their friends and neighbours, and when we started getting lots of five-star reviews. It showed us that we were capable of solving their problems, and delivering a good experience. It tells us that we are making a difference.
But some jobs can be particularly tricky. One of our toughest jobs was for a leaking roof. We did the usual tests; pouring water to find suspected spots, and patching it. But it was still leaking. We tried different solutions, but it was still leaking.
So, we decided to camp out for a whole day at the customer’s house, and wait for the rain. When the rain started to pour, then only we climbed up on the roof. This is very dangerous, and you should never do it if you don’t have the proper safety gear.
And that’s when we finally found the problem. The leak was not coming from the roof, but from a faulty valve in the roof water tank. When it rained, the water tank would overflow and cause the leak. We solved it on the spot, and the customer never had a leaking problem since. That customer is now one of our biggest advocates.
Today, our company has around 20 workers. We’re still small, and we’ve been very lucky to get this far. But, luck aside, the main things that have helped us grow is, “value the customer relationship, stay sustainable, and cherish your team”.
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