WIN Home Inspection Is Using Technology and Franchisee Support to Drive Its Next Stage of Growth

WIN Home Inspection has spent more than three decades building a national presence in the home inspection industry. Founded in 1993, the brand has served more than 2 million clients and now has more than 280 locations across 45 states. As WIN continues to add franchisees, its development team says growth is less about hitting a sales quota and more about finding owners who can build lasting businesses.

"We're looking to bring in people who want to build long-term businesses, longevity and legacy, and create that quality with new strategic partners," said Abby Firmstone, senior marketing specialist at WIN Home Inspection. “Going through the franchise development process, we're making sure we're having those long conversations, answering all of their questions and learning about them and their goals to see if it's going to be a good mutual fit.”

WIN has added about 25 franchisees so far this year, but its development story goes beyond unit growth. The company has more than 60 people on its internal support team, with resources dedicated to marketing, training, technology and other areas of the business. That includes an in-house technology development team responsible for proprietary tools ranging from inspection writing software to its CRM, order management system and online scheduler.

"We're a franchise system, yes, technically by model, but we really are a technology company at the heart of it, and that's where a lot of our focus will continue to be," said Hailey Rodriquez, senior content marketing specialist at WIN. "That's how we're going to lead and keep up. Clients, owners and agents — all of their needs evolve so rapidly. Every housing market every year looks entirely different. The only way to stay at the forefront and be that leader is to keep up, keep innovating, challenge the status quo and make those strides forward." 

That infrastructure also allows WIN to recruit franchisees from outside the home inspection, real estate and construction industries. New owners receive training on home inspections and more than 35 additional services, while the broader support system is designed to handle areas of the business that independent operators would typically have to build or manage themselves.

"One of the biggest misconceptions we see from people looking to start a business is that they think they need some sort of construction, real estate or trade skills background because this is a technical industry," Rodriquez said. “They can come from any type of career or background and find their home here because they're able to get all of the training.”

Firmstone and Rodriquez joined 1851 Franchise Publisher Nick Powills on a recent episode of the "Meet the Franchise" podcast. A transcript of their interview has been provided below. It has been edited for brevity, clarity and style.

Nick Powills: I've been in franchising for 22 years, and I can't tell you how many times I've explained to a franchisor that nobody invests their life savings by seeing a Facebook ad and instantly saying, "I'm ready to buy." They understand that it takes time for a lead to develop, but then the question becomes, "So where are my leads?"

You both come from the marketing side, and now you're in franchise development, where you understand how long it takes for a lead to mature. How does that marketing background help you navigate the expectations around franchise sales?

Abby Firmstone: Hailey and I both have marketing backgrounds prior to being with WIN and have both spent four to five years here at WIN working on the franchisee side. We refer to our franchisees as strategic partners, or SPs. Working on that SP side, helping them grow their businesses, we understand the marketing strategy that goes into building really successful businesses in the residential services space and all the marketing work that's required.

Over the last year or so, as we've moved into franchise development, it really has allowed us to have that unique perspective when speaking with potential entrepreneurs. We can help them understand what that day-to-day looks like if they were to join WIN and build their own WIN business and what the market looks like.

It also allows us to have patience when it comes to working with these entrepreneurs. We understand the timeline and the expectations that go into that. When someone is starting to explore this process, it's an important time. We don't want to rush them or pressure them in any way. It's a big decision, and we want to ensure that they're getting all the information they need and having all of their questions answered. We're there as a partner throughout the process to guide them and figure out if it is going to be the right fit.

Powills: How are you navigating the pressure of finding the franchise candidate to even have that discussion?

Hailey Rodriquez: A lot of it is the draw of the industry. Looking at some of the conversations Abby and I have been having with prospective entrepreneurs, they're coming to us with goals, and this industry and this type of franchise model really allows them to achieve that.

We're seeing husbands and wives, fathers and sons, people who are looking for generational wealth and family legacy. We're seeing people who want something a little more recession-resistant and AI-resistant. They're seeing that potential with us.

In a lot of ways, the leads are coming to us more organically because they're drawn to the inspection services industry. It is an essential service and an essential industry. We can utilize and leverage AI in different areas, but it's never going to fully replace the important role that a physical inspector takes inside a home.

Our team does a lot from a franchise development standpoint to bring interested people to us, but I would say the industry draw is a huge component of it. We're seeing commonalities with entrepreneurs coming in and the way they're thinking about their future. It's not just a career path; it's a lifestyle path that they want for themselves and their families.

Powills: What does winning look like for this year?

Abby Firmstone: I'd say what we're looking to do is not really from a number standpoint. It is quality. We're looking to bring in people who want to build long-term businesses, longevity and legacy, and create that quality with new strategic partners.

Going through the franchise development process, we're making sure we're having those long conversations, answering all of their questions and learning about them and their goals to see if it's going to be a good mutual fit.

I'd say quality is the main thing we're driving this year. Of course, it's been a great year in terms of numbers, too. We've seen significant growth across the board. We have over 280 [franchise locations] across the U.S. and have been the fastest-growing year after year. But what we've really been focusing on is the quality of the business itself as we're building out new franchises.

Powills: So, for clarity, is there a pressure number, or is there no number for this year?

Rodriquez: As far as a target goes, we never really try to say we have to hit these minimums. We're not a traditional sales funnel where we've got quotas that we have to meet. We obviously have goals, but never a pressure point where we're saying, "OK, we've got to bring in X number in these markets."

We focus on what's going to be most beneficial for the entrepreneurs themselves. We continually see a positive growth rate, which contributes to our No. 1 ranking in the industry. We're not your traditional sales funnel where you've got somebody doing calls and moving people through a pipeline. We take a much more personalized approach. We take into consideration each entrepreneur and each market as its own individual entity and work with them from that perspective.

There's really no pressure-point target or quota that we've got to hit. We do what's best for the brand and what's best for the entrepreneur.

Powills: How many franchisees have you added this year?

Firmstone: August has been a busy month, so about 25 so far.

Powills: One of our clients a long time ago paid its sales team very well but with no commission. The reason was, "We're going to pay you a salary so you're not conditioned to go sell franchises. All we want you to do is find the right people."

If you bring in someone who performs above average, the amount of money that comes into the franchisor is significant because you make money off the royalty. But most franchisors focus on the sale, not on the quality of the buyer.

You've awarded about 25 this year while focusing on people who can hopefully perform above average. There's no pressure to hit a number, and there's a clear need in the marketplace. How do you budget for franchise development marketing without having a specific number you have to hit?

Firmstone: We have an incredibly large internal marketing team. If you were to take all of the other franchises in our industry and combine their support teams, ours is still larger. We have over 60 people on our internal support team.

A lot of that is going toward driving innovation, marketing strategy, technology and training for our strategic partners. Since we have that all internal, they're able to do a lot for us on the franchise development side as well, driving organic search engine optimization, paid ads and all of those things you need to build awareness of the brand and the opportunity. Because we have that all in-house, they're able to take care of a lot of it and bring our ideas to life.

Powills: So, you don't necessarily have to say as a department, "Here's our budget, and here's how we're going to deploy it." That removes another pressure from franchise sales, right?

Rodriquez: Absolutely. We have a lot of flexibility to adapt and move in whatever direction we need. We're not your traditional sales funnel. We're all full-time team members of the brand and of our SPs, and that's where we focus. We employ our efforts where we can as a collective team. It takes away that traditional lens and those pressure points.

Powills: When you look at your brand versus everybody else in the space, "largest" and "fastest-growing" are great buzz terms, but there's got to be something deeper behind that. I just heard support. What else differentiates WIN?

Firmstone: One of the huge differentiators for both for our strategic partners and their ability to grow their businesses, as well as for their clients and agents, is our technology. Within our support team, we have an entire technology development team. We've built a number of proprietary technology products, from our inspection writing software to our CRM and order management system, our website and online scheduler. Everything we can do in-house, we build in-house.

For example, our inspection writing software is an app built off AI. It's extremely easy and efficient to use and has allowed us to revolutionize the inspection process in a lot of ways. Typically, a home inspection can be a slow, antiquated process. An inspector has to take photos on-site, go home, upload those photos and spend hours writing the report. Maybe you get it in a day or two.

Our inspectors are able to finish their reports on-site, so they're getting that time back in their day to do other things, whether it's more inspections or spending more time with their families. The client is also getting the report sooner, which is important because time is typically of the essence in real estate transactions.

The reports themselves are digital, interactive reports that make it much easier for the client to digest the information and gain value from it. These are the types of things we're building in-house that differentiate our strategic partners in their markets and allow them to be much more efficient in how they scale their businesses and utilize their time.

Since we have that full development team in-house, this is really just the beginning of everything we're going to be able to do. We fully control our fate moving forward. They're always building out new tools and optimizations, and we're not dependent on an outside IT firm to build these out or make fixes when needed. That's just one aspect of our support team, but it has been a huge driver of growth.

Rodriquez: If I could add really quickly, back when we purchased our home, we didn't have what we have today. We received what traditionally everyone else would get with these other platforms: a long, black-and-white PDF. Now, our reports at WIN are so crisp and clean. A first-time buyer often doesn't know how to dissect an inspection report. They're receiving maybe 40, 50 or more pages, and they're looking to somebody to help them understand what's actually going on with the property.

Our reports are easy to navigate. They're also streamlined into subsequent products. An agent can take items marked for repair and put them into a property care list that they can share with the seller. They can even take those repair items and put them into our property care estimate, which gives them real-time data on how much those repairs will cost. It takes into account their market, local labor costs and material costs to give the buyer and seller visibility into how much those repairs could potentially cost.

Our reports are so much more than just report delivery. They're really a tool in the agent's tool belt and in the client's tool belt as they're going through the transaction process.

Powills: I love everything you just said. I always go to the website when anybody is talking about this and ask, "Do we tell that story?" We're saying, "No. 1 in the category. We're the best. We're the fastest-growing." But everything you just said is missing.

You've awarded 25 deals this year, so it's not like you have an awarding issue. But what's the difference between 25 and 50? You just gave a huge emotional piece around the point of differentiation and what you give back to the homeowner.

If I'm going to buy a business, I want to know you guys are in front of it. I'd probably put a picture of your tech team on the website instead of people walking around inspecting homes. It's about the infrastructure behind the business.

I'd get a franchisee who's been in the system for 10 years and say, "We don't want you to talk about why you love WIN. Talk about what has changed over the last 10 years from a technology and home inspection standpoint." As a buyer, I'm thinking about my business investment 10 years from now.

In my opinion, it's not, "Own the No. 1-ranked home inspection franchise." That's what you do. It's, "Own a technology company," not a home inspection franchise. You've built something that could have tremendous return on investment when you go to sell your business.

Rodriquez: There's so much value there. I think you hit the nail on the head. A lot of times, that's how we try to position it. We're a franchise system, yes, technically by model, but we really are a technology company at the heart of it, and that's where a lot of our focus will continue to be.

That's how we're going to lead and keep up. Clients, owners and agents — all of their needs evolve so rapidly. Every housing market every year looks entirely different. The only way to stay at the forefront and be that leader is to keep up, keep innovating, challenge the status quo and make those strides forward.

Powills: I plugged it into AI while we were talking and asked about WIN's positioning. It came back with 35-plus services, proprietary technology, an established brand and support. From an outsider's perspective, if you close that gap, think about the number of people you're not selling to today. It's great that you're in a category people can be passionate about, but you can also reach people who have money to invest and just don't know where they want to go.

Why not create that landing pad for people to understand there's something special behind the business, which obviously is why both of you have been here for as long as you have?

Firmstone: Definitely. We've been able to develop and grow these things so quickly. It's about keeping up with how we communicate all of these incredible developments. Our team has been able to build them out and roll them out across the system successfully and relatively quickly. Now it's about how we continue to learn the best ways to communicate the benefits of that to a wider audience.

Powills: We'll close with this. If there's a buyer watching right now, what else do you want them to know about why they should reach out?

Firmstone: I think the difference here is support across every aspect of the business. I come from a family of small business owners. I know how much work it takes to make a business successful across so many different aspects. What you get here at WIN is a support team — not just a couple of people who are there to help you set things up and do your training, but a specialized, large support team that's there to provide assistance across every aspect of the business.

Whether it's paid advertising that's run for you in-house, training not just for home inspection but for 35 additional services, or the technology and infrastructure you're getting, it's all designed to help you provide more thorough service to your clients, earn more on each job and scale your business more effectively.

There's also the credibility and institutional knowledge that comes with a business that's been around for over 33 years. We're continuously learning from our strategic partners and working closely with them to build out this larger playbook that we can adjust location to location.

The support and community are really important, too. We have a great sense of camaraderie and a pay-it-forward mentality. Our SPs are communicating every day. We get together every year at our WIN Business Conference in January, so it creates that sense of community.

You're not in a silo. You're not alone. You've got a community of like-minded individuals who are there to support you, help you, cheer you on and celebrate your goals.

Rodriquez: I'd love to add to that. One of the biggest misconceptions we see from people looking to start a business is that they think they need some sort of construction, real estate or trade skills background because this is a technical industry.

That's not always the case. We've got so many successful SPs building incredible businesses who come from various backgrounds, whether that's accounting or the corporate professional realm. They can come from any type of career or background and find their home here because they're able to get all of the training.

They don't need to come with prior experience. We have the infrastructure and the team to take them wherever they want to go with their goals. We also have a large number of people from the military. Over 36% of our entire franchise system comes from a military or first responder background.

It really goes to show that experience is not always required. It's a great asset, but it's never a requirement. We've seen success from people at all different stages of their lives and from different backgrounds and careers.

Powills: Good stuff. Thanks for sharing the story. Obviously, there's magic behind this business, and we've uncovered some of it today.

Rodriquez: Thank you so much. It was great to be here and talk about WIN and what we're looking to do in the future. I appreciate you taking the time to talk about it.

Watch the full episode above or on YouTube.