Insulation Commandos
- Founded in 2021
- Primary location in Los Angeles, with first franchises in Austin, Texas
Insulation Commandos is a home services company specializing in insulation. They perform HVAC system assessments and optimization, insulation retrofits, air sealing, and more. Customers rave about the company’s speed, cleanliness, and attention to detail. Much of the work they do involves retrofitting insulation in 20 to 30-year-old homes.
Dustin Ingle
CEO & Director of Franchise Development
Dustin and his executive team started Insulation Commandos after working in the home services and franchise development sectors for years. They have successfully scaled multiple brands in the past and aim to grow Insulation Commandos to at least 10 locations in the next year.
His mission:
- Turn Insulation Commando’s successful business model into a successful franchise.
- Filter through and qualify leads to find the best potential franchisees.
- Meet with potential franchisees to evaluate their fit with the franchise and help map out territories.
The challenge
As a franchisor, Dustin has a two-fold challenge: keeping his initial location growing while developing the franchise itself. That means building a fool-proof business strategy he can use as a model for future franchisees. That kind of work involves deep market research, careful franchise territory mapping, and optimized marketing efforts.
“The software I was using was pretty outdated. It’s very basic. You click on a zip code and have to wait 10 seconds before it’s highlighted. It needs an update, and there are a lot of franchisors using it. They don’t even know Smappen exists.”
The solution
Building and sharing territories with franchisees
Properly researched and defined franchise territories can make or break a franchise. Unlike many franchisors who are still using outdated tools, Dustin can generate and share territories with franchisees dynamically with Smappen.
“When I have a call with a potential franchisee, I can show them the map of their city in Smappen and we build the territories out together since the franchisees know the area better than we do. A franchisee in Austin purchased four territories, and we built those four territories with Smappen and put them right in the contract. ”
Streamlining sales and marketing with robust data
Smappen’s robust database gives Dustin the ability to properly research franchise territories, giving potential franchisees the best chance to succeed. But it’s also a great marketing tool, too, allowing Insulation Commandos to tailor their approach to each territory — like mailing flyers in areas where homeowners are more receptive to this strategy.
“When franchisees see all that data, they’re like ‘Wow, this is a robust system.’ You can see where people in a territory work, how much money they’re making, the values of their homes, and even how many people live in that house. All that data is right there.”
Using dedicated location intelligence software on the go
As the CEO of Insulation Commandos, Dustin does a lot of traveling. He may be meeting potential franchisees, working with local teams, or otherwise developing the business. Location intelligence platforms he’s used in the past didn’t work while he was on the go — not the way Smappen does.
“I travel a lot. I can pull Smappen up on my phone and literally build a territory in five seconds, whereas the previous software I used was definitely not mobile-friendly. You can’t even log in on your phone.”
The results
- Franchise territory mapping that’s so easy it can be done live on sales calls.
- Deep, accessible market research powered by Smappen’s built-in data.
- Better ROI for local marketing, powered by location intelligence.
- On-the-go, mobile-friendly franchise territory mapping.
- Building maps based on data essential for business strategy, like zip codes.
“When Laurent connected with me and showed me a demo, I thought ‘Wow, this is 1000 times better than what I’m using now.’ I was working for a big franchise company at the time, and when I left to start Insulation Commandos, it was a no-brainer that I was going to use Smappen.”
Smappen according to Dustin
“Smappen is very user-friendly mapping software that checks all the boxes for franchise development, where you’re building and managing territories. Its built-in data means you can also leverage it in marketing.”
Dustin Ingle
CEO at Insulation Commandos
