Innovation often leads to success.
So it is with Edgar and Eduard Mirzoian, who developed a unique vision that has turned the traditional restoration-business approach on its ear.
In a sense, the two brothers—who have together guided Restorerz Emergency Services since 2019 —wanted to renovate a business model that traditionally has depended on insurance work. While happy to work with insurance claims, the two felt there was more out there for Restorerz, which has locations in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Fernando Valley and Las Vegas (and plans for national expansion).
So they developed what they called a “referral flywheel,” which allowed them to develop their own referrals via partnerships with plumbing companies.
“You call it a flywheel because what goes around comes around in our partnerships,” said Edgar Mirzoian, the company’s CEO. “The better they do, the better we do, and the better we do, the better they do because we pour back into the plumbing companies in terms of sales training, in terms of communications and support on the back end if anything were to ever go wrong with our “OOPS! Program.”
The end goal, Edgar said, is giving the homeowner and our referral partners, the best possible experience.
Why are the top Plumbing companies in the country partnering with Restorerz Emergency Services?
Initially, Restorerz partnered with a single plumbing business, which referred restoration work after the plumbing issue had been solved.
A leak behind a wall can only be fixed correctly by repairing the pipe, which often requires breaking through the wall. Sometimes, there’s an additional mold issue caused by the leak.
Plumbers will fix the pipe, but not mitigate the mold or repair the wall and other damage. With the plumbing business providing a referral to complete the restoration, the plumber solves the restoration problem for the customer, and Restorerz gains business.
But over time, Eduard asked: Why should we stick to one plumbing company and wait for that plumbing company to grow to provide us more leads? Why don't we take this referral engine we've designed and replicate it, partnering with as many plumbing companies as we can?”
So, they did, partnering with large plumbing operations in their base area and in areas where they are expanding – among them Nexgen in Southern California and Eco Plumbers in Columbus, Ohio, a targeted state for growth.
“We're creating relationships with plumbing partners before we enter markets,” Edgar said. “A big part of why they want us to enter into their market is because of our ability to scale up quickly and take care of all of their leads without ruining their reputation.”
Restorerz works with industry leaders, such as Eco Plumbers, and seeks to be what Edgar calls “the perfect restoration partner.”
“The top guys in the industry are all within the same network, they talk to each other, and we happen to exist in that network,” Edgar said. “And we're the only restoration company that has built our workflows and procedures around perfectly integrating with our referral partners processes, which is why these companies find it comfortable to work with us.
“Then you model out how much EBITDA we're going to save them with our backup Oops program. That takes care of plumber recalls, so we’re essentially removing that cost from their business.
“On top of that, the value we create when we partner and integrate with them as the backup sales team in the home is immense, which is why they're excited to invite us to their market and become exclusive with us and send us referrals.”
‘We … build relationships’
The result: Restorerz now partners with more than 150 plumbing companies, and B2B referrals account for the majority of Restorerz’s business.
“We add to the plumbing community by hosting high-value networking and training events, and build relationships at those events,” Edgar said. “We introduce our partners to customers who typically end up increasing their average ticket, increasing their conversion rates and their close rates.”
Restorerz seeks, with this model, to help referral partners increase their core mission, strengthening the partnership and resulting in consistent referrals and happy customers.
And as Edgar said, if there's ever an issue, Restorerz stands behind those partners with a customer satisfaction a guarantee.
”Let's say you're a plumbing company,” Edgar said, “that has 30 technicians, and one of your technicians forgets to connect the pipe and turns on the water and floods a part of the house. We are the panic button for the plumbing company.
“They would send us an OOPS job through our proprietary app called Referrals. And we react differently. We immediately get to the job, we triage the situation and stop the bleeding. We clean everything up, immediately start drying and salvaging the property, which saves our partners hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Just that alone outweighs any other value proposition that any restoration company right now is providing.
“And at scale, the plumbing partners love that because we strictly focus on our clients, which are our plumbing companies.”
Eduard and Edgar have always been tech-forward, and Restorerz proudly calls itself the most technologically advanced restoration business in the industry.
“The restoration industry is in the Stone Ages, especially when it comes to technology, because of the reliance on insurance-sourced work,” Edgar said. “They've typically had to just work on the restoration platforms that the insurance industry would provide, and in many cases, that doesn't make sense for the customer experience that we want to deliver on the retail side of things.”
ServiceTitan: ‘That happened’
Eduard’s background in technology led to him researching what was out there, which led him to ServiceTitan, the cloud-based software for the trades. But ServiceTitan’s emphasis was on plumbing, HVAC and electrical; it had not worked with restoration companies.
To understand the software, these two innovative brothers took unusual steps to dive in.
“I got a C-36 plumbing contractor's license and paid for (ServiceTitan) and learned how to use it properly,” Edgar said. “We wrote our own custom SOPs, and used that account to run it.
“Then we told ServiceTitan: ‘We're successfully running the restoration business through ServiceTitan, even though you guys don't know it.”
He compares what he did to Tommy Mello, who he said “beat down ServiceTitan’s door” to allow the software to be used for garage door businesses. Restorerz added ServiceTitan in 2023, and since then has increased revenue from $4 million to more than $20 million – with long-term goals for more.
“We have had an interesting journey,” Edgar said. “I think a lot of it was creating our own luck by working relentlessly, meeting the right people, pulling some strings and making things happen.”
‘Healthy business habits’ built in
Edgar listed several facets of ServiceTitan that help Restorerz, including Dispatch Pro, Marketing Pro and the software’s ability to handle projects, which are common in restoration. He said he appreciates the way ServiceTitan handles reputation management, and that it can handle Restorerz’s many locations under one umbrella.
“The core product itself has a lot of healthy business habits built into it, and enables our business to be more scaleable” Edgar said.
The benefits of Pricebook Pro are applicable to almost any emergency. Edgar said Restorerz can utilize the estimate templates in Pricebook Pro and its built-in financing to create estimates for different kinds of jobs.
An estimate template could be prepared in advance to address a home with light damage, and another could be ready for heavier damage. This approach allows Restorerz to have a higher velocity sales process with final estimates ready in minutes on-site, a crucial factor for an emergency services restoration business.
The #1 newsletter for the trades.
Partnerships that work
When Restorerz started in 2019. It had one van and one technician. It now has three locations in Southern California and one in Las Vegas - with plans to grow into a national footprint.
Edgar said he hopes other restoration businesses will benefit from its business decisions to gain referrals through trade partnerships, including as it grows nationally.
“We would love to be, and we are building in that direction to be, influencing other restoration companies to think similarly and have freedom,” Edgar said. “Because we've been able to build and scale a very high-margin business and a great quality of employment for all of our employees.
“And from what I know, everyone is happy and excited for the future growth to come.”
