First you meet and then you become friends. That’s how Dwyer Group rolled out a new online platform called Neighborly. Four months ago, Dwyer Group launched an overarching brand that would help the company deliver to their many service brands’ customers in one engaging and meaningful way, using technology to bring expertise across a vast array of service trades to people in need of a trusted expert – from landscaping and plumbing to painting and more.

Neighborly shares a story of the Dwyer Group family of brands

Now, customers have one easy access point at getneighborly.com (or in Canada at getneighbourly.ca). Dwyer Group’s Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer Lisa Zoellner explained this incredible launch in an interview with CMO Outlook.

“Throughout the United States and Canada, there are 13 service brands where customers in need can search for trusted home service providers and be directly connected to one of our franchisees. Streamlining the process for searching for home service providers is important, but more importantly, Neighborly shares a story of the Dwyer Group family of brands in an interconnected way that has never been told to customers before,” Zoellner said.

The idea that our core customer group can utilize more than one of our service brands has always existed. And technology has evolved into a friendly tool that can bring it all together. As we come upon the four-month anniversary of Neighborly, we reflect on the exciting journey to get to this point. By combining the high tech of our online platform with the high touch of skilled service professionals, we are making a difference on a whole new level.

Look out, tech giants. Skilled labor is our business.

In a recent interview with Forbes, Dwyer Group President and CEO Mike Bidwell said, “We’ve entered the online platform space in a backwards way, growing our network of skilled laborers for 35 years before launching Neighborly,” Bidwell adds. “But when the cart is the coveted trusted providers, we’ll put it before the horse of an online platform.”

The Forbes story “Why Neighborly May Beat Amazon In The Skilled Labor Market,” reinforced that tech companies like Amazon and even smaller, VC-backed businesses like Thumbtack find their biggest challenge is not technology, but fulfilling the supply side with a large base of qualified service providers.

Neighborly brings a human element to a process that can sometimes seem daunting and repetitive. “You don't need 84 million results for ‘plumber.’ You need one you can actually trust,” the Neighborly website states, and this couldn’t be more true. In addition to finding assistance for the home, Neighborly also provides homeowners the ability to access their service history, delivers individualized maintenance reminders and shares tips and advice on its blog.

These four months have been filled with an endless dedication and promise that we provide our customers with an unwavering level of not only outstanding service but trustworthy service as well, which goes back to our company’s important Code of Values.

Simply stated in the Neighborly launch video…”Maybe we didn’t need something to take care of our home; maybe what we needed was…someone. Or even better, a whole community.”

We can’t wait to see what the future holds for Neighborly!