Premium Service Brands Partners With VIRTI and MURSION To Create VR-Powered Owner Experience Learning Program

Following a recent private equity investment, the multi-brand home services franchisor is leveraging new virtual reality and role playing platforms to teach incoming franchisees leadership and higher-order decision making skills.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Premium Service Brands, the parent company of home-service franchises 360º Painting, Maid Right, ProLift Garage Doors, Renew Crew, Kitchen Wise, Handyman Pro and Rubbish Works, has announced the roll out of its new Owner Experience Program, a tech-powered learning experience designed to immerse its incoming franchisees in the day-to-day life of their new business.

The Owner Experience Program is a culmination of Premium Service Brand’s in-depth research analyzing the actions and best practices of owners with exceptional launch results, to see what separated them from the pack. The company discovered that practice, communication skills and mindset played a significant role in positioning owners for successful launches and set out to revitalize the established Premium Service Brands onboarding program in an attempt to make the experience more impactful with the help of innovative technology and the new Owner Experience Center.

Most notably, Premium Service Brands partnered with two companies — Mursion and VIRTI — to give owners a platform to practice estimates, sales calls, hiring and recruiting in a virtual reality and role playing setting.

Mursion is an immersive VR platform focused on improving emotional intelligence in the workplace. Mursion uses a combination of A.I. and live human interaction to create a safe environment for practicing skills like  emotional intelligence, adaptability and resilience. The aim is to create an authentic but risk-free simulation without harming an individual’s performance or a company’s reputation.

VIRTI is a U.K.-based startup that uses immersive AR/VR scenarios to teach hands-on skills in realistic settings. Premium Service Brands is VIRTI’s first home services industry partner and will be pioneering a new market for the startup.

In order to emphasize the experiential aspect of the onboarding process, Premium Service Brands also plans to unveil a newly designed learning and development center. The center’s layout will be arranged in pods instead of an instructor-led classroom to ensure all parties are able to work together collaboratively.

“The Owner Experience Program is all about having the opportunity to practice the skills critical for owner success and getting real-time feedback,” said Deb Jewell, vice president of learning for Premium Service Brands. “We want to show our franchisees how to leverage their own strengths and experience to be a more effective leader and decision-maker. By helping owners build a mental map on how all the aspects of our model fit together, we are confident they will leave the Owner Experience Program with a stronger and more holistic understanding of what it takes to run their business on a day-to-day level.”

Premium Service Brands is rolling out its Owner Experience Program on the heels of a recent private equity investment by Susquehanna Private Capital. SPC invested in the multi-brand franchisor to help the company strengthen its presence in the rapidly growing home services industry and to make advancements to its business model.

“We have been aggressively growing all of our PSB concepts over the past few years, and this investment will allow us to build out our infrastructure and business model so we are better positioned to support new owners at the rate at which they want to join,” said CEO Paul Flick. “The Owner Experience Program is one of the many new improvements we are making to our system to help us recruit, develop and support the very best franchisees for each of our brands.”