Molly Maid Names New President

Ann Arbor-based Molly Maid Inc., a division of Service Brands International, has promoted vice president of marketing Meg Roberts to president.

Roberts, 39, succeeds Kristi Mailloux, who stepped down last month after six years to pursue different opportunities, the company said.

Roberts joined Molly Maid as director of marketing in 2007. She was named vice president of marketing overseeing Molly Maid and another of Service Brands' divisions, Mr. Handyman, last year.

An Ann Arbor native who moved back to the area from Chicago, Roberts holds a Bachelor of Arts in communication from the University of Michigan and a Master of Arts in advertising research from Michigan State University.

She's spent the past four years elevating Molly Maid's online presence through a revamped website, social media including Facebook and "mommy blogs" enlisted from customers around the country, and paid advertisements.

She dialed up those efforts in 2009 when the company's 250-plus franchisees around the country were suffering business declines.

"That's when people were cutting back on services," Roberts said.

"We certainly had customers cancelling on us. But we were able to shore up the business by adding � (new) customers by making ourselves visible online." Roberts has been working for the past year and a half on a similar strategy to elevate the Mr. Handyman brand.

Molly Maid has close to $200 million in annual revenue and employs 55 people at its Ann Arbor base.

It accounts for the bulk of Service Brand International's roughly $250 million in revenue, Roberts said.

Service Brands is the parent company to service-based franchises Molly Maid, Mr. Handyman and ProTect Painters, after its recent sale of 1-800-DryClean to Certified Restoration Dry Clean Network for an undisclosed amount, Roberts said.

Two things are crucial for Molly Maid's future, Roberts said.

"Marketing and technology are going to be what drives this business � they make us more available to the customers and help us provide a better experience for the customer." Roberts said she plans to lead efforts to look at ways technology can help the business and its franchisees operate more efficiently, such as online service booking and using GPS to give customers a better idea of when their staff will arrive.

She also plans to look at ways to make the Molly Maid franchise concept more affordable to people looking to open a business, such as offering smaller territories for markets in Northern Michigan.

"We don't have a market in Traverse City, but we certainly could," Roberts said.

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