Oz Wardak, president of SunMade Energy, (holding check on right) gives a check to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. Photo contributed.

Its not an easy feat for a business to get top certifications for customer satisfaction. But one Central Valley contractor was recognized for its service.

The American Ratings Corporation (ARC) is an independent entity that evaluates all types of companies as a service to consumers.

SunMade Energy, a solar energy company in Fresno, was awarded the ARC’s Diamond Certified symbol after being rated Highest in Quality and Helpful Expertise in a customer satisfaction rating performance.

According to a press release from the ARC from October 2020, SunMade Energy is the first and only Diamond-Certified contractor based out of the Central Valley.

Oz Wardak, president and owner of SunMade Energy, said that its not often contractors get Diamond Certification because a lot of companies oversee quality control at different levels of their business.

“We prioritize quality control at every aspect of our operations,” Wardak said. “If you have involvement from the top down, rather than from mid-management down to the bottom, the results will be a lot better and the quality of the work will be a lot better as well.”

To earn the ARC’s Diamond certification, local service companies have to apply to be rated by the ARC and pass its 12-step rating and certification process. ARC also pulls a random sample of the company’s past customers from its files and surveys usually 100 customers by telephone.

Customers rate the company on a 1 to 10 scale for quality, and also share if they would be willing to return or refer other customers to the company and share if they received helpful expertise if needed.

The press release states that most companies can’t pass the rating because a customer satisfaction survey score over 90 on a scale of 100 is needed.

Wardak has been working in the industry for over 12 years and started SunMade Energy in 2016. He said that the company started slow but it really started taking off in 2018.

Even in 2020, with the Covid-19 pandemic raging, the company saw a good year and Wardak expects the same for 2021.

The business was hit pretty hard by the economic fallout of Covid-19 in the first few months of the pandemic, but started taking off again in June, as confidence in the economy started to return.

As more people were staying inside and shifting to working from home — and seeing their energy rates go up — more people were incentivized to consider a solar energy system for their homes, the release stated.

Wardak said that with their commitment to customer service, the company will stay on their current trajectory for growth.

“Our entire team at SunMade Energy is pleased to earn this prestigious award,” said Wardak. “And, it is especially gratifying because it’s based on our customers’ perception of our quality.”