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| The Real Story Behind "About Us" | ||||
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| ABOUT US | ||||
| Those of you who have been in the building industry more than 10 years have probably seen tremendous changes, not only in your own company, but in the way consumers view your services. In an age of instant information (and gratification) through the Internet, online shopping and 24/7 customer service access, your clients are starting to expect the same type of responsiveness from you, their contractor. Further justifying their sense of entitlement to your time is the fact that they are spending thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars with you and your company. Though you may be working on their project, even at the expense of other projects or your personal life, if the homeowner does not see or hear from you regularly, they may think that they are not at the top of your priority list. This sets the stage for frustration and resentment on the part of both you and the homeowner. Worse than that, it may endanger the successful completion of the project. Therefore, all of your efforts, from sales to estimating to permitting and beyond, could be in vain. Even if the project has been completed, and for a profit, if you don't have a satisfied client, the likelihood of new business referrals is slim. I have dealt with enough contractors and homeowners over the past 15 years to see that these issues are real, and they are not going away. If anything, today's homeowners are more savvy and demanding than ever before. In fact, I have gradually come to the realization that in order to be successful in residential building, a few things have to happen: 1. You must stay in touch with your clients throughout the process. The amount of hand-holding required varies from client to client, but the basic rule of thumb is they need contact (via face, phone or e-mail) with the sales team at least once a week. 2. The entire crew from your company must present the best "face" of the company. That means that all employees and subcontractors must demonstrate a commitment to excellent customer service from the first phone contact with your "gatekeeper," who takes the lead right through to the finish carpenter, who cleans up the punch list at project completion. We all have bad days, but minimizing the homeowner's exposure to unpleasantness goes a long way toward project success. 3. One of the best ways to improve business success is to please existing clients and therefore propagate further building projects through client referrals. Once you have a satisfied client it is much easier to ask for and receive those referrals. Most homeowners are more than happy to share their building experience with friends and family. As a designer for multiple contractors, I had witnessed various methods and styles of handling clients and the tremendous amount of information that goes along with a residential building project. My methods of communicating with both homeowners and contractors have evolved as technology have improved. Where I used to haul a TV/video monitor along with my laptop to client meetings, I have since advanced to LCD presentations run through my laptop. Because of the processing power of the latest laptops, I am able to run graphics programs that used to be too slow for presentation purposes. But that still left the problem of inadequate homeowner access to project design once the meeting was over. The interactive business solution earlier this year one of the contractors with whom I work called me to talk about his client's frustration with not being able to see the development of the design process. Yes, we had held meetings to elicit their needs; wants, budget and reality, and we had even held meetings going over preliminary design. However, because we did not leave paper behind with the client after the meeting (i.e., plans), the client soon forgot what we had discussed, got nervous and experienced buyer's remorse about decisions that they had already made. It happens that I had been pondering the very same issues about information flow and communication with not only the homeowners, but the rest of the design/build team as well. In fact, I had been kicking around an idea about an information "forum," which could serve multiple purposes. After months of design, development and testing, my web designer and I launched My Design/Build Project. What is it? It is an information sharing forum located on the Internet at www.mydesignbuildproject.com. The initial vision was to allow homeowners a method to view their project plans at their leisure and convenience, but the idea evolved and expanded into a resource for designers, builders, subcontractors and vendors, as well as homeowners, to share details of a remodeling or new construction project. The site is segmented into 10 modules geared toward the various users' needs. What type of information can be placed on the site? A variety of data can be stored on the site depending upon the needs of the user. For example, the following may be placed on the site: actual photographs of the project (before, during and after); plans of the project (AutoCAD, Chief Architect, scanned hand drawings, etc.); schedules, including materials and worker timelines; copies of contracts; sales reports; plot plans; budgets; estimating data; and products to be installed. Files may be uploaded to the site in the format of .jpeg, bitmap, .doc and .zip. How do you gain access and control of whom is seeing what? Once a company subscribes to the service, a login name and password are assigned in order to gain initial access. The initial contact person (usually the company president) then assigns those users he/she wishes to have access to the site and therefore, the company's information. Depending upon which module the user is assigned to, he/she can only see limited information. For example, you would not want the homeowners to view your estimating numbers or any other internal information usually kept by the company president. However, by giving your homeowner access under the "Homeowner's E-Folder," they will only see a fraction of what is happening on their project...information which is tailored for their needs while providing confidentiality for the company. Likewise, the access granted to the plumber on the job would come through a different module which gives that subcontractor relevant information for his role on the project. Is DSL or high-speed Internet a requirement? No. Dial-up connections will accommodate the site. However, depending upon the amount of pictures and graphics located on the site, dial-up may prove too slow for some users. How much information can be on the site? Each subscriber is allotted 100 MB of data storage. Old proj- ect information may be removed and backed up to the user's computer in order to open up more space. What are some of the other uses of the site? My Design/Build Project is a great way to market to future clients. As we in the building trades know, the greatest source of new business is our existing client base. One of the features of the site is a method for homeowners to share their experience with friends and family. Mr. and Mrs. Homeowner can give their friends access to the photo gallery of the project along with a good word for the contractor. The site can also be used to assist in product selection. You, the contractor, could list your preferred vendors on the site (e.g., Cabinet Maker, Appliance Dealer, etc.). Assuming that those vendors have websites, the homeowner can sit in their home on a cold winter's night and shop for the products they wish to have installed in their home. Likewise, the homeowner can walk into a furniture store with a printout of their floor plans in order to furnish their new space without fear of miscalculated dimensions. When will it be available for the design/build community? My Design/Build Project is available as of January 2004. How can I check it out? You can access a portion of the site at www.mydesignbuildproject.com and login with the username: sample with the password of sample. Joe Dellanno is the president of My Design/Build Coach, Inc., My Design/Build Project, Inc.© and Design Solutions, Inc. Joe specializes in professional design/build business coaching and design/build Internet solutions for design and build teams nationally. He also provides residential design services for professional builders and remodelers in the Boston area. |
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| My Design/Build Project Conference Call Lunch Dates | ||||
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| Each week My Design/Build
Project will host a "conference call lunch date". Each Thursday afternoon from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm you and your team will have the opportunity to ask questions about
My Design/Build Project's systems, to share what is working and what is not working and how we can improve on these issues. Due to the nature of conference calls, all participants will need to keep their stories brief and to the point due to time limitations. There are a limited number of conference call lines available. To ensure your entire team has access to the call please send me an e-mail with the number of the participants that will be on the call. I will forward you the conference call and access code numbers. Please forward the conference call number and access code to your team members. I look forward to hearing from you and your team in the near future. Thank you, Joe Dellanno President My Design/Build Project, Inc.© My Design/Build Coach, Inc. |
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