Although Gradison doesn’t exactly follow the new-home tradition of offering customers option packages, he says that he has put together pre-selected looks based on design styles that are strong in his market. “The overall look has been set up, and if [time-strapped clients] like the style, we can build from that; it really cuts design time in half and is easy for us to spec.” About 20% of Gradison’s clients use the “pre-select” system.
Neal Hendy, president of Neal’s Design Remodel in greater Cincinnati, was able to afford a showroom by partnering with Woodmode Cabinets as its distributor. The company is happy to have a new-home–style sales tool. “We needed a way to separate from other parts of the industry,” he says of his company’s decision to open a showroom with cabinetry as well as surfaces, fixtures, and other home products.
The partnership has worked well for the $5 million company. In 2006, Neal’s will move from its 1,500-square-foot facility to a new 5,500-square-foot showroom.
Neal admits that most remodelers can’t have showrooms, but he points out that project photographs can be a gold mine for remodelers. “You can use photos to show your workmanship, and so, when they point something out, you’ll know what you’re bidding on,” he says.
3. Quality Checklists Many remodelers pride themselves on their quality work, and tracking quality ensures that it will remain consistent. Bill Edmunds, vice president of consumer relations and quality control for Brown Family Communities in Tempe, Ariz., points to the company’s “hotline tracker” as a particularly useful tool.
“If there’s a problem with a house, it gets put in a tracking system [handled through one employee] and all senior management gets involved,” he says. “The response is immediate, and it says to the buyer ‘You’re not just a dollar and a number.’” In addition to fixing the problem, the company keeps track of the information and watches trends to further control quality.
The company, which builds about 1,000 homes a year, also tracks quality from framing inspection through close. “Our technicians look at whether the house meets codes, municipal requirements, and manufacturer recommendations for installation,” Edmunds says. The company keeps each home’s 35-page checklist on an Excel spreadsheet so it can be easily shared with subs and trades. If there is a problem at any stage, “everything stops until it’s fixed,” Edmunds says.
Keystone addresses quality by pushing trades to get it right the first time. “Our program [encourages] trades to spend more focus on self-inspection and less on return trips,” Rutt says.
At every Keystone house, trades fill out a survey where they rate themselves on criteria such as whether they arrived on time or kept a clean site. The supervisor then rates the trades as well. Keystone puts the scores on the trade partner section of its Web site, where a continuously updated rating of the five best and the five worst subs runs. “It’s amazing how important this is to them. When we’re looking to increase or decrease work to someone, we look to this [tool]. It has improved on-time completion and quality,” Rutt says.
4. Perfect Punch-Out Stephen Hann, president of Stafford, Texas–based Hann Builders, doesn’t do punch lists, he does “celebration walks.” The new-home builder is proud of his five-step plan for perfect closeouts, which includes walks at pre-foundation, pre-electrical, pre-trim, and pre-carpet.
Last, is the celebration walk. “I meet [the client] at the curb and enjoy the outside, working around from front elevation to back,” Hann says. “Then, I take them through the home and talk about its benefits and how to operate everything, like HVAC, sprinkler, and security systems. It’s about orientation, not punch list,” he says. “Quality control is our responsibility, and we take that on. They can [ask for things to be fixed] but we don’t go in with the idea that they are going to make a list of what’s wrong — that’s asking them to nitpick,” he explains.
Hann advises remodelers to tour clients through secondary rooms first to get them out of the way before hitting the kitchen, which is where an exhaustive amount of time is spent.
Drees Homes aims for a smooth close by refusing to release homes until they are near perfect, says Marvin Miller, corporate production manager for the Fort Mitchell, Ky.–based home builder.
As the “builder” (supervisor) is near completion on a home, the company sends in a quality inspector, who walks the job with an eight-page quality control checklist. After he’s assessed the 100-plus items on the list, and say 10 or 15 still need attention, he gives the list to the builder who has one week to fix the problems.
Once fixes are made, the home is introduced to the buyer. “It’s a demonstration more than an inspection,” Miller says. “We show them features, things they need to know, like the location of shutoff valves.”
If along the way, the client notices something, it’s put on another list, which the builder will address. “A week or so after the client moves in, we call them and ask if anything was overlooked,” Miller says. “If so, it goes on a tag list to the builder and a copy of it is given to his supervisor, so there are checks and balances.”
Miller thinks that remodelers should be careful not to push the final phase of a project — because there will be more mistakes — giving the client a bad impression of the workmanship. “Make sure you do a thorough list and don’t rush the customer to say it’s done,” he advises. “The goal should be: 100% complete.” —Cati O’Keefe is a free-lance writer based in Cincinnati.