One-Stop Customer Service Tom Witts of Georgia Property Restoration says when companies hand off a job from sales to design to production, the customer often gets lost in the shuffle. “You have to teach 10 people how to interact with the customer. All you needed is for one to do it wrong and it ruins the nine before,” he says. Six years ago, he hired Lynda Huff as a full-time customer service contact to work directly with the company’s insurance restoration clients. “The first person they hear from is the customer service manager and the last person they hear from is the customer service manager,” Witts says.
He makes sure the client understands that they have one point of contact. “We joke that even if a customer asks what time it is, our carpenters will respond ‘talk to Lynda,’” Witts says. He prefers having one person set the customer’s expectations. “We have very few customer complaints that get back to insurance or the adjustor,” he says.
Show Them the Money? Words of praise and pats on the back are great, says remodeler Gary Adam, but money is better. “If you give three pats on the back, then the fourth one should be monetary,” he says. The owner of Pioneer Craftsmen in Ontario, Canada provides bonuses to field employees if he feels they have performed well on certain projects. He says it ranges from $500 to $1,000. At the end of the year, however, he distributes 15% of his pre-tax profit to his employees. He decides what each employee receives based on how they performed during the year. “One carpenter might make $5,000. The other one might get $1,500,” Adam says. He says profit-sharing inspires his employees to work more as a team. “They are willing to help others when they need a hand or give advice on a sticky situation or technical issue because they know the whole company is sharing,” he says.
Tim Thompson, president of Thompson Building Associates, takes half the difference between the estimated and actual budget for every job and puts it in a pool. At the end of each quarter, he divides the pool based on each employee’s level and contribution. “We can directly give that money to the best contributors,” Thompson says. He says a field employee at the highest Level 5 in his matrix might receive $1,200 during one quarter while a Level 2 might receive $120. He deliberately keeps the amounts small enough so employees won’t be tempted to cut corners or act selfishly.
John DeCiantis, owner of DeCiantis Construction, agrees. “You can’t give someone a large bonus, because they will think they are rich and quit or slack off,” he says. DeCiantis tried using a production bonus, but job quality suffered because crews tried to beat budget. “We found employees did not want to be accountable for bad jobs, but they did want a reward for good ones,” he says.
Consultant Tim Faller says that if a bonus is not tied to an employee’s specific performance, it won’t work. “In fact, it can be a de-motivator,” he adds. For example, he says, if customer satisfaction is part of the evaluation for a bonus, the manager should ask the client a series of specific questions to evaluate the crew’s performance on that job.
Thompson advises remodelers to thoroughly research their numbers before offering a bonus. “Without knowing numbers, you reward the wrong people or you reward people when you’re losing money,” he says. Thompson only started offering bonuses after he hired a controller.