Guild Quality
What Is It And Why Is It So Important To Van Deusen?
One of my employees recently cut out a heading from one of our specialty trade magazines and put it on my desk. In big letters it read “Customers don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” It is the simplest of statements, but what an impact it has! For years, we have had a mandatory education policy for all of our employees, both in the office and in the field so that our team is aware of new products and is mindful of how we can improve our efficiency. I have been certified as a Certified Graduate Remodeler (one of the first ten in Maryland, a member of Remodeling Magazines’ Big Fifty class, a Certified Aging in Place Specialist, National Remodeler of the year for the North East US) I roll through our accreditations at each sales call reminding clients that I am a past president of our Remodelers Council, sit on the board of two of Maryland’s leading remodeling associations, and that I have twenty years of experience. I could rattle off our more than 25 national and local awards but there’s no need to go on. The bottom line is this: Remodeling is a scary process for folks to consider; no list of awards or accomplishments is going to matter if your clients don’t think you care. Our industry has one of the highest business failure rates in the country. Contracts are signed and deposits given and contractors are never seen again. Our clients leave to go to work each day and entrust us with their cats, their good china, silver service and sometimes even their kids.
Our clients need more than a resume and a list of past awards. All of the training, certification and classes mean nothing if it does not translate to a positive experience. How can we let clients know that we care? At the top of the list: great employees who are at the practicing end of what the owner preaches and teaches. Return calls. Be prompt. Say please and thank you. Do what you say you are going to do when you said you were going to do it.
How can we measure our clients experience? Guild Quality objectively measures projects we complete for our clients three times during and after the project. We train employees by using these same surveys during reviews to see where the employee is shining or find areas for improvement. Same for the sales and design process. Are we technically competent? Yes. Do we care first about our client and how the project turns out? You betcha.