Most of us would like to discover one simple, easy-to-remember policy that resolves all service issues. “The customer is always right” comes immediately to mind. Regrettably, this is a hope doomed to frustration. Looking after customers is a task filled with ironies, contradictions, and paradoxes. Consider these service examples.
You can’t control other people, yet to provide good service, you must find ways to do just that: Control what sales-people promise, what architects design (sometimes without regard to budget or code), how your trades perform, and how your employees speak to buyers. And, yes, control the weather, too, while you’re at it. The challenges of training and communicating are not to be scoffed at. They are continuous and vital to your success.
Regardless of how experienced and committed you are, things will go wrong. No magic number of years, no set number of homes built, dollars earned, or seminars attended will guarantee your success. Many have learned not to say, “Now I’ve seen it all.” Each day brings new adventures and fresh lessons. Integrating new information and sometimes sweeping changes keeps true professionals busy. Burnout is a constant threat; energy and enthusiasm are critical antidotes.
Home buyers value handcrafted homes. To confirm this, just mention “factory-built, double-wide” as a housing option to a custom buyer and watch them hyperventilate. However, many complaints builders hear relate to the variations inherent in a product created by people and tools, out in the open, and in full view of the buyer and the moods of the weather. Builders must balance the dream with realities at the same time as they struggle to improve quality.
Some customers will use your good accomplishments against you. Winning an award stimulates baiting: “If you really deserve that ‘Top Home Builder of the Universe’ award you brag about, you’ll replace my 14-year-old carpet.” Knowing how to respond to such baiting helps; remember that two things can be true at the same time: “Yes, we’re proud to be Top Home Builder of the Universe, and replacing your carpet is a maintenance item.”
The better your reputation, the more you are a target. One company actually repaired a foundation problem in a home built by another company. The home’s builder refused to take any action because of the house’s age and referred the homeowners to the warranty insurance company. Upon learning about the $250 filing fee required to submit a claim, the homeowners decided to put a sign in their front yard condemning a builder who did not build the house. The homeowners figured the builder would want to protect his reputation and would fix the problem to get the sign down. They were right. One wonders when these homeowners will start renting the sign to others on the street.
If anything can go wrong, it will—and with the most ornery customer you have. The buyers you dislike the most often get the most attention, time, money, and effort. And these same buyers are likely to end up hating you anyway. Builders sometimes wonder if the negative field such customers emanate draws problems to them. That’s a good theory, but unproven. More important is whether the customer was innately difficult from the beginning or did something in the process make the customer difficult?
Most builders have learned that no good deed goes unpunished. The extra you do is often the action that ends up costing thousands of dollars and taking hours to follow up. The builder who agreed to replace three cracked entry tiles (after the piano was delivered) ended up replacing the entire entry way because a color match could not be found. Then he paid a huge cleaning bill because the tile dust permeated the family’s collection of antique musical instruments.
Those who do not work in service full-time are not always the best at making service decisions. One company volunteered to pay to dry-clean items in a closet where drywall repairs generated what the homeowner called “an unacceptable mess.” Although the warranty manager found visible residue (easily brushed off) on just two items, the company owner felt decisive action was called for. He figured, “How much could it cost to clean the clothes in one closet?” Famous last words: It could and did cost $1,600, and the homeowner was still complaining.
What seems on the surface to be good service often turns out to be just the opposite. The builder who accepts warranty items by phone is seldom staffed adequately. He probably doesn’t have a person in the office who is knowledgeable enough to talk to homeowners and a person to inspect, arrange, follow up, and document the needed repairs. Clients get frustrated when a friendly phone call is followed by no action because the person answering the phone has moved on to the next homeowner who wants to report items. Long-term, a written reporting system provides more reliable results and gives homeowners more protection.
Similarly, when field personnel provide their cell numbers to customers, their phones frequently interrupt meetings with other customers. Think of what a hospital emergency room would be like if patients could walk in and just roam around looking for a doctor. Systems are essential to produce the orderly results homeowners want, yet those same homeowners often resist following them.
The longed-for one-size-fits-all customer service philosophy is nonexistent. If it were easy, everyone would satisfy all customers, and success would fail to differentiate one builder from the next. Although no guaranteed formula has been found, it is good to know that the effort you make to untangle the ironies, contradictions, and paradoxes of customer service can set your company above the competition.
