Wauwatosa, Wis., builder Craig Rakowski felt good about his company’s customer service program. But he also knew there must be ways to make it better. So the company took a page from the playbook of larger corporations, and tapped a professional research firm to conduct focus groups with its customers and other recent and future home buyers. “We were trying to understand what people like about us, how we can improve,and how we can get the message out to people who don’t know us,” he says.
The answers provided by the focus groups were incredibly valuable.For one thing, Rakowski and his staff learned that customers wanted more opportunities to bring family and friends through the company’s model homes. So they threw a party for past and potential clients at its newest model, and plan to offer similar events down the line. The focus groups also revealed that clients highly valued Rakowski’s personal involvement with their project-another useful piece of information. And the groups’ feedback showed James Craig that product selection is one of the most intimidating parts of the building process for their home buyers. “People are more worried about that than anything else,” says Rakowski. The company decided to change the title of its selections coordinator, Judy Garvey, to “personal design consultant,” to better describe her roleas a guide and advisor.
Rakowski says his staff, which includes Garvey, builders Troy Heil and Dave Montguire, and operations specialist Vivian Pingel, makes up a crucial part of his customer service plan. “Everyone I have here wants to do things the right way,”he says. He’s dubbed their client approach the “360 Degree Customer Service Commitment,” and its 12 steps include personalized selections with Garvey, a company newsletter, and direct phone access to Rakowski at all times. He also feels that a key to James Craig Builders’ success has been managing home buyers’ expectations. “You have to in order to make customers happy,” he says.
James Craig Builders, Wauwatosa, Wis.; Type of business: custom builder; Years in business: 10; Employees: 5; 2007 volume: $8.8 million; 2007 starts: 21
