Eric Sasser

The beauty of Eric Sasser’s approach to customer service lies in its simplicity. The Portsmouth, Va., builder has lived and worked in the same area for the past 20 years, and his wife was born and raised there. So he views the entire local community—current and past customers, subcontractors, suppliers, and all the residents of the area—as his client. This holistic outlook means he lavishes attention not only on the people whose homes he’s building at any given time, but also on customers from five, 10, or 15 years ago. For example, he’s instituted an ongoing challenge to his staff to spend at least $200 per week apiece on small touch-ups of completed projects. “It could be a little bit of flashing that needs to be fixed, or an air conditioning pad,” he says. “No matter how old the job is.The key is that these are unrequested fixes. We spend about $10,000 a year on it, but that’s not a lot in terms of marketing.”

Sasser and his employees spend many hours on community service. In 2005 they remodeled a building for the Maryview Foundation Healthcare Center, which provides health care to those who can’t afford it. This year the company participated in Habitat for Humanity’s Home Builders Blitz, and it plans to do so next year as well. “There are advertising and marketing related benefits, but that’s not the reason why we do it,” he adds. “We want to do something within our venue to help the community. Housing has been good to us.” Sasser also has the more usual customer service bases well covered. He gives clients a homeowner’s manual, a personalized welcome basket, and his own cell phone number. New homeowners also receive an invitation to the Sassers’ annual Jimmy Buffett party, which includes subcontractors, staff, and past customers. The party proves to be a highly anticipated event each year, and in the big picture, it fits into the company’s overall customer service plan: It’s just another way of bringing the community together.