No surprises—that’s the goal Joe and Judy Gates set for themselves. Their company strives to take customers from contract through warranty—and beyond—without any unpleasant surprises.
Of course, that’s no easy task when most of your customers are buying their first custom home. “We have to spend the time up front to educate them,” says Judy Granlee-Gates, whose company builds homes in the $100,000-to-$300,000 range.
The education begins with a home building orientation manual she wrote. The highly detailed book “minimizes the freak-outs,” she says.
After groundbreaking, the education continues with weekly customer meetings at the jobsite. “Having them on the site puts them at ease,” she says. “If there’s a mistake, we just point it out and tell them how we’re going to fix it.”
By the time orientation rolls around, the clients are so accustomed to the house there are rarely any problems.
Finally, the Gateses spell out the parameters of their warranty. “We give them a clear, written understanding of what we cover and what we don’t,” says Granlee-Gates. “Customers like that they’re getting something in plain English.”
With such a well-honed system in place, the Gateses can visit the grocery store with no fear of encountering any unhappy customers. No unpleasant surprises.
