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September 27, 2007

Who Buys Quality?

In my years building (and living), I've been in what I'd consider unique neighborhoods. I've worked on custom homes in toney places. I've remodeled in working-ish class row houses and simple but individually built homes. Some are great. A few junk but…

…not a single home or neighborhood I've mentioned was built by a big builder. And it shows.

I took a 7-mile run around a budding big-builder community recently. En route -- and the route was over old farms being converted to housing to serve a spiking population -- I saw names one might expect: Toll Brothers, KHOV, Pulte, and others.

And while Centex Homes (a builder I didn't see represented, I hasten to add) is winning
J.D. Power Awards for quality and satisfaction, I still had a tough time being impressed. I hate to brand myself a building-snob, offend residents, or offend people who worked hard to build these MASSIVE projects but …I hate to say this for fear of branding myself a building snob, offending residents, or offending people who worked hard to build these massive projects, but I had a tough time being impressed, considering the price tags:

• The farmers planed the landscape clean. Can't blame Hovanian for that, but the landscape it got replaced with was agony. I've seen fewer burms in indoor moto-cross.

• It was at least 2 miles in any direction before there was a business. It made me think the fuel crisis/gas prices aren't OPEC's doing; it's that you need to take your Ford Expedition on safari to get a bag of *&^% chips.

• It's also the place to move if you like monochrome housing styles. Holy cloning Batman!

• This is the place to move if you like monochrome vinyl. Vinyl siding can be nice -- "can be" being the operative phrase.

• I heard a resident of one such new neighborhood remarking he needs replacement windows. Replacement windows! Are you *&^% kidding?!

The list, I'm afraid, goes on.

So I spoke to a friend of mine about it. Let's call him Yoda, because both he's short and a master builder. I suggested that "builders don't build what people don't buy."

He replied: "Or do people buy what's there because there's little choice?"

And those are my questions for you. We all have different needs, which I'd rather respect than judge. Big production builders' business model yields a few more dollars than mine, so they might be on to something. Or is the "something" they're on to over-selling the under-built?

You buyin' what I'm sellin'?

Posted by Mark Clement at 10:19 AM | Comments (36)

September 20, 2007

Penny-Wise or Pound-Foolish?

So here's a customer-service lesson I learned this weekend; it starts with traveling:

Between building projects, I travel around the country to give demonstrations and talk about home improvement (wowing audiences with flare and panache too. And if you believe that … ).

The travel site I used made an error booking my ticket. Actually, I made one error, then called to fix it (which it seemed like I did); then they made another error leading to the proverbial comedy of such.

When I called Expedia.com for help, I couldn't get it. I couldn't even get a manager on the phone to tell me to get lost. I got order takers, not customer-service people empowered to solve problems. $750 and a new plane ticket later, I made it to my destinations (first a demonstration on installing Western Red Cedar, then a molding clinic for Lowe's).

Now, if you call the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association, you get someone on the phone who can help and get you to other people who can help you more. There's a customer-service point man there, if you will (I hope you will.) Then at Lowe's, there were about nine levels of managers who each approached customers, asking them how they could help. Besides Lowe's great return policy (I'll have to move a mountain to "return" my voided plane ticket to Expedia), there were layers of people at Lowe's empowered to help.

Even in my tiny company, if someone has a problem, I'm not there to pinch pennies. I'm there to serve, so I can count dollars. Providing good service is how a service economy makes money, and we're in one, my bruthas. Saying "There's no way we can help," then dropping you on hold for ten *!&$#@ minutes isn't helping. It's avoiding the issue.

And just like I'm taking Expedia to task, so will people hammer your good name if you hang a door that doesn't quite shut and demand a check. If you don't pass an inspection because you don't know the rules, you should never bill your customer for your failure. Cripes, even if you show up late all the time, you might not hear it, but the people who might hire you (now won't) will hear it. Just like you learned how Expedia raked me over the coals.

Think about it: Penny-wise or pound-foolish?

Have you had a similar customer-service nightmare? Or an exceptionally good experience with a company? Let me know about it. I could use a little encouragement. Or at least some sympathy.

Posted by Mark Clement at 1:06 PM | Comments (10)

September 3, 2007

Greening Trend

We report all the time here at HGTVPro.com that green is a growing trend and there are indicators that green will one day -- sooner than anybody probably thought a decade ago -- become a new status quo.

Someday.

I'm behind that.

You can call me a pinko tree-hugger if you want, but efficiency beats waste every trip of the train. And prices for green products are coming down as manufacturers sense demand and factories come on-line.

But that's the 30,000-foot view delivering a nationwide perspective. It doesn't get us behind the wheel of your truck nor our boots in the mud of your sites.

What's the hue of your day-to-day? Do sticks and batts still gain the day? Does your work require -- or benefit from -- greener products and techniques? Are you weaving in and upgrading greener products as you go? Have you made a wholesale change? Let me know.

Posted by at 2:29 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack