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Today's savvy builders use customer satisfaction information in all levels of their operations.
WHEN ESTATE HOMES LLC, IN Colorado Springs, Colo., was acquired by John Laing Homes in 2001, the staff had heard a lot about the "Laing tradition" of taking care of customers. "We knew the expectations were high, so we tried to pick up that mindset right off the bat," said Ron Covington, division president.
A part of that tradition meant surveying all of Estate Homes' new customers on their satisfaction with their home and their home buying experience, just as all the John Laing divisions do on an ongoing basis. "As the survey results started to come in, we were holding our breath a little bit," says Covington. With good reason: "We weren't anywhere near what the expectation level was for John Laing Homes."
In fact, the Colorado Springs division found themselves ranked eighth out of John Laing's nine divisions by the end of 2001, with an overall customer satisfaction score of 81.2 percent.
But, by listening to their customers, identifying specific areas that needed to be improved, and implementing new policies, the division's overall score jumped to 91.4 percent in 2002. "We went from number eight in John Laing to number one in the entire country by the end of 2002," says Covington. How? "We built a team that really cares about people. I want to say our customers, but it's a broader scope than that."
With initial feedback in hand, and insights on what drives satisfaction from John Laing's customer satisfaction research vendor, Eliant (formerly National Survey Systems, based in Irvine, Calif.), John Laing customer care director Zane Wilkerson set up training sessions. Each employee was required to attend and learn about the issues that faced the division. "Early meetings were not run," said Wilkerson. "I had to get Ron Covington to support me to get the folks to just show up." But this grassroots type of approach is key to creating change in overall philosophy.
According to Ed Caldeira, president of Crofton, Md.-based Caldeira Quality, a consulting firm specializing in quality issues and customer satisfaction, and former director of quality at the NAHB Research Center, "everyone needs to understand that...