GuildQuality

The GuildQuality Guildmaster Awards celebrate exceptional customer service in the building industry. This year (our 6th year) we are excited to recognize 155 home builders, remodelers, contractors, and real estate developers for their history of exemplary service.

To identify the award winners, we reviewed thousands of survey responses from their customers. Following are a few representative comments pulled from the customer feedback of this year’s winners:

Our experience with Windsong Properties was extraordinary and welcoming. It always felt like home every time we came out to visit even before we purchased our home.

I am grateful for the patience, expertise and professionalism – and kindness – of the entire team at McClurg. They made a challenging process (remodel in the dead of winter!) as pleasant as possible. And my new room is just what I’d hoped for, a beautiful space that completes my home.

From the moment we started this process with Carissa to finding the perfect floor plan to working with Daphne through the mortgage process and John with construction and ending with Ian we have had the best experience. Quadrant knows how to ensure a smooth process and keep the customer in the loop. We have been blessed to be part of this team and look forward to many years of enjoyment in our new home.

We were thrilled with both projects that we did with Sean Perry and group. We were impressed with the professionalism and detail oriented aspect of the group right from the start through the finished products. We just love our kitchen remodel and the extension of our deck, and do not have a single regret with the process or the result.

Of the 2011 Guildmasters’ 18,000+ survey respondents, more than 95% would recommend their builder, remodeler, or developer to a friend — an astounding accomplishment that places these companies among the healthiest and most enduring of building and remodeling businesses. Congratulations to the 2011 Guildmaster Award Winners!

To learn about this year’s Guildmaster Award Qualifications, visit the qualifications page of our website or contact us with any questions.

Atlanta Guildmembers: Please join us for lunch at Ansley Golf Club on April 12 from 11:45 to 1:15.

We’ll be giving a brief presentation about GuildQuality’s latest happenings, along with our plans for the near future. We are especially interested in hearing your feedback about GuildQuality, our services, and how we can better serve you.

Please RSVP (using the form below) by April 7. Also, we’d like to keep the event reasonably intimate, so we encourage you to bring up to three additional people from your company. Thanks for being a part of our community of quality-minded home builders, remodelers, and real estate developers. We hope to see you very soon.

P.S. This event is for our members, but we welcome any building, remodeling, and real estate companies in the Atlanta-area who are considering GuildQuality.

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Earlier this month, we sponsored the inaugural Replacement Contractor Service Excellence Award, which was given out at the Replacement Contractor Executive Conference held in San Antonio, Texas.

Conference registrants were invited to participate in the award.  For those who opted in, we asked each company to provide their full client list from 2010.  We then surveyed a representative sample of their clients using our e-mail, telephone, and mail surveying process.  The survey questions covered the full experience in working with the contractor, spanning the sales and service experience, quality of workmanship and products used, and (ultimately) would they recommend the contractor to a friend.

The participants were evaluated across all questions surveyed, with particular weight given to the response rate and recommendation rate. Working collaboratively with the editors at Hanley Wood, we then selected three winners from two different categories – those with more than $10 million or more in revenue for 2010, and those with under $10 million in revenue for 2010.  We were pleased to announce the winners alongside our partners, Hanley Wood and James Hardie.

It is worthy of noting that all of the participants posted high scores, averaging a 73% response rate and a 93% recommendation rate.

The full list of all six winners are listed below:

$10 million in revenue or above for 2010

• Thompson Creek
• Newpro
• System Pavers

Under $10 million in revenue for 2010

• Twin Cities Siding Professionals
• Franzoso Contracting
• Southwest Exteriors

Here is a photo taken that evening.  Congratulations to the winners!

In our Newsletter from January, you’ll find our Q4 Member Prediction Report, tips on how to get the most out of your membership  a great feature about a miniature castle built in South Carolina and more.

Subscribe to our newsletter here.

In 2009 and 2010 GuildQuality powered a Service Excellence Award for Remodeling’s Big50. To be eligible for the service excellence award, you must apply to become a Big50 Award Winner. In the past, there’s been some confusion about whether or not Guildmembers were eligible for this award. To be clear, you are absolutely eligible, provided you’ve not previously been recognized as a Big50 Remodeler.

Complete the application, and be sure to opt-in to the “The Big50 Customer Service Award” at the end of the form.

This morning, the team at Thompson Creek welcomed President Obama to tour their factory in Landover, MD. The President used the opportunity to announce the appointment of Gene Sperling as director of the National Economic Council. The above picture is from NPR’s blog, and features CEO Rick Wuest introducing the President to the best marketer in the history of the world.

While touring the factory, the President remarked, “Building this business has been an extraordinary accomplishment.”

According to the Washington Post,

After mounting a makeshift stage before several dozen company managers, Obama held up Thompson Creek as an example of a company that not only survived the economic downturn, but thrived, thanks to supportive policies from his administration.

“The government can’t guarantee that Thompson Creek or any other business will be a success,” the president said. “But it can break down barriers . . . and remove obstacles. Thompson Creek grew from 200 employees in 2008 to nearly 300 this year. It took advantage of the tax credits we put in place.”

As we’ve been doing with the remodeling industry’s Big50 at the Remodeling Leadership Conference for the last two years, GuildQuality will power a Service Excellence Award for replacement contractors, with five exceptional contractors to be recognized at this year’s Replacement Contractor Executive Conference in San Antonio on February 10.

Important: You need to register for the conference in order to be considered for the Service Excellence Award.

If you register before December 15, you’ll be eligible. When registering, check the box that opts you in to be considered for the award, and we’ll follow up to provide you with the details. I hope to see you in San Antonio!

P.S. Click here to download a PDF with more details about the event.

This is your chance to simultaneously promote your membership in our community of quality and keep your beverage icy cold!

We’re sending 5 koozies (while supplies last) to each Guildmember who does any of the following by 5pm midnight EST this Friday (tomorrow):

1) Publish at least five pictures of your work and add at least one tag to each picture;

2) Activate your GuildQuality Facebook or Twitter integration and post at least one customer comment to either your Facebook Page or Twitter stream; or

3) Add the GQ Badge to your Website.

Don’t miss out on your chance to win this vintage GuildQuality collector’s item from 2006!

I am pleased to announce the call for entries for the 2011 Guildmaster Awards. The Guildmaster Awards recognize exemplary customer service among our membership of quality-minded builders, remodelers, developers, and contractors.

The call for entries will close on January 15, 2011, and we will announce all the winners on or about May 1, 2011.

As in prior years, members who survey all of their customers (see the detailed qualifications for allowed exceptions), achieve a recommendation rate of greater than 90%, and have a high survey response rate will qualify to win an award. I urge you to read the complete details here.

The application page for the 2011 Guildmaster Awards is in the Marketing section of your account. Click here to apply.

In our Newsletter from September, you’ll find ways to integrate GuildQuality to your Twitter and Facebook accounts, why we switched the recommendation question in surveys from yes/ no to zero to four, our Q3 Member Prediction Report, and more.

Subscribe to our newsletter here.

In early October, we’re headed to Kohler, WI for the Remodelers Advantage Summit. There’s no better people than the Remodelers Advantage folks, and there’s no better place for remodeling professionals to have an event than Kohler.

Everyone great person I know in remodeling is either attending or they wish they were attending. I think this is going to be a wonderful event, and while attendance is strong, Victoria tells me there are a handful of spaces remaining. If you are a remodeler, custom homebuilder, or replacement contractor (or golfer, trap shooter, or epicure!) this event will have a lot for you. Join us!

Victoria also asked that I share some special incentives for GuildQuality members who are interested in a Master Your Remodeling Business Workshop or a Remodelers Advantage University membership. When you register for either one, use the coupon code “GQ” and get $100 off.

If you haven’t yet heard, Leah Thayer recently left her position as Senior Editor with Remodeling Magazine to start daily5Remodel, a “subscription-based daily eletter created specifically for remodeling professionals.”

Leah is one of the best people in the remodeling profession. If she was publishing a daily eletter on beekeeping, I’d subscribe. If that’s not sufficient endorsement, she just sent me this special promotion to share with our Guildmembers. Register for daily5Remodel.com by October 1 and you could win an iPad. Leah writes:

Looking for the daily delivery of remodeling industry news and intelligence, business best practices and peer-to-peer engagement? Weʼre happy to announce the imminent launch of daily5Remodel.com, a free (with premium model to come) website and subscription-based daily eletter created specifically for remodeling professionals. The editor and publisher is Leah Thayer, a former senior editor with Remodeling magazine and a big fan of GuildQuality. So much of a fan, in fact, that GQ members who choose to become Premium Subscribers will save 20% on a one-year or two-year subscription, which includes many additional benefits. Please join me in registering for daily5Remodel.com. If you do this by October 1, youʼll automatically be entered into a drawing for an iPad! Click here to register.

On July 27, I’ll be speaking with Victoria Downing about how to differentiate yourself based on what you’ve actually accomplished, and rise above everyone else’s superficial chatter. Victoria is an amazing leader in our industry and a wonderful person. She can make even a guy like me sound intelligent, so I encourage you to tune in. Click here to register.

This interview will be available only to members of the Remodelers Advantage Community. If you’re not  yet a member, you should become one now.

Once again, GuildQuality is powering a Service Excellence Award for the Charleston Trident Homebuilders annual PRISM Awards. I believe the significant majority of our Charleston members are also members of the CTHBA — all of you should apply for a Service Excellence Award. The deadline for application is August 10, 2010.

Click here to download the PRISM Awards Application Package

On Friday, I signed the last of the 2010 Guildmaster certificates. If you ordered some, and have not yet received them, expect them to arrive in the next couple of day.