Quality-minded builders, remodelers, developers and contractors rely on our customer satisfaction surveying to help them provide exceptional service

I recently connected with an old friend, who has launched a website called RemodelQA.  The site is intended to connect homeowners, who have questions about remodeling or home improvement projects, with qualified professionals.  While still early days, the company has 39,000 indexed pages in Google.

The company was founded by experts in search engine optimization.  If you search “remodeling questions” in Google, RemodelQA is the second listing.  When you respond to a question and share your expertise, the response creates a unique internet page that exists forever and will be searchable by Google.  So, this is a way to market your expertise and create a permanent “flyer” for your business on the internet.  In some cases, it might also lead to a qualified lead.

RemodelQA is a free service, and they are marketing GuildQuality members on their site.  Click here to sign up, upload your company’s logo, add links to your social media, and become part of RemodelQA’s online Contractor Directory.  Finally, GuildQuality members will be noted with the GQ logo (see below) and you can insert a link to your Customer Report.

Please let us know your feedback as you try out this service.

In October, the good people at Kohler hosted a handful of our custom homebuilders at their company headquarters in Kohler, Wisconsin. Business-wise, the trip included a tour of the historic factory and a series of focus groups. The Kohler team was interested in sharing with our homebuilders how they craft their products, and hearing our members’ thoughts on what Kohler can be doing to help them deliver superior quality and service to their homeowners.

The Kohler factory is an exhibit of craftsmanship from every period of our history. Kohler artisans are hand finishing fixtures almost immediately alongside giant robot arms and glowing vats of molten iron. If you are a builder or remodeler, and you ever you have an opportunity to visit Kohler, Wisconsin, you must go. I have never seen anything like it, and it elevated my appreciation of both American industry and industrial artistry.

But the visit wasn’t all business. We stayed at the historic American Club, dined at River Wildlife, and golfed at Whistling Straits. The food and comfort we experienced during our Kohler experience was surpassed only by the thoughtful hospitality of the Kohler team.

Last week, we rolled out a new feature providing homeowners with a summary email following the completion of a survey – even if the response was provided by telephone (55% of responses).  This is an opportunity for the homeowner to view their completed survey response, contact us if they’d like to make changes, and for members to share more information about their company and services (ie, the Member Profile and Customer Report).  This is also another step towards helping our members further engage the homeowner following the survey, and ties in with our forthcoming beta project.

In July, we launched a new service focused on surveying our member’s sales prospects, typically after the initial appointment.  The response from our members was positive and prospect surveying accounted for 14% of our total survey volumes last month.

We’re hearing that close ratios are improving, as members listen to their prospects and better understand how they are performing in sales situations.  The prospect survey also sets the stage for future GuildQuality surveying, and reinforces that you care about feedback.

If you are interested in learning more, contact us.

Responding to feedback from our members, we’re pleased to announce our new Prospect Surveying service.

Using our Prospect Surveying template, the service will enable you to collect detailed feedback from homeowners who are either evaluating your company or who have decided not to work with you.  The questions cover a range of topics — including the homeowner’s decision-making criteria and your performance in listening to their needs, presenting appropriate solutions, and following-up.  You will be able to identify the areas in which you exceeded and fell short of expectations.

The service will leverage our telephone, email, and mail card surveying process in order to generate a higher response rate than you might achieve with email or mail alone.  The “live” conversations between our surveyors and the homeowner will provide rich, actionable commentary that can help you close more business and better manage your sales team.

Over the last few months, we’ve beta tested the service with our own sales prospects and with a select group of members, including WindowPRO and Case Design/Remodeling.  For these two members, prospects were surveyed after the initial sales appointment and during their evaluation.  The survey is short and sweet, taking no more than 2-3 minutes to complete.  40-50% of those surveyed have been willing to complete the survey, providing information on a large number of prospects.

Here’s what Jake Zahnow, CEO of WindowPRO, has to say about their experience… “this provides another touch point with our prospects to find out exactly where they are in the decision process.” Jake reviews every completed survey, then follows up with his salespeople to close the loop with the homeowner.  He is surveying 100% of the company’s prospects, which he believes sets the stage for another GuildQuality survey once they become customers – “it shows that we listen.”

Homa Nowrouzi of Case Design/Remodeling shares that they survey a sample of prospects every month, and are “sharing the information broadly within the organization to create healthy competition and excellence at every level.”  Homa indicates that the company’s closing ratio on new business has improved, and they have built the results into compensation plans.

There is no additional cost to add this service — you simply pay on a per survey basis.  The data and feedback is kept in a separate GuildQuality account, so this will not affect your scores for customer surveying.

If you are interested, please contact us at support@guildquality.com.  We can have you up and running very quickly.

Like most of you, we at GuildQuality make the exploration of lead generation tools a part of our day-to-day effort as a means to grow our business.

Capterra, a web-based tool we use on occasion, earns it’s space by helping businesses “find the right software by presenting them with all of their options so they can compare solutions and make the right decision”. Capterra is a very useful and productive tool for companies not only looking for, but also providing software solutions that help us to keep our eyes on the road.

Recently, Capterra added new functionality which allows software providers, such as GuildQuality, to solicit comments from its customers. You can access our feedback page via the GuildQuality forum here. This is the part where we shamelessly ask you for any feedback you might have about your experience with GuildQuality. We would certainly appreciate any feedback you are able to provide.

As your company continues to grow, you will undoubtedly look to software to help you alleviate and/or make existing processes more efficient. This, of course, is a good problem to have. It’s at these moments, we encourage you to keep Capterra in mind.

Over the last couple years, I’ve gotten to know Tim Faller of Field Training Services. By coincidence, FTS was featured alongside GuildQuality in a recent Remodeling Magazine article. Tim is the go-to guy for “education, training, and one-to-one consultation with managers and field personnel.”

We don’t have any field personnel so I can’t personally speak to the value he brings to building companies, but a great number of our members have used his services: Conner Remodeling & Design, Encore Construction, Jeff King & Company, and the list goes on and on.

Your folks in the field are the face of your company. They are production, sales, and service all rolled in to one. If you see that some of your team is dragging, or you feel like your people have some opportunities to improve, you may want to call Tim. Regardless, I encourage you to attend one of his seminars at the IBS or Remodeling Show.

We use a product called Basecamp as our internal project collaboration tool. I’ve written a little about Basecamp here, and have always thought it would work great for builders, developers, and remodelers. Turns out I’m not the only one.

Shaw Builders of Connecticut uses Basecamp to “help manage the complex process of building custom homes.”

We work with a wide range of talented architects, interior designers, engineers, landscape architects, masons, electricians, plumbers, HVAC contractors. Our clients range from Wall Street Exec’s (super type A’s) to Hollywood celebs. If they actually had to take the time to “learn” how to use Basecamp, they wouldn’t use it. Sometimes a simple tool can solve a wide variety of major problems and Basecamp does that for us.

At GuildQuality, Basecamp is our tool of choice for communicating about all the running projects in our pipeline. So whether you are a customer satisfaction surveying company or a high-end custom home builder, check out Basecamp. It is definitely a simple tool that just plain works

Remodelers Advantage is an internationally-acclaimed business improvement and peer group organization exclusively for remodelers. They teach practical, proven, and profit-generating strategies to remodeling professionals that are interested in developing exceptional businesses — while still having enough time at the end of the day to enjoy the fruits of their labors.

I am a believer in this organization. The companies I know that rely on Remodelers Advantage Roundtables tend to be the leaders in the industry. They dominate Remodeling Magazine’s Big 50 Awards, and are regularly anointed Remodeler of the Year by national publications and their local associations. And those accolades are well-deserved — not only are these remodelers among the most profitable in the business, but they are also leaders in service excellence.

The president of Remodelers Advantage, Victoria Downing, offered to extend invitations to our membership to participate in their forthcoming seminars and workshops. These workshops are great for remodelers and custom homebuilders.

Administrative PowerMeeting — June 2008 — San Diego
Production PowerMeeting — June 2008 — Philadelphia
Building and Managing a Winning Sales Team — November 2008 — Baltimore

To register or to find out more about these events, visit the Remodelers Advantage website, or call them at 301-490-5620.

P.S. Remodelers Advantage also has an excellent newsletter filled with weekly bite-sized “PowerTips” for improving your business and leading a better life. Visit their newsletter archive, or sign up to receive it.

In the last 90 days, about 10,000 people have visited the GuildQuality Qlist to find out more about the members in our community of quality. The most frequently visited Qlistings from the last 90 days are:

1. Betenbough Homes, Lubbock, TX
2. Eberle Remodeling, Sacramento, CA
3. Quadrant Homes, Bellevue, WA
4. Johnson Homes, Cherryville, NC
5. Jimmy Nash Homes, Lexington, KY
6. Ivey Residential, Evans, GA
7. Goodall Homes, Gallatin, TN
8. Advanced Kitchens, Marietta, GA
9. Wetherington Builders, North Augusta, SC
10. Structures Building Company, Mount Pleasant, SC

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Common themes: Logos, links, customer comments, company descriptions. Customers want to see as much as they possibly can and the more info in your Qlisting, the more traffic it receives.

Additional content helps in a couple ways: First, the Qlistings with the most content are listed highest in the qlist, and thereby get more traffic. Second, search engines like good content, so the more relevant content on your page, the easier it is for search engines to direct people your way.

You can add more information to you Qlisting in your account preferences. If you need help, let us know!

We also report your Qlisting traffic to you. You may have noticed the messages in your feed: “3 people visited your Qlisting yesterday” (see the arrows below).

And for reference, here’s an example of a great looking Qlisting from Sabal Homes that didn’t quite make our Top 10 Most Visited, but was among the top 20.

Over the last year or two, several people have suggested that I reach out to Maggie Geoffroy of CDCI (Construction Data Control, Inc.) — another Atlanta-based technology company that serves homebuilders. Last week, Maggie met Glenn McNairy and I for lunch, and we had a great conversation about the building industry, the technology serving it, and the web in general.

From their website: “CDCI’s integrated packages provide estimating, scheduling, accounting, and cost control in a manner developed expressly for construction firms.”

CDCI has definitely been around. Maggie’s father started the business in 1979, and they now have well over a thousand homebuilders using their software. Many of those folks have been with them for decades.

I am interested to know if any of our members use any of CDCI’s products. If so, please let me know — I am hoping you can share your experiences.

A few weeks ago, I met some folks at SMART Builder Solutions, an Atlanta-based software company that helps builders streamline and systematize their processes. Turns out, a handful of our members use SMART, so I asked them if one of their clients might be interested in writing a product review that I could share with our members. A few days later, Greg Bennett of Greg Bennett Homes forwarded me the following (images courtesy of SMART).

“First, a little about me. I started my own home building company about 3 years ago. Before this, I had worked at a large builder for 20 years. I learned a lot about building during this time and it taught me the benefit of keeping things simple. So far, Greg Bennett Homes has managed to build and sell 120 homes per year with only a handful of people in the entire company. We couldn’t have done this without SMART Builder Solutions’ WorkSMART solution. We went with SMART for three reasons: The system is complete, which helps us keep things simple and provides one place to record sales, track construction and purchase orders, etc. As a small homebuilder, the last thing I need is another system. The one stop shop concept definitely works for us.

“Secondly, the system is customizable. Unlike the other systems I’ve seen out there, WorkSMART can be tailored to a builder’s specific needs. While the system has a basic set-up that should suit most builders, I wanted some customized things, particularly in dealing with our specific flow of business. It was not a problem to accommodate this. Lastly, it is web based. For us non-technical types, this means that all you need to access your system is an internet browser such as Microsoft Explorer. We can access and update our data from anywhere at any time and we don’t need IT support if something goes wrong. All the data is on SMART’s servers, not mine.

“So far, we have finalized system implementation in all aspects except in the areas we deferred. We recommend WorkSMART for builders who want to keep everything in one place or if they are tired of an old system and spending a lot of time on IT issues. As an added benefit, the folks at SMART Builder Solutions really know a lot about home building. They are not just dealing with the software; they can help you deal with specific issues facing your company.”

Thanks to Greg Bennett for sharing his experience with SMART Builder Solutions. If you’ve had a great experience with a product or service, and you think our members would be interested in hearing about it, please let me know.

I bought an iPhone a couple weeks ago and officially made the switch away from the Treo. I have used a Treo since the Handspring days, and have gotten pretty much every updated version in its history, so this jump was a big deal for me. And with the iPhone’s service limited to AT&T, my switch also forced my departure from Verizon. My summary judgment:

If form factor, user interface, and the internet are important to you (as they are to me) the iPhone is definitely the right smart phone for you.

If your iPod is a big part of your life (I listen to podcasts and audiobooks all the time) then you’ll really appreciate the iPhone’s advancements.

But, if seamless integration with a Microsoft Exchange server and Outlook are important to you, stick with your Treo (equipped with Good) or Blackberry.

I expect Apple will roll out some software improvements to overcome those shortcomings (the rumor mill is forecasting some big upgrades in the near future), but at present, I am having to juggle a little bit to make my email and calendar work like I want them to.

So, with all that said, is the iPhone the right device for a homebuilder or remodeler? If need to access a fully functional internet browser or review documents from your handheld, then make the leap. Want to check out your latest customer satisfaction survey responses? GuildQuality works great on the iPhone’s browser. Do you use Salesforce.com or Netsuite? Both work just fine. Need to review a proposal, word doc, spreadsheet, or pretty much any kind of document? I haven’t come across any kind of document that doesn’t display just fine.

If you’ve got one yourself, please share your experience. If you have any questions about them, don’t hesitate to post them here.

At GuildQuality, we rely on a simple web-based project collaboration tool called Basecamp. It helps us communicate internally and keep track of product development, marketing campaigns, office management issues, and any other project-based endeavors we’re pursuing. We’ve been using it for over two years, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

Basecamp is developed by 37 Signals, an eight-person Chicago-based company that, over the last couple years has pioneered the movement toward simplicity in web-based solutions. Are you tired of stuff that just has too dang much going on? Don’t need the zillion options in Microsoft Project? Don’t need the gajillion features in your CRM tool? Well, these guys probably have something you’ll like.

We take a lot of inspiration from them, and I think all businesses–regardless of whether they are web developers, homebuilders, or real estate brokers–could learn from the lessons they offer.

37 Signals was recently featured in Time Magazine. The article does a great job describing why they are succesful, why their customers love them, and what you can learn from their strategy. My takeaway is this: Making it simple is a whole lot more difficult than making it complex–but the long-term payoff is huge.

A few days ago, I referenced Zillow in a post about price appreciation in I’On. Zillow made it possible for me to (easily) assess comparable price appreciation in I’On versus the rest of I’On’s zip code. Nice.

Every place in the U.S. doesn’t have the same level of accuracy as the Charleston-area (Atlanta is woefully inaccurate). Nevertheless, I definitely like the direction Zillow is going. Atlanta and other cities may not be spot-on yet, but I am guessing that won’t be too far off.

Here’s one more reason to be impressed: Today, I happened to notice their “Bird’s Eye View” feature. Bird’s Eye View = Awesome. Here’s what Zillow has to show you about my old house in I’On. Not satisfied with the north-facing view? Want a little more? Check it out from another angle.

The thing that most impresses me about Zillow so far is how focused they are on putting information in the hands of the consumer. And this is changing the game. As Zillow’s popularity (and functionality) increases, they are putting more and more pressure on real estate brokers to deliver exceptional service and insight.

In the short-term, this is going to be painful for some brokers. Access to MLS isn’t going to get anyone any business. But in the long-term, services like Zillow and Craigslist (where I sold my last three personal homes) are going to be fantastic for both the industry and the consumer.

They’re making the industry stronger by making it harder for inferior real estate professionals to get business. Why hire a mediocre performer when you can sell it or buy it on your own? This is good for both the homeowner, the homebuyer, and the true professionals with ability, passion, and a history of delivering exceptional service.

UPDATE: For more on Zillow’s “Bird’s Eye View”, visit their blog.