Guildmaster Award winners have demonstrated their ability to
consistently deliver an exceptional customer experience.

French Brothers
A Closer Look at French Brothers
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French Brothers
Tom & Jim French, Owners

French Brothers
P.O. Box 593
Alamogordo , NM 88310
(505) 437-7134
Company History

For more than 25 years, French Brothers Homes has been building quality homes. Jim and Tom French began French Construction Company in 1979, and it has evolved and grown steadily into a multi-faceted building and land development company. Our homes have won numerous awards, including New Mexico's Las Casitas Grand Award for best homebuilder in 2006. French Brothers Homes's proudest achievements are the high marks that our clients give for customer service. "We realize that our clients have choices when shopping for a new home, and we want to be that choice. Our goal is complete customer satisfaction. At the end of the day when they see us at the grocery store, we want to have earned a smile, a handshake, a hug."

Scope of Work

French Brothers Homes is a builder of communities and homes in southern New Mexico. In addition, it has recently ventured into the commercial business and completed an innovative 20,000 square foot facility for a national company transplanting to New Mexico.

Workload and Staff

French Brothers Homes has grown this past year from building 20 homes a year to a projected 50 homes in 2007. "We are constantly looking for ways to become more efficient in our processes as we grow as a company. The benefit to our customer is a more enjoyable experience while achieving the home of their dreams." French Brothers Homes presently has 11 full-time team members who share a passion for creative home building with a wealth of knowledge and experience. They include two project superintendents, a project design manager, an expediter and scheduler, an accountant, a customer care and office manager, a marketing and design director, and two full time community sales managers.

More than 90% of your clients would recommend your firm to a friend. How do you earn such high praise from your customers?

Our goal is always 100% customer satisfaction. We are relentless with our pursuit of excellence and are always evaluating ourselves to set the bar higher and higher. We love what we do and we think it shows in our product. We believe that if you do the right thing, create a "win, win" situation, and treat your customers the way you'd want to be treated, you'll be successful.

Client Profile

Our clients vary in many ways. We have retirees, military families, move-up buyers and some first-time homebuyers. They all, however, want a quality home, an enjoyable home building experience, and excellent customer service. Our aim is to achieve this for them.

How do you market your company?

While we incorporate many types of conventional advertising (web, print, media), we have found that word of mouth is by far the best form of promoting our company. There is absolutely no substitute for a happy customer! Secondly, our website is an essential key to those searching for a new home from afar. Since ours is a home to many military and retirees, we have found our website to be the first touch point in attracting them.

How do you use technology in your work?

Technology is big for us. We use varied technological systems in our homes to offer convenience, security, entertainment, etc. Also, our goal is to include the latest in energy efficiency and to exceed the model energy code. It is something that we've done for the past 25 years but is more important now than ever - we just feel it is the right thing to do. We also incorporate technology into our processes through our website and an on-line service where our customers can review the construction progress on their home anytime of the day or night from anywhere in the world.

How do/will you use GuildQuality information?

We review our surveys at each team meeting to keep our eyes on the target - our client. We value the input so much that when we receive a less than perfect mark, we immediately discuss what we could have done better with that particular client. Our customer satisfaction is on everyone's mind. We try and experience the home building process through their eyes. Accordingly, we hope the survey results will be valued by potential clients on our website to bring credibility to an industry whose customer satisfaction is below 60%.

Ongoing Staff Training and Development

To improve our procedures and processes, we have hired varied top consultants from across the nation who - from sales and customer service to scheduling and execution. Our goal is to constantly evaluate and improve what we do - everyone is included in these training sessions. Our company is not successful because of one single aspect, but rather because of every aspect of this company as a whole.

Motivating Employees

We believe in hiring good people and treating them well. Our company promotes quality performance, continued growth, and great success. We also have profit sharing with our employees - if we all contribute to success, then we should all benefit from that success. As a company, our priorities are people first, our community second, and then profits.

Why are you a builder?

We enjoy the satisfaction of helping clients fulfill their dreams of living in a new home and a wonderful community.

Building is a notoriously demanding profession. How do you avoid burnout?

Several ways, but most importantly, since we are a team, we are able to share ideas as well as burdens with each other, making them lighter and viewed in a clearer perspective. Also, we take time to get away and explore the country on our Harleys every summer for a "Wild Hog" adventure - talk about de-stressing!

What's next for your company

We plan on developing and building new communities in a wide range of prices and styles. Our hope is to continue to be the premier builder in our area for everyone!