Millions of Americans are living longer and more active lives. And with their changing lifestyles, older Americans are also looking to revitalize their home environments. Identifying these opportunities and developing the skills to interact with 50+ customers can help you grow your business dramatically. Learn best practices in communicating and interacting with this exciting and evolving population, and take advantage of one of the fastest growing market segments in remodeling and related industries. (CAPS I)

8:30am – 4:00pm March 8, 2012
Cost – $250 member, $350 non-member

Design/Build Solutions for Aging & Accessibility – Formerly Home Modifications.

The rapid growth of the older adult population of the United States is a huge opportunity for remodelers. As this consumer group expands, more and more are interested in remodeling their home to fit their new lifestyle and abilities. This Certified Aging-in-Place (CAPS) course will help you understand the guidelines and requirements of accessibility, the importance of doing an assessment with input from occupational and physical therapists as well as qualified health care professionals, and the significance of good design in making modifications that can transform a house into a safe, attractive, and comfortable home for life. (CAPS II)

8:30am – 4:00pm March 9, 2012
Cost – $250 member, $350 non-member
Sign up for CAPS here.

Location:

HBA Greater Chicago
5999 New Wilke Road
Suite #104
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
224.353.6050

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Member / Non-Member

Caps 1 Member $250.00 USD Caps 1 Non-Member $350.00 USD Caps 2 Member $250.00 USD Caps 2 Non-Member $350.00 USD Caps 1 & 2 Member $500.00 USD Caps 1 & 2 Non-Member $700.00 USD

This course for building professionals discusses strategies for incorporating green-building principles into homes without driving up the cost of construction. Students will learn how green homes provide buyers with better value, lower energy costs, lower maintenance, better indoor air quality and better long-term value. Techniques are also discussed for competitively differentiating your home products with increased indoor environmental quality as well as energy and resource efficiency.

8:30am – 4:00pm  April 12 & 13
Cost – $395 member, $495 non-member

Location:

Custom Construction Concepts
190 Liberty Drive
Crystal Lake, IL 60014
815.459.1205

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Member / Non-Member

Member $395.00 USD Non-Member $495.00 USD

Master the craft of successful selling. This professional-level course is designed for specialists in new home sales. You will gain a broad understanding of the home building business, discuss consumer psychology and learn the advanced techniques used by real estate veterans for greeting, closing and overcoming objections.

8:30am – 4:00pm April 24, 25, 26
Cost – $495 member, $595 non-member

Location:

SSHBA
10767 W. 163rd Place
Orland Park, IL 60467
708.349.4242

Sign Up Here:

Member / Non-Member

Member $395.00 USD Non-Member $495.00 USD

• The ability to see issues from the customer’s perspective
• The commitment to exceed the customer’s expectations
• A willingness to do what was promised
• A business ethic that puts honesty, fairness, and integrity ahead of monetary concerns

Good Customer Service is really a client management system designed to help them understand and appreciate the design / build process. It is also one that creates realistic expectations while setting limits and responsibilities for both the builder and the customer.

Some of the mistakes that builders make leading to customer dissatisfaction include:
• Using incomplete plans and specifications. This creates misunderstandings and disputes during construction. Custom builders must strive to provide, or insist on, detailed plans and specs.
• Over-promise and under-deliver. Optimism is great, but doing what you said you would do, when you said you’d do it, provides a good basis for an excellent customer experience.
• Confusing systems and hap-hazard procedures. These lead to misunderstandings and eventual distrust between builder and client.
• Fail to maintain consistent and clear communications with the client. Ignored phone calls is the most often cited problem that customers have with builders.

It has been my experience that most of the horror stories related to the custom home building experience are a result of the process, not the home. That is, most customers are satisfied with the end result (the finished home), but are often frustrated and exhausted by the process. And, it is this frustration that helps to turn a normal person into a “Client From Hell”. So, it is imperative that builders develop a system that shepherds the customer through the design / build process. Too often, we builders assume that our clients have a much greater understanding of custom building than they do. We need to remember that when we “assume”, we take the chance of making an “ass” of “u” and “me”.

One good way of improving a customer’s understanding of the process of building a custom home is to create a series of manuals for the customer to refer to before, during, and after construction. While these manuals can be combined into one so-called “Orientation Manual”, I prefer to break it down into three parts. They are:
• The Custom Building Design & Building Manual – This manual spells out, in a customer friendly manner, your way of doing business. All of the steps of the custom building process are explained in detail so that there are fewer surprises and areas of disagreement during and after construction.
• The Construction Manual – This manual helps the customer organize the various documents created during construction. Here, you would provide sections for contracts, change orders, selection sheets, allowance information, schedules, surveys, draw sheets, field notes, and other materials needed for a smooth construction process.
• The Warranty Manual – This manual provides the customer with all of the information required to live in, operate, and maintain their new home.
Showing the customer how to use the manuals during the construction and warranty periods will forestall many typical builder / client issues. Additionally, they are an excellent marketing and sales tool that can be used to demonstrate your commitment to a positive customer experience.

Creating Realistic Expectations before construction begins and reinforcing them during and after construction helps to create a positive customer experience. Creating and maintaining realistic expectations should be part of every builder’s Customer Service philosophy. Because our buyers come to us with so many misconceptions about custom building and, to a degree, distrust of our profession, we must work hard to gain their trust and to make sure that they understand what we will and won’t (or can’t) provide.

Some of the unrealistic expectations that buyers bring to the table include:

• The process will be smooth and fun
• All of my dreams will be fulfilled
• I won’t make any changes
• I can save money by doing some of the work myself
• I can avoid two moves by timing the sale of my current home

Custom builders know that these expectations are fantasy and can lead to real problems, yet are reluctant to dispel them during the selling process. I believe that carefully crafted explanations to the above misconceptions will go a long way toward the beginnings of a successful partnership with the customer.

Gently, though firmly, additional issues must be clarified and reinforced before and during the construction process. You need to explain that:

• They must be willing to pay for what they want. There is no free lunch, and you and the others involved in the construction process are in business to make a fair return on the work and value that you bring to the table. Respect is a two way street.
• Selections and decisions must be made on a timely basis in order to keep the project on schedule. Delays will cost not just time, but money as well.
• You, or your company, are in charge of the project and that while the customer is the ultimate “boss”, the prosecution of the work is your responsibility. Supervision / direction of the subs and suppliers is not allowed.
• Change orders during construction cost not just money, but time. A concerted effort must be made to have the project well defined before starting construction.
• Allowance over-runs are common. It is the nature of custom building to have allowance budgets exceeded by the customer, no matter what the amount of the allowance. We need to make sure that they understand this and to be ready for it.
• Delays during construction of custom homes are normal and are factored into the schedule. This means that sometimes nothing will happen on their particular job on some days.
• That, unless they are willing to pay for a full time on-site construction supervisor, you or your staff will not be on their job all day, everyday. Indeed, some days, no one will visit the jobsite.
• Problems during the construction process are inevitable. You, along with the vendors, trade contractors, and customer will work through the issues as they arise. It is also important to stress that while we strive for perfection, it simply is not possible in custom building, or any construction project for that matter.

By being pro-active and addressing these potential problem areas ahead of time, you will have a much better opportunity to assist the customer in a smoother and less stressful construction experience.

The final piece of a good Customer Service program is warranty work. First, three warranty nightmares need to be headed off at the pass. They are:

• I want to do some of the work myself. Avoid this at all costs. Explain that they will not save money, it won’t be fun, and that you can’t be responsible for problems that their work could cause. Firmly and resolutely say no.
• I want to buy materials / products and have your subs install them. Ditto above. Just say no.
• I know a plumber (electrician, framer, etc, etc) and I would like them to bid on or to do the job. Unless you have a relationship with that trade contractor, explain that a construction project is not an individual sport. It is a team sport that requires practice, respect, and experience working together. As before, no is the correct answer to this proposition.

The final piece of the Customer Service system rests with an effective and smooth warranty service process. Making sure that the process is well defined and explained in the Warranty Manual, and reinforcing the company’s policies during warranty will help to increase customer satisfaction. But the most important thing that a custom builder can do to take the pain out of the warranty period is to finish the home, and finish it right, before the customer moves in. Deliver a defect free home, without a punchlist. Customer satisfaction rises exponentially and reduced service calls will allow you and your staff to focus on new and profitable projects.

Customer Service is a philosophy of doing right by our customers. It is also a pro-active system of managing the customer toward a satisfactory experience. Satisfied customers mean more referrals. It’s just that simple.

There Are Three Main Reasons a Client Wants to Bid a Job:

• The client does not trust the contractor, therefore, to keep him “honest”, the client must bid the job out. Comment: You cannot make a good deal with a bad guy – the bad guy will always get you.
• The client is hoping the contractor will make a bidding error and the client will gain a lower price due to the error. So, the client bids the job to then contract with the builder who made the biggest mistake. Comment: Forcing a builder to make good on a bidding mistake is not always in a client’s best interest. Builders who do not know how to estimate properly, do know how to get mistakes back through charges on extras and options.
• The client feels that bidding the house out will give him the same type of competition for his business that working two car dealers against each other will. Comment: Houses and cars are as different as night and day. To compare them on price, without considering all of the subjective factors such as reputation, attention to detail, and compat- ability is an invitation to disaster.

Bidding a home out to multiple builders raises the client’s stress level. A custom home takes an incredible amount of time and expertise to bid correctly. These “bidders” are people whom you will probably spend a great deal of time with and will develop friendships. Let’s face it, no one likes to be the bearer of bad news and the client will have to be the one to deliver it to all but the “winning” bidder. Telling a “friend” that they didn’t get the job is very unpleasant and stressful.
If your plans and specifications are poorly drawn and executed, and the bid instructions are vague and incomplete, the bids will be so far apart that it will be impossible to reconcile them and to determine which among them is really the lowest. If your plans and specifications are properly drawn and executed, and the bid instructions are complete, three competent and reputable builders will come up with pricing that is almost identical. If that is so, why submit yourself to the stress of bidding the home out. Choose your builder the same way which you would choose any professional to whom you are entrusting your life savings. That is on the basis of their Professionalism, Reputation, and Warranty.

To be honest, the complicated nature and organization of the funding and planning of this training is still something of a mystery to me, but somehow, someway, it all came together. All of the arrangements and negotiations with the various organizations for my trip were handled by Barbara McMurray, Susanna Connaughton, and Guiliana Nave of the International Department of NAHB. They spent endless hours working on logistics and planning, and were instrumental in making the trip a success.

Upon arrival on Saturday the 5th, I had the opportunity to tour three housing projects in and around Accra. One was a small, high end, mixed use project right in Accra. The second was an “affordable” project located on the outskirts of the city, and the final project visited was a master planned community, with several different price points, located about 20 kilometers from the edge of Accra. The importance of these site visits cannot be overstated. Without them, the value and relevance of the course material to the audience would be severely diminished, if effective at all.

On Monday the 7th , the first course, Project Management, was held at the Fiesta Royale Hotel. This is the same hotel where I was staying. The room set-up, registration, and AV was identical, perhaps better, than that for many courses I have instructed in the States. Although many of the students were late arriving (a cultural issue), the class went very well with lots of interaction and discussion. The builders had a very good command of English, though for me, understanding some of them was difficult at times. Several were educated in the UK or US. Mr. Mike Puplampu is the Executive Director of GREDA. He attended both days of class and was extremely helpful when any cultural or language differences reared their head.

The Scheduling course was presented on Tuesday the 8th. From a student interaction standpoint, we had very lively discussions regarding their scheduling issues. My ability to better relate to their issues was greatly enhanced by the site visits on Saturday. The two days of class, in my opinion, were well received and helpful to the builders who attended. From the standpoint of administering the classes, the students followed instructions better than in most U.S. classes.

During the two days, I also presented a program that I wrote on “How America Builds”. This program was well received and helped the builders understand how we develop land and build homes. It presented many opportunities for discussion on the similarities and differences between building in Ghana and the U.S.

The builders of GREDA are smart, professional, and hungry for education. They recognize that the U.S. has well developed processes and systems that can help them improve their businesses. Along with training for the builders, there is a great need for workforce training. In my opinion, NAHB in general, and specifically the UofH, HBI, NCHI, and perhaps the Research Center have a tremendous opportunity to expand their influence and create additional sources of revenue. Just as importantly, we have an opportunity to help emerging nations improve their housing options by continuing these International outreach programs.