Bruised by the downturn, builders turn to the fundamentals of the construction game.
Continued from page 8
5 Make it easy to submit service requests—and respond promptly. This is where the rubber hits the road for most homeowners after they close on a house, and it's where they tend to be very vocal on customer satisfaction surveys. If they don't have to jump through hoops to get a leaky faucet repaired, they're likely to refer you to friends and family who are in the market for a house. If it's a hassle for customers or you respond at a snail's pace, you may end up spending a tremendous amount of time, energy, and money trying to undo the damage done to your reputation by putting them off.
The process for submitting warranty service requests should be simple and convenient—via phone, Internet, or fax—and there shouldn't be an excessive delay in your response. Ideally, a customer service representative should be available to respond immediately—and builders need a process to handle emergencies, such as burst pipes or leaking roofs. For routine warranty service, owners shouldn't be waiting more than a day to schedule an appointment.
6 Make sure service technicians are courteous. The No. 1 complaint of homeowners about warranty work is that the technician didn't show up when he was supposed to and he didn't call to say he would be delayed. The importance of showing up on time or calling if there is a delay can't be overstated. Once in the home, it's equally important to be professional and polite.
“When you go into a person's home, you're invading their privacy,” Easthom notes. Require technicians to dress in a neat, clean, company-branded shirt and be well-groomed. Have them remove their shoes or put on shoe covers when entering the home. Have them take a mat or clean towel to put their tool box on and make sure they bring a towel to wipe their hands with before leaving.
7 Hold individuals accountable for their performance. There's an old saying that what gets measured gets done. You need a process to track warranty requests and the outcome. Holiday Builders recently installed a system that makes the person who opened a warranty request responsible for it until it is closed and the customer is satisfied. “Our goal with warranty and any customer concerns is immediate follow-through,” Holiday's Fay says. “That is one of the areas that is a priority for our homeowners. We're contacting the homeowners to make sure they're satisfied with the warranty work prior to closing out the ticket.”
The process is virtually identical at Centex, Easthom says. Just because a technician says the work has been done doesn't mean the job is finished. After the service call, the homeowners get a call to make sure they're happy with the results.
8 Provide regular maintenance tips. At Centex, any customer who provides an e-mail address will receive a message four months after move-in with home-care tips and maintenance reminders, such as when to change their air-conditioning filters. Plus, the division's Web site offers a home-care guide with frequently asked questions homeowners can check. For example, the section on heating and air conditioning will tell them that during extreme summer heat, the air conditioner should maintain a 20-degree difference from the outside temperature.
9 Survey buyers on customer satisfaction. Surveys provide invaluable feedback on what you're doing right—and what needs fixing. The key is to make them fast and easy to complete. Holiday Builders used to send out a paper survey; it was six to seven pages. “It was a very cumbersome survey and it asked for way more information than we needed,” Fay says. The builder knocked that down to a two-page phone survey.
Now, at 60 days after closing, bilingual customer service manager Rolando Garcia calls each homeowner. “It's a lot more personal,” Fay says. “It also allows us to find out if there are problems and allows us to make sure we're communicating with people. Many of our families are bilingual. Previously, they would have gotten a written survey in English. The feedback we've gotten has been incredibly successful. We're able to see gaps so we can take care of individual issues and see the big picture.” - P. Curry
