By keeping work and home lives separate, “we’re able to keep our relationship healthy at home and we’re more focused at work,” says Pat Hurst (left) of he and his brother Dan’s family business philosophy. And focused they are. From 30- to 50-page contracts to 3D design modeling, Dan and Pat insist on detailed interaction with clients and lead carpenters. “We perform weekly ‘systems checks’ with clients — yes-or-no questions such as, ‘Are we meeting your design expectations?’ and ‘Do you have any safety concerns?’” Dan says. “It makes sure the client isn’t sitting on something they’re concerned about.”
Weekly Client Satisfaction Reports also gauge ongoing project success on a 1-to-10 scale. “If client satisfaction is consistently at a 9 or 10 and then drops to 6, we know we have something to talk about,” Pat says. Clients and leads both sign the reports, which are conducted at the jobsite.
Dan says he’s pleased by trends he sees in the reporting. “We’re able to keep clients’ satisfaction level up, even during the most frustrating times of a remodel,” he says. “By communicating that things are going to get messy, they know where the bar is set for satisfaction.” Pat adds that weekly reporting keeps lead carpenters organized. “To be prepared to write the reports, they have to go through all the project specs and schedules every week,” he says. “We’re all about capturing that level of detail throughout a project.”
- Lauren Hunter