Ward Hampson built his company on superior customer service. So when he and his wife (pictured, center, with staff) decided to remodel their master bathroom, he saw a perfect opportunity. “We did it just to be on the customer side of the equation,” Hampson says. “And I really learned a lot.”
Hampson put that education to work with a 15-point daily checklist crews have to follow to make sure they’re not leaving behind a mess—and they’re making customers happy. That list goes on a whiteboard that’s prominently displayed in the office. That way, the team is reminded of it every day, and customers see it the moment they walk in. “It lets clients know we’re on this,” he says.
Once Hampson gets hired, the customer service really kicks into gear. Each client gets assigned what Hampson calls a “client satisfaction representative” who follows the project from beginning to end. All project leads then keep a job journal showing exactly what was done each day, including any change orders the customer signed off on. If any questions arise, company policy is that someone will get back to the customer within 24 hours.
“This industry has a horrible reputation, and I’m trying to combat that,” Hampson says.
Takeaways:
-- On the first preconstruction meeting, Hampson’s team takes copious notes that are then transcribed and emailed to the client for sign off. “I cannot tell you how many times people say everything was correct, except for this,” he says. “Now instead of installing tile and doing a shower surround incorrectly, we’ve got it correct from the very beginning.”
--To combat the issue of being priced higher than other remodelers, Hampson offers potential clients a welcome packet that shows the value of his service. The packet includes a checklist of 20 different items Classic Remodeling offers and warns customers to make sure the contractor they hire does all of them. “We’re trying to set ourselves apart from everyone else before I even show up,” Hampson says.
- Hampson autopsies every job weekly, including hours spent on each part of the project compared with estimates, to find issues and address them before they become a problem. “If I’m flying an airplane and the nose starts to tip down into a dive, that’s when I want to know there’s an issue—not when the plane is 6 inches from the ground.”