After watching his father and grandfather toil in construction, Josh Nelson went to college to get away from the family business. But it wasn’t long before this fifth-generation remodeler was back in the fold. “I thought the corporate world was where I wanted to be, but I barely got my toes wet before I decided that business politics is not for me,” says Nelson.
The company credits its growth to top-notch customer service. But what sets this remodeling firm apart is that it doesn’t just service customers; it also cares about them.
“Clients will ask you for a million different things. ‘Can you remodel this and can you do it cheap?’ But they’ll never ask you to care about them,” says Nelson. “Our clients greet us with a hug and they say ‘We’re sad to see you go!’ instead of ‘Man, I can’t wait to get rid of this bumbling contractor moron.’”
Care shows up in little things, like thank-you notes when projects are completed, Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets, and just a friendly hello. There’s also community care through volunteer work with local churches.
“Instead of customers feeling like ‘I got to stay after my builder,’ it’s ‘My builder is after me,’” Nelson says. “Yeah, it’s going to cost us money, but it’s the best money we ever spent, because we’re demonstrating to our client that we care about them.”