Qualified Remodeler Magazine

JUL 2013

Qualified Remodeler helps independent remodeling firms to survive, become more professional and more profitable by providing must-have business information, namely best business practices, new product information and timely design ideas.

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REMODELER SURVEY SERIES Easing the Anguish of Remodeling Combatting negative perceptions comes down to how homeowners are made to feel and how they remember the experience By Kenneth W. Betz T he belief of many homeowners that remodeling can be a traumatic experience under the best of circumstances is well established, but a recent news feature that compa red home remodeling to a colonoscopy surely gave remodelers more reason to cringe. (New York Times, May 5, 2013, "How Colonoscopies Are Like Home Renovations," Ezekiel J. Emanuel). The author bluntly says: "It's a law of nature: Everyone who undertakes major home renovations ends up loathing their contractor." If it's any comfort, Emanuel continues that the strain of remodeling has nothing to do with the contractor's honesty, quality of work or the mess they make or don't make. Rather, it's about psychology, the way we assess pain and the way we remember it. Selective Memory Still, the inference remains: Remodeling is painful. However, it is worth noting that subjects of experiments didn't judge pain by the overall experience, but remembered pain, or lack of it, at the very end, which had a disproportionate influence on how they evaluated the entire experience, according to the article. The author's advice to contractors, which seems to advise ignoring some problems to concentrate on a hot button complaint, is to pick something, such as a repair or call-back, that the homeowner really cares about and exceed their expectations on that repair — especially at the very end of the job. In other words, leave them with a positive experience that overshadows earlier inconveniences and bumps in the road. Remodelers who pride themselves on exceptional customer satisfaction can be expected to — and should — take exception of the broad characterization of remodeling as a painful experience as well as to a somewhat manipulative, and perhaps cynical, attitude exhibited by the author of the aticle. Although equating remodeling and pain may be extreme, an awareness of the prevalence of the perception can help remodelers do everything to counteract that experience and leave their clients with a positive feeling after the job is completed. The important lessons of the story, even if remodelers take exception to some of its presumptions, are how people experience events and, more important, how they remember them. If you do survey your customers, what is your primary method of doing so? Written survey delivered in person 35.4% Written survey delivered by postal mail 22.22% Email survey 22.2% A third-party customer satisfaction survey company An online survey posted on your website 26 July 2013 QR 19.2% 1% ForResidentialPros.com At the completion of a job, do you regularly survey your customers to determine their level of satisfaction? Never Always 14% 55.6% 30.4% Sometimes How You Made Them Feel David Roberts, AIA, CR, UDCP, of Roberts Design Build in Evanston, Ill., sums up his feelings about customer service in more agreeable terms by paraphrasing author and poet Maya Angelou: "I've learned that people will forget what you said, and people will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel." Accordingly, it's important for Roberts to know how his customers feel once a job is completed. He uses a third-party firm that specializes in customer satisfaction surveys, particularly in the remodeling industry. "I think our clients are willing to say things to a third-party that maybe they would be hesitant to say directly to me," Roberts says, explaining his preference for a third-party approach. "I've learned that simply asking clients to provide feedback is really appreciated," Roberts says. In fact, it is part of his marketing effort to mention early on to clients that they will be surveyed at the completion of the job. "Letting them know you care is really important," he explains. "The strength of what we do comes from caring, listening and a real concern

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