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Customer Satisfaction Suffers From Poor Communication
Scott Sedam, president of True North Development, says that one of his associates likes to greet hotel desk clerks and others he meets in his travels with the observation that, “I’ll bet you have communication problems here.”
The matter-of-fact declaration establishes instant rapport and people are often taken aback by the insight. But Sedam says that what may seem like a Kreskin trick is actually no magic. In any company or corporation, he explains, “miscommunication is the default option.” That’s why it’s so important to make improving communication a goal for your business, says Sedam, a business management trainer and quality consultant to the home building industry.
Prerequisite to Customer Satisfaction
Averting miscommunication and disconnects at the front end of your business is a prerequisite to lasting customer satisfaction at the back end, Sedam says.
Focus on purchasing and estimating, operations, design and sales, and other critical communication points, he advises. “You can’t leave communication as an ad hoc system,” he says. “Behind each and every interface with a customer lies internal communication, systems and structures” that can ensure satisfaction or guarantee complaints.
Poor or missing communication not only causes mistakes, it can slow production, he adds.
Steve McGee, a consultant in the areas of trade contractor and employee performance improvement with Unify International, says that one study of a builder found that construction superintendents are spending more than a third of their time decoding start and options packages. This is at a time when they are supervising more homes under construction than ever, facing more inspections, overseeing more options, participating in more buyer/builder meetings and training less qualified workers.
Builders and remodelers have been taking a number of steps to improve both their internal communication and their communication with customers, including structured meetings, practices related to scheduling, and software development and use.
NAHB members can read more about these and other innovative home building business management practices by going online to www.nahb.org/biztools.
 ‘Customer Service for Home Builders’ Available at BuilderBooks.com
“Customer Service for Home Builders,” available through BuilderBooks.com, gives builders the tools they need to revitalize their customer service program.
“Customer Service for Home Builders” focuses on teaching builders how to start managing customers’ experiences instead of just reacting to issues that customers raise. It also includes forms, checklists, documents and a resource guide.
To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.
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