By Andrew Hunt
Keeping customers satisfied is a priority for any homebuilder, but when the home is worth millions of dollars, making sure the buyer's emotional needs are met can make or break a company. Hollub Homes of Miami has found that the recipe for keeping customers happy starts — and ends — with communication.
"What we stress more than anything else is communication," says Harry Hollub, president and CEO of Hollub Homes. "Things can do wrong; delays can happen. If you have communication with the client, problems, if they do arise, can be worked through quickly."
"It's rare that we have a customer that says they don't want to know anything about construction process and just want the home completed by the deadline," Hollub says. "A lot of the products we're using in our homes are custom, which can lead to delays. When the customer is aware of this and has ample time to digest this information, they understand."
Hollub Homes completes on average 10 projects a year, including new-home construction as well as renovations. For most new projects, the construction schedule can run 18-24 months and the average cost of construction ranges between $4 million and $6 million. Some of the features found in such high-priced homes can include seven- to 10-car garages; multiple kitchens; additional upstairs laundry facilities; detached guest houses; expansive great rooms; and state-of-the-art entertainment capabilities. Outside the home, landscaping requirements can be equally challenging: lagoons, grottos, multiple pools and mature or unique trees.
With 55 years of experience in South Florida, this family-owned company has honed its customer-satisfaction process and won many repeat customers for their trouble. While the cost of the home may be more than ten times as high as a normal production home, the same principles apply to all builders:
- Establish a relationship mentality with the buyer as opposed to a strictly "customer" mindset. By taking the time get to know the buyer's needs, wants and fears, Hollub Homes is able to anticipate requests and create a seamless building process.
- Maintain long-term and consistent relationships with sub-contractors. Many of the trades Hollub Homes uses have been a reliable part of their team for over a decade, some even 35 years. By only accepting quality work from their trades, Hollub Homes has learned to trust their teams, which makes promises to the customer easier to keep — and surprises to a minimum.
- Stay on top of the latest building trends. Keeping up on new building techniques and the latest design trends allows Hollub Homes to commit to unique or custom features within the home. This confidence immediately helps build trust with the buyer.
- Stick to the budget. A 10% overrun on any home can be painful for the buyer, but in a luxury-home project, it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
- Deliver any and all commitments on time. The principle of keeping your word applies to all builders, and like cost overruns, a lagging schedule can quickly sour a customer's mood.
- Communicate, communicate, communicate. Hollub Homes uses a team approach to keeping the customer in the loop and encourages the buyers to visit the construction site often. Large projects inherently require more design choices for the home buyer, and having regular, detailed updates on the construction process helps keep the buyer's trust and comfort levels up.
Because luxury-home buyers often have very specific expectations of quality and assume their homes will be unique in style and on the cutting edge of design, Hollub Homes has found that internalizing some aspects of the process can help build a better relationship with the buyer. This includes having an in-house interior designer. Helene Hollub designs all of the firm's speculative homes. Her team is also responsible for working with a homeowner's interior designer, should they choose to use one to coordinate all aspects of selection and installation.
Smaller custom home builders often face the same challenges as the large luxury home builders: They can't afford to make a slip when it comes to keeping their customers happy or delivering a home that meets challenging expectations. By keeping the buyer's interest in mind and the lines of communication open, any company can improve satisfaction and make the building process a positive experience.
Andrew Hunt is a freelancer writer who specializes in residential construction. He formerly worked for BuildIQ.
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