By Wayne A. Endicott
"My dad always said, 'Take care of your customers, and they'll do your advertising for you,'" says Larry Parrish, CR, CGR, CAPS, and president of Parrish Construction Co., Boulder, Colo. Larry's father, R.C. Parrish, was founder of the business.
Although Larry does advertise his services, R.C.'s philosophy of relying on satisfied customers to provide referrals is still part of the everyday operating principles of the firm.
Larry always asks where the lead originated. If it came from a previous customer, he sends a gift from the company, whether or not the lead turns into a sale. "If someone thinks enough of us to recommend us to a friend, they should get something in return. It's our job to turn that lead into a sale, not the person who makes the referral."
Larry says that it is often difficult to gauge just what brings a customer in the door. A big part of the Parrish cachet is the 35+ years the company has operated in the Boulder area. "We know that our record of doing business has given us certain name recognition that helps stimulate sales," Larry says. "But little is gained from that name recognition if you don't keep customers satisfied during and after the job."
To build that kind of loyalty, the company has a very rigid set of guidelines, starting with a prospective client's first phone call to the company. The caller always gets a live person. "I don't like talking to a machine, and neither does anyone else," Larry says. "If you start off with a friendly voice on the other end of the call, you're going to feel more positive about the company."
Once a contract has been signed, the customer-satisfaction machine at Parrish Construction really kicks in. Periodically clients are asked to gauge the company's performance on a scale of one to 10. If anything less than a 10 comes up, the customer is asked the source of the point reduction, and immediate steps are taken to remedy the situation.
Company personnel play a large part in the process. "We try to see that the same lead carpenter stays with each job until it is finished," Larry explains. That means the customer always can turn to the same person for answers to any questions. Every Parrish employee carries a cell phone, and customers are given the numbers and encouraged to use them Larry even has his own home phone number listed in the phone book.
The firm also sets up a three-week rolling report system, which is updated each week. It lists all of the scheduled events for that period. If something is not done for some reason, it is noted and a new target date set. "We expect our field people to look at it as a sort of preflight check list," Larry says. "You wouldn't get in an airplane without checking everything, and we won't begin a day's work without checking our list."
In the field, the labor force is expected to go above and beyond the call of duty. For example, if a client and his family are away when snow falls, the guys on site will pick up a shovel and clear a path to the door for them when they return.
What it boils down to is that kept promises make for satisfied customers, and satisfied customers generate new customers, Larry says. "I guess you can sum it up in one phrase that we use all the time: Always underpromise and overachieve."
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