Silver: Floored by Technology

Floor Art, a small residential flooring contractor in metropolitan Phoenix, is intensely focused on customer and employee satisfaction. With a well-established strategic planning process, the firm stays a steady course toward growth and financial success. Technology is resourcefully used to effectively achieve the firm's overall vision and mission. These and other qualities helped Floor Art achieve the Silver level for the 2006 NHQ Awards.

Founded in 1994, Floor Art currently has 18 full-time employees along with a cadre of trusted independent flooring installation craftsmen to help meet business demands. In 2005, the firm installed flooring in 2,254 homes. Since inception, it has installed flooring in more than 15,000 homes.

Dave Brown, founder and director of Floor Art, leads by example with energy and enthusiasm.

"I depend on my employees to identify the problems they see out in the field and to come up with creative solutions to help solve those problems," Brown says. He points to a situation in which cracking in grout was causing a high number of callbacks. Incorrect mixing procedures were causing the problem.

"We hired an expert to do a demonstration for our craftsmen on how to properly mix the grout, and then videotaped that and put it on our Web site for future reference," Brown said. The net result was a significant decrease in the number of callbacks related to cracking grout.

The firm's vision, mission and values are central to maintaining a consistent tone that leads to success in customer and employee satisfaction. These are well-documented in the employee manual — easily accessible online —and clever reminders can be found on the walls throughout their headquarters.

A well-organized strategic planning process is central to Floor Art's continued progress and growth. It focuses on four key success drivers:

• Quality: Reflecting the mission's emphasis on high quality workmanship and the value of committing to be the best you can be.
• Client Satisfaction: Knowing the value of relationships and importance of enhancing customer experiences.
• Employee/Craftsman Satisfaction: Professionalism starts with employees and craftsman who are happy in and proud of their affiliation with Floor Art. Goals of trust and honesty are critical.
• Business Performance: Floor Art leaders believe that if team members think strategically, do their jobs well, work continuously to improve and value customers, employees and craftsman, financial success will be the natural result.

Floor Art uses extensive technology-driven systems for tracking and measuring key success factors. It is constantly improved to allow for timely and detailed insight and analysis.

The firm has to meet or exceed the expectations of both their builder customers and the owners of the homes were flooring is installed. Brown says the firm's evaluation tools and outreach activities are specifically designed to solicit feedback from all customer groups, which provides them with a more accurate assessment of factors leading to customer satisfaction.

The firm's small size and its philosophy of keeping the leadership informed on every customer issue enables employees to quickly respond to problems. The management team examines all occurrences to assess whether any processes need adjustment to reduce or eliminate the likelihood of recurring problems.

Floor Art's management believes satisfied employees lead to a successful company. The corporate culture aims to encourage pride in workmanship, dedication and service.