Customer Satisfaction
Leading the Way to Better Customer Service
Many home builders invest in customer service training for their staff, but they will always fall short if the company's leadership doesn't model attitudes and behavior
Community Development
Professional Builder Editorial Director Paul Deffenbaugh lists a variety of ways how builders can help sustain the communities where they build.
Employee Perks That Work
Few things have kept pace with the rapid growth of our industry as much as employee compensation. Bonus programs tied to division or company profitability have generated unprecedented compensation levels. As the housing boom subsides and begins shrinking this year's bonus checks, the focus on compensation will take on a new tact.Namely, how do you attract and/or retain great people who have become accustomed to such extraordinary income opportunities?
Self-Induced Labor Pains
The medical and home-building industries have at least one thing in common right now: the debate over self-induced problems. The medical community is at odds over just how much physical illness is self-induced. Similar to medicine, our industry is at odds about how much we have brought on ourselves.
Choose the Right Roofing
Here are the factors builders should consider when choosing roofing material for the homes they build.
A Good Mix
Built on the former site of 100 units of public housing, Chatham Square is a mixed-income development. The community seamlessly integrates 52 low-income, public housing units with 100 market-rate, for-sale townhouses while blending in perfectly with the historic architecture of the neighborhood.
In My Own Words: Carol Delonis
A look at products that are used in homes built by New Urban Communities.
When and How to Discuss Price
The goal of the sales associate is to build the perceived value of the community and to prioritize the customer's needs and wants.
2007 National Housing Quality Award Winners
Winning a National Housing Quality Award requires more than just operating a great building company; it requires real effort. Not only do you have to implement sophisticated operating processes in your company that improve performance, you have to document those processes in an extensive application.
Gold: Benchmarking the industry
On the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula in a small town with a funny name is a progressive builder with lofty goals. Estes Builders isn't interested in just being good; it wants to be great. "No matter what thing we're working on, we look to be in the top 20 percent nationally. We're benchmarking against the best in the country," says company founder and president, Kevin Estes.
