First impressions: homeowners say that quality construction and installation are more important than cosmetic touches

Prosales, August, 2003 by Chris Wood

The majority" of builders will tell you that the top issues driving customer satisfaction are the quality of the drywall, interior paint, flooring, and plumbing. But ff you ask their customers, the results are likely to be surprisingly different--and much less superficial.

According to "Cashing in on Customer Satisfaction," a study published in the Mid-June 2003 special issue of BIG BUILDER, homeowners have pushed aside cosmetic issues like paint and are taking a closer look at the actual construction of their new homes. How close? The study revealed that the most important issue driving home buyer satisfaction on workmanship is how true the walls and framing alignment are, followed by the quality of window installation.

To compile the study, Irvine, Calif.-based research firm Eliant compared data from its 2003 Builder Perception Study (polling 803 builders on critical issues driving buyer satisfaction) with its 2002 Home Buyer Satisfaction Survey Series, which evaluated the product and service satisfaction of some 43,000 new home buyers.

Eliant's research reveals that the most important hot button for new-home buyers is their impressions of the "initial quality" of a home's construction. That, in turn, can put a pro dealer's installation services on the front lines as a key player in the success or failure of a builder's complete product and service package. And with framing and windows--two hot installed sales categories nationwide--leading the list of consumer concerns, the jobsite execution of pro dealer installed sales programs may be coming under closer scrutiny than ever before.

Customer service-savvy builders are already heeding this quality call by modifying construction policies and processes. For example, a vice president of construction for Uniontown, Ohio-based Wayne Homes, reports that the company is involved in continuous training of framing subcontractors and field managers on "what is quality to our customers." To that end, Wayne Homes has developed a detailed quality checklist for framing crews as a defect prevention tool, and payment on framing jobs is held until the checklist is signed off on by a framing contractor.

Taking the frame game even further, D.R. Horton is replacing non-load bearing interior wall panels with racial framing in certain markets. The Arlington, Texas-based builder says the metal construction provides a truer flat surface when it comes time to hang the drywall. And Dallas-based Centex Homes, which "also employs pre-payment quality checklists, is bringing the home buyer onto the jobsite in a bid to explain construction processes and also increase the impetus for a job well done. "We conduct pre-drywall meetings with our customers and explain what they see in their home before the drywall is applied," says one Centex vice president of construction.

In addition to alleviating labor difficulties and increasing cycle times, pro dealers can up the install ante by participating in or even initiating construction quality assurance plans such as these. With homeowners no longer focusing only on face value, you can bet that there's going to be a lot of builders looking for ways to promote front and center what's behind the scenes.