After
the Sale Service
What ever
happened to customer service?
Today,
simple respect and responsiveness seems to be more the exception
than the rule ... especially after the sale. How a homebuilder
manages after-sale service, also called warranty service or
call-backs, is a key indicator of the company's overall
professionalism and ability to meet (and ideally exceed) a
homebuyer's expectations.
The goal of the
professional builder is to quickly and completely respond to and
resolve issues that come up during the time a home is under
warranty. As a critical part of providing great housing value and
achieving customer satisfaction, professional builders encourage
questions from homebuyers and respond to their concerns in a timely
and respectful manner.
A standard
builder's warranty addresses specific issues with a home related to
its structural components (such as the foundation and frame), basic
electrical and other mechanical systems, and the quality of
workmanship for a set time period. How a builder responds to
warranty service inquiries varies depending on the policy offered
and sold with the house: some are defined and managed entirely by
the builder, while others are defined, at least in part, by
independent agencies (such as an insurance company) and administered
by the builder.
Specific
warranty language and procedures benefit both the builder and the
homeowner. Simply, a well-defined and properly communicated warranty
service policy helps eliminate confusion about who is responsible
for issues, concerns, and other call-back items that may occur in
the first year or so of occupancy.
While there are
specific differences among builders, a superior warranty service
program includes:
Documentation. A documented process for
responding to call-backs and customer service inquiries creates a
"paper trail" that ensures that questions and concerns are properly
communicated, managed, and resolved. A professional builder will
document the details of the warranty policy and keep track of
inquiries, response time, and specific types of service calls from
the first call to follow-up to ensure the homeowner's ultimate
satisfaction.
Response
time. Responding to a service call is more an issue of
timing than time; the key is to understand which calls will be
addressed immediately, and which may require or allow more time. No
one likes to wonder if or when a call or email will be answered; if
homeowners can depend on getting a reply from their builder within a
reasonable (or better still, stated) time frame, chances are better
that they'll be satisfied with how the issue is resolved.
Collective calls. Even if a builder responds
to a warranty service call within a day or so, making a visit to the
house to resolve a non-emergency situation may be timed to coincide
with other scheduled work at the house. This "collective call"
minimizes the number of times an owner needs to be at home to make
the house available to the builder's warranty service team. Of
course, emergency calls demand immediate attention, but collective
calls can be a more convenient and reliable way to address a variety
of concerns or maintenance issues at the same time.
Scheduled visits. Professional builders are
becoming more proactive in how they address scheduled service and
other routine maintenance work while a house is still under
warranty. In many cases, a builder will schedule a visit and "walk
through" (or tour) a new home within a month after occupancy. These
visits are opportunities for homeowners to ask questions and for the
builder to document or schedule service work covered by the
warranty. Such visits also help builders refine their warranty
service processes based on a homeowner's feedback.
No builder
follows exactly the same policies and procedures for warranty
service inquiries and incidents, but the goal to provide homeowners
with the best new home buying and living experience possible is
industry-wide. As professional builders continue to refine and
improve how they address issues after the sale, they will ultimately
deliver superior customer service and achieve buyer
satisfaction.
Warm regards,
Dan Steurer, MBA
Sunwest Development, LLC
P.O. BOX 3102
St George, UT 84771
(435) 674-0091 - phone
(435) 634-0965 - fax
dan@sunwestdev.com
www.sunwestdev.com
c. 2007 All rights reserved.
