Beginning this past June and every couple of months since, the staff at T.H. Properties (THP), a private developer/builder serving the Philadelphia metro market, hosts a barbecue in one of its communities. Amid the fun and food, THP's in-house customer service representatives lead demonstrations of common home-care tasks, such as spackling and nail pop repair, of which homeowners are invited to participate or simply watch and learn.
The point of these periodic Customer Care Days, as THP coins them, are as much to acknowledge and commune with recent homeowners as to educate them about their responsibilities since close of escrow--and even more so after the builder's warranty expires two years later. "We want our buyers to know we're here to help, but also how to do it," says Jennifer Wiker, THP's customer experience coordinator. "If a homeowner really wants to learn, we make ourselves available to them."
That extended view of customer service and satisfaction has helped THP to become one of the fastest-growing private residential development firms in the country while boosting the builder's market reputation, reducing costs, and stemming after-warranty claims and potential lawsuits.
But it's also a view that begins well before settlement and includes much more than curbside workshops every other month. "We set the expectation [for the owner's responsibilities after closing and warranty] in the sales process," says Bob Gollwitzer, the company's director of marketing. "Our job is to reassure them that we won't up and leave them after settlement," but also prepare them to take the reins of responsibility as the warranty period concludes.
While most builders have long recognized (and paid for) the value of an efficient warranty service program, only recently and primarily due to construction defect litigation has the industry become aware of the benefits of effectively passing the baton--and even taking care of claims after the warranty's expiration. "There has to be a willingness to serve the customer beyond the formal warranty, especially if there's a legitimate issue," says Jeff Masters, a litigation partner at the law firm of Cox, Castle, and Nicholson in Los Angeles, who represents several home builders and developers. "Customer service is always an exercise in judgment, and even more so outside the length of the warranty. It's a fine balance between delivering great customer service and getting owners on their own two feet."
Passing the baton without making the homeowner feel abandoned (even after a year or two of occupancy) is a balancing act that relatively few builders have mastered. In fact, those on the cutting edge will say it's a perpetual exercise that is constantly being tweaked and refined.
There are common cornerstones, however, as well as innovative uses of modern communications technology mixed with old-school savvy that go a long way toward satisfied--and self-sufficient--homeowners.
The New Book on Manuals
Few builders these days cut the apron strings of responsibility without a homeowner's manual. But the days of simply slapping user's guides and warranty registration cards into a cheap three-ring binder are over.
In its stead is a bible of home-maintenance lessons and ready references to resources during and after the warranty period. "You want a manual that covers the major components that [historically] lead to the bulk of problems," says Masters, specifically water and moisture infiltration points that have become a feeding frenzy for attorneys trolling for latent construction-defect claims. Educate homeowners about periodic or as-needed caulking, roofing, and siding maintenance, and proper re-grading (among other issues, ideally tailored from a builder's history of production walk-throughs and warranty calls), he says, and claims have less of a leg to stand on.
Masters advises his builder clients to use the manual during the warranty period to train homeowners once the policy expires, thus expanding its value as a long-term home-maintenance tool. "Whenever you respond to a claim, reference the issue in the manual and try to coach the owners about making the repair themselves," once the warranty period is over, he says.
Paul Scholes, vice president of operations for Moser Builders, a 50-unit-per-year operation also in the Philadelphia area, added references to the NAHB's "Residential Construction Performance Guidelines" in his company's homeowner manual to create a baseline of expectations and mitigate debates with buyers. "Those references provide third-party credibility as opposed to arguing my own or an owner's self-interests," says Scholes. "If an issue is outside the scope of the guidelines, [the document] mitigates a service call and educates the homeowner [about how to address the issue]."
That being said, the guidelines don't stop Scholes from making exceptions. "If a homeowner is particularly difficult or adamant, we'll exceed the guidelines and make the repair," he says.
With so much information needed to cover a builder's proverbial bottom (line), even the best homeowner's manual can easily become unwieldy and difficult for buyers to navigate. Masters suggests builders incorporate photos and graphics to illustrate issues and repairs to make it more palatable. "It can be detailed without overwhelming the consumer," he says. "The key is to cover the critical issues and add other content to the extent you can or want."
Even with a more streamlined and attractive approach to the manual, the other question is whether buyers will actually read or reference the document.
Scholes tests his buyers' knowledge of the manual by tracking those who call for a service issue rather than submit their requests in writing--as the manual clearly requires. "We reference our warranty system and the manual at least six times and expect them to read and understand it," by the time the warranty period expires, he says. "But if we're getting a lot of calls [instead of written requests], that tells me we're not training them properly."
THP, meanwhile, sends seasonal maintenance flyers that are more streamlined and eye-catching than conventional means that try to include everything. "Other builders send out novels of maintenance schedules that are probably round-filed," says Wiker. "Ours are short and sweet."
New Age and Old School
THP's efforts to educate home buyers doesn't end with its printed manual and maintenance flyers, or even the Customer Care workshops and ad hoc skills training it offers during service calls.
The builder also has embraced technology to echo its message, catering to an audience that is far more visual and Internet-savvy than previous generations of home buyers. Specifically, the company recently launched THPtv, a series of home-maintenance and repair videos available online, a la YouTube, which prospective and existing homebuyers (and even those of other builders) can access for help. "Eventually, we want to reduce the number of service calls and visits with lessons online that facilitate buyers' learning," says customer service manager Matt DePace, who reports about 450 daily hits to THPtv within its first two months.
In addition, at move-in, the company provides owners with a flash drive (a small, oblong memory card that inserts into the USB port of a personal computer) containing a Web link to THPtv and all customer service and warranty information and tools to date. "Technology plays a huge part in our customer service practices," says Gollwitzer. "But we also have to sprinkle some old-school methods," to make it successful.
For THP, that's putting a live operator on the incoming service call line and outfitting in-house warranty response staff instead of relying on trade partners or an independent service.
Meanwhile, for Atlantic Builders in Fredericksburg, Va. (near Washington, D.C.), that personal touch means making sure all handoffs--including once the warranty period is over--are person-to-person. "It's critical to customer satisfaction," says Gene Brown, director of quality assurance and warranty. "It has to be a formal handoff."
To get homeowners ready for each transition from sales through the end of the builder's one-year warranty, Brown makes sure they hear about Atlantic's policies in myriad ways. For instance, the company hosts a Meet the Builder night, held monthly for all new buyers signing contracts within the last 60 days, at which they are educated about the entire process going forward, share a meal, and develop community with their neighbors. "That way, there are no mixed messages as they go through the process," says Brown. In turn, he adds, "It makes it easier to make customers happy."
Atlantic Builders also leverages those public forums to facilitate shared experiences, especially between seasoned and first-time buyers. "We ask those who have bought a new home before to tell the first-timers of common issues," such as normal settling that can result in small cracks or nail pops.
In the spirit of not only repeating the policy but also documenting it, warranty manager Theresa Williams of Trendmaker Homes in Houston sends a letter at the end of the builder's two-year warranty period (the last of a series sent since closing) reminding owners of their home-care responsibilities. The letter includes a calendar of regular maintenance items and tips--a checklist that's also available in Trendmaker's Web site.
The letter also offers contact information for the major trade partners that helped build the house--not only for repairs (the potential for which Trendmaker works to mitigate prior to and during warranty), but also to facilitate future upgrades and additions to be consistent with the original house. "It makes a difference to have the same company [that built it] work on improvements to your house," says Williams, who is also planning to enlist an outside handyman service for out-of-warranty buyers to hire for repairs, advice, and/or training.
Brown also sends letters to homeowners after closing, the last of which arrives just before the warranty expires to remind them of that date and to resolve any outstanding issues by then--though (like Scholes and others) he's willing to bend the rules a bit. "We're not here to fix everything for eternity, but we will educate them," says Brown. "At some point, we'll put the caulking gun in their hands."