The annual Qualified Remodeler/GuildQuality customer satisfaction report is out and Murphy Bros. has been selected as one of 60 firms offering new insights on cornerstone tactics for happy clients.
“It’s all about the idea of continuous improvement,” explains John Murphy, owner and president of Murphy Bros. Design | Build | Remodel. We have found that clients often feel somewhat abandoned during what can be several weeks or more of time between contract signing and first demo, so we added a personal email from the project manager a few days after the contract meeting explaining next steps and likely time frame.
In addition, we added a “communication checklist” to the initial pre-construction meeting with PMs, lead carpenters, sales/consultants and clients to cover their communication expectations as well as ours. This puts it in writing and at the forefront establishing communication as the most critical aspect,” says John in his remarks to Qualified Remodeler Magazine.
More recently, Murphy Bros. has instituted mini-satisfaction check-ins to gauge client’s experience at three critical points in the remodeling process. The mini check-ins consist of 5 or fewer questions at the beginning, middle and end of the project, asking clients to give feedback on key indicators of satisfaction such as communication and responsiveness.
Mini satisfaction check-in sent prior to construction beginning
“It’s all about comfort and risk. Anything that increases the first and reduces the second is a benefit to our clients and to us,” explains John Murphy, owner and president of Murphy Bros. Design | Build | Remodel. “And so the more we know about how clients are feeling at key stages in the remodeling process, the better able we are to adjust to restore comfort and calm the sense of risk all clients feel to one degree or another in any remodel.”
GuildQuality Satisfaction matrix. Four of 19 shown here.
“The idea here is that if we find out something isn’t going the way people expect we can address it before it gets to be a real issue that sours the whole experience. It’s also about managing expectations—making sure we’re sharing the same ones and that they are realistic,” explains John. “The best definition of frustration I’ve ever come across is an unmet expectation and that’s what we’re trying to address.”
