client satisfaction

Contracts for Contractors with Nisreen Hasib – [The Tim Faller Show] S4 E19

Today on the Tim Faller Show, Nisreen Hasib joins the show to discuss contracts for contractors. Nisreen discusses the importance of having contracts and some of the important items to put into those contracts.  She also gives examples of some bad and good contracts that she has seen over the years and how they impacted the project. Nisreen also talks about revisiting contracts to stay up to date with state and national regulations.

Nisreen Hasib is the founder and CEO of Basil. Basil makes it easy for builders, remodelers, and general contractors to generate the documents they need at the click of a button. She is based out of New York. Prior to starting Basil, Nisreen was a labor and employment attorney and an executive at different venture backed companies based in New York. Nisreen started Basil in 2022, after finishing her first remodeling project in the Catskills. She saw that a lot of contractors were using out of date contracts, or contracts that had not been appropriately drafted, leaving them vulnerable to legal liability.

Nisreen, Tim, and Steve talk more about…

  • Do the contracts get more complex the more expensive the project is?
  • Reframing contracts
  • And more…

Using QR Codes for Field Communication – [The Tim Faller Show] S4 E17

Today on the Tim Faller Show, Nick Sandifer details a new way to communicate in the field to help his team navigate the small details in elaborate projects. Nick and the Sandifer team use QR codes to help communicate better on the job site. The QR codes allow the project manager to view the electrical fixtures, architectural plans, and other information about the project. Nick discusses the effectiveness of the QR codes that lead to fewer phone calls from the team because all the data is in the QR code.

Nick Sandifer is the owner of Sandifer Design Build in Jacksonville, Florida.  Nick is a graduate of Florida State University with a degree in Real Estate Finance, Appraisal and Feasibility. He started his building career with a large national builder, Centex Homes. Later he worked as a project manager for local custom home builder Benchmark Luxury Homes. His experience working for both national and local custom builders has allowed him to focus on the schedule and the details.

Nick, Tim, and Steve talk more about…

  • Benefits of using QR codes
  • Changing plans while using the QR code
  • The work that goes into making the QR codes for all the projects
  • And more…

The Client Experience Part 2 with Camille Jenkins – [The Tim Faller Show] S4 E16

Today on the Tim Faller Show, Camille Jenkins joins the show to discuss the importance of the client experience and how it differs from satisfaction.  Simply put, customer satisfaction is how happy your customers are while using your company’s products and services and how well you are fulfilled their expectations. Customer experience refers to customers’ interactions with a brand’s products and services during all stages of their purchasing process.

Camille Jenkins is a results-oriented, customer experience consultant, keynote speaker, and realtor. With a decade’s worth of real estate industry experience and operational knowledge, Camille brings a real-world approach to setting and delivering on expectations. Camille served as the Vice President of National Customer Relations at Meritage Homes Corporation. During her tenure, the organization annually delivered upwards of nine thousand new homes, and customer satisfaction improved from 70% to 90%.  Currently, Camille Jenkins is the owner of Camille’s Keys located in Goodyear, Arizona.

Camille, Tim, and Steve talk more about…

  • Surveys for clients post-project and how to use them to impact change
  • How communication and education work together in the client experience
  • And more…

Seeing Projects from the Client’s Point of View with Meghan Haines – [Best of the Tim Faller Show]

Have you ever gone through an entire job thinking that the client was delighted with your work and then discovered afterward that they liked most of it, BUT…. (you fill in the blank). So, the question remains, how do you ensure customer satisfaction or, as some call it, creating “Raving Fans?”

There is no better way to explore this than by asking real clients, and even better when the client has a remodeling background and can look at it from either viewpoint.

Meghan Haines is the Production Coordinator for Hercules Design Build, a remodeling company in the St. Louis area. Meghan has been with Hercules for a little over a year and a half; However, before joining the company, she was a client for three remodeling projects in her own home.

Tim, Steve and Meghan talk more about:

  • Background on Meghan’s household (size of house, family, pets, etc.).
  • Description of the projects that Meghan contracted for.
  • Sales & production: did they match and meet expectations.
  • The most critical action an on-site manager can take while working on a project.
  • Things that the contractor did that made the projects more bearable.
  • Advice for remodelers from the client’s perspective.
  • And more…

The Reputation Economy With Tess Jezek – [The Tim Faller Show] S4 E14

Tess Jezek joins the show today to discuss the importance of your company’s reputation in the reputation economy.  In fact, Forbes reports that 60% of consumers are willing to pay more if they believe they will receive a better service.  Tess discusses how an accurate description of your business online is smart business practice.  In addition, good social status leads to robust pricing power, and client loyalty can lead to return clients, referrals, and new business.

Tess is the Director of Sales for Customer Engagement Solutions of Evercommerce.  She manages the sales teams for GuildQuality, PulseM, and Customer Lobby.  With close to a decade’s worth of experience in the industry, she understands the importance of customer experience, customer engagement, and customer retention as the most important drivers for your business.

Tess, Tim, and Steve discuss:

  • The importance of client feedback and when to solicit it
  • How to take control of the online narrative
  • How to use your online reputation to build a stronger business

Listen now

Building a Team, Not a Family with Jef Forward – [Best of the Tim Faller Show]

While having a family-like culture is a well-intended premise, it is oftentimes impractical.

Companies may notice that one or two employees are intolerant of the family-like culture in place and leave the “family” dysfunctional. 

Creating an environment where there is a structure that resembles a team, rather than a family, is a way to avoid intolerance, and grow as a company.  In this episode, guest Jef Forward describes how he was able to achieve a team-like culture in his business, and why it has been successful.

Jef has a Masters Degree in Architecture from the University of Michigan and started Forward Design Build in 1997, focusing on a design and build method to ensure successful projects. He defines a successful project as a happy homeowner with a beautiful, functional home completed within ‘stated’ expectations of cost, service and schedule from the beginning of design to the end of construction.

Tim, Steve and Jef talk more about:

  • The “locus of control” 
  • How to address and correct the path of someone who is trending sideways
  • How to efficiently communicate with different team members
  • And more…

Culture in Practice with Chris Stebnitz – [Tim Faller Show] S4 E13

Today on the Tim Faller Show, Chris Stebnitz joins the show to discuss building a culture in a remodeling company and the impact it has on the client experience. Chris talks about how building trust with your employees can enhance the company culture. While building a culture is important, there are also ways you can destroy your company culture including gossip or being a demanding leader. Chris says if the business owner is the only way the company succeeds, you will never build a culture.

Chris Stebnitz is the owner of Stebnitz Builders located in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. Chris is a Third-generation owner of Stebnitz Builders. He started as cheap labor for the family when he was in his teens. Chris then moved into sales in his 20s, marketing shortly thereafter and then focusing on sales management before purchasing the company in 2008 from his father and uncles.

Chris, Tim, and Steve talk more about:

  • How Stebnitz Builders built a company culture 
  • Why trust is important for a company culture
  • and more…

Design and Production: What Happens When the Job Starts? with Morgan Thomas and Candice Rania- [Tim Faller Show] S4 E12

Candice Rania and Morgan Thomas rejoin the Tim Faller Show for a follow-up from their last episode, Design and Production: Can we really get along? In this episode, Candice Rania and Morgan Thomas join the show to discuss what happens once the job is started. They discuss challenges at the job site, whether it is unforeseen circumstances or supply chain delays. Candice and Morgan discuss how they resolve these challenges with the communication between the design and the production teams during the job.

Morgan Thomas started at Leff Design Build in Sonoma County, California 5 years ago as a project manager and was then promoted to her current role as the production department manager. She is excited and proud of her team’s input to the project’s budget, which she thinks has created an improved sense of ownership among her coworkers.  Candice Rania is the pre-production manager at Leff Design Build and works closely with Morgan.

Tim, Steve, Morgan, and Candice talk more about:

  • How the production team helps with client experience
  • Connection between design and production during construction
  • Limiting slippage
  • Design’s impact on change orders
  • And more…

Culture! with Mitch Gray – [The Tim Faller Show] S4 E11

On this episode of The Tim Faller Show, Mitch Gray joins the show for the second week to talk about culture and how you can improve your company’s culture. Mitch says that many employers don’t know how to vocalize culture, and employees don’t know how to connect with it.  He defines a good culture as how we live, move, and exist within a family or company. When a company creates a good culture, the energy and synergy are palpable, thus creating a better workplace where employees are held accountable.

Mitch Gray is the owner of Mitch Gray Media in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mitch started the media company in 2015, and over the past 20 years, he has worked with and coached over 10,000 leaders and clients worldwide.

Tim, Steve, and Mitch talk more about

  • Four questions to measure your culture
  • Description of bad company culture and how to change it
  • And more….

The Key to Good Management is Listening with Christine Miles [Tim Faller Show] S4 E9

Today on the Tim Faller Show, Christine Miles joins the show to discuss how better listening skills lead to better communication. Christine explains why listening is so complicated and suggests some easy ways to listen better. She also highlights the importance of communication in creating trust between co-workers.

Christine is an author, professional keynote speaker, consultant, executive coach, thought leader, and entrepreneur. She is the Founder and CEO of EQuipt, a training and consulting company that helps leadership teams grow sales, develop people, and create cultures of understanding. She developed The Listening Path™, a transformational workshop on listening to understand, which has been taught at various Fortune 100 corporations, universities, law firms, and privately-held companies. She is the author of What Is It Costing You Not to Listen? which will encourage you to examine how you are listening. You’ll discover that not only are many of the problems in your life due to not listening effectively, but listening helps to solve most problems.

Tim, Steve, and Christine talk more about:

  • Failure to listen can cause culture problems within an organization
  • Improving turnover through listening
  • How listening can help your company’s bottom line
  • And more…