Guildmaster Builder Awards

Four local contractors win top customer satisfaction awards by building quality products and customer relationships

By ERICA ENGLAND

In a town like Charleston, positive and negative experiences get around quick. Fortunately for Structures Building Company, Cook Bonner Construction, Classic Remodeling, and Phillip W. Smith General Contractor, raving fans of their work are not hard to find.

These Charleston area contractors have all been members of GuildQuality, a community of home pros with a commitment to service excellence, for over 10 years. In that time, they’ve received GuildQuality’s Guildmaster Award every year since its launch, which is quite an accomplishment as the Award recognizes residential construction professionals who would be recommended by over 90% of their customers. They are 4 of 6 companies nationwide to accomplish that.

So what’s their secret? They put just as much time and energy into creating one of a kind bonds with customers, as they do creating one of a kind homes.

“Communication is really the key to a successful project,” stated Bob Fleming, President of Classic Remodeling. “Just as important as our communication during the project, is the follow-up after the project is completed. We touch base with our clients a few months after the project is finished, and around the one-year anniversary of their project completion as well, to make sure everything is still meeting the client’s expectations. We provide generous warranties on structure, systems and finishes, so our clients know we are committed to getting the job done right. Showing our clients that we will stand behind our work establishes a level of trust that keeps them coming back.”

Classic Remodeling and their award-winning peers keep a finger on the pulse of project performance through an independent multi-touch survey process powered by GuildQuality.

“It’s invaluable to our business,” Fleming shares. “For our larger projects we survey multiple times – at contract, mid-way through, and 30 days after completion. It’s one more opportunity for us to evaluate how our clients are feeling about the process, and allows us an opportunity to adjust or make improvements as necessary to ensure that the client is completely satisfied by the time we reach the end of the project.”

After seeing their customer feedback first-hand, it’s evident that these contractors understand delivering on their promise of customer service is the single most important thing they can do to establish trust and credibility in the eyes of homeowners.

“We make it a priority to put our clients first on every project,” stated Phillip Smith, President of Phillip W. Smith General Contractor. “It’s important to us that each client is getting exactly what they want. By focusing not only on building a well-crafted home, but also on building relationships, we deliver positive experiences to our clients each time.”

It’s those positive experiences that have cultivated notoriety of these contractors.

“A large percentage of our business comes from repeat clients and client referrals, so our customer satisfaction impacts our future success,” Fleming says. “In addition to delivering quality and value on every project, our service and commitment to client satisfaction is what keeps our clients coming back and the reason they are so willing to refer us to their friends and family.”

Rick Bonner, Vice President of Cook Bonner Construction echoes that sentiment.

“Customer service is our marketing program,” Bonner shares. “Like everyone else, we have a website, but we rely heavily on reputation and word of mouth for our references. Satisfied clients are most important; we want to be glad to see you in the grocery store to catch up on things.”

In an area and industry where reputation is king, Structures Building Company, Cook Bonner Construction, Classic Remodeling, and Phillip W. Smith General Contractor have all built enduring businesses using the best tool they have, their southern hospitality.

For more on these contractors, visit GuildQuality.com