I remember when I was 14 years old. My father had recently passed away so my mom would send me to stay with my Aunt and Uncle during the summer. My Uncle was extremely handy. One summer I was his laborer while building a 4000 square foot home on the golf course in Pinehurst NC. That was the moment I was bitten by the building bug.
It was fascinating to me, seeing this giant mound of dirt become transformed into a giant concrete hole in the ground. Each day it would change. Ever so slightly incremental changes but it started to take shape. The homeowner was an engineer. He personally drew up the plans for the home and was at the job site often. This home was being built in an exclusive neighborhood and my Uncle spared no expense when hiring skilled subcontractor tradesmen.
What started to become equally fascinating were the assortment of artists who showed up for work. These are people who rarely have the ability to assimilate into a normal life but have a gift to create. I often would see them show up for work late or sometimes not show up at all. Each day there was a no show would cause delays and having to call audibles to what needed to be completed. I asked my Uncle why do they not show up when they are being paid by the job. His response, “that’s just the way it is.”
With today’s customer service driven society, that is no longer acceptable. Missing a day on a job site can cause a ripple effect costing a client thousands of dollars. Perhaps even the ability to list their home.
At SmartHomes we take deadlines and a multi trade renovation very seriously. Recently we started a full renovation. The day we were removing the roof (2nd day on the job) the governor announced a state wide quarantine through June 10th. The property had been in our clients family for generations. She had recently rented the property out and the tenant caused a great deal of damage. With Spring market fast approaching we were under an aggressive timeline to complete the job. The quarantine, curfew, supply shortages, delays were all justifiable reasons for the project to be delayed. Maybe even halted. However, we had a signed contract and a client who was expecting us to deliver. Initially we asked for 45 days and we completed the renovation in 32. The house sold in 6 days, $10k above list. Needless to say had we not finished on time, that offer wouldn’t have happened for our client.
When a colleague and I were chatting he asked “how did you do it”? I told him we did not have a choice. When I signed the contract, I did not sign with the intention of finishing on time in a perfect world. I understood the expectation was for me to finish on time. Period.
While I would like to take full credit for this, the reality is I am as good as my people. My assortment of artists who still sometimes struggle with assimilating into society are the best in the business.