How Poor Communication with Your Builder Costs You $1,000's! - The Builders Edge

You should be able to get a good feeling, be able to communicate with that company from your first conversation.

What are some examples of poor communication?

It just continues to amplify and grow. Builders building the houses on the wrong blocks and all sorts of stuff there. So a wall has been painted differently or the wrong color. If you've got good communication and good processes in place, you're definitely going to be setting yourself up for more success than failure. Communicating. It's a fantastic.

The consequences of poor communication with a builder. How important is communication.

Mate?

I really, truly believe in the fundamentals of communication. Like, it's actually the most important aspect of the construction process. You, you. It's one of the things that gets taken for granted and it's overlooked. It really, really is.

Communication is so critical. Like, it's important to be talking about everything that's going to go on, but it's also important to be talking about the good, the bad, the ugly. Like, good communication shouldn't scare anybody off from talking about a problem or, you know, thing that they're considering. Like, it's going to be open good, you know, communication that people can feel safe and share, you know, what they're experiencing or what they're trying to achieve there. Without good communication, you're setting yourself up to fail.

Well, what are some examples of poor communication? Like, what's the, what's the flip side of that?

Look, communication, it just continues to amplify and grow. Like it just compounds on itself. So, you know, an example there, you know, if you made your tile selections and, you know, our customers obviously do all these selections very early on in the process, so we can make sure, you know, everything's all in place and going to be ready for when it's required. Now we do a Pacific walkthrough again with myself and the Tyler on site with the tiles that they picked several months, you know, ago, and we lay them out, we show them the directions that they're going to be running, how they're going to be situated. And I always ask, are you sure you're happy that there's nothing else that we need to sort of, you know, look at changing or, you know, there's nothing else that you thought about, you know, so it's much easier to communicate and have conversations there and then, because sometimes people change their mind and that's okay, you know, but it's a lot easier to do that before the tiles are glued down on the floor.

So. So on that, what, what sort of feedback have you gotten from your customers about the Way that you guys communicate.

Yeah, look, we're very fortunate there that I believe we like to over communicate. You know, we want all our customers, and not just our customers, our suppliers, our contractors, everybody that's affiliated in that NWC bubble to communicate thoroughly. Important that everybody knows, especially our customers there, that our doors are always open. There's always a means of a communication. If it's a phone call, an email, a site meeting, like the technology we have these days, it's at our fingertips. So there's nothing stopping us communicating. If something's not clear, let's make it visual, let's do it live and in person, you know, so there's many options of communication, but it's just important that everyone's on that same page. And if something's a little bit cloudy or a little bit unsure about something, it could be, you know, same thing as a painting. You know, we walk through, we picked our paint colors, the paint is in there doing his part. There might be a bit of cloudiness over that color they've selected. Or do we do a double strength or do we lighten it up a little bit? Let's get a sample, let's do a test wall. Let's be sure before we do the whole thing, you know, to give people that peace of mind, you know, it's really important, you know, that, that open communication and that transparency is really clear. And we're all on that same trajectory to achieve the best result there.

Well, what would some of the consequences be then? Of. Of poor communication? Like what, what some of the, the absolute bad outcomes that you may recall. Have heard of your time?

Yeah, look, I've heard of, you know, several stories I guess there. Like even with builders building houses on the wrong blocks and all sorts of stuff there. So, you know, that's definitely something that you'd never want to be a part of experience. But once again, it's, you know, just comes down to having a bit of a site meeting or doing your site inspections and doing your due diligence there. But, you know, it could just be down to the simple. You know, they've laid the wrong floor toll on the wrong area because they hadn't had that inspection to do that extra triple check. Or, you know, a wall has been painted, you know, differently or the wrong color, you know, so it could be that you thought you're getting drawers in your kitchen, but it ended up being doors, you know, like it's many fundamentals, you know, to the build there. But if you've got good communication and good processes in place there and you're thoroughly rechecking those aspects, you know, you're definitely going to be setting yourself up for more success than failure.

I just have to ask you that. That builder who built the home on the wrong block, how far into the build do they get?

There has been stories of people completing homes.

How do you. When. How does that even happen?

Communication or lack of.

Wow, that's. So they're literally spending months on the wrong block.

That. That has been stories. Wow, I've done that. Yes.

Gee whiz. That's. That is crazy. What are some strategies that homeowners can, can, can use with their builder to ensure that they have a good communication or a good relationship?

Look, the best way to have a great relationship with your builder, there's to, to be open and honest, you know, and the sooner everybody's open, honest and communicating through things, things will naturally start flowing and going in the right direction there. If you think by safeguarding things to yourself, it's gonna, you know, get you in a better place later down the line by keeping that ace up your sleeve. It's generally the wrong approach there.

Why would, why would homeowners keep an ace up their sleeve? Like, what is that a common, common thing that they do or look for us?

I wouldn't say it's a common thing, but you definitely do see signs and signals of people holding their cards a little bit close in the early stages there. And I think it's just because there's been so many horror stories in the building industry. They're scared to, you know, unfold and show their hands to, you know, what is their real budget, you know, what expectations are they really wanting from this build? You know, they, you know, seem to think at times there's more of a negotiated aspect. Like if you want stone bench tops and solar and these things, it's going to cost what a stone, bench, tops and solar cost. If you don't want it, well, it's not going to cost you. Do you know what I mean? So. But, you know, it's not like a used car salesman that you go backwards and forwards and, you know, you tender and try and barter for a price like a new home, cost what it costs, you know, so it's important that people are just feel comfortable and have that open communication. So the more open and honest you can be, the more helpful a good builder will be able to inform you and give you choices on the best path and you can make the right choice from there.

Is it that much harder, though, to to maintain good communication as a builder. Because I would assume it's in your best interest to, to, to maintain a high standard of communication for the builder's sake as well.

Right, look, look, definitely maintaining good communication is great for all parties involved, but it's not necessarily easy either. You know, it's a matter of asking the right questions and having the right processes and systems in place there to make sure that you are having those conversations or those questions are being asked and addressed and those steps aren't being, you know, forgotten that that before you know it you're three or four steps ahead of one thing but you should have actually been talking about it back here. You know, it's about having those conversations early in the piece that can give you the time to digest that information correctly to make the correct decision.

Is that, is that something you think a homeowner should identify within their builder before a prelim is signed or.

Most definitely like before any, you know, prelims, especially contracts, you know, before you even get down that path, you should be able to establish a very good open communication there with a good building company in the very early stages. You should be able to get a good feeling if you're going to be able to communicate with that company from your first conversation, your first phone inquiry, your first sit down, you know, you should be able to get these warnings and little signals and if they're going to be that good fit for you or not.

Yeah, I just want to come back to your experience with what your customers have told have said about your guys communication and how they describe the way that you guys handle your guys relationships. Can you think of any stories or any specific examples?

Look, we have been very fortunate which you know, people can read their testimonials and case studies to verify and back this up but our customers are always very satisfied with the effort and just I guess the lengths that we all go to as a whole to communicate and keep them updated and informed. You know, there's always ways to improve but the feedback that we do get, you know, is that, and it's you know, quite, you know, proof of just say that, you know, we do communicate with our customers very well and they, they have a great experience there through things and you know, they haven't had problems coming to us with you know, said the good, the bad, the ugly. They felt comfortable, you know, and nothing's ever a problem with us if we're communicating about that. So you know, that's something I'm very proud of. And you know, know we wanted to Continue that, you know, through every build that we do.

Yeah, I love that.

What.

What final tips can you give to a homeowner to have a. Have a. To improve their communication with their builder?

Look, it's best way to improve any communication there is just to make sure that you're open and honest yourself, you know, don't go keeping cards, you know, disclosed there.

Let it all out, you know, and, you know, from there, you'll be able to sort of enjoy the experience much more, you know, take that weight off your shoulders, give it to your builder. That's what they're there for. You know, we're here to make the process enjoyable and fun, you know, and by communicating. It's. It's a fantastic experience.

I love that. That's. That's really insightful. Before we wrap up this segment, I do want to ask you one more question.

Okay.

And we'll get that from this jar. Oh, nice little pop there.

All right, thank you.

See what you've pulled out this time, Norm? This one's a bit tricky. See how you go with this one.

Okay.

What's a common belief? People should question more often.

In common belief, the people question should question more often.

You can pass if it is too tricky.

No, I'd say a common belief there is that they all think builders are the same. And it couldn't be further from the truth. Like, we are all so different, you know, so comparing, you know, one specialty field, you know, and thinking that we're all the same thing, you know, it's just not. Not the truth at all. Every builder, in this instance there is very individualized and, you know, for ourselves, we're very personalized to what we deliver. I personally don't think anyone in area is the same as what we are. And the attention to detail and the effort that myself, my team go to to deliver the product that we choose to deliver, I. I definitely don't think anyone would come near that there. So I think there's a fair misconception into people comparing builders.

I love that. That's. That's solid. I appreciate your insights.

No problem at all. Thanks.

Thank you, Norm.

Appreciate.