Managing post-sale relationships

“The way you finish is the way they remember you,” says Stephen Hann, president, Hann Builders in Stafford, Texas. “You’ve got to finish strong or you’ll fade. It’s harder to regain momentum than it is to keep it going.”

Hann, who was named Custom Home Builder of the Year by the NAHB Custom Builder Committee in 2007, employs all the standard post-sale relationship builders such as sending newsletters, birthday phone calls and sending cards of gratitude on Thanksgiving. He also makes an event out of closing day when keys are handed to the new owners.

“We present them a plant or flower that will be around for a while, and a bottle of champagne we put in their fridge. We celebrate and spend a few hours going through the house, familiarizing them with where everything is,” Hann says.

“Something else we do for our clients is to go back, one time, to do a paint touch-up visit. This is limited, of course. I prepare clients going in that we come through with two guys for four hours in one afternoon and they should be ready with the areas that need work. We understand after living in the home for awhile it settles, and weather has its effects, so we touch up those areas for free,” Hann says.

A happy customer is the goal, but referrals are what it’s all about. “The last time we tracked it, about 92 percent of our work came in as referrals. so I’m going to take care of any issue clients have. I see it as marketing dollars spent,” he says.

Hann believes in the 80/20 rule which states roughly 20 percent of his past clients are active proponents of Hann Builders, or what he calls his champions. “I call those people a few times a year, just to touch base. But I’ve also built some great personal relationships with some of those people. One past client told me he enjoyed the process so much the last time he built with us, that when he wanted to build his next home, he never talked to anyone else. So post-sale relationships can pay off.”

Hann Builders sends a painting crew on a one-time, four-hour touch-up trip within the first year clients live in their new home. Service like this adds tremendous value to the good word-of-mouth on the street.