For many years, I witnessed the “accepted industry standard” of how to build a custom home. Mostly, it involved an architect designing a dream home that inevitably had to be redesigned once the full project was examined and costed out. Sure, the professionals involved made their money upfront. But ignoring the client’s best interests upfront brings with it a long-term decrease in value.
Thirty years ago, I decided this was not how I wanted to do business. I decided to build a company where clients came first. Davitt would create a team to manage the entire process from start to finish, from design through unit costs, all transparent to the client and responsive to the budget realities.
This approach makes sure that the realization of a project is in concert with a client’s vision, as opposed to the industry standard, which shunts the client off through a process that guarantees frustration and unhappiness.
For a diversified homebuilder, this more-engaged process could involve permitting for coastal building or historic restoration. Weekly meetings with documentation keep the work on time and the client’s interests upfront. Even when the project is done, the bonds forged by the improved process allow for service beyond the obvious, such as removing a bird’s nest or restoring storm damage at the home.
In business, there will always be a temptation to put short-term gains over a long-term strategy to serve clients. But building relationships for the long term yields the greatest ROI.
