How to Handle Customer Questions on Completion Dates

Customers have lots of questions, and typically the most commonly asked is “When will my home be finished?”

Knowing when their home will be completed is very important to your customers. Moving into a new home requires lots of planning for most families. And, they’re excited about it—so excited that they often want to start planning their move-in day before construction even begins.

The fact is, completion dates are hard to predict. Giving customers a specific completion date before construction has started would be promising much more than the company knows it can deliver at that stage. Avoid giving a specific date.

Instead, explain to customers that construction is a complicated process with many variables the builder doesn't control, particularly early in the process. Note that you need to make sure the customer has had at least a basic explanation of the phases of the construction process.

Once the customer understands what will happen during the construction process, you can move on to a discussion of factors that your company doesn't control that can affect its ability to meet estimated completion dates. These factors include storms or cold weather, especially in the early stages of construction, shipping delays for materials, labor shortages, or delays in building inspections.

Also tell them that construction meetings will keep them informed about dates. At these meetings, customers will have a chance to see the progress of construction and to ask questions of the supervisor about the work. If your company provides estimated completion dates, your customers should expect the dates to become more specific as construction progresses. As work goes along, factors the builder doesn't control, like the weather, affect the work less and less. For example, when the walls, windows, and doors are completed, the interior of the home is protected from weather. At this stage work can continue inside even if it is raining or hailing outside. This means that the site supervisor can give a more precise estimate with confidence.

It's important to customer satisfaction to make sure that the picture in your customers’ heads is a realistic match with what your company can deliver. Manage your customers’ expectations about the completion dates by not promising more than you can deliver, and by keeping them informed as construction progresses.

For more information on handling frequently asked customer questions, enroll in Setting Customer Expectations about the Construction Process at: http://hz.buildiquniversity.com

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