Keith Liston
President, Liston Construction
St. Charles, Mo.
Full-Service Remodeling
When new-home construction boomed a decade ago, remodelers often were pushed to the back of the line. But once the housing bubble burst, Keith Liston says he noticed more suppliers were cold calling him. “You want to say, ‘Where were you five years ago when I couldn’t get people to help me or give me an answer?’” he says.
Liston has seen his business turn from being a large-scale renovation company to one focusing on smaller projects such as kitchens, baths, and basement remodels.
He prides himself on offering a good customer service experience, and he expects the same from his building material suppliers. He wants a dealer who will listen to his needs and wants, but also doesn’t mind if they take the initiative.
“Sometimes I don’t even initiate the question. My supplier will say, ‘Hey, I know you guys do a lot of this, you ought to think about this,’” says Liston. Having a supplier who can act as a sounding board for new ideas and products goes a long way as well.
He doesn’t tend to shop around but isn’t afraid to change dealers if he feels he can get better service somewhere else.
“I think it’s important that they’re likable and responsive,” he says of suppliers, “but at the end of the day, if they can serve your needs better than somebody else, that’s probably who’s going to get the call.”
Scott Frey
Owner, Frey Construction & Home Improvement
Prairie du Sac, Wis.
Full-Service Remodeling
Scott Frey believes homeowners will always be remodeling; it’s just a matter of whether they are spending the money on wants or necessities. The wants are nice, but necessities are what have kept Frey Construction & Home Improvement alive during the downturn. During that time, Frey focused on building trust with his clients through good customer service and by fulfilling their needs, winning repeat business and referrals.
Just as he emphasizes customer service with his clientele, Frey holds it to be an important part of choosing his building material suppliers. “I want competitive pricing, but the service and the relationship are more important than a couple dollars one way or the other,” he says. Schedules are critical: He wants his materials delivered on time and picked up and credited to him as soon he is done.
Along with timely deliveries, information plays a vital role in whether Frey will work with a particular supplier.
“If they’re the ones that get me the samples at 5 o’clock on a Friday night, they’re the ones that are going to win the lion’s share of the business,” he says. Frey doesn’t care whether the information comes from an inside or outside salesperson. He just wants it quickly and as detailed as possible.
Amber Mazor
President and CEO, Perfect Renovation
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Design/Build Remodeling
Amber Mazor says New York City hasn’t been as affected by the downturn in the housing market as other places. He says a lot of people still buy homes in Brooklyn, the borough in which Perfect Renovation operates, and they tend to remodel those houses soon after purchasing them. Mazor focuses solely on residential renovation of brownstones and townhouses.
Delivery issues differ markedly in an urban environment, starting with whether the supplier can even get the products to the job site. That may mean delivering goods through an upper-floor window or breaking a load into smaller sizes to fit in an elevator. And with little room for storage and limited accessibility, he looks for dealers willing to make frequent trips.
Mazor says personal relationships and flexibility are vital when working with a city contractor such as himself. “From the local distributors, I really expect that if there are mistakes, inaccuracies, or we are beginning to get in trouble or are missing some materials, that they will do their best to work with us,” he says.
