Set up for Success

We’ve all had “those jobs” or “that boss” who only cared about the “bottom line.” I’ve got news for them; people make up the bottom line. That’s just one small thing I love about our culture here at Garman. We are for sure set up for success or at least given the opportunity to succeed.

 You see, sometimes success can mean failing and failing is not necessarily a bad thing. I can recall many times when I didn’t handle that homeowner quite like I should have, or set that foundation too high, or ordered way too much lumber. But what I can’t remember is ever being blown out because of it. There is power in failure because when handled properly it gives one the opportunity to grow and succeed.

Not to mention the freedom that comes with knowing that hey, it’s ok to make a mistake. I know all my fellow Garmanites will agree that our unique culture here has helped to cultivate an attitude of wanting to be the best we can be. We may not be conventional or kosher, but we’re definitely good at being “US!”

- Gerry Felton

A porch is a porch is a porch. Right?

A porch you say, who cares about a porch?? I mean I don’t get any extra money for it; it won’t count as additional square footage, what’s the big deal? Curb appeal baby. One thing we do here at Garman Homes is a big ole freaking wrapped porch…Yeah!!!! This small addition plays a huge role in giving a house style.

I like to think of it synonymously with Cindy Crawford’s beauty mark. She doesn’t get anything for it, but everyone knows about it and loves it. These little architectural tidbits of Joy can make a lasting impression on a house while at the same time offering hours on endless rocking.

 I guess I wrote all this to say, I love me some wrapped porches. Who’s with me?

- Gerry (G-Dog) Felton

G-Team Fan Mail: Accentuate the Positive!

I just got copied on this email from one of our Bridgewater homeowners to John, our Assistant Construction Manager in Holly Springs.  That's John in the picture above, second from the left with Brian (left of John), Gerry and Me.

The Marltons 1 year walk-thru was today and they sent us this lovely note after our visit.  I love the spirit of this email...so often each of us is guilty of pointing out the negative and missing opportunities to accentuate the positive.  I'm glad The Marltons didn't miss an opportunity to let us know they had a great experience!

Thank you Brian, Emily & Ramsey Marlton, we are honored to have you living in a house we built!

Hey John,

Just wanted to start off by saying thank you from Emily and I for taking care of every single thing today in a very quick and timely manner. We couldn't be more pleased with the quality of work done today by you and the other trades. 

On that note we would also like to rave about the Cortez crew that took care of the nail pops. They went above and beyond touching up every little thing that not only we pointed out, but they saw along the way. They were fast in getting everything done, and left the house as clean as it was when they arrived. They even took into consideration the noise level when working near our 4 month old daughters room while she was napping. If you don't mind, please pass along our thanks again to their owner and crew for an outstanding job.

Thank you again,

Brian, Emily, and Ramsey Marlton

Culture Book 2011 - Gerry Felton

Culture, as defined by Webster’s dictionary reads: The set of values, conventions, or social practices associated with a particular field, activity or societal characteristic. Now I don’t know about you guys, but when I think about the culture at my job that smartly worded sentence is not the first thing that comes to mind. You see, to accurately describe the culture at Garman Homes there are two words, and two words only that can do her justice; and those two words are, “Garman Homes.” Now I understand that doesn’t make sense to most of you, especially since we only have about 6-7 employees! What I am suggesting is that the culture at Garman Homes is so unique that it can’t be boxed in by another’s.

There are a multitude of things that make up the culture at Garman homes, but today I want to focus on just a few of them. Do you guys remember back in, “The Good Ole Days” when people worked hard, loved what they did, built a superior lasting product, and most importantly loved its people and customers? Well that’s us, we have built our business around making people’s dreams come true and building a quality house at the same time. I can’t tell you how many people have come to us with ideas of what they wanted in their perfect home and time and time again we made it happen for them. So, I guess I will call my first culture point the, “we slayed it again factor!”

We all know of “that guy” or “that product” or “that company” that is at best second rate in terms hontegriditis (yes I made up this word). What is this you might ask, this is my attempt to sum up and combine the words honesty and integrity. This is my second culture point, here at Garman I can confidently and proudly say that WE DO THE RIGHT THING! In many aspects this has been key to our success, as a builder because when people see this (and believe me, they see it) it leaves a lasting impression that they just can’t help but tell others about. As a field guy this is one of the most challenging parts of my job. In my experience anytime you have to be upfront and honest about something is usually because along the way something got messed up! Let me be the first to tell you that “after-the-fact” fixes are hard, time consuming, and down-right irritating. But, at the end of the day if we can’t be bigger than our mistakes (and yes we make them) where does that leave us???

Bringing up the rear is a little something I like to call attitude. We have all heard the saying, “attitude reflects leadership.” Well that’s certainly true and we are leading the way in our unconventional style of home building. Having a good attitude doesn’t mean we don’t get mad or angry, but it does mean that we commit to being positive while we work through things with each other and customers. A key component of this is humility. You won’t find any ego here (except from me but I am working on it) and we give each other plenty of wiggle room. Put all that together and you have a great place to excel because people aren’t afraid to make mistakes.

I hope you have caught a glimpse that while we aren’t a perfect company, every day we strive to do the things the Garman Way. If you can’t find a good fit for what you’re looking from anyone come check us out, I think you’ll like us!

Gerry Felton
Rock Star since March, 2010

WINNING

(Excerpt from my Build Like a Girl blog)

Contrary to what most people might say, I don't agree with the notion that it is an honor just to be nominated. Ok, so maybe if we're talking Nobel Peace Prize, sure, that's an honor...but short of that, and not to go all Charlie Sheen crazy here but I get my honor kicks from winning. (p.s. if you're ever up against me for an award, you should know I'm probably hoping you lose.)

So it's a good thing we won the MAME Award for Best Blog by a Builder last week, huh? MAME stands for Major Achievements in Marketing Excellence and yes, I know, really odd name for marketing awards. Now back to the winning part.

The night would have been a total downer if we lost. Instead it was one of the best nights of my career thus far. It was the kind of night where you have so much fun that people earn nicknames. Really good nicknames that stick. That's right, I'm talking to you, Skittles.

And it was the kind of night when you realize that you get to work with just the coolest people on earth. People who think it's a great idea to carpool together in the swagger wagon. People who ask if anyone's iphone needs a quick charge before we go in to the event. People who will only tag the good pictures of you on Facebook and oblige your request to delete the ones where your arms look fat. Those are good people. I love those people.

I'd like to say that I would write this blog even if no one was reading but that would be a total lie. I write this blog because it allows me to connect to anyone and everyone that reads it. It gives me a platform to spill my guts, air my grievances, confess my sins and move on. It gives me a platform to be better. At anything. At everything. I write it because it makes me feel good and it gives me an opportunity to make other people feel good, usually at my own expense but whatever. If someone reads this and feels good...that is fan-freaking-tastic.

We won because YOU read this blog.

These words. And you like it. Or not.

And maybe you like us. Or not.

Either way. It's cool.

And just because it might not be an honor for me just being nominated, it is truly an honor that you might actually read these words.

So thanks for that.

You're all winners.

Did Jim get out of his car?

Mike couldn't believe I bought lots 142 & 143 Bridgewater.  He said to Alaina, "Did Jim get out of his car?  Did he see how these things drop off?"  Tasked with running Garman Homes last spring while I was starting Go Realty, Mike was not so happy to find I left him with two super-steep lots.

Mike's decision was immediate and clear...put these lots on the market and sell them to some other poor smuck.  OK, got it.

When I returned to daily operations last fall, I was as scared as Mike to start these lots.  I had no idea how the grading would work or if we could control our basement costs.  I admit, I was chicken.  And I admit, no, I didn't get out of my car.

Then, the craziest thing happened.  Dan Morse (our new Dir. of Construction) stepped up and said he and Gerry could figure these out.  Boasting 10 years of Toll Brothers experience and hundreds of basements under his belt, Dan appeared confident.  In fact, Dan relished the challenge of proving me wrong.

And boy...wrong I was.  These two homesites turned out to be gorgeous.  The basement foundations went in perfectly.  The house plans that Dan & Gerry chose were just right.  And best of all, both homes were sold before we hung the drywall.  Wow.

I'm lucky to work with people who step up and prove me wrong...on a regular basis.  Thank you Dan & Gerry!

Hi, I'm Gerry Felton

aka 'Mr. Bluntafixaholic'

- Gerry builds all the houses Laurel sells in Holly Springs - He lives there too!

- Gerry's Street Cred: Built for 2 national builders; went to State (it can't just be coincidence - good builders tend to be State grads)

- Garman Homes Theme Song: "Renegade" - Styx

- Gerry loves his wife Shaina, his baby boy and the Wolfpack.

Dan & Gerry talk quality while A$ types...

Gerry: I feel terrible saying this...but there’s not a whole lot we do differently than any other builder in this market.

And thus begins our quality of construction series. I’m sitting in our future Parade home at Holly Glen with Gerry and Dan and I’m trying to coach them thru how to blog, why we should blog and getting them to think about the quality of our construction.

I pounce on Gerry like he's just solved one of the world's greatest mysteries, 'that's exactly how we should start the quality series!'

Gerry is perplexed, 'why would you write that down?'

I was not perplexed, 'because it's true, it's not just about our materials...quality of construction is about more than just the parts you put together so tell me why we still do it better, all other things being equal.'

Dan jumps in now...'building a house is 100% management...individual superintendent management. The coordination of the trades is critical...if your subcontractors aren’t able to get ahold of somebody or the house isn’t ready or the house isn’t open for them to do their work then that trade is gonna be unhappy and be less likely to do a good job.'

Gerry is in complete agreement, 'it doesn't matter how good your materials are if your people that are putting them together don't do a good job. Good management leads to good quality built houses.'

I can tell Gerry's on a roll now...'Our field managers have a policy...every room, every house, everyday.'

This is a new policy to me and I'm excited about it because I know this is the stuff that infuses quality into our homes from start to finish. This is the stuff that makes us different. I know it might seem like a really basic concept but I also know there are very few builders out there committing to a policy like this. Why? Because it takes a lot of time and a lot of discipline. But, it's one of those things that just makes sense-how can you manage or maintain a high quality construction process if you're not in every room of every house everyday? You just can't. At least not as well.

I look up at my two new bloggers and announce, 'cool, that's an entry. I love that policy.'

Dan & Gerry are surprised, 'really that's all you need?'

I assure them, 'yep. that's a great start.'

They're happy. Both are inherently task driven and marking this first entry off their list was important to them. Stay tuned for more from these guys...before you know it they'll be blogging on their own...unprovoked. Maybe. We'll see.

Gerry Charm School - Small Things

The small things make a big difference. 

How do you answer the phone when a customer calls?  How quickly do you get back to a customer?  Do you call because you need to?  Or do you sometimes call just because?  So much of customers service is the approach...and that is what Gerry and I sat on the front steps of Dawn & Jeff's house the other day discussing.  What are the small things you can do so that our customers know how much they mean to us? 

1. Call back right away!  The days of "I'll return your message within 24 hours" are over.  It's ok if you don't have the answer, it's ok if you don't have a lot of time.  But it's not ok to put customers off.  Give them a quick call to let them know you care.  One day, I need to write up the story of how I learned this lesson the hard way...Mr Bothika, thank you.  Kurt Burger, thanks for not firing me. 
2. Enter ALL customers as contacts in your phone.  Seriously.  If I don't have someone loaded in my phone as a contact, I won't call them.  Take 30 seconds and do it now.  Make it easy on yourself to be a good communicator.  And when your customer calls, answer the phone by saying hello to them, "Alicia, great to hear from you!  How can I help you?"
3. Call for no reason.  This is one of my favorites.  Once all your customers are on speed dial, it's easy to give them a quick call when walking through their home under construction.  How fun is it to share the excitement of their granite tops that were just installed that day?  Share the joy with them as it happens with a quick call. 
4. Mix it up.  Call, text, email, facebook...get to know each customer and how they like to communicate...and then do it.  We are all different.  Respect that. 

Gerry - You are a fantastic student!  Alaina, Kathie, and I have loved working with you on this project.  Next, we'd love to hear from you.  Does any of this help?

What I Like About Gerry!

I'm onsite today in Holly Glen! Kathie is over at Bridgewater. I wanted to take a moment to shout out to Gerry about how awesome the neighborhood looks...

- The homes are clean! All six homes under construction are swept out, the yards are graded, and the garages organized.

- I've never seen hardwood covered and protected so well! Seriously, not only did they lay corrugated paper, they also taped down extra cardboard at the high traffic areas. Go Gerry, Go CTI! I'll upload a pic when I get to a computer.

- The trash piles were removed before the weekend and the trash boxes moved to the side. Nice.

And even cooler than all that... I stopped into see Jeff and Dawn who closed earlier this week and they could not say enough good things about Gerry, Kathie, Jackie, and Alaina! They said everyone warned them building would be a nightmare...the builder would nickel and dime them, the house would not be ready, etc.. But they said that at every step they were thrilled to find us responsive, patient, and fair.

Nice job team. Nice job Gerry. I'm really lucky to be out here today selling Garman Homes!

Gerry Charm School - Put Down the Phone!

Believe it or not, my husband thinks that the cell phone is the single worst invention known to man. I am not sure that I agree with him but I do feel that sometimes it can really be just a big pain the you know what.

So my mission, and yes I have chosen to accept it, is to give Gerry his charm school lesson on the art of knowing when to answer his cell. Gerry is always busy and his phone is constantly ringing. He is the guru of the iphone of which I am the challenged one! He stands there all cool with that thing on his ear, I believe it's called a Bluetooth or something like that-not a fan at all! You can be in mid sentence when he puts his finger up as if to say Shhh.... I got a call.

Of course I am usually totally cool with it..he is the man and things don't get done if he can't get his job done and if I was the one calling him I would certainly want him to answer. BUT there need to be limits. So what do I think?

Never answer a call when you are with a customer unless of course it pertains to them. I would love your undivided attention-what I am saying is critical to our success!

But of course if the call is from Jim Garman call-feel free to answer that one