If the customer is always right, high-end customers are never wrong.

That's why high-end builders have to take the mentality that “every customer is a CEO,” says Lou Downes, president and cofounder of Downe’s Swimming Pool Company Inc. in Wheeling Illinois.

That means always staying on your toes, he said, and being ready to offer creative solutions to complex problems.

However, Downes stresses the importance of promising only what you can deliver and to be realistic about deadlines with your customer. He said some builders promise a low price and a short deadline to completion so they can win the bid. Ultimately, these contractors end up with a disgruntled customer and an inferior product.

He said the first thing he does with a client is let them know just how long it will take to build a pool, which is realistically one year in the Midwest where weather can slow down the most ardent builders. He said getting a permit to build can take 4-5 months, not to mention the time it takes to create a design to submit to the licensing agency.

“In the Midwest, getting a permit is an excruciatingly painful process,” he lamented.

He said his number one goal is acquisition of the customer, keeping the customer is a close second. Downe’s sees his job as managing the construction job and managing the customer. He takes great pains to let the customer know how the project is progressing at each phase. And he is careful not to make promises he can't keep.

“If you tell someone you’re going to do something in two weeks, they remember it ... they might not remember what it was, but they'll remember that you said two weeks,” he explained. He also advised not to bite off more than you can chew, which only takes away from the quality time you can spend with each customer.

Before the job is completed, Tim O’Neil, the firm's engineer, creates a “punch list” of loose ends to tie up before they present the project as finished to the customer. O’Neil said this is a proactive approach to managing a construction job and works better than waiting until the job is finished and haggling over details.

Downes said his crews also take great pains to keep a job site looking tidy during the construction phase. Meanwhile, he is continually on site communicating with his crew and subcontractors to keep the project running smoothly — and keep the customer happy.

For a complete article on a high-end pool project created by Lou Downes, see "Making History" in the May 23, 2001 issue of Pool & Spa News.