You have a company story that you tell employees and customers when asked. Maybe it is on your web page. It likely says when and where you started the company, your experience and even awards. It reads like the resumes you get in the mail from people looking for a job. Remember how little the resume told you about the person and failed to get you to act.
What does your story say about your values and more important does it captivate your target customer and make them want to know more about you and your company? Does it tell your employees what is important to the company and to you?
Below is the “Story” we wrote for Robinson Development. See if it works better than a resume.
It was only six in the evening when the meeting, one of many that always seem to run long, ended but it was mid December and it was already dark outside. After the meeting I had intended to drive by a subdivision we had completed several years earlier. Even though it was after dark, I went anyway. As I entered the once familiar streets I was greeted not by the houses we had built but by Christmas lights. Lights strung from bushes and trees; wreathes lit on front doors; Christmas trees showing through picture windows; a Santa Claus on the small roof over a front door; plastic angels in a front yard next door to a reindeer and a sleigh.
Noted psychologist B. F. Skinner said, “Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.” As I sat in the car, the heater just catching up with the chill, I discovered what survives when the schedules, work orders, hammering, inspecting, painting and cleaning are forgotten; a neighborhood made up of homes, not houses, where people share, grow, argue, do homework and all the things that make up living. The windows we selected and installed keep out the weather, the furnace warms them and the stove helps them prepare dinner.
That night I realized the homeowners will never know how we spent days looking at window samples, reading specs and talking to sales people before selecting the windows for the project or the design work that went into selecting the correct furnace for their home.
Quality was our job; not theirs.
Creating quality homes and quality neighborhoods is the joy and responsibility of our calling. Explaining the building processes to our customers and helping them through and to even enjoy the experience is also our job. To insure this, we wrote the book on it. We created the Robinson Homes Homeowners Manual. The Manual, which is given to each customer when they sign the contract, guides the client through the entire process from applying for a loan through the warrantee period and even maintenance on the home and its systems. The book includes the performance standards we designed into the home and clearly defines our policies and procedures.
Our staff, trade contractors and suppliers worked together to prepare this document to reflect their pride in the new homes we build, their professional approach to home building and their collective commitment to the make the process as smooth as possible. Our staff always has the book close at hand to refer to should a question of standards or procedures arise. We are so confident in the Manual and the standards and procedures it contains that after signing the contract, if the buyer reads the book and disagrees with anything it contains we will refund the deposit with no questions asked.
Once we are set to begin the home we hold the pre-construction conference, the first of three scheduled meeting, to go over procedures, the plans and options. Just prior to installing the drywall we schedule a walkthrough of the home with our customers and the project manager to review the mechanical systems, framing and to make sure all options are installed as ordered. And finally, we have a new home orientation to introduce the buyer to their new home and provide instruction on the features and systems in the home.
It is not a house we build, but a home. It is not just construction; it is creation of a family shelter and family center, a sanctuary from the outside world.
How did you feel when you read the story? Did it keep you interested? Did it make you want to trust this company?
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