To impart company culture to everyone at Talmadge Construction, Aptos, Calif., owner Jeff Talmadge came up with what he calls “Quiet C,” a concept that he believes differentiates his company from others. “What makes us special? If I had 30 seconds in a running elevator to tell people what makes my company special, I'd talk about Quiet C — Quality, Understanding, Integrity, Exceed expectations, Timeliness, Communications,” Talmadge says. “It's a tool that everything we do revolves around.” Talmadge had the acronym printed on cards and laminated, and everyone in the company has one:
Quality: Any decision is made with the objective of providing top quality in workmanship and materials. “Whenever there's an opportunity to point out to a client what level of quality they're getting, we do that,” Talmadge says. “You have to toot your horn whenever you can.”
Understanding: We put ourselves in our customer's shoes. Remember this is a huge disruption to their lives and probably their biggest investment. Have empathy and patience and explain things using language that clients can understand. “I use three-dimensional sketches and take photos and alter them digitally to show what something is going to look like.”
Integrity: “If there's a dispute over a gray area, we want to let our integrity guide our decisions. The dollars and cents aren't going to take precedent over the right thing to do,” Talmadge says.
Expectations: What are clients' expectations, and are they realistic? Underpromise and overdeliver.
Timeliness: “As a rule, we try to be timely, and it's especially important when you've got someone difficult; you can't do the little things wrong. You can't be late. You've got to be prepared. You've got to have organization.”
Communication: “I look at clients'faces for signs that they may not understand what we're telling them. You have to be diligent about communicating often and documenting conversations.”