Building your own home can be one of life’s biggest decisions, so you want to know you can truly rely on and trust your builder to get the job done.
At Hamlan, we consider transparency as one of our hallmarks that sets us apart from other builders. For Hamlan, to maintain trust with our clients and suppliers it comes down to communication, respect and delivering on what has been promised from the start.
Hamlan Operations Manager, Josh Liston says there’s a sticker with the slogan “Treat this home as your own” that goes on every single home under construction by Hamlan. The slogan is something he instills in all his staff and is something a client can expect from Hamlan from the very beginning of their building journey through to handover.
“The focus for the business is to work hard to make sure what we say is what we are going to deliver,” he says.
Transparency right from the start
At Hamlan, the transparency starts from the very beginning at the first site meeting where clients and site supervisors come together to run through every aspect of the project.
“The site supervisor meets the owners for the first time and goes through the file with them,” Josh says.
“We go through clear expectations on how we’re going to build this home; how we’re going to communicate; how long it’s going to take; how we deal with the contract; how we deal with any issues; and the payment schedule.
“That instantly creates a benchmark that’s hopefully instilling the trust the client has gained from the new home consultant and helps them realise they are part of the team, too.”
Direct communication by cutting out the middleman
Josh says that keeping Hamlan’s managers and supervisors accountable for each job is one of its internal core values. And that means allowing clients to go direct to managers with any issues that may arise.
“With Hamlan you’ll have the one point of contact – your site supervisor, all the way through till handover when you get the keys to your new home. There’s no middle person, like you find with other builders,” he says. “In those businesses, you’ll often have a customer service manager that really just fields questions.
“We have weekly personal discussions within the business about every job. The building manager speaks with every single site supervisor and talks about every job, and the sales manager does that with the new home consultants.
“If there is any issue, those issues are brought to a head really, really quickly because the clients know they can bring that question or issue straight into the office to our sales manager or the building manager. So our team are very hands on.”
Teamwork between client and builder
Josh says its important to make a client feel they are as much a part of the Hamlan team as any of the staff members.
“I always refer to a little diagram with three points to building a house,” he says. “One point is sales, one is site and one is the client. We’re open to constructive criticism and welcome any feedback from our clients. When we all work as a team it always results in a better house.
“We realise the importance of communicating well with our clients. It’s a plus — the building process will be better and the experience for everyone especially our clients will be better all the way through.”
Better trust with suppliers, better outcomes
Josh says that using transparency to build trust, extends to all of Hamlan’s relationships, including those they have with suppliers and tradespeople — some of which have worked with Hamlan for more than 25 years.
“Trust is really important with our suppliers and the trades. This gives us the ability to have quick response and to turn things around easily if an issue arises. Our suppliers and trades always help us out because we’re an easy business to deal with,” he says.
“If we have longevity with a business and trust with a business, that we’re going to pay on time, that our communication is professional and we do things quickly, the house will be built quicker, there’s no doubt about that.
“If there is an issue, I can tell the supplier, ‘I really need to turn this around quickly’, and they will do it.
“For the trades. They are definitely the backbone to our business. Our ability to give the trades as much work as we can, have materials on site when we say and for them to get into a job and get out of a job with the quality we want, is the best practice of trust every day.”
Conclusion
You can feel confident that when building a home with Hamlan that transparency and trust is at the heart of its business. For Hamlan it’s about communication, respect and delivering on what has been promised at the start.
Firstly, Hamlan meets with clients and together set a clear understanding on all aspects of the build, including how they’ll build the home, how they’ll communicate, how long it will take, how issues will be dealt with, the contract and finance.
The team at Hamlan are told to treat every home like it’s their own. There’s also no “middleman” during the process of building with Hamlan — every client has direct access to the building manager and sales manager, if needed. They also have the same contact throughout the entire build.
All clients are also made to feel part of their Hamlan building team, this helps to keep communication lines open and create a better building experience for all and ultimately a great home.
And nurturing long-standing relationships with suppliers and tradespeople — some for more than 25 years — also helps Hamlan to build beautiful, quality homes in a timely manner.
To learn more about building a home with Hamlan, call 1300 426 526.
