Attitude and Expertise: ICI Homes’ Top Customer Service Tools
Earlier on the ICI Homes Blog, we discussed the importance of homebuilders’ customer service ratings and how our own — at 96 percent — leaves the current industry standard in its dust.
We’re extremely grateful for the many homeowners willing to give us a big thumbs-up.
But how does that happen?
It has much to do with ICI Homes’ history and mandates as it does with performance.
Here’s why attitude and expertise are two of our top customer service tools.
We know what we’re doing
Headquartered in Daytona Beach, with divisions in West Central, North and East Central Florida, ICI Homes has built custom homes all over the state for more than four decades.
Founder Mori Hosseini continues to stress quality and customer care. And, being privately owned is an advantage.
“I think one of the reasons why we’ve been able to do this pretty efficiently, since we are a private homebuilder, is that one of the founding principles is to stay close to the customer,” says East Central Florida Division President Samuel D. Morrisett, adding that many national builders have many layers, which can lead to a trickle-down effect rather than efficiency.
“We feel like we are nimble and we can react and stay very close to our customers,” he says.
ICI Homes is plenty big — make no mistake. But the same nimbleness that keeps us customer-centric also allows us to specialize.
“We try to hire people who are very, very passionate about relationships and building relationship with our customers,” Morrisett says. “We want people who are going out of their way to learn about their customers to delight them.”
Another tactic is getting small things right. Sometimes alerting a customer to a potential clash of paint colors, or that a closet door may open awkwardly, is as helpful as shifting a bathroom wall.
How we do it
Per Morrisett, “ICI is not only a builder, but we’re also a developer.”
That means a dual focus on the quality of a new custom home and intangibles such as the attention received by home buyers, and the lifestyle they’re purchasing.
Along with a new home, ICI Homes’ master-planned communities give some buyers amenities such as gated entrances, resort-style swimming pools, playgrounds, and residents clubs, among others.
“Master-planned concepts bring it all together into a full experience,” Morrisett says.
Thoroughness, reliability, and expertise is an ICI Homes staple.
Different elevations are available for each floor plan. We offer a customization meeting with a designer to address — often at no or low cost — buyer-specific changes.
The customization opportunity is offered to each potential customer and can result in a completely new design and pricing within 48 hours.
“It’s your-way customization without the delay,” Morrisett says.
