These and other programs, such as a “guide to homeownership” with plenty of details on maintenance concerns, have combined to steadily increase the level of buyer satisfaction. Company surveys show that the share of customers who say they would refer others to Ideal has risen from 86.3 percent in 2002 to more than 95 percent today. Typical is Russ Trafford, who heard about Ideal from colleagues when his company transferred offices from San Jose, Calif., to Norman, Okla., the south suburban community that is home to the University of Oklahoma and Ideal's headquarters. “We looked at a couple other builders, too, but Ideal was the clear choice,” says Trafford, who adds that he got “twice the home at half the price” of his San Jose space, as well as the “best-built home I've ever owned.”
THE PEOPLE FACTORInnovative programs aside, Ideal's senior managers will tell you that the quality of its people—both its employees and its trade and supplier partners—is the chief reason for the company's torrid growth record. Every job candidate goes through five hour-long interviews with staff, a three-hour work-history interview, and a thorough check of references. Once hired, employees must attend financial literacy courses, which explain Ideal's operation and the impact of each worker's job on the company's success. Attend those sessions and, whether you are a custodian or a leading salesperson, you qualify equally for quarterly profit-sharing pay-outs, which in 2006 were projected to total about $12,000 per employee, according to Gene McKown.
It's all a part of the company's open management style, which Ideal adapted from the “Great Game of Business” program. “Nothing can improve unless it is first measured,” notes CFO JaRee Stambeck, “and we are very open about sharing with the employees all the details on how we are doing on closings, revenues, and other important details of the business.”
That same open-book approach drives co-owner Booze's relationship with the vendors and construction trades. For example, Booze shares Ideal's annual strategic plan with key subs and vendors and has formed a trade steering committee that meets monthly to discuss sales, construction activity, and quality assurance issues. In addition, he is introducing a new online “Web Information Services” site, where Ideal's building and vendor partners can check progress on jobs, as well as track purchase orders and payments. Each day, Ideal's building superintendents download new information into this system from their PDAs, so crews and suppliers have the latest information.
Says Booze, “Our culture is to communicate and to help our partners get what they want, which is steady work, fair prices, clear specs, and job-ready building sites.”
Rick Ogle, a principal of Brewer Carpet One and a supplier for a decade, says Ideal has gone out of its way to educate its building partners and help them integrate the same kinds of efficiencies and management practices that the builder has implemented in its own operations. Adds Ogle, “They've taught us all to never be satisfied with our success.”
And no one battles apathy more zealously than Ideal's senior managers. Every quarter, each manager takes on an important “rock” or task that must be completed before that three-month period is over. Among fourth quarter 2006 goals: a thorough study of every development in the metropolitan area to assess the market; preparations for certification under the NAHB's National Housing Quality program; and development of the strategic marketing message for 2007.
Meanwhile, with the company's solid record of achievement, public builders have come calling. But for now, says Gene McKown, Ideal is quite content to pursue its “big, hairy audacious goal” of 95 percent employee and customer satisfaction and steady annual sales growth of 5 percent (the increase was nearly 30 percent in 2004). “We feel very fortunate,” says Vernon McKown. “We're in a business where we make people's dreams come true, and we're pretty good at it.”