Here - Building Contractors Association of Otero County

Dear BCAOC Members,
BCAOC has moved!!! Due to the economic times and the
decrease in members in the BCAOC some major changes
have had to take place. I am now a part time Executive
Officer for the Association as well as a part time staff
member of the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce. In
an effort to cut back on costs the BCAOC has relocated
their office to the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce lo -
cated at 1301 N. White Sands Blvd. My phone number
575-437-2066 and fax #575-437-2218 will remain the
same as well as the email address bcaoc@qwestoffice.net.
I will still continue my same duties and will be asking for
my committees to pitch in and help me as well. The Board
of Directors has agreed to hire me a part time temp per -
son a few days during the year to help make sure the as -
sociation is still able to provide you with the same great
service and benefits!! I will admit, I was saddened by the
news of cutting back but now after some thought I am
looking for the new challenges and I appreciate all the
support I have received from so many of you already.!!
Remember I am still your Executive Officer and will work -
ing just as hard to keep the Association going in the right
direction, I will just have to learn to delegate some of the
duties to my wonderful Volunteers. So stop in and see me
at the Chamber of Commerce building!!
Tickets are on sale for the 22nd Annual Shrimp Boil. They
are available here at the BCAOC Office (1301 N. White
Sands Blvd.), Alamogordo Title Co., Morrison Supply Co.,
Custom Overhead Doors and the BCAOC Website at
www.bcaoc.com. This years event has also undergone
some changes. The Shrimp Boil will be held at Mesa
BCAOC
2009 Board Members and Officers
Executive Board of Directors:
President – Mark Bolin President Elect – Josh Rardin
Associate VP – Rick McCracken Secretary/Treasurer – Jeri Melton
Past President – Allen Gorby Life Member – Mike Drunzer
Executive Officer – Amber Sanchez
Builder Members
Jim French, Gerald Matherly, Tommy Messer,
Harris Blankenship, Randy Rabon, Jessica Beach
Associate Members:
Beth Crabbe, Rudy Chanez, Miles Ledgerwood,
Phil Stevens, Lee Ann Bain
A Message from the
Chief Executive Officer
Verde Ranch and tickets have gone
down in price to $25.00 per person.
Please contact me if you are inter -
ested in purchasing tickets.
Amber Sanchez
We are still actively recruiting New Members, if you have
someone in mind and would like for me to help you in the
recruiting process please contact me and I will be glad to
help.
The BCAOC.com has recently undergone a few changes.
What do you think? Is there something you would like to
see on the website, if so please let me know and I will get
it done.
Thank you for all your support!!
Amber H. Sanchez
Executive Officer, BCAOC
The Building Contractors Association of Otero County is a nonprofit voluntary trade associa -
tion affiliated with the New Mexico Home Builders Association and the National Association
of Home Builders. The association seeks to represent and serve the diversified needs of its
members who consist of large, small volume and custom home builders, developers, and re -
modelers, as well as industry-related suppliers, subcontractors, & professionals.
As the voice of the housing industry in Otero County, the association’s primary mission is to
represent those involved in and served by the building industry in our region, and all those in
pursuit of the American Dream.
This will be the accomplished by spearheading a combined effort of all industry-related
groups in addressing the quality of life in the community.
The Building Contractors Association of Otero County will work to achieve the following
goals:
� Educate our membership, our industry and the public;
� Actively participate in legislative & regulatory affairs;
� Provide the forums that encourage quality construction and innovative products.
We responsibly serve our community by being the positive influence on the building industry.
2

Hello BCAOC Members,
I am sure you have all heard the news by now…
BCAOC had to make some tough Budget cuts this year
and Amber is now Part Time and the office has relo -
cated to the Chamber of Commerce. The telephone
and fax numbers as well as the email address will re -
main the same. In an effort to keep Amber employed
full time, the Chamber of Commerce has an agreement
with the Association to “share” her. If you would like
A Message from the
President
Mark Bolin
more information on this please don’t hesitate to call me.
If you have any ideas or suggestions on how to achieve
the goals of this organization please feel free to contact
me at bolinhomes@beyondbb.com
Respectfully,
Mark Bolin
BCAOC President, 2009
Housing Affordability Continues To Hover Near
Highest Level In 18 Years
Bolstered by affordable interest rates and low prices, na -
tionwide housing affordability during the second quarter of
2009 continued to hover near its highest level since the se -
ries began 18 years ago, according to the National Asso -
ciation of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity
Index (HOI) released today.
The HOI showed that 72.3 percent of all new and existing
homes sold in the second quarter of 2009 were affordable
to families earning the national median income of
$64,000, down only slightly from the record-high 72.5
percent during the previous quarter and up from 55.0 per -
cent during the second quarter of 2008.
“The increase in affordability — along with the $8,000
federal tax credit for home buyers — is stimulating de -
mand, particularly among young, first-time buyers,” said
NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa,
Okla. “But to keep the recent upturn in home sales going
into next year, Congress will need to extend the tax credit
for another year and make it available to all buyers in an
effort to encourage activity in the trade-up market.”
Robson noted that the tax credit, which expires on Nov. 30,
is currently limited to just buyers purchasing their first
home.
Indianapolis, once again, was the most affordable major
housing market in the country during the second quarter.
Almost 95 percent of all homes sold were affordable to
households earning the area’s median family income of
$68,100. Indianapolis has now topped the affordability list
16 consecutive quarters.
Also near the top of the list of the most affordable major
metro housing markets were Youngstown-Warren-Board -
man, Ohio-Pa.; Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich.; Dayton,
Ohio; and Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich.
Several smaller housing markets posted even higher af -
fordability scores than Indianapolis, with Kokomo, Ind. out -
scoring all others. There, almost 98 percent of homes sold
during the second quarter of 2009 were affordable to me -
dian-income earners. Other small housing markets ahead
of Indianapolis on the affordability scale included Lansing-
East Lansing, Mich.; Mansfield, Ohio; Elkhart-Goshen, Ind.;
Lima, Ohio; and Bay City, Mich.
New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J., where just over 21
percent of all homes sold during the period were affordable
to those earning the median income of $64,800, was once
again the nation’s least affordable major housing market in
the second quarter. This was the New York metro area’s fifth
consecutive appearance at the bottom of the list. Other ma -
jor metro areas near the bottom of the affordability chart
included San Francisco; Honolulu; Los Angeles-Long
Beach-Glendale, Calif.; and Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine,
Calif.
Among smaller metro areas, San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles,
Calif. was the least affordable market, followed by Ocean
City, N.J.; Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Calif.; Flagstaff, Ariz.;
and Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, Calif., respectively.
Please visit www.nahb.org/hoi for tables, historic data and
details.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The NAHB/Wells Fargo HOI is a measure
Continued on page 4
3

AFFORDABILITY from Page 3
of the percentage of homes sold in a given area that are af -
fordable to families earning that area’s median income dur -
ing a specific quarter.
Prices of new and existing homes sold are collected from ac -
tual court records by First American Real Estate Solutions, a
marketing company. Mortgage financing conditions incorpo -
rate interest rates on fixed- and adjustable-rate loans re -
ported by the Federal Housing Finance Board.
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index is strictly
the product of NAHB Economics, and is not seen or influ -
enced by any outside party prior to being released to the
public.
4

Real Estate Update ~ July 2009
Karen Krupovage, Owner/Qualifying Broker Affinity Real Estate LLC
Statistics for the Year - 2009
Total Number of "Sold" Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Statistics for July 2009
SOLD - Residential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
SOLD - Commercial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
SOLD - Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Active - Residential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 734
Active - Commercial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Active - Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1043
On Contract - Residential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
On Contract - Commercial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
On Contract - Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2nd Qtr 2009 2nd Qtr. 2008
SOLD Residential . . . . . . 227 Units . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Units
Avg. Price SOLD . . . . . . . . $156,686 . . . . . . . . . . . $147,017
Avg. Days on Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
(based on information from the Otero County Assoc of REALTORS®, Inc. Multiple Listing Service)
5

Want to See
Your Business
Featured Here?
Call Jeri Melton at 430-8063 to see how to get
your business entered in our monthly drawing.
6

Recognition, Acknowlegement Boost
Morale and Productivity Normal View
While layoffs are painful for all involved, they are a neces -
sary reality of the recession and housing downturn.
After the layoffs, however, it’s more important than ever for
owners and managers to do what they can to keep the re -
maining staff members at peak performance and maintain
a positive mood in the workplace.
Two relatively simple ways to boost mood and perform -
ance are recognition and acknowledgement.
Motivational expert Frederick Herzberg reported in the
Harvard Business Review that recognition is 300% more
important to motivate employees than the size of their sal -
ary or compensation package.
While most builders I’ve spoken with believe that they ef -
fectively recognize their staff members, most employees tell
me they are under-appreciated for the work they do.
Who’s right? It doesn't matter.
What does matter, however, is how effectively owners and
managers can bridge that gap in perception and what
steps they are willing to take.
Strategies for Acknowledging Employees
Builders can choose from a number of ways to recognize
and acknowledge their staff members.
Regardless of the form, however, be sure that the acknowl -
edgment and recognition are deserved because acknowl -
edging staff members for half-hearted efforts and mar -
ginal results diminishes the power of recognition.
The following are several strategies for recognizing em -
ployees. Initiate the ones you are most comfortable with
first, and then build from there:
Continued on page 8
7

ACKNOWLEGEMENT from Page 7
Don't overlook small ways to acknowledge.
Don't wait for the big event to recognize staff members. When deserved, acknowledge them often and i n small ways. An
e-mail, quick call or even an “attaboy” in the hallway are simple ways to show that you appreciate t heir efforts.
Acknowledge in public.
Public recognition inspires staff members and highlights behavior for others to model. Use memos, co mpany newsletters,
staff meetings or any company gathering to recognize individuals and their achievements.
Acknowledge in private.
Employees also appreciate when their efforts are acknowledged privately.
Recognize employees in small ways.
Send an employee a “thank you” note when warranted, or share a cup of coffee or a
simple hand shake. Make recognizing others a part of your daily conversation, thinking
and action.
Ask rather than tell.
Develop the habit of asking questions rather than telling employees everything you think
they need to know. This creates an atmosphere of collaboration and is also a powerful
form of recognition because employees feel respected and see that their opinions are
valued.
Recognize an individual in relation to the company's core values.
For instance, when an employee provides exceptional service, acknowledge that by say -
ing something like, “That's exactly what we mean when we talk about customer service
our way."
Double the impact of recognition.
Recognize both who your employee is as well as what he did
in relation to his positive traits. For example, tell your em -
ployee, “You did a great job running the meeting last week.
It demonstrated your people skills and leadership ability.
Those are qualities we value.”
Delegate to employees.
Delegate responsibilities that expand your employees' contri -
butions. Effective delegation increases trust and gives em -
ployees the sense that they are growing with the company.
Follow up and follow through on all promises.
Under-promise and over-deliver. When follow-up on prom -
ises is consistent and timely, it demonstrates respect and
value for the people you manage.
As with most business strategies, effective recognition works
equally well outside of the workplace. Since the recession
has taken its toll on more than your business and employ -
ees, take a moment to acknowledge loved ones and let them
know how much they contribute to your life.
8

Membership Renewals
Associates: Builders:
� AFFINITY REAL ESTATE, LLC
Karen Krupovage
� ALAMO EARTHWORK AND PAVING, INC.
Robert Johnson
� ALAMOGORDO DAILY NEWS
Mike Bell
� BANK'34
Karlon Cox
� GENERAL HYDRONICS
Shannon Wright
� J BAR D PLUMBING
Josh Stovall / Doug Stoval
� MAINZ ELECTRIC, INC.
Glenn Mainz
� WELLS FARGO BANK
Phillip Gutierrez
Thanks
for Renewing
Your BCAOC
Membership!
� BAR M CONSTRUCTION
Ernest Martinez
� CARMEL BUILDERS & REAL ESTATE
Poncho Cookson
� FRENCH BROTHERS, INC.
James French
� GENTRY CONSTRUCTION
Wes Gentry
� HOME SERVICE CONTRACTORS, INC.
Perry Hisaw
� KEN TALLEY CONSTRUCTION
Ken Talley
� RAJCO
Robert Johnson
September Meeting
SEPTEMBER 15, 2009
MESA VERDE RANCH
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Come join us!
IN ADDITION TO SHRIMP, WE WILL
ALSO BE SERVING PULLED PORK!
A DJ WILL BE PLAYING ALL
YOUR FAVORITES!
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
$25.00 PER PERSON
B.Y.O.B.
9

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10

International Builders' Show Registration Opens With Special Offers
On Education, Hotels and More
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today
officially opened online registration and housing for the
2010 International Builders’ Show® (IBS or the Show), the
largest annual light construction tradeshow in the world.
Scheduled for Jan. 19-22 in Las Vegas, the Show will at -
tract tens of thousands of building industry professionals
from around the globe.
“The International Builders’ Show is considered the pre -
miere event of our industry,” said NAHB Chairman Joe
Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Okla. “With its combi -
nation of education offerings, product showcase and pro -
fessional networking opportunities, IBS provides attendees
with the knowledge, tools and insights they need to not
only weather the current economic downturn, but to posi -
tion themselves for success as the industry recovers.”
With more than 175 education seminars to choose from,
attendees will have the opportunity to learn about a range
of subjects, including sales and marketing strategies, the
latest green building and remodeling techniques, or the
current economic outlook. In addition, many pre-show
courses are designed to help participants attain important
industry designations, such as Certified Aging-in-Place
Specialist, Certified Green Professional and several others.
The Exhibit Hall offers builders valuable ‘face time’ with
the manufacturers and suppliers of the latest and most indemand
home construction products. The show floor will
feature the industry’s most important suppliers displaying
the latest and greatest building products and services
across more than 250 product categories.
This year, NAHB will introduce several new offers and in -
centives for attendees including:
- Complimentary four-day passes to the IBS Exhibit Hall for
NAHB members who register by December 11.
- One- and two-day education passes, which include ad -
mittance to the Exhibit Hall all four days of the show, plus
unlimited access to one or two days of education seminars.
- No cost education seminars for registered attendees on
Friday, Jan. 22.
- Special $100 discounted registration rate for NAHB
members attending IBS for the first time.
Includes full registration access to all education seminars
and admittance the Exhibit Hall for the duration of the show.
In an effort to make attending IBS more affordable, NAHB
will be offering discounted room rates from $32 to $199 a
night at all of the Las Vegas hotels in NAHB’s hotel block.
The discounted rate rooms are limited and are available
only if booked by the end of August.
The 2010 International Builders’ Show is not open to the
general public. Building industry professionals and their
affiliates throughout the housing trades are welcome to
register by visiting the show’s Web Site at www.Build -
ersShow.com.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Complimentary registration is available
to credentialed members of the working press. Visit
www.BuildersShow.com/Press for more information or to
register. For more information, please contact Liz Warin,
at ewarin@nahb.com or 202-266-8495.]
11

Single-Family Housing Starts And Permits Rise In July
Production and permitting of new single-family homes
continued on an upward trajectory in July, according to
newly reported numbers from the U.S. Commerce Depart -
ment today. Meanwhile, substantial declines on the multi -
family side dragged down the overall numbers, with com -
bined single- and multifamily starts down 1 percent to a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 581,000 units and
combined single- and multifamily permits down 1.8 per -
cent to a 560,000-unit rate.
“With the impending expiration of the first-time home
buyer tax credit at the end of November, July was probably
the last month in which to get homes permitted and started
in time for customers to take advantage of that valuable
incentive,” noted Joe Robson, chairman of the National
Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder
from Tulsa, Okla. “Builders were responding to improved
demand related to that upcoming deadline and also to the
first signs of an economic recovery.
However, it remains to be seen what happens after the tax
credit expires, and the severe credit crunch that has cur -
tailed many multifamily projects is looming over singlefamily
builders as well. Congress and the Administration
need to take action now in order to maintain the momen -
tum toward a housing and economic recovery.”
“The latest report marks a fifth consecutive month of im -
provement in single-family housing starts and a fourth
consecutive month of improvement in single-family per -
mits,” noted NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “This is
exactly in keeping with our latest member surveys, which
indicate that builders are cautiously optimistic about sin -
gle-family sales conditions over the next several months.
That said, the significant drop-off in multifamily construc -
By Ted Garrison
1. Determine what your real commitment to great serv -
ice is. Check with front-line people and customers to
determine what is lip service and what is real.
2. Set up a simple system to gather customer input. If
you already have a system, make sure that the infor -
mation is being used.
3. Benchmark your service. Develop measurements you
can track and compare to general service leaders in
your industry and outside.
4. Measure the lifetime value of a customer to you.
5. Measure the percentage of customers who are repeat
and the number of true referrals you receive from
them.
tion and permitting shown in recent months’ reports may be
a harbinger of the financing challenges facing all home
builders going forward. A severe lack of credit for acquisi -
tion, development and construction financing, along with
other issues tied to low appraisals and the upcoming expi -
ration of the first-time buyer tax credit, could derail the pro -
gress made so far. Government action is required to ensure
that housing can help generate jobs and economic growth
in the days ahead.”
NAHB is calling on Congress to extend the first-time home
buyer tax credit for another year and to offer it to all in -
come-eligible buyers. In addition, NAHB is urging Congress
to help eliminate the credit crunch, correct faulty appraisal
practices and expand Net Operating Loss tax provisions
that can help avoid more layoffs.
Single-family housing starts posted a 1.7 percent gain to a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 490,000 units in July,
while single-family permits registered a 5.8 percent gain to
458,000 units. Both of these were the highest levels regis -
tered since October of 2008. Meanwhile, multifamily starts
tied a record low set in April of this year, falling 13.3 per -
cent to a 91,000-unit rate. Multifamily permits fell 25.5 per -
cent to 102,000 units.
Due largely to declining multifamily production numbers,
housing starts fell in three out of four regions in July. The
Northeast posted a 16.3 percent decline, while the South
and West posted more moderate declines of 1.4 percent
and 1.6 percent, respectively. The Midwest was the only re -
gion to report a gain, of nearly 13 percent. Meanwhile,
housing permits fell 5.2 percent in the Northeast and 9.2
percent in the South, but gained 14.1 percent in the Mid -
west and 7 percent in the West in July.
85 Possible Actions for Contractors for Better Customer Service
6. Experiment with some off-the-wall service ideas. Work
to uncover needs customers don't know they have.
7. Make a list of ways you can use quality and delivery
to make price unimportant to your customers.
8. Decide how you can use speed and flexibility to de -
liver better service than your competitors.
9. Determine what services customers will be happy to
pay extra for.
10. Measure your customers' definitions of great service.
11. Develop a database of each major customer's specific
Continued on page 14
13

ACKNOWLEGEMENT from Page 13
concerns so you can deliver customized one-to-one
service.
12. Look for even minor customer complaints and see if
you can use them to thrill customers and turn these
complaints into new standard procedures for great
service.
13. Measure customer satisfaction! You can't improve on
it if you don't know your starting point.
14. Use innovative relationship marketing and unprece -
dented customer service to increase customer satisfac -
tion.
15. Include your employees in customer service changes.
Enlist their ideas.
16. Consider paying specific bonuses or commissions for
high customer ratings.
17. Understand that every aspect of every customer inter -
action is an opportunity to get more business?.or lose
it. Make a list of your "moments of truth" when pros -
pects and customers form impressions of you.
18. Know your customers?what do they want from your
business? What do they like about you: what do they
dislike?
19. Use the information you learn about your customers
to build a relationship with each customer. Keep track
of what you know in a database.
20. Work to reward loyal customers and encourage refer -
rals.
21. Gather input from all employees as to how they see
current internal customer service. (In organizational
climate studies, you might measure cooperation, sup -
port, morale, job satisfaction, and so forth.)
22. Ask employees what they want from their jobs.
23. Calculate your turnover and absenteeism rates and
what they cost you. Include costs of "dropping the
ball" for customers.
24. Make sure top execs regularly spend some time on
the frontline.
25. Find ways to turn your organizational pyramid upside
down to emphasize customers and support your staff.
26. Develop a clear message about internal customer
service and disseminate it throughout your organiza -
tion.
27. Develop recognition programs where employees can
acknowledge each other for internal service.
28. Develop a larger incentive program where all em -
ployees can earn bigger rewards for internal service.
29. Set up a schedule to shop your competitors regularly.
Encourage your employees to do so also. Use your
findings to benchmark your business.
30. Establish specific customer service criteria-for exam -
ple, greet customers within 10 seconds, answer phone
by second ring, automatically offer a rain check for
out-of-stock items, use customer's name when possi -
ble.
31. List five ways you could use data from a mystery
shopper program.
32. Call several mystery shopper services. Evaluate their
services to find the one or two that best fit your needs.
Then check their references.
33. Discuss mystery shopper programs with your staff. So -
licit their input on criteria and procedures. Tell them
how the data will be used.
34. Decide how to discuss data with individual employ -
ees. Remember, reprimands should always be private;
praising can be public.
35. Consider use of a reward program for employees
who give good service (name and photo on plaque in
store, gift certificates to restaurant, name in company
newsletter, and so forth).
36. If you are part of a shopping center or other multibusiness
complex, talk with other owners and center
management to see if coordinating an overall mystery
shopper program is feasible and desirable.
37. Collect the "easy" complaints. Ask all frontline people
to contribute. Make it fun by having a competition for
the "best" complaint.
38. Develop a plan to uncover the 96% of complaints that
are never made by customers. Consider paying cus -
tomers for complaints.
39. Do the same thing for internal customer complaints.
Start by taking them privately since they will involve
more internal politics.
40. Involve employees in developing a "manual" on how
to handle complaints and things they can do to make
it up to customers.
41. Train employees in helping unhappy customers, start -
ing with saying "Thank you for complaining."
42. Clarify your lines of authority so any employee can
deal quickly with most problems.
43. Develop a follow-up system to check in with custom -
ers who took the trouble to complain.
Continued on page 15
14

ACKNOWLEGEMENT from Page 14
44. Create a policy on how to use e-mail to help your
customers.
45. Set high standards for speed of response to e-mail
correspondence. Look into using auto-responders for
immediate responses.
46. Analyze your Web site from your customers' perspec -
tive. Prepare a FAQ page if you don't already have
one.
47. Create standard letters (boilerplate) from your best
answers to questions for all reps to use.
48. Create a way to communicate on a regular basis with
customers who wish it, such as an online newsletter or
discussion group.
49. Personalize messages whenever possible. (There are
products that allow even e-mail newsletters to be per -
sonally addressed.)
50. Look into the benefits of customizing an extranet for
all customers, or individually for major customers.
51. Consider providing online courses or other online
learning opportunities for customers.
52. Set up a schedule to regularly update your web site.
53. List the various cultural backgrounds of your custom -
ers.
54. Describe the differences in the way various subgroups
of your customers behave. Remember, "culture" can
also refer to needs for support, tendencies to com -
plain, or other service demands.
55. Get your service reps to share their knowledge of dif -
ferent types of customers.
56. Look at the assumptions you make that may bias your
behavior.
57. Talk to customers who represent different cultures and
find out what you can do for them.
58. Create profiles of different customer types for training
purposes.
59. Decide on ways to acknowledge and show respect for
customers.
60. Use "whole-brain" approach to set up a complete sys -
tem that incorporates both procedures and creativity.
61. Set up a method to collect feedback from your service
reps.
62. Collect feedback from internal departments that are
your customers (those departments to which your de -
partment provides services.)
63. Find the source of potential problems and change
your system to prevent them.
64. Practice prevention. Focus 10 times more energy on
preventing problems early than on correcting them
later.
65. Set up a customer advisory group to get feedback
from important customers.
66. Do a broad customer survey.
67. Agree on a brief vision statement about service of 50
words or less, and preferably 20 words or less.
68. Gather stories of great service from your organization
and circulate them.
69. Have each employee write down how they contribute
to the vision.
70. Set up one or more regular customer feedback
mechanisms.
71. Include at least one face-to-face session with customers.
72. Set specific, high goals for service.
73. Set up one small and one large reward program for
great service.
74. Reward people for finding customer-unfriendly proce -
dures.
75. Measure customer satisfaction at least once a year.
76. Identify your biggest customers and assign reps to
them. (Coordinate with sales if appropriate.)
77. Create a customer advisory group.
78. Create teams responsible for service.
79. Collect and distribute stories of great service. If neces -
sary, start with little stories of very good service.
80. Look into the ISO criterion for customer service or oth -
erwise develop a "checklist" of what constitutes great
service.
81. Create a program to build relationship trust with cus -
tomers. This means contact, notes, e-mail, and so
forth.
82. Create formal training goals in general, and for spe -
cific employees.
83. Identify technology that would enhance your service.
84. Create a database to record information about your
customers. Look especially for things they care about
professionally or personally.
85. Talk to your best customers and find out how they
want to be treated. Set up a mechanism to treat each
one, or group, differently.
15

Members Continue to Drive Away With a
Shiny New $500 GM Offer
NAHB members can continue to receive $500 towards the
purchase or lease of most new GM passenger cars, lightduty
trucks, vans and SUVs - whether for business or per -
sonal use.
Purchase or lease a new 2008, 2009 or 2010 model year
Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac passenger car and
light-duty truck, van or SUV.
Vehicles excluded from this offer include Cadillac CTS-V,
Chevrolet Camaro, Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and Hummer,
Saab and Saturn vehicles. Medium-duty trucks are also
excluded.
The $500 exclusive offer can be combined with most retail
national and regional incentives in effect at the time of de -
livery.
There is no limit to the number of vehicles members can
purchase.
Customers must take delivery by Jan. 4, 2010.
For complete details, please visit:
http://www.nahb.org/generic.aspx?genericContentID=
35284
The program runs through Jan. 4, 2010.
For more information, e-mail Tiffany Lindsley at
tlindsley@nahb.com , or call her at 800-368-5242 x8273.
Other Member Advantage Discounts
For the most up-to-date details on the Member Advantage
discount program and all of the participating companies,
go to www.nahb.org/MA .
16

Growing Our Strength Through Member Recruitment, Retention, and Involvement
The Spike Club Levels and Awards
Recruiting new members to your
local association is an activity
recognized and rewarded
through the NAHB Spike Club
Program. Those who participate
are called Spikes and they are
among the most valued mem -
bers of the association.
Member-to-member recruitment
and retention efforts are highly
valued because of the grassroots
growth and stability they bring to
the association. These efforts
lend to the development of the
general membership and our
leadership pipeline, keeping the
face of our association true to
that of our industry and the wide
scope of interests we represent.
Spikes are the membership lead -
ers of our federation, building
the voice, power, and influence
on every level, in every state!
the BCAOC can help you
BU ILD
your business!
Advertising space is now available for
the upcoming issue of our BCAOC
newsletter! Please give us a call
for more information...
Jeri Melton at 430-8063,
or Amber Sanchez at 437-2066.
Make a One Year
Commitment and get a
25% DISCOUNT!
This is equivalent to
3 months of
FREE ADVERTISING!
Business Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25
Inserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50
Quarter Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50
Third Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75
Half Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100
Full Page (Inside) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $175
Inside Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $200
Back Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $250
*Please note: Prices listed are for BCAOC members. Non-members will be charged an additional 20%.