We have just survived one the toughest economies in the history of our nation. Those of us that managed to work our way through, and are still standing to navigate the business world today, can attest to the fact that managing a strong model and selling it to our employees was a large part of our success. Discovering what that looks like and how you want your clients to perceive it is your first challenge. Then, doing business with your client and how you treat them during the process, is the test.
We at Cornerstone, want our clients to know that our goal is to be proactive in problem solving and carry a high level of integrity in doing so. This is the challenge we place on our employees as well as our venders and suppliers. We start with the motto that states, “We say what we do and we do what we say”. This starts with our estimating department and ends with our billings. We want to go the extra mile in every relationship we encounter during the course of the project, to be sure that each and every one of our clients knows that we will be there as part of the solution not part of the problem.
Our challenge was to build a model that would carry our name with the highest standard into every project and/or situation. When dealing with the toughest inspectors, demanding schedules, and strong competition, it was tempting to stray away from our conviction, and compromise our model to conform to other business tactics, to help us get the job. We were very fortunate to have the single mindedness needed among our company team, to have a proactive approach in upholding our standards and challenging each other in staying the course. We believed that it would pay dividends in the long run, and this has certainly proven to be the case. We have a number of clients that refer to us as “their mason of choice” when it comes to selecting a mason for their project.
We are very thankful for all the support we have gotten from our venders during this process and you can find a list of them on this web site. They are the part of our team that seldom gets praise or recognition, but certainly have been invaluable when it comes to helping us keep our commitments to our clients. I believe that their commitment to supporting our model has also allowed us to stay the course and build a successful reputation. They provide everything from creative pricing to equipment service and deliveries. I would highly recommend any one of them to do the same for you.
So in summary, I would encourage anyone reading this to evaluate your own model or start building a model, using one principle as the foundation “say what you will do and do what you say”. We at Cornerstone have found this to be a great principle and agree that our clients think so as well. I am excited what the future will bring for Cornerstone Masonry and its employees. I am sure it will be a blessing to all who are associated with it, as long as we make keeping our word the foundation of a good model.
Sincerely, Larry Bonife, President