Corporate Profile: KB Home Nevada is a division of KB Home. In fiscal year 2005, the company delivered homes to 37,140 families in the United States and through its subsidiary in France. KB Home Nevada, headquartered in Las Vegas, serves the Las Vegas metropolitan market—including a growing number of communities in Summerlin and Henderson—selling and building single family homes. These homes include attached and detached entry-level, attached and detached first move-up and detached second and third move-up homes.
Mission: KB Home is committed to building quality homes and relationships, and to providing service that results in complete customer satisfaction.
Management Team: Don DelGiorno, president; Shelly Stewart, executive vice president; Randy Tarr, senior vice president, land development and forward planning; Chris Stephens, senior vice president, division counsel; Bruce Tripp, senior vice president, land acquisition; Tim Sprague, vice president, finance; Ryan Wells, vice president, operations; and Renee Gervais, vice president, sales and marketing.
Strategic Goals: KB Home Nevada sets goals around customer satisfaction, employee growth and development, operational excellence and financial performance. Critical business performance measures include an annual customer satisfaction rating greater than 95 percent, year-to-year revenue growth greater than 15 percent and zero warranty claims over 17 days. The division also maintains a strategic plan for human resources which identifies and develops 'bench' employees whose growth and development is critical to meet its business plan and future growth.
Judge's Comments: “KB Home Nevada creates excellent newsletters, letters, flyers and other communication pieces aimed at promoting and educating quality standards. Their homeowner warranty orientation process is well designed and provides good customer education. The company fosters true partnerships with its trade contractors.”
Best Practices:
Customer Satisfaction
KB Home Nevada strives to be the builder of value and choice to homebuyers in the Las Vegas market. A decentralization at this building Giant brought customer service to the local level. The builder's business model now centers around its unrelenting commitment to customer service: every employee is responsible for ensuring the highest standards of customer service are met.
KB Home is the first Giant to work with the NAHB Research Center to implement the National Quality Certification Program on a national level, after successfully implementing the pilot program in Las Vegas as the prototype for the company's nationwide rollout. The program requires all subcontractors to become certified via a thorough educational NAHB program.
High ratings. In 2005, KB Home Nevada maintained its top three ranking in customer satisfaction among Las Vegas homebuyers for the third consecutive year for J.D. Power and Associates' New Home Builder Customer Satisfaction survey. The ranking was based on responses from more than 73,300 homebuyers of new homes in top markets for rating 10 areas, such as customer service and home readiness. Overall, KB Home receives the highest ratings in price/value and builder's design center.
Compared to other builders in the Las Vegas region, KBHN scores high in three areas of customer satisfaction: quality of workmanship and materials; price and value; and home design. KBHN also conducts regular surveys of its homebuyers to determine their customer satisfaction throughout the home buying experience.
In action. Efforts to execute customer-focused principles at KB Home Nevada include:
- “Say Yes” customer service philosophy includes working with homeowners at the local level to resolve concerns quickly
- Conducts three formal meetings with the homeowner:
- Pre-construction meeting with the superintendent before construction begins
- Pre-drywall orientation at the home mid-way through construction
- Homeowner Orientation once construction is completed
- a “Community Team” dedicated to each home including construction, sales, and customer service representatives for frequent updates and walk-throughs during each construction phase
- In addition to third-party inspections, a “Q-10” 10 point quality inspection process on every home includes inspections at pre-start, structural, utility, pre-drywall, pre-paint and final phases, plus a “Community Team Walk” by the team
- Provides a 10-Year Limited Warranty
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