Recently we saw a kind message to Tom from a happy new homeowner. And we thought, why wait until our home is built? Let’s send a thank you now. So here goes.
During the builder-selection process, it was mentioned to us that “Tom is quite a salesperson.” This was meant to be a caution. Indeed, Carolyn has friends in sales. And the best of them make a personal connection straight away and build on it. They anticipate what is needed and they show they are trying to deliver. They don’t share the messes, but they present the gift of solutions. They are likable, kind, and trustworthy. Because of them, you want to do the work together. And that is what we have in Tom.
Right away, we learned Tom is a family man. Devoted to his wife, proud of his children, adoring of his grandchildren. We see that he is involved in their lives and makes time for them. He shares his time and activities and even vacations with them. This, to us, shows us that Tom has his priorities right.
Tom is a dreamer. Early in the design process, he sent a floor plan with the location of the future Christmas tree drawn in. He sent us pictures of the sunrise at our land. He calls one of the bedrooms “Brookie’s room” and made sure she has a bigger closet than her parents. He checked in just to say hello when there wasn’t much more to talk about. He stayed engaged. He became part of our lives. Hardly a day goes by that we don’t hear from him, even if he is on his own vacation and he’s sharing a picture of the sunrise at the beach. This is customer service. This is building the connection.
Tom is a coordinator. We are highly involved in this build for a number of reasons, and we know it isn’t typical. Are we in the way? Probably. Do we get that from Tom? No. It feels like a partnership.
Tom is fair. We’ve made changes – too many to count, and some have come from him and some have come from us. We’re not nickel and diming the changes. Bob seems to have a lot to do with this as well. He’s right up there on our list of favorite people. A sounding board, a guide, fully attentive.
So how many emails, text messages, phone calls, and meetings does a house-building take? Too many to count. How many people does it take? Again, countless. But who needs to lead it? One man with a passion for his work and his team. Thank you, Tom.
That person that warned us Tom is a salesperson – yes, he’s right. Thank goodness for that.
Sincerely,
Carolyn and Mike B
