Denham Springs-based DSLD Homes has been named the nation’s top home builder by Professional Builder magazine, which has awarded the company its National Housing Quality Gold Award for 2015.
It’s the builder’s second NHQ Award; it won a Silver award in 2012. And though the company went on to close 1,597 homes in 2013—43% more than the previous year—the magazine notes DSLD didn’t apply for the NHQ award last year.
“We did nothing else better than simply produce more units,” DSLD CEO Saun Sullivan tells the magazine in a lengthy feature it has published about the company.
Founded in 2008, DSLD focuses on building in Louisiana and coastal Mississippi communities, and has been among the fastest-growing builders in the area. It recorded revenue of just shy of $300 million in 2013.
The NHQ Award is the industry’s top recognition for accomplishments in total quality management, says Professional Builder. Builders apply for the distinction by answering a lengthy questionnaire about their financial results and how they run their business. A panel of experts evaluates the applications and schedules site visits for builders who demonstrate an exceptional level of performance. A team of examiners visit the finalists to review and validate the information submitted and decide whether to confer gold, silver, bronze or honorable mention status to the winners.
Sullivan tells the magazine he spends most of his days out on the job sites, and is in regular contact with his superintendents and salespeople, but not just for the sake of getting updates on projects. He is also gathering his employees’ and subs’ perspectives on what the company is doing right and what it could be doing better.
Through such job site conversations, Sullivan learned that supers and warranty technicians didn’t like the amount of paper they were generating and the time consumed by shuffling documents and physically inputting the contents into the company computer. So Sullivan put iPads in their hands that included a time- and process-saving document editing app that enabled the user and homeowner to complete warranty inspection forms on screen and simply email it to the company’s network.
“We don’t call meetings where we make everyone come and see us,’” Sullivan says. “Eighty percent of the time we’re out in the field, so we can see them. That puts into perspective that we’re coming to see you; we value your time, and we’ll come out there.” Read the full story.
