DEAR POLE BARN GURU: All the answers to the quiz you just sent 🙂 DAVID IN ROCHESTER
DEAR DAVID: Thank you for your question, this gives me the opportunity to explain to our clients what our Building Designers go through before they ever get to aid them with assisting to solve building design challenges and help people reach their dreams.
When we run ads for new Building Designers, we get thousands of applicants from all over the world. When I say all over the world, I seriously mean it – not just North America, but Europe, Asia and Africa as well! We look more for people who are personable and have common sense, rather than those with construction experience. Considering over 50% of all building contractors did not graduate from high school, this is probably a good thing.
Applicants must be computer and internet savvy and motivated to work with clients who most generally are best reached evenings and weekends – face it, most of our clients work from 8 to 5 (or longer) so they can afford to have and enjoy their new buildings.
We wade through all of the applicants and narrow it down to a select few we feel might have the qualities we are looking for, and who we feel might become both personally successful, as well being able to assist in crafting a success for our clients.
Those we feel may have the qualifications are required to complete and pass an “open internet” quiz, covering information which can be found on our over 1000 page website. Less than 1/3rd of the now prescreened applicants are able to pass the test!
The ones who pass are invited to a group question and answer interview – via Skype, usually with four to eight participants at a time, where they are free to take turns asking any questions they might have about us as a company and how we do business. I go on with this until everyone has had their questions answered.
After all of this weeding of the crop, the cream is invited to travel to a one day intensive training session with me (at their own expense). Prior to training, they are provided a two page checklist of items to complete and study in preparation for class. There is a plethora to know, when it comes to proper building design. We do not expect any of them to learn and know everything, but instead to know where they can go and whom they can speak to in order to get the right answers for our clients.
In this training, which runs from dawn to dusk, they are fed as much information on how to use common sense in assisting clients with the design of their new buildings. More than anything, the process is about getting clients to open up about what they need to use the building for right now, but also in the future. We want our clients to have buildings which are not only beautiful, but which will have enduring value.
Following this surviving prospects work with Eric, the managing partner of Hansen Pole Buildings. Eric has prepared a series of video training sessions, as well as doing hands on work with the Building Designers so they can efficiently and accurately utilize our proprietary Instant Pricing™ software to design and price buildings anywhere in the United States to the appropriate climactic conditions.
Only after all of this do Building Designers get to start working with new clients on their building projects. And the training doesn’t stop here – generally weekly group Skype sessions allow our Building Designers (who are in all four corners of the nation) to get together and share successes and challenges and learn from the experiences of each other.
All of this process leads to what we want to deliver to every single one of our clients – the Ultimate Post Frame Experience!
