We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kathy Henthorn. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kathy below.

Hi Kathy, thanks for joining us today. Taking care of customers isn’t just good business – it is often one of the main reasons folks went into business in the first place. So, we’d love to get a conversation going around how to best help clients feel appreciated – maybe you can share something you’ve done or seen someone do that’s been really effective at helping a customer feel valued?

I know everyone says they go the extra mile – but we really do. Our phones are on 24/7/365 and we answer them. We always have the customer’s best interest at heart. We have actually turn down work because it would not have benefited the customer. One of the best experiences we had was renovating and remodeling a master bedroom and bathroom for a customer. They live out of state and we really wanted to make them happy and surprise them. Their plane didn’t come in until late and then it was also delayed. By the time they got home it was nearly 2:00 am – so we still got up and met them at their house. To this day it was the best surprise ever and they absolutely loved everything we did. This customer has now become good friends of ours. We have done several projects where the customer lives out of state and has entrusted us with their second home. It a trust we don’t take lightly!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

We are KbH Consulting Inc – A Class A General Contractor. My husband and I worked for other contractors most of our adult lives and we saw it all – the good, the bad and the ugly. We didn’t like the way customers were being treated. The contractor and the sub-contractor couldn’t work together. Always so much conflict. So we sat down and talked about starting a company with real business ethics. Owner’s who really cared about doing the best job and taking care of our customers. That was the start of KbH in 2008 We are so proud to say we have never had a dissatisfied customer. Never had to go to court – never had a customer not pay us. We pride ourselves on open and honest communication. The customer is never in the dark. Even if some problem comes up like delays in materials, etc. we let the customer know right away and this keep the relationship working smoothly.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I worked for general contractor most of my adult life. I started as a secretary – then office manager, controller and finally a CEO. The companies I worked for really lack ethics and good communication skills both inside the office with staff and outside the office with customers. My last job with a large construction company I met a newly hired Senior Project Manager. He was different. He had not only the construction skill but the right personal skills. He listened and communicated well with our customers and our staff. He brought something to the company that I hadn’t seen in years. As time went on and we worked together on many projects – we could tell that things needed to change. It was difficult to watch all the lack of concern and interest for the customers. Seemed like no one could get along. So much conflict, not only with customers but also between sub-contractors and even office staff. We sat down one day and said “there has to be a better way – it can’t be that hard.” So after many meetings and conversations – not only did we decide to start our own construction business, but we got married. So with my many years of construction office & business experience and my husband lifelong experience in the construction industry, we embarked on a journey that we have never regretted taken.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Since we started our business in 2008 – we have weathered several recessions. So we have had to change our focus and scope of work along with each recession in order to maintain the same level of business and quality of work. When the housing market is hot – we build houses ground up and when the housing market collapsed – we did commercial work – mostly hospital and assisted living facilities. We have been able to face each challenge successfully.

Contact Info:

• Website: kbhconstructiongroup

Image Credits
Kathy & Oak – Owners of KbH Consulting Inc.