“It’s not enough to be great,” says Susan S. Klawans, Gilbane Building Co.’s director of client satisfaction. “You need to be able to satisfy clients and build long-term relationships. Repeat work driven by long-term relationships is the cornerstone of our business, and we’ve been doing it 134 years.”
It works. About 70% of Gilbane’s clients are repeat business and 30% is new market growth, says Klawans. “We’re relying on satisfied clients and architects to be our champions with the new clients,” she says.