WHAT ONE CLIENT'S WORDS TAUGHT ME ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIPS BEHIND EVERY SUCCESSFUL PROJECT.
There are certain moments that just stick with you.
A few months ago, I was reading through one of our client testimonials from Bill Baker at MSA Design. I’ve read all of our testimonials before, but this time one sentence made me stop and read it again.
The entire team at Universal Contracting Corporation, from front office personnel to field superintendents, has shown time and again that they are committed to client success.
It wasn’t the words client success that caught my attention.
It was the entire team.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized Bill probably wasn’t talking about one project at all. He was describing something I’ve seen over and over since joining Universal.
I’ve spent the last several years in construction marketing, first with another general contractor and now with Universal. While every company has its own culture, one thing has stayed the same: great projects are never the result of one company working alone.
What has changed is my perspective.
At Universal, I’ve had a front-row seat to conversations between owners, architects, engineers and our project teams. I’ve walked jobsites, sat in project meetings and listened as people with completely different backgrounds worked through challenges together.
I’ll admit, there are still times when I hear an acronym I’ve never heard before.
But somewhere along the way, I stopped worrying about understanding every technical detail and started paying attention to something else.
How people work together.
One of the things I enjoy most about my role is interviewing our project teams after a project is complete. I usually start by asking about the building, the schedule or what made the project unique.
What’s interesting is how often the conversation shifts away from the building itself.
Instead, people start talking about the relationships.
They remember the owner who trusted them through a difficult decision.
The architect who helped solve a challenging detail.
The superintendent who found a better way to approach the work.
Or the project manager who picked up the phone before a small issue became a big one.
Those are the stories that stay with people.
The more I listen, the more I realize successful projects don’t happen because everyone thinks the same. They happen because people are willing to ask hard questions, work through disagreements and stay focused on what’s best for the owner.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized Bill probably wasn’t talking about one project at all. He was describing something I’ve seen over and over during my first year at Universal.
I think he was describing a way of doing business.
He was talking about people who answer the phone when there’s a question. People who return the call. People who are willing to have difficult conversations because it’s the right thing to do for the client.
No one takes pictures of those moments, but they’re the moments that determine whether a project is successful.
As someone who has the privilege of telling Universal’s story, I’ve realized the most meaningful stories are rarely about the buildings themselves.
They’re about the people behind them.
They’re the people who answer the phone.
The people who step in before they’re asked.
The people who simply make everyone around them better.
That’s the story I hope people see when they think about Universal.
And that’s why Bill’s words have stayed with me.
Because every successful project starts with the right team.
