Balancing homebuyer satisfaction and profitability is a difficult part of any production building project. You want the buyer to desire the customizations you offer, but you also have to make some tough business decisions to protect your own bottom line.

Keep it under your control

It’s easy to feel like the customer should always be right, but it’s important to maintain control of your project as well. While the client is excited about their vision, you have the feasibility of the customizations to worry about. Accommodating all the client’s special requests will slow down the project and cut into your profits. A great way to manage expectations is to consult with the client to find out what they want and then present pre-planned options for them to choose from instead of giving them free rein with customizations. This way, you will give both yourself and the buyer a general sense of the cost involved up front, which will save you time and money. If you don’t offer customization in a controlled way, you risk your design consultants spending too much time pricing out options that the homebuyer might not even select.