| 97 Working with clients every step of the way T Sue Russell The new Cambridge Homes North Waikato show-home that really reflects their market. Cambridge Homes North Waikato BUILDING When Jacqui and Jared Baigent were seeking opportunities to combine their complementary skill sets, they turned toward well-known Waikato residential building company Cambridge Homes. While Jared and Jacqui had been building their own homes for a decade, they felt the Cambridge Homes brand and way of working with customers fitted nicely into their own sense of how to go about building great homes and providing clients with a wonderful building experience. Having both grown up in Hamilton, they know and care about the people, communities, and region, and are on a mission to build wonderful homes for their clients. “I have a marketing and customer service background and with Jared’s years building homes and working on commercial projects taking up a Cambridge Homes franchise servicing this fast growing region made perfect sense to us,” says Jacqui. Cambridge Homes was established in 2000 from what Jacqui describes as humble beginnings by brothers Tim and Peter Santner who wanted to see clients enjoy a building experience free of stress. This approach to working with the clients from the get-go is something Jacqui and Jared also firmly believe in. “We’re with our customers every step of the way and really believe that by focusing on transparency and communication that our clients will have a really positive building experience.” Jacqui says that key to this is being upfront with pricing for a fixed price contract, while working through a detailed specification process before contract signing. “So there are no surprises for the customer and their bank.” Cambridge Homes North Waikato covers a large geographic from Hamilton City south to Tamahere, Raglan, Morrinsville, Te Aroha, Paeroa, Meremere, Port Waikato, Taupiri, Te Kauwhata and everywhere in between. With development of the Waikato Expressway creating easy links to Auckland the region is booming and the timing of opening the franchise in July couldn’t have been better. Jacqui’s role focuses on the first part of the customer journey, specifying the plans, working throughthe design process and the interior fit-out. When construction gets underway Jared takes over the main interaction with the customer. Due to demand, the couple have expanding the team, with Shaelin Eichler joining as admin and project management support and Rebbeca Picard as a New Home Consultant, while Mike Moughan has joined the construction team bringing years of Waikato residential building experience. Covid had minimal impact on how business was conducted and Jacqui says that having really robust specification processes meant that lead-in times are maximised for ordering everything to minimise supply chain issues for projects. With the post-COVID environment, the greatest challenge for clients securing land, and needing to be ready to move fast because there is so much demand. “Having robust decision making up front, gives the best start to a smooth project.” Cambridge Homes North Waikato has built a new show-home that really reflects their market, with what Jacqui describes as a ‘California Cool vibe’ with exceptional finishes and specifications. “It’s a smaller home at 163qsm but it is a beautiful home. “We work with the Resene Eco Decorators that comes with an additional 10 year guarantee on top of the Master Build guarantee that applies to all our homes. Qualify finishing is so important to us.”
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