Serenah McKay
The Victoria Advocate
January 11, 1995

For Victoria custom home builder Steve Klein, keeping customers happy is both a success strategy and a reward.

"We take care of every customer like they're the only one we've got," said Klein, who recently won a silver medal in Builder magazine's annual Spotlight Business Excellence awards.

Klein, 35, is profiled in the January 1995 issue of the magazine. He is the only two-time winner of the award.

Though humble about the recognition, he said, "It's kind of neat at the end of the year when your peers or people in the industry who are supposed to be experts look at you and say you did a good job.

"There's a sense of pride in my whole organization with these awards. It's good for the employees and the staff and subcontractors and suppliers who work so hard to satisfy our customers.

Klein's business philosophy, quoted in the magazine article, is "Focus, focus, focus on the customer. Do that and you will prosper."

And that attitude seems to work for him, as his company has grown steadily since opening in 1990. In its first year, Klein built three houses at an average price of $128,000. In 1994, he built 22 houses at an average price of $221,224.

The size of his single-family custom and semi-custom homes averages about 2,929 square feet.

A Klein home in the Estates of Colony Creek was a third-place winner in the 1994 National Design Competition by the American Institute of Building Designers.

The same home also won the People's Choice Award in the 1994 Victoria Parade of Homes Tour.

His other kudos include awards from the National Association of Home Builders and the Texas Institute for Building Design.

With a firm hold on the high end of the market, Klein told Builder he wants to take on more moderately priced homes, in the $120,000 to $150,000 range.

"We'll offer them the same style, pizzazz and quality in a smaller package," he told the magazine. "They just won't get as many bells and whistles."

The bottom line, he said, is the company will continue to offer people the kind of design and quality they want in a home.

"My satisfaction is when I finish a house I know I've done everything to the best of my ability, and seeing the smiles on customers' faces - that's my reward."

The Victoria Advocate