Estela Gosset

I attribute my success to the way I interact with my customers. In a profession that was mostly men-driven, where they just pretty much sign up a customer and don't talk to them or answer too many questions, my approach is completely different. If you call me or text me, I'm going to call you back. In the world we're in now where people are just texting each other back and forth, when you're running a large project, you can't keep writing paragraph after paragraph of responses because a lot of it gets lost in the transition. So I take the approach of contacting or staying in contact on a daily basis with my customers while their projects are ongoing. If you look at my Google reviews, where I have probably over 50, you'll see positive comments like 'Stella really took the time to answer my questions' or 'Stella really helped me a lot, I would highly recommend her.' When customers tell me they can't believe I'm just telling them the secrets, I ask them if they could help me in return by giving a thumbs up on my Google account, because Google is run by algorithms. My philosophy is treating others like I would like them to be treated. When a customer calls and they don't really know what's happening, like the boogeyman in the closet, I take time to explain it to them so whether they use our company or others, they're a little bit more educated on the process and what's going on. I try to provide good customer service to a person on the first phone call.

I think the biggest thing is you have to get in the driver's seat and you have to control the narrative, control the conversation, control the pace. Especially with construction, people tend to be like they didn't know they had a problem for 20 years, but all of a sudden they want you to solve it today, and you can't really do that, so you have to pace the entire thing. In fact, I did a talk to Sherwin-Williams about this. When people text me, I call them, because especially when you're dealing with something that you can't see, taste, feel, or touch, you have to become connected to them emotionally. People do not buy by price, they buy on an emotional connection. If you don't take time to develop an emotional connection to them by asking them about their life, or their children, or their home, or something that you can relate to with them, then you're really not going to ever be successful in construction and sales. This is especially true the higher or larger the ticket item is, because nobody likes a fast talker, the fast-talking car salesman. No one likes somebody that they really don't feel a connection with, they just feel like you're lecturing them and talking to them. That would be my strongest advice, and I actually did a piece on it that talks about one of the core principles in marketing, and that is how to connect to the customer.

As far as it has to do with being a woman, being recognized as an expert in the field would be probably a big challenge. If you walk up to a job site and you've got your crew with you, they're going to automatically start talking to the man. In a construction background, it is kind of like they're always like, well, where's the guy? So I would say that having to do with being an influential female in a male domination field is the biggest challenge.

Treating others like I would like them to be treated is most important to me. When I talk to customers and they don't really know what's happening, you know, sometimes it's like the boogeyman in the closet, you don't know what's going on, you know you have a problem. My philosophy is that when a customer calls, I'll take time to explain it to them, so whether they use our company or they use others, they're a little bit more educated on the process and what's going on so that people aren't just spewing out terms and confusing them even more. I take time trying to provide good customer service to a person on the first phone call. If you look at my Google reviews, you'll see some of them say things like Stella really took the time to answer my questions or Stella really helped me a lot. When I spend time with customers talking about their specific problem and they say they can't believe I'm just telling them the secrets, I explain that if they found it helpful, they could help me in return by giving a thumbs up on my Google account.