Lessons Learnt on Tricky Projects with Palazzo Morelli
Super-prime projects are far from simplistic. They include nuances, difficult sites, complex designs and often demanding clients. They take planning and innovative ways to handle such difficulties. Also when projects and deals do not go according to plan there are opportunities to learn and do better. We learn from our members their Lessons Learnt on Tricky Projects!
Palazzo Morelli
A few weeks ago, we received a request for collaboration to fit-out a penthouse in one of the most luxurious residential complexes in the world, the iconic Burj Khalifa Tower in UAE. Unfortunately, we had to kindly but sadly turn down the offer.
Any customer service in the super-prime sector aims to provide an exceptional service that leaves the customer feeling valued and respected, and we make no exception to it. When you get it right, it will make you stand out from your competition, maintain a positive reputation among future customers and retain existing customers.
For a company that operates in the super-prime property sector it is crucial to highlight all the criticisms of a project that, however ambitious it may be, can represent a threat to the company reputation. It can contravene the main objective that an impeccable service must offer: "the fantastic customer experience" that the client is expecting to receive. The residents of Burj Khalifa are a very sophisticated type of clientele, therefore their expectations had to be taken in the highest consideration. For this reason, in respect of the client, after understanding his strict needs, we decided to withdraw by agreeing that we would not be able to deliver our excellent service due to a series of limitations imposed by the contract.
Regarding the renovation of the penthouse, I can say that it represented for us a challenge from the logistical point of view as well as the management of the construction site for various reasons.
The problems that arose immediately were various and interconnected:
The six months mandatory delivery date of the work imposed by the client need.
The restrictions of working hours allowed (only four operative hours per day) that would have possibly and negatively influenced our work schedule.
The strong limitations to making noise while working during the operative hours at disposal.
The waste materials had to be packed in small special bags to be then transported by service lifts, not at our exclusive availability.- The limitations to the protection of the site, common areas and access to it. The protections in common areas had to be installed in the morning and removed in the evening.
From our point of view, this could have consequentially delayed some of the production and delivery time from Italy, created problems with some local collaborators we have there, in times when the supply of raw materials is not always as reliable as a few months ago, hence the risk of not to be able to deliver within six months as per the terms of the contract. Our analysis showed that we would have delivered the work in about 8/9 months.
Based on these assumptions, we took the decision to withdraw from the offer not to preclude the relationship of trust with the client, with the Architect studio that had proposed us as a contractor, and finally avoid the risk of paying penalties to the client.
For a company like ours, which has built an excellent reputation in the Middle East, in terms of product quality and service and has developed over nearly two decades a prestigious network of personal and commercial relationships, the name of our company and the principles on which we base our activity have a value that we consider fundamental and superior to the project value considered here.
The advice that we would like to dispense here, which we believe is shared by many of the professionals working in the super-prime property sector, is to always offer a customer service of excellence also in terms of transparency and professional seriousness. Sometimes, it is necessary to say no, even to an important project in which we would love to participate.
Carefully assessing the risks involved in a project sometimes can be far more beneficial than the potential economic and marketing benefits it can offer.
Not surprisingly, a few weeks after, from that same professional environment, a very welcome new collaboration proposal arrived that we are now carefully evaluating.
get in touch
If this story struck a chord with you please get in touch!
PALAZZO MORELLI LTD
https://www.palazzomorelli.com/en/
Office: 3 The Shrubberies, George Lane, London, England, E18 1BD
Email: london@palazzomorelli.it
Massimo Locci
Business Development Manager
Email: massimo@palazzomorelli.it
Phone: +44 (0) 7553 605829
