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In construction, the unwritten rule is that the lowest bid wins the work. Daniel Wells and Nathan Sievers of Wells & Wells Construction built a multi-state firm on negotiated, repeat business instead.

In this episode of The Intangible Brand, Jerry Gennaria and Carl Winstead sit down with Daniel Wells, Owner and President of Wells & Wells Construction, and Nathan Sievers, Vice President and Director of Preconstruction, to talk about how a relationship-first philosophy built a nationally recognized general contractor.

Wells & Wells started in 1989 as a one-person home renovation business and got its first big commercial break because its electrician kept recommending it to a developer. Nearly four decades later, Daniel and Nathan explain how they kept that relationship-first approach while adding the structure needed to grow into new markets. That includes treating subs as part of the team, giving clients an open-book look at costs early in preconstruction, and hiring people who share the firm's values.

In this episode
• How a referral from their electrician, not a marketing plan, opened the door to commercial work
• Why relationships alone weren't enough to grow until the firm added structure
• Why preconstruction is where a client first forms a real impression of the brand
• How paying subs on time and banning yelling on site shows up in the finished project
• Why being the owner's advocate keeps developers coming back without a bid
• Why Wells & Wells hires for culture fit over résumé

Key Takeaways
• In an industry where no-shows are the norm, reliability is a brand. Doing what you say you'll do is enough to set you apart.
• Reputation is worth paying for. Wells & Wells sometimes spends real money to protect a move-in date, because there may be 300 students moving in, but there are 600 parents to answer to.
• Best value beats best number. Sometimes that means recommending a more expensive plumber when the low bid doesn't look right, and sometimes it means trusting the low bidder because they've earned it.
• Values on a wall mean nothing if leaders don't model them. Character shows up when there's a problem or when money is on the line, and teams learn by watching how their leaders react.
• Nathan's pick, Extreme Ownership, reflects his belief that every leader, whether leading a team or just themselves, should ask what they could have done better.
• Daniel's picks are about mindset: No Easy Day for pushing through hard moments, and The Millionaire Next Door for not judging customers by appearances.

Resource and References

• Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23848190-extreme-ownership
• No Easy Day by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/312085/no-easy-day-by-mark-owen
• The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/998.The_Millionaire_Next_Door

Learn more about Wells & Wells Construction: https://www.wellsandwells.com
Learn more about The Intangible Brand: TheIntangibleBrand.com

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