After 21 years in the construction business, Fortney & Weygandt, Inc. is expected to reach a record sales volume of more than $100 million during 1999, a plateau President Robert Fortney says was reached through long-term relationships with clients and a focus on customer service.
In the past few years, the North Olmsted company has taken considerable leaps, clearing $83 million in sales during 1998 and expecting to increase business this year by $17 million. During six months of operation during 1997, it earned $48 million in revenue, while in 1996, it topped $53 million in sales.
Fortney said he has always tried to avoid the project-by-project mentality that some construction firms employ. He wants his customers to be pleased with his work and think of him first when more needs to be done.
“In the construction industry, a lot of people will work project by project,” Fortney explains. “We don’t. We work very hard establishing long-term relationships with clients and owners and with architects. We learn the ins and outs of how specific owners like specific things.”
Two full-time marketing professionals are responsible for solidifying relationships between the company and its clients.
“I only know two marketing people working for a general contractor in Ohio, and they both work for me,” he says. “They are not salesmen, they are marketing people that establish long-term relationships with clients. We do a lot of repeat business on a national basis.”
The secret to increasing business every year is constant improvement. His goal is to make each employee more efficient within his or her own field while creating a company environment in which employs can grow and prosper. In the early 1990s, Fortney instituted a 401(k) profit-sharing plan and a program in which employees could give their ideas to management.
The result has been improved organization and a strong growth pattern, with millions of dollars generated for employees to share.
“We have found with every step we take at improving ourselves, we gain more volume and we gain more profitability,” he says. “It all accumulated last year with a couple of great account coming through. Even if those hadn’t come through, it would have been a good year. But it was a phenomenal year because everything hit just right.”
