Design Firm Aims to Please from S.T.A.R.T. to Finish

"This is a customer, user friendly, feel-good approach to building," he says. "We use it to concentrate on the consumer and make their lives as easy as possible through a remodeling project."

Klein estimates that more than 90 percent of Airoom's clients live at home during the construction process as a result.

He adds: "When you're doing as many projects as we do, you're flexing your design creativity to its fullest extent. That's why we have several different price points and design philosophies, depending on the consumer. We need to be more flexible based on the volume that we do here."

Room to breathe
The Airoom showroom is key to the firm's success, as well.

"When someone walks in, we leave them alone aside from [a friendly greeting]. That lets people take their time and look around.

We can do anything, so we are just trying to awaken the customer's senses and then eventually dialogue about their specific needs," says Klein.

What customers will see is offerings from Crystal Cabinets, Décor, Dal-Tile and most major appliance and fixture manufacturers, among others, he notes.

Also part of the showroom is a resource center, which acts as a "living catalogue of available products," says Klein. There, customers will see stones, hinges, cabinet doors and windows, all meant to further spur their imaginations.

"It gives them a lot of vertical movement and horizontal movement in the product line," he says.

And, it is precisely this latitude that enables the firm to fully cater to client's needs, he adds. "The way everything is laid out leads to our S.T.A.R.T. process and helps people understand how the system works. When they leave, they understand the breadth of what we do and can decide if it's the process for them," he says.

If they decide on Airoom, Klein suggests that the results will amaze clients each time.

"[One of my greatest pleasures] is seeing projects going up and completed seamlessly so that they can't really recognize what has been done," he concludes.

Promotion machine
According to Klein, the company also has a very active marketing campaign, which currently includes direct mailings, job signs, advertisements in the Yellow Pages, auto signs and a company Web site.

In fact, the company hosts roughly six showroom events per year, including wine tastings for clients as well as visits from radio personalities and cooking demonstrations from local chefs.

Airoom Architects & Builders

Location: Lincolnwood, IL
Principals: Michael B. Klein, president/CEO; Tom Graham, COO; Seymour Turner, senior v.p./financial services.
Number of employees: 160
Showroom: One, 30,000 square feet
Hours of Operation: Mon.-Thurs. 9 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m.- 5 p.m.
Major product lines carried: Crystal Cabinets, Décor, Dal-Tile, Anderson, James Hardie and all major appliance and fixtures manufacturers
Design Specialties: Home additions, custom kitchens and baths
Business philosophy: "To combine architecture, engineering, construction, interior design, purchasing and finance into a coherent whole. We design what we build, build what we design and deliver unsurpassed value."