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Shea Homes and LRA Worldwide Partner to Create a Superior Community Experience
Award-Winning Home Builder Designs a Cutting Edge Program for its Trilogy Master Planned Communities
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona/HORSHAM, Pennsylvania; September 26, 2005 - Shea Homes, Inc., the nation's largest privately-owned home builder and recipient of the National Association of Homebuilders America's Best Builder 2005 award, has partnered with LRA Worldwide, Inc., a Philadelphia-based consulting company specializing in Customer Experience Management (CEM). The goal of the engagement is to create and communicate a service culture to Shea employees that will provide a lifetime of exceptional and memorable experiences for those who purchase residences in any of Shea's Trilogy master planned communities.
With seven active locations (and two more under construction) in California, Washington and Arizona, the Trilogy communities offer amenities such as golf, spa, health club, dining and concierge service that involve a great deal of interaction between residents and Trilogy employees. By creating a robust service culture and layering innovative service standards around these community touch points, Shea/Trilogy is working with LRA to ensure that the "customer experience" in its communities matches that of the finest hospitality service organizations in the world.
"We shifted our thinking around the Trilogy brand," explained Rick Andreen, president of Shea Homes. "When it comes to our master planned communities, we consider ourselves as much a hospitality company as a home builder, and LRA is helping us apply that mindset operationally. We call it 'Operationalizing the Culture.'"
Trilogy's national director of resort and golf services, Tim Steckbeck, added, "People seek out Trilogy for both the quality and design elements of our communities as well as the 'lifestyle' experience we provide. Our work with LRA will support our efforts to provide our guests and members with consistent, distinctive and memorable Trilogy experiences."
As a leader in the field of CEM, LRA has assisted many of the worlds leading brands – from hospitality to financial services – in crafting customized customer experience strategies and the standards and practices to support them. Though this is LRA's first engagement with a home builder, it was a natural extension for an industry that is slowly changing from a strict focus on the product to the service surrounding that product.
"Shea Homes is clearly on the leading edge of this shift within the industry," explained Rob Rush, chief executive officer of LRA Worldwide. "We are starting to have more and more conversations every day with companies in all facets of the real estate industry – builders, owners, managers, REITS, brokers – who are realizing that highly-satisfied and engaged residents, home owners and tenants will drive retention rates, profitability and the 'buzz' that creates legendary brands."
About Shea Homes
Shea Homes currently has seven Trilogy communities in Arizona, California and Washington. These high-end resort communities offers a new choice in living to those looking for an exciting lifestyle that revolves around wellness, adventure, continued learning, personal growth and close personal connections. Visit www.trilogylife.com for more information.
Over the past century, members of the Shea family and their companies have accomplished many extraordinary milestones including completing work on the foundation of the landmark Golden Gate Bridge, working on San Francisco Bay Area's Rapid Transit System (BART) and serving as a managing partner for the construction of the Hoover Dam. Yet, Shea Homes' most satisfying achievements continue to revolve around listening to our customer's needs and satisfying those needs by proving an extensive selection of new home floor plans and quality workman ship in the finest neighborhoods and communities available today.
About LRA Worldwide, Inc.
LRA Worldwide, Inc. is a leading consulting, organizational development and research company that specializes in Customer Experience Management (CEM). LRA helps companies and brands design and deliver the optimal customer experience across all key touch points using an integrated suite of services that measure and improve service quality, customer satisfaction, employee performance, loyalty, customer advocacy and profitability. LRA specializes in "operationalizing the brand" - turning brand promise and customer strategy into operational reality. LRA's CEM practice areas include CEM Strategy Design, Standards Development & Content Management, Organizational Development & Training, Research and Quality Assurance & Mystery Shopping; these are either deployed together in a strategic manner to continually monitor and improve the customer experience or deployed individually to address a specific tactical client need.
LRA's clients include some of the world's leading companies and brands, including Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos, the PGA TOUR, Albertsons Supermarkets, the NBA and First Niagara Financial Group. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.LRAworldwide.com
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