Aaron Glines Focuses on Building Relationships

Aaron Glines is a Curbio project manager with twenty years of experience in construction.

Aaron explains, “I’m someone who can walk a property and know when a contractor is doing something correctly, know when they’re cutting corners, or know when they’re not doing things right.” But for Aaron, it is so much more than that. While making sure the work is done right is important, there are a lot of other aspects of the job.

Building Relationships  

On top of using his experience in the industry, Aaron is also focused on developing lasting relationships with his clients. He explains, “Part of our job is to build relationships with real estate agents and homeowners and help them achieve the goals of their project.” 

But these relationships do not just arise overnight. Aaron knows that cultivating these relationships takes time and patience. First and foremost, Aaron likes to really listen to his clients. “What I try to do upon meeting a client, whether it’s a real estate agent or homeowner, is I try to just learn a little bit about them… part of what I do is try to understand what’s most important to them. Then you can deliver that to them.” By learning about their goals and needs, Aaron can deliver a better service as well as start building trust.  

Another big part of building lasting relationships with his agents is simply being there for them. He notes, “I think one of the most important things as a project manager that we can do is be there for the homeowners and the Realtors. It can be as simple as answering your phone and just being there to listen to their concerns.” 

The other part of building a good relationship with his clients is getting to know them outside of the project. “I try not to always keep it just about the project. I like to talk to people like, ‘How’s your business going?’” While this is such a simple question, it can go a long way. Aaron elaborates, “A lot of these real estate agents are small business owners. It’s good to know how their business is doing. So I’ll take an interest in what they’re doing on their day to day and try to understand what keeps them ticking.” 

Adapting to the Client’s Needs 

As Aaron knows well, every agent is different. He notes, “I’ve dealt with a lot of different realtors who have different personalities. And one thing that we as project managers need to be in tune with is what type of person are we dealing with?” These different personalities translate into different needs. To meet these needs and provide the best service he can, Aaron knows he must adjust his own work style.

“You’re not just creating a cookie-cutter process for each individual. You’re actually catering to what their needs are.” 

One big discrepancy he notes between agents is how involved they want to be. “If we make a phone call to this person and they’re difficult to get a hold of, we may learn over time that this guy just wants us to handle the project. He just wants to show up to the job site at the end of the job and have a clean, fresh remodel done and have zero or little to no involvement in the job.” In this case, Aaron will make sure he isn’t bothering the agent with any unnecessary details.  

On the other hand, some agents want to be very involved. Aaron explains, “Some agents want to know what kind of material we’re using. They want to know what kind of paint we’re using. They want us to show them how we’re going to do the process.” In these cases, Aaron knows he needs to adapt. “They’re calling me more than I’m calling them, so I need to be able to pick up on that and start proactively giving them what they want — which is more updates, more information. I need to almost overload them with information because that’s what they thrive on.” 

By paying attention to each agent’s individual needs and work style, Aaron is not only better able to serve them for that project but also for projects in the future.  

Getting the Right People for the Job 

As Aaron explains, project managers are “responsible for making sure our subs stay on track, on schedule, on time, on budget, and within the quality expectations that our clients have.”  

To ensure that he meets all these standards, Aaron knows it is about getting the right people on the job. He explains, “I’m only as good as my contractors are. So it’s less important for me to hire someone who’s going to save me a few bucks and cut some corners than it is for me to pay a little bit extra and get someone who’s going to take pride in their work and follow our quality standards.” 

Not only does Aaron use his experience to monitor the quality of work, but also he goes one step further. “I’ve brought in a lot of my own contractors to Curbio. I know their work ethic and I know what they take pride in.” 

On the rare occasion that someone isn’t meeting Curbio’s standards, then Aaron has no problem cutting them loose. “If we’re having too many problems, then we’re pulling contractors off jobs and replacing them with quality contractors who can finish the job with our quality standards in mind.” 

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