Our corporate passion is helping people achieve their vision. A right-fit client is one who values relationships and shares our Core Values. Here’s an example of what that looks like.
A major retail customer approached Gallant earlier this year to help him achieve his vision which was to build a flagship store in 5 months as they were fast approaching the end of their lease at an existing location. The Gallant team sprung into action quickly partnering with both the customer and the architect to put a put a plan together that would meet their short and long-term needs. The Gallant team dove headfirst into the design and schedule and through due diligence by our estimating and construction teams, delivered 20 value engineering options to the client that would save them roughly 15% of their overall costs without losing the quality of their store design. The VE options also resulted in reducing the overall scheduled by 2 weeks which allowed them to have an early soft opening to the public.
Here are five reasons to choose Gallant as your construction partner!
1. Relationship focused, not transactional
Our goal goes beyond constructing a building. We want to achieve your vision.
To do that, we consider your full operation. We want to know your mission, what you do and why you do it? Those ideals are important to us because it gives us the opportunity to find ways to make your facility work better for you.
For instance, a question we always ask is “When do you want to open?” For us, that’s a consideration that goes beyond the question: “When will construction be completed?” If you have a restaurant, you need time to train your staff. If you have a bank, you need time for your IT team and security vendors to set up. If you have an entertainment center, you need time to perfect your audio and visual equipment in the space. We take these factors into consideration when developing the overall project schedule. You need four weeks for training? Well, it’s on us then to collaborate with you to make sure those four weeks are built into the schedule. As far as we’re concerned, we’re not done until you are fully operational.
2. Bid on value, not price
We love it when we’re able to come to the table with a low bid. But, we put a higher importance on being able to provide a bid that provides you with the best value. What’s the difference? Consider, for example, flooring. We could come to you with the lowest cost option. Maybe you’ve even requested that option. But, in evaluating your operations, if we see that this flooring won’t stand up to the type of foot traffic that runs through your operation and you’ll need to replace that surface in a few years, we’ll point it out and provide you with recommendations of what will work better for you. That may not be a better initial cost, but it will be a better long-term value.
This goes back to our relationship-focused mentality. We like to talk through the project–with you, among our team, with our service partners–to see how we can make this facility work better for you. Starting from the bid through to completion, we’re on the lookout for these opportunities. Sometimes, the result is like the above example in which our recommendation is based on operational fit. Other times, we may point out elements that can be removed or re-worked to cut costs or time. This mindset points to how we don’t take the project handed to us at face value. Using our expertise in this field and our understanding of how your business works, we’re looking to find opportunities where we can provide you with a better overall value.
3. Seek To Uncover Traps, Not Hide Them
The other goal of our internal discussions is to look out for problems that could arise and come with solutions to mitigate these risks. Before a shovel goes in the ground or a wall is torn down, we look at everything. The design. The plan. The timeline. The service partners. Your objectives. Everything.
On one level, that’s to make sure we can effectively complete construction. But, it’s not just about construction. We need to make sure that you will be effectively able to operate. So, once again, we are taking your mission and objectives into consideration and asking, “As planned, can you effectively achieve your goals?” If not, we need to find a better solution. While other general contractors may only be concerned with the actual building and take a “that’s not my problem” approach to operational considerations, we’re looking the best return on your investment and uncovering all potential traps before they surface.
4. Collaborate With Partners, Not Subcontractors
Yes, we are a commercial general contractor, and we work with subcontractors - in the traditional sense. But, we don’t like that term. On a given project, we may be working with anywhere from five to thirty service professionals. We rely on them both for their physical skills and strategic expertise in “providing better value,” “uncovering traps”, etc. They are our partners.
As partners, we also have better relationships with them. We treat them with respect and appreciate the work they do. We have worked with a lot of these people and companies for a long time and on many different projects. Because of that background, like with any friend or colleague, we can point out when there is an issue and know that it will be resolved. You will then benefit from a positive construction environment with teams all working toward the same end goal.
5. Provide Long-term Maintenance, Not Just Construction
After construction is complete and your business has opened, our company is uniquely positioned to maintain your facility long term. In addition to construction, Gallant also has a Facilities Services Group that can oversee repairs and provide a preventative maintenance program (such as servicing your HVAC, maintaining coolers and refrigeration systems, plumbing filter replacement, etc.).
From our perspective, we believe in what we build and love this opportunity to keep these buildings functioning at the high level that we envision for them. Our maintenance division, which is easy enough to bring into the conversation as they’re just down the hall, shares our construction division’s philosophy and values. So, you can benefit from partnering with a team that cares deeply about the work they do in providing solutions and resolving issues.
If what we are talking about resonates with you, then there is a very good chance that we will be a great fit for each other! We would love to hear your story and know your vision. Please contact us.
