The Neil Kelly Company Created A New Roadmap For Success

I’ve been working for the Neil Kelly company since 2005, and today serve as general manager of the Eugene, Ore., location. The company currently has 168 team members across four locations in Oregon and Washington. Our revenue was $43.4 million in 2024  and the budget for 2025 is $50 million.

Neil Kelly started back in 1947, and for years operated out of a single location in Portland, Ore. Our systems and processes were solid, but when we started expanding into other markets, we found that we had outgrown them.

Seeing the Need

Long before we opened additional locations, we developed the idea of utilizing the same team across different jobs. That way, the same designers, project managers, and carpenters always worked together.

Each team met early in the project and discussed the design, the estimate, and so on. But as the business expanded, we became so busy that those front-end conversations weren’t always happening, and the team had to figure things out after the project was sold. Additionally, our systems and processes drifted once different managers were in each location.

Then the pandemic hit, and the increased demand pushed our limits. Covid-19 created enormous sales  opportunities, but like many others, we struggled to get that work produced. During that time, we decided to reevaluate our processes. We wanted something that worked internally and also kept the client experience—our core value proposition—top of mind. 

Diving in for the Long Haul

Our new roadmap wasn’t developed overnight. During weekly meetings with the leadership team we dove into our project cycle from initial consultation through production. We discussed the responsibility of each team member and looked at some hard questions.

We also invited our strongest sales people, design associates, production team members, and others involved in the process to formally present their best practices. 

Stepping Stones

After the fact finding was complete, we identified the parts of our process that were non-negotiable. These were the things that had to occur in order for the job to sell.

Once those stepping stones were documented we fleshed out more detail. For example, we decided that the best system for us was a two-step retainer process: first, we discover concepts and options with a schematic design retainer and then we move to a budget that allows us to go into a design development agreement.

We then created a road map with a cadence of meetings and deliverables for the whole team. 

The Effect on the Sales Team

Initially, there was some pushback, especially from seasoned sales people who felt that we were removing creativity from the job. Yet in the end we realized that placing guardrails on a process can actually enhance creativity. It provides a framework that allows team members to innovate without feeling lost.

At Neil Kelly all of the sales people are accomplished architectural or interior designers and it was important to everyone that we not put restrictions on their designs. Instead, we focused on how they get from the consultation to the sale.

For example, we started requiring that sales people utilize renderings as a part of their presentations, but did not stipulate the style or even whether to use color. In response, some have adopted a watercolor aesthetic while other teams are doing full photo graphic renderings.

Another change was in the timing of meetings. We found that once the sales people sold the job, many of them were moving on without necessarily circling back to the project.

There are now key points in the production cycle where both the sales person and design associate are required to be on the job site. Those points are after deconstruction, before cabinets are installed, on electrical walk through, and so on.

Also, we now require that the sales person, project manager, and all other stakeholders come together near the end of the job and hold a completion meeting.

The Effect on Production

The first part of our roadmap was intended to make sure that jobs are designed, estimated and packaged appropriately. The second part addressed issues in production.

One problem we faced was that our project managers were overloaded, yet hiring new people for that position is very challenging. Neil Kelly’s process provides enough guardrails to ensure consistency, yet enough freedom for designers to remain creative.

To alleviate their workload, we created a project associate role as a support person for the project manager. The job is similar to a design associate except on the production side. The PA looks at job costs, helps order materials, and takes care of other tasks behind the scenes. This allowed the PMs to handle a bit more volume.

Putting that role in place has sped up production, smoothed the process, and improved margins.

Collaboration

In addition to the other benefits, the roadmap made our design, sales, and production processes much more collaborative. Today, before presenting a budget to our clients, it’s required that the project manager and the rest of the team get a chance to review it. That wasn’t happening in the past. Instead, the designer created the budget and presented it to the client, and they would enter into a retainer agreement based on those numbers. There were instances where down the road, when the job was ready to go into contract, it would be significantly over budget.

Now it’s required that project managers, and in some cases carpenters, review all budgets before the contract stage. The team looks for efficiencies and asks questions from a different perspective. Who’s the best trade contractor to be involved in this particular project? Is there a different material that could be used? It’s created a new level of collaboration for the team.

Keeping the Client Top of Mind

While developing this roadmap, the  leadership team kept the clients’ needs front and center in our minds. Every time we considered a new process we asked ourselves, “How would the client experience this?”

Part of the goal was to create more consistency for the homeowner whether they are in Portland, Eugene, Bend, or Seattle. They now have a consistent experience, even though they might work with a different team.

Roll Out

Before implementing the new process, we did a lot of work behind the scenes planning how to roll it out. We presented the roadmap at a retreat with sales people and project managers in the room.

That was two years ago, and since then our gross margins have improved by at least 10%.

Today, it’s just part of our DNA.