Anticipating and understanding a client’s needs before they are explicitly stated is one of the hallmarks of a successful business. An experienced and empathetic company team attuned to customers in this way can readily create a quality experience and earn years of positive word of mouth. Dave Cash felt he was in such capable hands when his family partnered with Gordons Downsizing & Estate Services, a real estate company serving clients throughout Ontario, to assist his parents.
Cash, a graduate of the Queen’s University Executive Program, was looking for a company capable of moving his mother and father from the family home into a retirement community. Gordons could handle all the family’s immediate needs: moving the pair into their new residence, conducting an auction of household items the family did not wish to keep, and selling the parents’ property.
“It all took about four months,” Cash says, “a wonderful timeline with a minimum of stress on everyone involved. Frankly, I thought it would take longer, but we were able to get it done in that short amount of time. And at every step, Gordons kept us in the loop, telling us next steps, providing timeline revisions when necessary, and being very flexible in response to our needs.”
Adam Gordon, CEO of Gordons Downsizing and a Queen’s University alumnus says meticulous attention to customers’ needs is central to the company’s decades of success. “Our team members have decades of experience serving this unique need and know the emotional challenges and physical tasks to be addressed.”
The moving team, in particular, impressed Cash with their diligence. Gordons staff came to the house and photographed the placement of furnishings in his parents’ sitting room and bedroom. The contents were then packed up, taken to the new residence, and set up in the new rooms exactly as they had been in the family dwelling.
“My mother has early-stage dementia and it was important that everything be as familiar as possible for her in her new home,” Cash says. The move began early in the morning and by dinnertime everything was complete. “Even the pictures were hanging back up on the walls. The move was absolutely fantastic.”
After the parents were happily moved in with their chosen belongings, family members selected a few mementos, and the Gordons team catalogued the remaining contents for sale.
The auction went smoothly, Cash says, nothing that Gordons secured top dollar for the family by bundling items to ensure even less-valuable items would find buyers. The few that went unsold were donated to charity. “Everyone was a winner in this process,” he says, “and nothing went to waste.”
Gordons, working in concert with retirement communities and movers, offers the full spectrum of downsizing needs. When working with outside specialists, Gordons provided quotes so the Cash family could see a range of the competitive pricing, The team ensured the house was cleaned and prepared for sale, and the sale process was completed in short order.
“When I look back, I marvel at how efficient and agreeable the whole process was,” Cash says. “There is no doubt that bringing in Gordons to help us was the right choice for our family and was well worth the cost.”
