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In Episode 3 of CX Breakdown, Kim Battles and Lisa Lyle set aside the survey breakdown format to share what they heard — and lived — at the 71st Annual National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) Conference in Reno, Nevada. The lessons they brought back aren’t abstract. They apply directly to how B2B companies collect feedback, support employees, and handle the moments that define a customer relationship.

The Conference: What NAWIC Is and Why It Matters

NAWIC exists to promote and support women across the construction trades — plumbers, pipefitters, general contractors, subcontractors, and everyone in between. The 71st annual conference drew women from across North America, including several who were firsts in their fields: the first female pipefitter in the United States, the first Black female plumber. One attendee had been to her 60th convention.

The theme running through every session and hallway conversation was the same: lift up and build strong. Women who had come up through the trades were opening their own companies, winning scholarships for the next generation, and showing up at this conference even on their hardest days.

What Construction Companies Can Learn About Feedback Timing

One of the most common patterns Kim and Lisa heard at their booth: construction companies collect customer feedback at the end of a project — and not before.

For a single-phase job, that might be workable. For a multi-phase project, it means you could reach the final walkthrough and learn for the first time that the customer has been frustrated since phase one. By then, you have no room to adjust.

A short check-in at each project milestone changes that. Ask the customer how the last phase went before the next crew arrives. If something is off, you can fix it while you still have leverage. The feedback that actually improves a project is the feedback collected while the project is still running.

The same logic applies on the employee side. Kim and Lisa found that many of the companies at the conference had no formal process for gathering employee feedback either. No structure to find out what workers need, what’s not working, or what they notice that management doesn’t.

Ask New Employees What They Notice

One of the questions The Daniel Group recommends for new employee surveys: “What’s something we’re doing — or aren’t doing — that we could improve?”

A new hire still remembers the gaps. They haven’t yet learned the workarounds that longtime employees rely on. They see the process as a first-time customer would see it: clearly and without the context that makes problems invisible. That perspective is worth asking for before it fades.

This was a theme across the conference. The women who built the most successful companies weren’t just skilled in the trades. They were skilled at listening to the people around them and acting on what they heard.

Small Details Reflect the Whole Culture

One of the most striking stories from the conference: a construction company owner who, early in her career, used to drive home at lunch rather than use the job site restrooms — because the available options weren’t safe or sanitary. When she launched her own company, she required that every job site have clean, secure facilities. If the general contractor didn’t provide them, her company did.

That detail — a restroom policy — is easy to dismiss as logistical. But it communicates to every employee on that site that someone thought about them. That kind of attentiveness doesn’t stay on the job site. It shows up in how employees treat customers, how crews treat each other, and how much effort people put in when no one is watching.

Employee experience and customer experience aren’t separate tracks. They reinforce each other at every level.

Excellence Is in the Preparation

Olympic silver medalist and keynote speaker Sarah Wells put it plainly: excellence is in the preparation. The event itself — the survey launch, the client visit, the customer call — only goes as well as the systems and processes behind it.

For CX programs, this means having feedback processes in place before you need them, not building them in response to a crisis. It means knowing what questions to ask, how to ask them, and what to do when the answers come back difficult.

Wells also made a point that reframes how success gets measured: the highest level of success is not your new baseline. Reaching a strong NPS or a high satisfaction score doesn’t mean the work is done. It means you have a foundation to build from — and a standard you’re now accountable to maintaining.

Three Customer Experience Moments Worth Noting

Kim and Lisa didn’t just attend the conference. They experienced it as customers — of airlines, rental car companies, hotels, and casinos. Three moments stood out.

Southwest Airlines recovered a lost bag without being asked. Kim’s flight was delayed multiple times; she arrived at 5 a.m. without her luggage. Southwest had staff at the airport waiting for late arrivals, initiated the bag recovery without prompting, sent updates throughout the process, and had the bag delivered to her door — an hour from the airport — by noon. She didn’t have to call, follow up, or wonder. The situation was handled before she had to manage it. That’s what proactive service looks like in practice.

A rental car agent gave Lisa a reason to trust him. When Lisa picked up the rental car in Reno, the agent asked if she had plans for the day. She didn’t. He gave her two scenic routes for a Lake Tahoe loop and a restaurant recommendation with lake views. He didn’t have to do any of that. He chose to, and it made the difference between a couple of hours wandering and a half-day that she still talks about.

A casino employee explained something he’d explained a thousand times as if it were the first time. When Kim and Lisa approached the rewards desk, the employee walked them through the full program — patiently, in detail, without condescension. When he realized the program offered them no benefit for a one-night stay, he pivoted immediately and explained how the machines worked instead. He read the situation, adapted, and stayed helpful throughout.

None of these were high-tech interventions. All three came down to employees who were paying attention, made a judgment call in the moment, and acted on it.

The Feedback Gap in Construction

At their vendor booth, Kim and Lisa talked to dozens of construction companies over two days. The pattern was consistent: most had no formal process for gathering feedback — from customers or employees.

Some collected end-of-project surveys. Few collected anything mid-project. Almost none had a structured process for employee feedback.

Part of the conversation was reframing what feedback even looks like. Many attendees assumed it meant a standard written survey. The Daniel Group’s approach — blended phone and digital feedback, customized to the client’s industry and customer base — was new information for most of the people they spoke with. Several were surprised to learn that phone feedback means you can actually hear what a customer says, not just read a score.

The construction industry runs on relationships and repeat work. The companies that earn that repeat work are the ones that ask the right questions at the right time — and act on what they hear.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the NAWIC conference?

NAWIC stands for the National Association of Women in Construction. The annual conference brings together women across the construction trades — contractors, subcontractors, pipefitters, plumbers, project managers, and business owners — to share knowledge, build community, and support one another’s growth. The 71st annual conference was held in Reno, Nevada.

What is CX Breakdown?

CX Breakdown is a podcast from The Daniel Group hosted by Kim Battles and Lisa Lyle. Each episode takes a real customer or employee feedback scenario and breaks it down — what happened, why it matters, and what companies can do differently. The show is focused on practical CX and EX lessons for B2B industrial companies.

Why should construction companies collect feedback during a project, not just at the end?

Multi-phase construction projects can run for months. If a customer has a problem in phase one and no one asks until the final walkthrough, there’s nothing left to fix. Collecting feedback at each project milestone — before the next phase begins — gives the project team room to adjust while the relationship is still active and the work is still in progress.

How does employee experience affect customer experience in construction?

Directly. Employees who feel safe, heard, and supported bring that energy to their work. Employees who are working around problems — unsafe facilities, unclear communication, unacknowledged concerns — are spending attention on those problems instead of on the customer. The construction companies at the NAWIC conference that invested in employee experience were the same ones whose employees took visible pride in their work.

What questions should you ask new employees to improve your CX program?

One of the most useful: “What’s something we’re doing, or aren’t doing, that we could improve?” New employees haven’t yet adapted to the workarounds that experienced staff rely on. They see your process the way a first-time customer would — clearly and without the institutional context that makes familiar problems invisible. Asking before that perspective fades is worth building into every onboarding program.

How does The Daniel Group collect customer feedback for construction companies?

The Daniel Group uses a blended approach — phone interviews, digital surveys, and customized question sets designed around how each client’s customers actually communicate. Phone feedback captures tone and nuance that written responses miss. The program is built around the client’s industry and customer base, not a generic template.