Issue 64 - Pursuing Perfection

Rob Devellis and his team at Accent Construction have crafted a well-earned reputation for dazzlingly hardscaping and decorative concrete projects, and have done so by sticking to that time–honoured business principal: Exceed client expectations.

Rob Devellis is in his absolute element. It's the middle of July and the owner-operator of Tecumseh-based Accent Construction is in Leamington with some of his employees – his "guys," as he calls them – pouring concrete at another residential site that will soon feature more of the decorative prowess that the 41-year old Devellis and his company have been bringing to select homes across Windsor and Essex County over the past twelve years. It's prime-time season for a company like Accent, which presently has three large exterior projects on the go, and its owner is as hands-on as always; and loving every minute of it!

"Yeah, I guess I'm still one of those people who can't differentiate between the owner and the operator," admits Devellis with a laugh, when addressing his hands–on approach to running his thriving specialty concrete construction business. "This is the kind of work I've done for almost twenty–five years though. It's what I know best, and it's what I love doing." It's also what he and his team at Accent Construction are damned good at! It's a relatively small game in the Windsor–Essex area for the kind of sophisticated and ornate work Accent does, and Devellis company is among the best; as a sampling of the company's client list (featuring some of the area's most magnificent homes) and rave reviews from contractors will attest.

"We work with a lot of great contractors and sub–contractors in ou business, and Rob's company is right up there with the best," says Paul St. Pierre, owner of Landscape Effects, who has sub–contracted the decorative concrete and hardscaping requirements for several of his company's projects over the last five years to Devellis and the Accent team. "Through all the years we've worked with Rob's company we've always appreciated the way they share the same vision as we do for our clients' projects and how they never fail to meet our high demands and level of craftsmanship we're looking for. We've never taken a project to Rob and his guys where they said 'we can't do this;' and I can tell you we've given them some pretty formidabl challenges! But they always come through. Rob and his people are very creative and their quality of work is unparalleled." For Devellis, those flattering endorsements are priceless, and a confirmation that the kind of higher-end product and service his company provides is valued by its target market.

"I'm the first to admit that the kind of work we do is not for every homeowner," says Devellis, acknowledging the higherend type o driveways, walkways, poolscaping and other decorative concrete that Accent provides for its clients. "But we pride ourselves on exceeding our customers' expectations regardless of the size of the project we're working on. We understand, from the bottom of our hearts, that these are substantial investments people are making in their homes, and they deserve to have their expectations exceeded. All the time.

That's the kind of thinking we bring to all of our projects."

That philosophy is working, as Devellis and his Accent team continue to blaze a trail of incredible craftsmanship across some of Windsor–Essex' most stunning home fronts and backyards. It's challenging work to be sure, not only meeting and exceeding the expectations of a discerning market of consumers, but also the demands and requirements of the contracting partners Accent works for, and with.

"We have a great relationship with a small group of contractors, lik Landscape Effects, Relax Pools, Splendor Pools, and others," says Devellis. "We've been ver fortunate in that the contractors we work with have opened some grea doors of opportunity for us, while also providing a fair bit of creative autonomy in how we develop the decorative concrete aspects of their projects. It's allowed us to constantly learn as a design group and construction company as to why certain things have worked in some areas, and why they haven't in others. I'm very lucky in that our guys are skilled and knowledgeable and have the autonomy to make things happen. We encourage them to get creative and think outside the box."

Those two attributes have seemingly been part of Devellis' make-up since his youth, growing up in a hardworking east Windsor home, in which the thought of building things was never far from young Rob's mind. "I guess I've always had an interest in how things are built and I'm sure my family figured this was the kind of work I would eventually be doing because they've reminded more than a few times that's how I was even as a young boy," says Devellis, with a laugh.

Indeed, his family figured it was only a matter of time before their son and brother took fascination with building things and turned them into reality.

That time wasn't long in coming. While still just seventeen, Devellis began working part-time with a local pool company; an apprenticeship of sorts that introduced him to the world of increasingly sophisticated backyard landscapes. After several years specifically working in the pool business, he decided to focus his attention on the exterior work that enhances not only in-ground pools, but all exterior features of a home site.

"We still construct pools on occasion, when clients are looking for something real out of the ordinary and requiring a lot of ornate decorative concrete work," says Devellis. "But our abilities and capacities now extend to the entire exterior of a house, and bringing a co-ordinated look and flow to all concrete features of the property. We do everything from driveways and walkways, to hardscaping and masonry work for all elements of a home's exterior. Basically, once you walk out your front or back door."

When Devellis started his company in 1997, it was essentially himself one employee and a single pick-up truck. However, through a ton of perseverance and a solid growth strategy - included aligning his company with solid building and landscaping partners - Accent has been able to sustain consistently impressive growth over the past dozen years. "We've now got seven full-time employees," says Devellis. "We've been very fortunate and blessed to have great working relationships with our contractors and with our customers. And I've also been blessed to have the kind of people that I have working with me. They are a super- talented group that allow Accent to do the things we do."

Devellis says that above everything else, Accent Construction has succeeded over the past decade by simply adhering to that time- honoured concept all good businesses invariably subscribe to: Go above and beyond the standards that are out there for your products and service. Blending both corporate and residential work into their line- up, Accent crews routinely do about 15 to 30 jobs per outdoor season.

"One of the toughest things for me as an owner is being less hands-on when it comes to the physical elements of our projects," says Devellis. "I know there's that impression out there that as an owner of a company like this you probably have other people doing all the work, but it's hard for me to give up those aspects. I love being out at the site and getting my hands dirty, working with our guys to create these beautiful projects. It's something I've always loved doing and I think it also shows our customers just how much we care about what we're doing for them."

Devellis subscribes to the "Mike Holmes mentality" when it comes to Accent's work and the advice he gives customers. Not surprisingly, it's heavy on the value word. "We always try to impress on our customers to get the best value for their money, and not necessarily the best price," says Devellis. "We've seen occasions where someone was spending $20- 25,000 on hardscaping around their home or new in-ground pool and then decided to go with someone offering a cheaper price that ended up costing them two times to replace what should have been done right the first time. I find one of the best things about running my own business, and particularly a business like this, is that I can choose to work with a group of people – employees, contractors, suppliers who all share the clear vision we have for the kind of company we want to be. We want to educate customers on the importance of using good companies with high integrity."

Toward that end, the owner takes great pride knowing that Accent Construction is recognized throughout the local home construction industry as providing superior value. "That's one of the things we're definitely most proud of, is the perception among home–building contractors and our customer target base that Accent is a professional company with a lot of integrity," admits Devellis, with more than a hint of humility. "I know it's a total cliché to say this but we really and truly do take on every project as if it is our own home. In fact, our motto has always been that each project has to be done 'better than if it was our own home.'"

Rob Devellis lives that motto every day too, describing how his is a sleepless night when he perceives a customer has even the slightest of worries about a project. "I guess that's just the way we are," he says about his company. "We really wear this stuff on our sleeves, so to speak. We understand that the kind of product and service we're providing isn't cheap and that these are large investments home owners are putting into their properties. Because of that, our philosophy has always been that we have to be perfect and we have to exceed what the customer originally intended. That's our challenge with every project and we love taking on that challenge."

"I've been very fortunate to this point in my career," says Devellis. "All I ever wanted to be was a good, reliable contractor who is thought of as someone who does quality work all of the time. I think we've accomplished that with our customers and our contracting partners, and we try to reinforce that with each successive project. The bonus for me has been the incredible people I work with. I'v been very blessed with incredible employees; people who are not just workers with our company but friends too. They're the absolute best. They're the reason Accent Construction is what it is today." TDM

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