The attention we pay to our clients' experience in the months before and throughout a build has seen us take out Protrade United's 2026 Service Award.
The award was presented at the trade business coaching network's Gala Business Awards in Brisbane in September, and recognises an Australasian business that consistently creates an exceptional experience for its clients.
On the same night our Operations Manager, Josh, was named a finalist for the Team Leadership Award, in recognition of the work he has put into building stronger structure and better habits across our sites.
Protrade Industry Leader Advisor Dominic Aldridge says what set us apart was our clear communication, genuine care, strong systems and close attention to detail, along with a client journey we had "deliberately built" to give clients confidence from the first conversation onwards.
"For Mike and the Woodsmith team, great service isn't simply about delivering a quality finished product," he says. "It is about the experience they create from the very beginning."
Anyone searching for the best builders in Auckland will find no shortage of beautiful finished homes, and those photographs are a fair test of craftsmanship, but they can't show what the months behind them felt like for the family living in the house. That is the part of our work this award recognises.
Building around the people who live there
Most of our work happens in existing homes, which means building around families, neighbours, pets and routines, and doing what we can to ease the pressure that comes with living through a renovation.
"We believe the way we work matters just as much as what we build," says Woodsmith founder Mike Smith. "Before we start work in anyone's home, we sit down with the owners and talk through what the coming months will actually be like."
Dust, noise, parking, safe access and a site that is left tidy at the end of each day are often what our clients remember long after the paint has dried.
"We cover where our team will park and which way they will come in, the hours work can start and finish, which rooms are off limits, whether the family will be living in the house while the work goes on, and which selections and lead times could shape the programme if they run late."
This conversation also covers the smaller things that decide what each day of a renovation feels like, such as a baby who sleeps in the early afternoon, a dog that will be through an open gate in seconds, or children who move through a part of the house that is about to become a work zone.
This information goes onto the project's Trello board alongside the plans, materials and subtrade details, so that everyone who arrives on site, from the foreman running the job to an apprentice joining it in its second month, knows what matters in that household before they step through the door.
Structure that lets the work flow
Over the past year we have put more structure around our clients' experience, so it doesn't rely on any one person remembering to do the right thing. Our clients receive a renovation guide early on, which explains the builder's role and why it helps to involve one early, followed by a charge-up guide that sets out how pricing, invoicing, project tracking, communication and handover will work before the first invoice arrives. On site, our team works to checklists at the start and end of each day, plans each week ahead and carries out quality checks as the work progresses.
Internally we have called this focus "Built to Flow. Structure and Clarity." For Mike, structure has nothing to do with making things complicated. "It is about making the work flow better, giving the team more clarity, and giving clients a calmer, more organised building experience."
When something doesn't go to plan
Renovating an older home is rarely a straight line. Walls come down and reveal what decades of earlier owners left behind, a product turns up late, or a decision takes longer than anyone expected, and in our experience the measure of a builder is what happens next.
"Renovations do not always go perfectly, especially in older homes," Mike says, "but clients should never feel left in the dark."
Our approach is to say it early and solve it together. If we have got something wrong, we own it and then focus on putting it right, whether that means meeting on site, agreeing a clear list of actions, redoing work that isn't up to standard or simply explaining the situation more plainly.
We also ask our clients how the experience is going throughout the build rather than waiting until handover, because we would rather hear about a frustration while there is still time to do something about it. That feedback, good and bad, is shared with the whole team at our weekly meeting and used to improve the systems behind the next project.
Service is everyone's job
Good service at Woodsmith isn't the responsibility of one person managing the client relationship. It shows up in the way everyone on our sites communicates, protects the home, solves problems and takes pride in the details, and it depends as much on a second-year apprentice as it does on the people running the business. This award belongs to every one of them.
Thank you
It belongs just as much to our clients. Thank you for trusting us with your homes, and thank you to the architects, designers and trades we build alongside, who are part of every project we are proud of.
"We are not perfect," Mike says, "but we care deeply about building a company that is organised, accountable, quality focused and genuinely good to deal with."
Planning a renovation in Auckland?
Every project we take on starts with a conversation about how you live in your home, not just what you want to change about it. Tell us a little about yours and we will be in touch.
