Floor plan design for KfW 40 single-family house in a developed residential area with fully finished basement

instead relies on customer recommendations

by the way a marketing strategy.
"We put everything into the chocolate..."

Since I have signed a reference customer agreement, I cannot do this here publicly.

Find the contradiction ;-) That sounds as if "reference customer agreement" means an obligation to give a five-star rating (?) and is, in my opinion, an own goal par excellence ;-(

That sounds as if "reference customer agreement" means the obligation to give a five-star rating (?) and in my opinion is an own goal par excellence ;-(

That is one possible, but not a logically consequent view of things. Sowing doubt is of course very easy. Anyone who becomes suspicious does not have to concern themselves with it. The fact that communicates to be a reference customer is, for me, credible transparency. I also do not consider it a flaw that contract contents are not mentioned. I have also offered to let interested parties into my house as a reference customer so that they can get an impression of the service. That naturally only works if the craftsman also delivers something he is willing to show. I offer a kind of free showroom and get showroom quality for it. I have not concluded a written agreement; this is also not usual with smaller companies. With larger ones, there is an agreement and reference customer processes. It is then stated that one should not speak badly (somewhat obvious) and possibly receives a remuneration for customer referral or some discounts.

At the factory tour back then, the managing director told us that they don't put much stock in marketing (which I would agree with given the stodgy outward appearance) and instead rely on customer recommendations.

Not instead, but that is a marketing strategy. I myself survived years with it, during which competitors had to learn about the worst payment morals, 1. by relying on "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" and further 2. by engaging in search engine pessimization. 1. means the simple insight that no one deliberately recommends a company they are satisfied with to their worst enemies, but rather to their friends: pleasant customers bring pleasant customers with similar behavior and conduct including their payment morals; undecided people know undecided people. 2. means that advertising found by every fool also brings every fool as customers to the advertiser.
If a company associates "marketing" with handing out advertising balloons and therefore also foregoes marketing in the sense of clear target group addressing, that is unwise from a business perspective. Many competitors have a strategy: for example, Kampa wants to win over descendants with a one-and-a-half generation gap of customers who bought from the previous owner of the brand name back then; Danwood and Scanhaus Marlow try to hitch a ride on the IKEA image with their names. And Xella does the funny A/B test of selling the same aerated concrete blocks in parallel in yellow (Ytong) and orange (Hebel) bags. VAG set the example, Seat and Skoda are "Volkswagen by Ratiopharm" and under the Audi label you can pay more for the double biscuit as prince’s roll. Here you even have to walk through the rain if you visit the showrooms of both brands on the same property. Mercedes offered the smart (fourtwo) in chewing gum machine glass towers. Marketing therefore often means that humor is not lacking when shopping. Also, "man-to-man marking" in the Coke-Pepsi duel is always gladly taken, Aldi and Lidl prefer to contract each other within sight.

With larger ones, there is an agreement and reference customer processes. It is then written that one should not speak ill (somewhat clear) and possibly receives compensation for customer advertising or some kind of discounts.

True references also require clearly naming potential for improvement and/or complaint management. The price discount is compensation for the hassle caused by questioning interested parties. And my car should also be a little cleaner in the driveway when they ring. It is no longer about bribery for sweet talk (that was in the 90s). In the zeros, then "the thing with the little flags" was done.

Find the contradiction ;-) That sounds like "reference customer agreement" means the obligation to give a five-star rating (?) and is, in my opinion, an own goal par excellence ;-(

One is simply not allowed to communicate contractual details in public media. Everything else is fine.

Not instead, but that is a marketing strategy.

Of course, I expressed myself incorrectly there. A company that acquires its customers through recommendations from satisfied builders is, in my opinion, already well positioned. I prefer that to a library of glossy catalogs, the villa in every prefabricated house park, or the sample palace. After all, the customer ends up paying for the whole thing anyway.