Dill Dinkers Pickleball
Building Trust Into Every Square Foot: Delivering Dill Dinkers the Right Way
Challenge
Dill Dinkers is a rapidly expanding indoor pickleball brand with locations across the country. As they set out to develop a new facility, they needed a construction partner who could deliver speed, transparency, and financial certainty within the constraints of SBA-backed financing.
From the outset, the project presented a unique set of challenges:
- CB Construction Management was not the low bidder among three competing contractors.
- The project required a lump sum contract to satisfy SBA loan requirements, limiting flexibility.
- The financing approval process introduced a prolonged three-month delay, impacting schedule and cost conditions.
- The client needed cost confidence while still maintaining trust in how funds were allocated and managed.
- Maintaining schedule certainty was critical to opening and operational timelines.
What Dill Dinkers needed was not simply the lowest price. They needed a partner they trusted and one who could navigate financial constraints, remain transparent, and deliver on commitments without compromising integrity.
Solution
CB Construction Management approached the project with a clear, disciplined philosophy: align expectations early, operate transparently, and honor commitments throughout the process.
To achieve this, we implemented a strategy built on trust and accountability:
1. Transparent pricing approach grounded in trust
Rather than competing solely on lowest bid, CB established a defined margin upfront and committed to it…no more, no less. This created clarity from day one and aligned expectations between all parties.
2. Lump sum structure with open-book execution
While the contract was required to be lump sum for SBA compliance, CB managed the project internally as an open-book process. All subcontractor buyouts were tracked and reconciled, ensuring full visibility into actual costs.
3. Commitment through financing delays
Despite a three-month delay in loan approval, CB held its pricing and remained committed to the project without escalation, absorbing the impact of time and market fluctuation.
4. Schedule discipline and execution
Even with two weeks of owner and design-related delays, the project was completed one week ahead of schedule through proactive coordination and field management.
5. Integrity in cost reconciliation
Upon completion, CB returned all buyout savings directly to the client honoring the original verbal agreement made at the project’s outset, despite it not being formally enforced.
CB Construction Management didn’t just build the facility we reinforced trust through every phase of the process.
Results
The outcome demonstrated the value of transparency, discipline, and partnership:
- Project delivered one week ahead of schedule.
- All agreed-upon margin expectations were maintained…no overreach.
- Buyout savings were returned to the client in full, based on the handshake agreement, despite the legal structure of the original contract allowing otherwise.
- Pricing remained unchanged despite extended financing delays.
- Strong client trust established, reinforcing long-term partnership potential.
The project was not defined by cost alone. It was defined by clarity, follow-through, and doing exactly what was promised.
Takeaway
In a market where cost often drives decisions, this project reinforced a different approach: trust, transparency, and consistency create better outcomes.
For Dill Dinkers, choosing CB Construction Management meant working with a partner who prioritized long-term relationships over short-term gain delivering not just a completed facility, but a process rooted in integrity.
For CB Construction Management, it’s a simple principle: Do the work the right way, and the results will follow.