In our recent article, Looking Forward to 2025, a few members of the McSteen leadership team, Molly Woeste, President; Kevin Woeste, CEO; and Maureen Feller, COO, discussed the goal to establish The McSteen Standard this year. We had the opportunity to talk with Molly to delve a little deeper into what this means to her and McSteen as a whole.
Redefining the Value of Land Surveying and Inspections
McSteen entered 2025 with a clear goal to solidify its position as the primary survey resource for existing title, lending, and real estate clients. While Mortgage Locations and SLRs remain a fundamental service area, the team is committed to also delivering high-quality and efficient Boundary Surveys and ALTAs with the same geographic coverage.
While the idea of The McSteen Standard certainly tips its hat to the high-quality land surveys and inspections being done by the team, Molly is quick to point out that it goes much further than that. “Surveys and inspections are what we do, but they don’t define the value we bring.” She goes on to say, “The McSteen Standard is about trust, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to our clients. We don’t just hand over a piece of paper—we put heart and soul into every project.”
At McSteen, exceeding industry standards is just the baseline. “While we’re proud of our reputation for precision and quality, the true McSteen Standard is about the experience we create for our clients.” We believe three pillars—training, customer service, and technology—are what have propelled McSteen beyond industry norms and established us as a true leader in land surveying. That’s the McSteen Standard.
Revolutionizing Surveyor Training and Talent Development
As a leader in the industry, we feel compelled to help grow the land surveying profession. There are a variety of forces impacting the growth of the profession, one of them being the traditional approach to training surveyors. “The old model of hiring experienced surveyors or spending two years training new hires in the field just wasn’t sustainable,” notes Molly Woeste. Rather, she says, “We built a college tech-level training program from the ground up, cutting training time by 70% while producing better quality work.”
This innovative program combines classroom instruction with hands-on field experience, significantly reducing training time while producing higher-quality professionals than the outdated “learn-as-you-go” model.
We have also shifted the focus from hiring only experienced surveyors to recruiting individuals who align with the company’s culture and values. “Now, we hire based on culture fit—people who share our values and our commitment to excellence—because we can train the surveying skills in-house. That’s a game-changer.”
Elevating Customer Service in a Historically Technical Industry
The McSteen Standard isn’t just about delivering accurate surveys—it’s about delivering an exceptional client experience. We are redefining the surveying experience by prioritizing client relationships just as much as technical expertise. Over the past five years, McSteen has built an industry-leading customer service team dedicated to responsiveness, clarity, and personal attention. “In this industry, clients aren’t used to surveyors actually picking up the phone. We’ve made it a priority to change that.”
This commitment sets McSteen apart, with our clients frequently noting their surprise at the team’s reliability in answering calls, returning messages promptly and proactively reaching out first when needed. More than just exceeding industry standards, we are constantly refining and elevating our client interactions. “We don’t measure success by just being ‘better’ than the competition. We ask ourselves, ‘Have we improved client interactions and satisfaction above what we did last week, last month, or last year?’ If the answer is yes, great—now let’s do it even better.”
Pioneering Technology and Workflow Innovation
When discussing the role of technology at McSteen and in the surveying industry as a whole, McSteen CEO, Kevin Woeste, noted that he believes “we’re at a turning point in the industry.” This is why we continually test and implement the latest technology to enhance efficiency and accuracy, allowing us to pass cost savings on to our clients.
A key part of this innovation is Survey Tracker, our in-house workflow platform that seamlessly processes, routes, and tracks orders. “Our in-house platform, Survey Tracker, is the Domino’s Pizza Tracker of the surveying world – as one of our team members called it,” says Molly Woeste. “It gives our clients full transparency into their orders, outstanding statements, and direct communication with our team—because efficiency shouldn’t come at the cost of great service.”
At McSteen, innovation isn’t just about keeping up, it’s about setting the standard, ensuring that technology and client experience evolve together, and that as a team we are always going beyond boundaries. These three pillars—training, customer service, and technology—are what have propelled McSteen beyond industry norms and established us as a true leader in land surveying. That’s the McSteen Standard.