October 7, 2025 • 66 mins
Would a customer really wait 3 months to work with YOU?
At Steadfast Roofing, they do. And Jon Starry shares how his team earned over 900 reviews in just 3 years by doing things most roofers skip.
Jon didn’t start in roofing, he was laid off from IT. But what he lacked in experience, he made up for with obsession: with automation, communication, and doing right by the customer.
⚠️ Spoiler alert: Reviews are the new currency of TRUST in the AI era.
In this episode, you'll see:
- Why repair jobs were the KEY to his first 100 reviews
- How his team asks for reviews and referrals on EVERY job
- The automations he uses to keep customers happy (even when they wait 3+ months!)
- The “secret sauce” behind building a trustworthy brand
- Why you DON’T need to start with a big team (just a crew and a dream)
Roofers: If you want to grow fast without selling your soul, this one’s for you.
Links:
https://steadfastroofingfl.com/
https://www.facebook.com/steadfastroofingfl/
https://www.youtube.com/@UC_ZIu_Y-FDhFUutL0Minkiw
https://www.instagram.com/steadfastroofingfl/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
So number one, the first probably fifty to a
hundred of those were literallyfrom repairs that I had been
doing before I even like reallywent full in on this thing,
right?
So that helped me build up abase.
But number two, I mean, reviewcapture from work that you do is
so important.
(00:20):
And so many people let off thegas with that one.
Um, but we have automations thatare built into our CRM that like
just hammers the heck out ofpeople.
SPEAKER_01 (00:34):
What if losing your IT job became the spark to build
one of Florida's fastest growingroofing companies with over 900
reviews in just three years?
In this episode, we talked withJohn Starry about building a
reputation first roofingcompany, why reviews are the new
currency of trust in the AI era,and how obsessive customer
(00:56):
communication feels real growth.
John is the founder of SteadfastRoofing, a company that grew out
of necessity and exploded withpurpose.
Known for his deep systemsthinking and authentic brand,
John has built a business wherecustomers wait months willingly
just to work with his team.
From launching with just a fewrepair jobs in a dream to
(01:17):
running an eight-figure roofingcompany, John's obsession with
detail, customer trust, andfollow-up automations has made
Steadfast unforgettable.
If you want to learn howreviews, automation, and care
can scale your roofing companyfast without sacrificing
integrity, this is the episodefor you.
Let's jump in with John Starryfrom Steadfast Roofing.
(01:40):
Welcome to the Roofing SuccessPodcast.
I'm Jim Aline and I'm here tobring you insights from top
leaders in the roofing industryto help you grow and scale your
roofing business.
(02:05):
It's how it goes, man.
How's sunny Florida?
SPEAKER_02 (02:10):
It has not been very sunny here lately, man.
We have had a lot of rain, butum I actually got a break from
it all last week.
Um my wife and I went out to ahome services conference out in
Vegas.
Um one that Tommy Mello had kindof put on.
SPEAKER_01 (02:28):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (02:29):
Yeah.
Home service freedom.
I'm I'm trying to kind of stepout of just attending roofing
conferences and things to try tobring something back that uh
that maybe's you know a littlemore profound or something that
nobody else is really doing anduh just didn't bring back as
(02:52):
much as I was hope was as I washoping to, you know.
Um, but I mean, end of the day,we're all serving the same
purpose, we're all trying toserve the people that we're in
front of.
And uh, you know, I I definitelytook back home a few things that
I am working on implementing,but um, and then I also heard of
(03:13):
some softwares that uh I reallywant to kind of like dig into a
little bit more, but um justtrying to break out of my
comfort zone a little bit, youknow?
SPEAKER_01 (03:22):
Yeah, it's great, it's great to go other places
for the ideas.
A lot of times you'll hear thesame thing in the in the roofing
industry.
I've heard that from a lot ofpeople.
Some of the some of the somepeople that I've had on the
podcast that have come fromother industries and brought
those types of the the thingsthat they did in other
industries into roofing, youknow, it it's a it's a
(03:44):
continuous evolution, right, ofprofessionalism in the trades.
And that's that that's a a greatthing.
And I know Tommy's event was oneof those types of events where
he puts on a good show for one,and and and he is one of those
guys.
I've had him on the podcast acouple times now, and like he's
one of those guys.
He he he's a veryforward-thinking uh individual,
(04:07):
we'll put it that way.
So yeah, so for the audiencehere we don't who don't don't
know who you are and don't knowhave not heard of steadfast
roofing, John, how do you getinto roofing, man?
SPEAKER_02 (04:20):
Oh man, I got into roofing because I felt like I
had to.
But um, back in uh back in theearly 2000s, I was actually in
IT and you know things were alittle rough there in the early
2000s.
I actually ended up getting laidoff.
Um and you know, I ended upgoing back to school and like
(04:42):
wasn't making the money I wasused to making and things.
So I actually started doing somework for a home improvement
contractor up in Pennsylvania.
We did a number of differentthings from like painting to
siding to roofing to decks, youname it.
Um and and I was doing that anychance that I got, and I
(05:03):
actually started to fall in lovewith a little bit, and then as I
moved down here to Florida, Ikind of made it my full-time
role, but not on the hard sideof things.
Like I'm not the best at thelabor side of things, man.
Like I I like to joke withpeople and tell them I'm a
little bit too pretty for allthat, but uh you you know I'm
(05:24):
not, but uh regardless, um thatis the side of things that I
actually enjoy.
I enjoy getting to get in frontof people, and I really just you
know tried to hone my craft abit to try to make us different
from everybody else that peopleare meeting up with and things,
you know.
And um with that, I mean, I Ithink we've created a pretty
(05:49):
darn unique organization overhere that um you know, people
really truly feel like we give adamn.
And they're not just a numberwith us, you know.
Um but again, I mean, I Istarted this whole thing out of
necessity and things.
Like I had worked for a numberof different contractors down
(06:09):
here in the Tampa Bay area.
Um some of them are really,really great, and most of them
just really don't do the rightthing whenever they're faced
with that kind of problem.
And uh I I didn't want to getlumped in with that, you know?
So for sure.
(06:30):
Here we are.
SPEAKER_01 (06:31):
It's hard to be different from others.
Some the same thing, right?
It's a very commoditizedindustry.
What were some of those earlythings that you did that you
saw, and you're like, these arethe things we're gonna start
with to differentiate ourselves?
SPEAKER_02 (06:47):
Yeah, so I mean, number one, I didn't just jump
in to start my own companybecause I wanted to.
Um it had been two years in themaking, you know, like I had
figured out what kind ofproducts I wanted to use, right?
I had I had figured out likewhat I wanted our sales
presentation to look like.
It it took me a long time toeven land on the name and things
(07:10):
because like I I didn't want itto be called starry roofing, you
know.
Um and the reason like why Ilanded on the name that I did is
because like it's mentioned sooften in the Bible, right?
The word steadfast.
Um, and then whenever youassociate that with a roof, I
mean you want your roof to be anunfailing source of your home or
(07:34):
uh an unfailing component ofyour home.
Because once that thing goes,everything else just kind of
starts to crumble too, you know?
But uh I did uh did work my lastname into it a little bit.
There's a little star in the Rright there.
So but uh that's that's that'swhere we are, man.
(07:54):
But um regardless, um I I didtake a lot of time to kind of
plan.
And uh whenever I got off theground and running and things,
like I I have been working withanother roofing contractor.
Um, I was very transparent uhfrom the very get-go, like what
my intentions were.
(08:16):
And uh I had been doing my ownrepairs and things just locally
and whatnot, building up a bitof a a review pipeline and like
some something to kind of clingon to.
And then before you know it, uhhurricane hit and we started
taking off.
(08:36):
And uh I had my own license atthat point.
So I was like, all right, well,if there's any time to do this,
the time is now, you know.
So off we went.
SPEAKER_01 (08:47):
A good storm will uh will kick off a company quickly,
right?
It definitely will.
Um it'll also crumble a companyquickly if you don't have if you
have your stuff together.
SPEAKER_02 (08:59):
We definitely ran into some growing pains for
sure.
Uh we we were not prepared forthe most recent round of
hurricanes that we got down herein the Tampa Bay area, but um
yeah, we definitely managed asbest we could.
Our reputation came outunscathed, which, you know, I
mean, end of the day, that alljust boils down to setting
(09:23):
realistic expectations withpeople.
And you know, when people trustyou, I mean, some of them are
okay with waiting three monthsto get their roof replaced uh
just because of the backlog wehad at one point.
And you know, cranking out nineto twelve roofs a day, it was
insane.
Um and I I'm I'm glad that theindustry as a whole has kind of
(09:47):
slowed down because it's gottento a point for us now where
things are a lot more manageablethan having to deal with nine to
twelve roof replacements a day.
Like there's a lot to kind ofkeep track of and um a lot of
running to do, especially ifit's all spread out, you know?
Yeah, for sure.
It it gets crazy.
SPEAKER_01 (10:07):
What uh so why Tampa?
Were you just had you had movedthere already?
Because you you started off inin Pennsylvania.
Why Tampa?
SPEAKER_02 (10:20):
So the funny thing about Tampa, I had never been
here before I decided to movehere, but ultimately I knew that
I wanted to end up somewherethat I wasn't dealing with the
gray skies that I was dealingwith in Pennsylvania, right?
Um and I mean not to get likeall weird about anything, but
(10:44):
um, you know, seasonaldepression like hits a lot of
people.
And um it it impacted me for abit too.
And I wanted to get away fromthat stuff, man.
Like I like being outdoors.
And whenever whenever theweather outside doesn't allow
that to happen, it it kind oftakes the wind out of my sails a
(11:06):
bit.
So I I knew that I wanted to besomewhere where the weather was
good, you know.
I I love going outside andseeing palm trees, like for
whatever reason, I just had thishuge attraction to palm trees
and stuff.
And I I knew that I wanted tolike be out this way.
Um, so just took a chance, umlanded a job with a managed
(11:31):
print service company to get medown here.
And uh the the owner of thatcompany and I just um we kind of
had different visions andwhatnot.
And I knew that that wasn'treally the role that I so again
got right back into roofing anduh just kept running with it
(11:52):
from there.
But uh no no real plan or anykind of indicator like why I
wanted to move to the Tampaarea.
Um football team's prettyawesome though.
But I'm I'm still an Eagles guy.
SPEAKER_01 (12:07):
Did they wait?
We just passed uh week one.
Did they pull that one off?
They pulled the they pulled offthat Baltimore win, didn't they?
Was it Baltimore?
Who'd they pull off?
SPEAKER_02 (12:20):
No, no, they uh they didn't play Baltimore, but uh
they they did pull off a win.
SPEAKER_01 (12:27):
Oh, that was the Bills in Baltimore.
That was the Bills in Baltimorethat got exciting at the end.
Yeah, one point game at the end.
That's right.
I uh my Vikings got a win thatin week one here.
So that's what that was that wasexciting.
Even if it was against theBears, it was it was a good uh
good indication of uh of gettingour hopes up for the year and
(12:48):
then letting us down later,which is usually what they do.
So unless they play the Eaglesand you know toss a nice one
into the end zone and we have toruin your season.
We have a fun little culturehere.
Before we carry on with theepisode, let's give a shout out
to one of our sponsors.
Roofers, let's get real.
(13:09):
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steady stream of leads?
That's where job numbersmarketing comes in.
They know the roofing industryinside and out, and they'll help
you dominate Google, Facebook,reputation management, and
everything in between.
If you want more quality leads,more book jobs, and more growth,
(13:30):
visit the link in thedescription or the sponsors page
on the Roofing Success Podcastwebsite.
Unless they play the Eagles andyou know, toss a nice one into
the end zone and we have to ruinruin your season.
SPEAKER_02 (13:45):
We have a fun little culture here um with the sales
team and things.
Um, we have a fantasy footballum draft going on and things,
and uh like we are talking somuch smack with one another, and
like for some reason, there'stwo people on my fantasy team
that that uh that are areCowboys fans, and it's just
(14:08):
like, man, what is wrong withyou guys?
I'm probably losing half youraudience right now.
SPEAKER_01 (14:14):
But uh that's all right.
Well, uh, so got down to Tampa,got into the roofing industry,
had home services before, workedin the roofing industry in
Tampa, wanted to be differentfrom others.
One of the things that you'vedifferentiated yourself with are
reviews.
(14:36):
Three years, 900 reviews.
I mean, if if your competitorslook at that, they'll probably
think you're buying reviews.
How do you you know what I mean?
Like, how do you how do you get900 reviews in three years?
You know what I mean?
Like that's a that's a hugejump, man.
SPEAKER_02 (14:53):
That's so number one, the first probably 50 to
100 of those were literally fromrepairs that I had been doing
before I even really went fullin on this thing, right?
So that helped me build up abase.
But yeah, number two, I mean,review capture from work that
you do is so important, and somany people let off the gas with
(15:18):
that one.
Um, but we have automations thatare built into our CRM that like
just hammers the heck out ofpeople.
And I'm gonna give a littleshout out to my my boys over at
ProLine because um, you know, II've been with them for several
years now.
Um they they truly take thefeedback that I provide.
(15:42):
I and you know, I mean,processes have changed and
things, and um, they have gottena lot bigger than what they were
whenever I had first startedwith them, right?
Yeah, um so the way to suggestimplementations and ideas and
things has changed a bit overthe years, but um they have
really taken something to thenext level from anything else
(16:06):
that I had used previously, andI I had been with a number of
different CRMs.
I'm not gonna bash any of thembecause end of the day, you
know, as the old saying is, youknow, you know, the the CRM that
you should use is the one thatworks for you, right?
But uh ProLine has just beenfantastic.
(16:27):
I can customize like all themessaging that goes out.
And like one of the takeawaysthat I took from like the Tommy
Mello conference that I justattended and things was like I
got a reminder um from anotherautomation company by the name
of Chirp that um it wassomething that I had written
(16:48):
down on my to-do that I justhadn't gotten around to yet, but
it it had to do with an ownerreach out.
So a few days after the actualappointment with the original
estimator, um, getting a messageto go out from me as the owner
directly to that customer andthings, right?
And it it sounds like such asmall little thing, but if it
(17:10):
makes even an ounce ofdifference where we get an
additional, you know, roofreplacement a month, like us, it
it took me 10 minutes toimplement that, you know?
But um so again, with the reviewgeneration and things, we're
trying to capture anything andeverything, even repairs and
things, you know.
We're not going out there tryingto make a million bucks on a
(17:32):
repair job just to get somebodythrough to the next storm.
But we are trying to leave asgood of an impression as we
possibly can with them.
That way, whenever it is timefor them to replace their roof,
we're gonna be the first andonly company that they actually
call, right?
Yeah, capturing those reviews onsite.
Um and then if they're notgetting captured on site,
(17:54):
hammering them with automationsby text and email to ensure that
we're capturing those reviews.
But then on top of that, um, weeven have photos um from another
software that we use to actuallymap to those reviews.
So, number one, it it screamslegitimacy with Google because
(18:17):
it is an actual true customerreview.
And on top of that, I mean if wetruly captured reviews from 100%
of the people that we that weactually served, we'd be way
beyond 900 right now, man.
Um that is still such a smalltidbit of what we could actually
be getting.
(18:37):
So we're still trying to honethat in to the point where we're
capturing more of those reviews.
So haters.
SPEAKER_01 (18:44):
I want to go back to this because this is something
that is going to be so impactfulfor contractors going forward.
It has been, if you don't know,your reviews matter.
If you're listening, yourreviews matter.
It's one of the most importantthings that you could do on a
day-to-day basis is get is getreviews for your company.
Right.
Moving into the age of AI,moving into AI search, trust is
(19:10):
going to be a much largerfactor.
And the only way that AI can,one of the ways that AI can read
trust is to read your reviewsacross the internet.
We've done experiments now inthe RSRA with with some of our
marketing uh sessions wherewe've done, you know, kind of
run some some searches and itand and then ask the AI, well,
(19:33):
why did you choose this companyversus this company?
Oh, well, they had greatreviews, is almost always.
It's time and business and greatreviews.
So those are the two things thatwe're seeing it say back to us
multiple times.
But it's not just saying Google,it's also saying for which which
I don't like because we've allfocused so hard on Google for
(19:56):
the because that's where weshould have should be focused,
right?
But uh I I I've had it kickback.
Well, I saw the reviews on Yelp,I saw the reviews on on other
places, and so so now uh youknow getting your reviews spread
out is going to have some impactalso, just something early that
we're seeing, but I want to gointo reviews.
(20:17):
It sounded like repairs lead toreviews for you.
Is that is that so like sohaving a doing repairs, which a
lot of contractors don't, right?
They have they they just do asubcontractor replacement model.
How you know being involved inthat from the beginning, having
(20:39):
that repair, doing that repair,getting the review.
You said your first 50 or 100 orso like reviews came from just
repair work, right?
Like just getting out theredoing repair work.
I think that's awesome.
Like that that's a fantasticidea for people, especially if
you're in the very early stages,and you and if you we I talked
(21:00):
about this on another podcastrecently.
Uh some we we determined thatthe golden number is a hundred
now.
Like if you don't have a hundredreviews, it's like you don't
exist, right?
Before, if it you know, it it'schanged a lot over the years,
but then there's guys like youthat are running up to you know,
you're pushing a thousand soon,you know what I mean?
So when you know, for foreveryone else in the inner man,
(21:22):
we gotta be getting thesereviews as much as possible.
So in the repair process, youknow, or let me let's walk walk
me through that on-site ask.
Because I I think that's missedso many times.
The on-site ask, who'sresponsible to ask for the
review?
What are they saying?
(21:43):
Do they have you know a QR codeor a you know, like what how are
you setting up your team to getthat review on site?
Before we carry on with theepisode, let's give a shout out
to one of our sponsors.
I talk to contractors every daythat feels stuck.
Not because they're not workinghard, but because they're
(22:03):
missing the structure to growwithout chaos.
Or their culture's falling apartbecause their team's unclear,
unaligned, or just burned out.
And when change hits, they'rereacting instead of leading
because time and prioritiesaren't under their control.
Day 41 Thrive helps to fix thatwith proven strategies for
(22:26):
growth, culture, and leadershipthat actually work.
Ready to thrive beyond thestorm?
Visit the link in thedescription or visit the Roofing
Success Podcast website on thesponsors page to start your
journey today.
Because I I think that's missedso many times.
(22:47):
The on-site ask, who'sresponsible to ask for the
review?
What are they saying?
Do they have you know a QR codeor a you know, like what how are
you setting up your team to getthat review on site?
SPEAKER_02 (23:03):
No, so uh that part's pretty simple.
Um number one, if we have theability to knock it out right
then and there, you know, whowouldn't want that?
Number two, if you're coming inat a at a very competitive price
and things, right?
Like if if one of my guysalready has the material in the
(23:24):
back of their truck, um, andthey can hop up there and just
take care of it for somebody,why wouldn't we just knock that
out?
You know?
Um so in in those circumstancesand things, like you're hitting
them with you know, we're notgouging the price um of the
(23:45):
repair.
Number two, we're incentivizingthem by allowing us to actually
get it done and getting rid ofthe issue right then and there
without them having to kick thecan down the road, right?
Um, the longer they have tothink about it, you know,
there's not much to think aboutwhen it comes to like a$500
repair, you know?
Um, whenever it means that that$500 repair is going to
(24:10):
alleviate the need for them toactually pay more to get their
interior repaired after thefact, right?
So um getting it done on site ifpossible, or even later that
day, we do have an in-houserepair guy, and in the event
that like it's it is outside ofthe scope of what these guys
would be able to do.
(24:31):
But um just giving them animmediate um fix, number one,
and number two, like, hey,listen, um I'm not charging you
a whole heck of a lot for this.
Um, our reputation online is isreally, really important to us.
It's how we get found.
Um since we're taking care ofthis for you, would you be so
(24:54):
kind as to leave us a review ona platform of your choice,
right?
Um, but I am super happy thatyou had actually brought up like
AI search and things becauselike one of the things that I
did learn um with this new ageof AI and things is like a lot
of those results are coming fromplaces like Yelp and BBB.
(25:16):
Those are two of the big onesthat are actually driving you
know your results on AI searchesand things.
Um, I did learn about anotherone that I'm gonna kind of keep
to myself until I get to test itout, but uh don't want to give
out too much of the secretsauce.
But uh regardless, um uh likegiving them a reason to actually
(25:39):
feel compelled to leave a reviewby us resolving an issue.
Um why why wouldn't they dothat?
Especially when they don't haveto go shop around after after
the fact or they don't have toworry about it after the fact
that you know they called us, wewere out, and we're able to fix
that in a super tight timeline.
SPEAKER_01 (26:01):
Yeah.
So now what that makes me thinkof, right, is now, you know, if
I'm another contractor, I'mthinking, well, man, now I gotta
I gotta make sure my sales guysknow how to, my inspectors, they
have to know how to do thisstuff, right?
And a lot of a lot of peoplehaven't built their their
business model that way.
(26:21):
It's salespeople sell, theydon't know how to do the work,
right?
They understand the componentsand what's wrong and how to
diagnose, um, but they don'tmaybe they don't know.
So, what is your process thenfor getting your team up to
speed to be able to execute thatsmall, even if it's just a small
repair, right?
And make sure that it's donewell.
(26:42):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (26:43):
Not not everybody on my sales team has the ability to
do that.
Got it.
Um there are a handful of peoplethough that you know have worked
on the labor side of thisindustry.
I even have a guy from Texasthat had actually owned his own
roofing company that um does hisown repairs oftentimes, right?
Yeah, um, and end of the day, Imean, I I really just set the
(27:05):
precedence with my team that,like, hey, um I'm not trying to
make a boatload of money on onrepairs.
Like that, that's not what thesethings are about.
But if you end up knocking itout, just make sure that you're
getting a review, you know.
Um end of the day though, um foranybody on my sales team that
(27:28):
does run into repair situationand things, they have like I
have a field operations managerthat schedules all the in-house
repairs with our in-house repairguy, right?
They have options to get thatquickly resolved and taken care
of for any customer they're infront of, even if they don't
have the ability to take care ofthat and handle that on their
(27:51):
own.
SPEAKER_01 (27:52):
So yeah, that's awesome.
And then so now we have theon-site.
I would assume if it's areplacement too, you're you're
working the same, you know,you're you're making sure that
someone on site is asking forthe review.
Project manager, super job sitesupervisor, what do you what's
that process for?
SPEAKER_02 (28:12):
What do you do there?
I mean, they're introduced toeverybody that is a part of
their project.
Um, from the moment that theyget their estimate to the moment
that materials are gettingordered.
Um, they're getting introducedto you know, my office staff
that's actually handlingmaterial ordering, polling
permits, things like that.
They know who they're workingwith.
(28:33):
They and the the bigger part ofthat is they also know who to
reach out to in the event thatsomething happens, right?
Or like maybe they need toreschedule their installation
date, um, things like that.
But they're gonna get introducedto the office staff, their
estimator, they're also gonnaget introduced to the the site
(28:54):
supervisor that's gonna be apart of their build that day.
Um, so they have multi- amultitude of contacts that if
they have questions aboutanything, it should always be
their sales, like theirestimator, first and foremost.
But in the event that it hassomething to do with scheduling,
they know who to reach out to.
(29:14):
If it has something to do withsomething going on, day of the
job, they know who to reach outto, right?
Um, but then on top of that,after the job is completed, um,
they're gonna do the originalestimator is gonna go do a final
walkthrough, make sure thateverything is the way that the
customer wants it to be.
They're 100% satisfied withanything.
(29:36):
If there's any punch out itemsthat need to be done, they're
knocked out.
And then once they're 100%happy, then we're hitting them
with holding our hand out forthe check and asking for that
review and also asking hey, doyou know anybody else that we
may be able to assist that maybe in the same sort of situation
(29:56):
that you were in, right?
Um So ultimately not only are wegetting a review, but hopefully
we're getting a referral out ofthe whole deal too.
SPEAKER_01 (30:07):
Yeah, for sure.
So you refer uh your sales repsare inspectors in your like is
that how you refer to them or Iguess in your or I refer to them
as project specialists.
SPEAKER_02 (30:17):
Project specialists, okay.
SPEAKER_01 (30:18):
I try to project sales out.
Yeah.
So your project specialists, umthey they're they're they're
they're managing thatcommunication with with the
customer.
Um how have you likeincentivized them or or have
held them accountable to askingfor those the the the referrals
(30:43):
and the reviews?
Because I feel like a lot ofcontractors struggle with that.
Like, man, my my team justdoesn't ask, and I can't get
them to ask.
This is it's such a struggle forme.
What have you done from amanagement perspective to
incentivize or or or you knowput it carrot or stick, right?
Like what have you what carrotsand sticks have worked in your
(31:05):
business?
SPEAKER_02 (31:06):
So all right.
Number one, when the when thejob is going on, right?
We schedule them to actually bepresent at their build for at
least an hour to you know getsome additional FaceTime with
the homeowner.
Hopefully they're actually thereduring the build, and they snap
a selfie with that homeowner aswell.
(31:26):
We use that for our socialplatforms, and then after we get
that review, guess what?
We can blast that out to allthose different channels and
things, right?
Um, if they're actually outthere and following the process,
the reviews just don't come.
Um, it it's kind of built intotheir DNA at this point, you
know.
So setting that properexpectation and letting them
(31:49):
know, you know, hey, this iswhat I want to see happen uh
when this is going on.
They do it enough times itbecomes a habit, you know?
SPEAKER_01 (32:00):
So yeah, nice.
How do you ensure the customerexperience stays consistent as
you scaled, right?
Especially when you you knowhave a big storm come through
and everything, you know, you'reoh man, you know what I mean?
Like what we did.
What things have what thingshave worked and what things, you
know, what lessons did youlearn, right?
(32:22):
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What things have worked and whatthings, you know, what lessons
did you learn, right?
Yeah, so um.
SPEAKER_02 (33:04):
So we we really leave it up to our crews, and as
we encounter issues and things,our crews know how to who uh who
to reach out to and things,right?
So as far as quality of theinstalls and things like that
go, um, that was never reallythat was never really a factor
throughout you know our seasonof busyness and whatnot.
(33:27):
Um but as we did get busier andum more and more things kind of
started falling into place.
And I I think one of the biggestreasons why we found success
whenever it was so busy isbecause we weren't coming off as
that pushy contractor that waslike asking, you know, like
(33:49):
forcing them to sign then andthere.
And I think a lot of peopleappreciated that about us.
Um, and and I'm not saying thatthere's things that we couldn't
have improved during that time,but I'd much rather have
somebody work with us becausethey choose to versus feeling
like they were forced to, right?
Um but we were we werecompletely understaffed at the
(34:15):
beginning of this whole thing.
Um, we didn't have enough peopleavailable to take calls.
Um we were at our peak, we weregetting 400 calls in a day.
Um, and a lot of those wererepair issues.
And a lot of those, so I mean,literally, we dedicated full
days just knocking out ourmultitude of repairs and things
(34:36):
from people that got impactedfrom the hurricane and whatnot.
Um, but in regard toreplacements and whatnot, um as
I said, at our peak, I mean, wewere doing nine to twelve roofs
a day, every day, Monday throughFriday, and wrapping up
anything, any kind of loose endsthat we didn't finish up on
(34:56):
Saturdays and Sundays andthings.
So, I mean, it was it was crazy.
But one of the biggest gaps thatI had discovered throughout all
that is, you know, when peoplewere waiting an extended period
of time.
Like I try to keep ourproduction calendar within like
a month.
I want people getting theirroofs replaced within a month of
(35:17):
signing.
Um but during that time, we hadsuch a multitude and a backlog
of work in our pipeline thatthere were people waiting for
three months until they gottheir roof replaced.
And the biggest gap that I hadnoticed is like, hey, they're
not really being communicatedwith a whole heck of a lot.
(35:40):
So again, throwing it back toProLine, I had built some
automations and things to keepthem informed um every week of
the status of their project.
And it might not have beenanything profound or anything
like crazy to update them on,but you know, just having that
(36:01):
touch point and letting themknow that, hey, um, here's where
you're at.
We have pulled your permit sofar.
Um, we have your materialsreserved or whatever we need to
say, right?
Um just having that touch pointevery week just lets them know
they're like, hey, you're on ourradar, we're gonna knock this
(36:22):
thing out and it's gonna beamazing.
Um but we didn't have thatinitially.
And I I I wanted to I wanted toavoid as much fallout from all
this as I could.
Like, I don't want to losecustomers that we've already
won.
And we actually came out ofthat, I think end of the day, we
only ended up losing about threejobs out of the whole deal.
(36:45):
And um, I mean, I I will takethat over you know what it could
have otherwise been had we nothad those communications going
out and keeping people informedand things.
So yeah, big thing like I Iwould just say in regard to
that, my biggest learning lessonis just keep in contact with
(37:06):
people always regularly andoften.
SPEAKER_01 (37:09):
And and automated uh automated messages work also.
Yeah.
Now the automated message couldbe a just an automated message
that is very candid standard,maybe personalized to that
person with a few different youknow variables or something, but
it all it also could be a taskto your team to make a phone
(37:32):
call.
It could be, you know, a textmessage going out, whatever it
is.
I I always say, John, youprobably I don't know if you've
heard this from me, but if yourcustomers are wondering, you're
losing.
Absolutely.
Like the second that they'rewondering, man, like the second
that they are wondering, anytime that you can take that what
(37:53):
it so from a customer'sperspective, you know, you could
go through that, you know, whileyou were sitting there, you were
doing this it, you know, kind ofwithout probably the the
specific intention.
Your your intention was tocommunicate with customers, but
as you went along, when youcreated that message that went
out saying this is what'shappening, like that's what you
(38:14):
were doing is you're re you'rerelieving them of wonder.
And and if you can do that anddo that through automation, it
it it's outrageously impactful.
Outrageously.
100%.
It's crazy, man.
Um, and and so many don't do it.
Uh the tools are out there,right?
The tools are out there.
(38:34):
Uh there's plenty of automatedtools out there that can that
can uh that can that can helpyou with this.
Takes some time to build it.
Yeah, right?
Like it takes some time and somethought to build it, but once
you once you get it structuredand built out the way you want,
how how often are you reviewingyour your customer journey, uh,
(39:00):
the automations in your customerjourney?
Are you reviewing that on aweekly basis, on a quarterly
basis, on a yearly basis?
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(39:44):
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Oh man, on a weekly basis, on aquarterly basis, on a yearly
(40:05):
basis.
SPEAKER_02 (40:07):
Dude, I'm probably looking at that way more than I
should.
I'm if if somebody looked infrom the outside of this whole
thing, they'd probably think Iwas nuts.
But um I I literally just addedsome additional automation steps
just yesterday, and I justtweaked them again this morning.
So um I'm constantly looking atways that we can improve that
(40:31):
and things.
Uh but but again, I mean thetools that you have to use it,
they need to be easy to use,right?
Yes.
And but I I started using to-dolists and things on my phone
because sometimes I'm like outdriving and like I think of
something, and like if I don'tmake if if I don't take action
(40:54):
on that immediately, like itgoes straight out that window,
and I will never remember itagain until like months and
months down the road.
I'm like, damn.
So I started using to-do listsand things, and like it started
to get pretty long and things,but um, I started moving them
towards a priority list andthings, right?
Like, all right, this is gonnamake a really, really big
impact.
I want to do this, I want toknock this out.
(41:16):
This one can kind of like go onthe back burner for a little
bit, but um and then there'ssome that after I get back to it
and I think about it again, eh,I don't really think that's
gonna be a great idea.
Maybe I should just uh you knowshelf that one for a little bit,
you know?
SPEAKER_01 (41:31):
Yeah, but uh great to-do list, voice notes, like
anything that to get those ideasout of your head and and and and
and in a in a place where youcan maybe review them later
because they will get lost forsure.
SPEAKER_02 (41:47):
Um things get like traditionally they get a little
bit slow down here in Florida umafter school lets out, and then
after school goes back in,you'll typically start to see an
uptick in business and things,right?
So our slow season this year,like I completely revamped our
sales proposals.
(42:08):
Um, I gave everything a uniformlook.
Um, and and really, I mean, I'mlooking at what they were and
what they are now, and I'm justlike, wow, I cannot believe that
I made that.
And like I don't pay anybody todo that stuff either.
Like, we have so many tools atour disposal now as contract in
(42:29):
any industry, as like anyentrepreneur has the ability to
kind of access the same toolsthat I have access to, right?
Yep, and like I've designedeverything in Canada, like I'm
not a graphic design artist oranything like that, but my gosh,
man, you look at like what I puttogether and it is just like
(42:49):
holy cow, how did I do that, youknow?
But um and like that's somethingthat I've really found enjoyment
in as I've kind of like been inthis a few years on my own,
right?
Um I I shifted from like likingto meet people to actually just
(43:09):
like really being like on top oflike trying to have good organic
marketing, trying to come upwith like creative content for
videos, um trying to justdeliver the most polished
experiences possible to peopleand like like getting the same
uniform look from it, like oneof the latest automations that
(43:33):
we did was just sending outintro videos in front of the
vehicle that my estimatorsdrive, um, and just giving them
a quick video introduction,giving them a face of the name,
showing them what vehiclethey're gonna be pulling up to
their house in, right?
And it sounds so stupid andminuscule, but it has really
(43:55):
made a huge difference.
And we have gotten so muchpositive feedback from our
homeowners that you know theyget multiple quotes from other
contractors all the time.
And the reason why they continueto choose us over and over is
because the experience that theygot from the very beginning of
(44:16):
the appointment getting set andthe communication that that was
involved and all that up untilthey decided to sign with us has
just been like night and daycompared to anybody else that
I'm competing with around here.
And it's it's made it easy forus, you know.
So I'm gonna continue to honethat and make that even better
as time goes on.
(44:37):
And like that is like whatcurrently excites me in this
position, you know?
Um, just so tacking on thatpolish.
SPEAKER_01 (44:44):
So for people listen, listening though,
they're like, John, you were anIT guy.
Like you know how to use thecomputer and stuff, right?
Like you're that that's morefamiliar to you.
What what about what about thecontractor that came from the
install side or the businessowner that came from, hey man,
(45:05):
I'm a I'm a salesman.
Like I don't, I don't, I I couldenter my I could enter a contact
into the CRM and then let it gofrom there.
We know how salespeople are,right?
Like they're not, you know, sowhat what advice would you give
to that person in in, hey man,where do I start?
How do I start structuring this?
How do I start building thisout?
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SPEAKER_01 (45:57):
What what advice would you give to that person
in, hey man, where do I start?
How do I start structuring this?
How do I start building thisout?
SPEAKER_02 (46:06):
Yeah.
Nobody taught me how to do thatstuff, you know?
And end of the day, whenever itcomes to how you are portrayed
to people, um, nobody is gonnagive a damn more than what
you're gonna give a damn as anowner, right?
So the level of detail that youwould put into that versus
(46:29):
paying somebody to designsomething like that for you that
doesn't really have any trueinsights into your company, they
are not gonna be able to do itto the level that you would be
able to do it.
Um, if you just invest the timeto actually put into really
creating the experience that youwant to create, you can do
(46:50):
anything.
I mean, the fact that these guyshave started their own companies
and things, and like yeah,they're they're building a
business and things, like thatis way harder than anything that
I could ever do online or inCanva or any of that stuff.
And I I don't know everything,I'm a pretty dumb dude, you
know?
But um I'm I'm just structuredand driven to the point that
(47:15):
like I I want to do better thanothers, and um I I'm gonna keep
doing better and I'm gonna keepmaking things better, and I'm
not gonna give up thatrelentless pursuit of that until
like I decide that I've hadenough of all this, you know?
SPEAKER_01 (47:33):
Yeah, yeah.
And that's the that's thereality of it.
We we kind of we you you getgood at what what you what you
want, and and and so thesetools, I'm gonna summarize a
little bit, like the tools thatyou're using to automate this
the the the customer experience,your goal is to have an
exceptional customer experienceand your the fulfillment in
(47:57):
having a great customerexperience is what drives you to
learn the tools, right?
Like I'll learn the tool to man,I'm gonna take care of this
customer.
Like I want to take care of mycustomers, right?
And and if from an owner'sperspective, it man, if you have
that drive and that that likethat's your goal is to take care
of the customers, either you'regonna learn it or someone on
your team's gonna learn it,right?
(48:18):
Like let's let's go, but butdon't don't not do it.
It's crazy not to do it.
So um how is how's the adding avideo to the sales process been
for you guys?
You know, I know a lot ofcontractors struggle with that.
You know, they're we don't wantto be on the owner doesn't want
(48:39):
to be on video, the sales repsdon't want to be on video, no
one wants to be on video.
How has adding video to the tothe you know to the your
customer experience, what hasthe impact of that been?
And how have you got engagementfrom your team around that?
My team hates it.
SPEAKER_02 (48:59):
I hate it too.
Um but end of the day, like itis one of those necessary evils
that you know it it needs tohappen.
Um and I have really kind ofdriven my team to make their own
organic content and things, youknow, just getting a testimonial
(49:20):
video with a homeowner, likethat is so impactful.
Um, especially whenever likesomebody's watching that video
and they actually know who thatperson is, right?
Um, but as of right now, likeI'm I'm shifting our strategy a
little bit um with video contentto actually focus on city pages.
(49:41):
I'm actually um uh I'm workingwith Dima over at Roofing SEO
School to uh kind of producesome city specific content that
should drive some traffic to ourdirect city pages that impact
that, right?
And and the whole thoughtprocess behind that is that um,
(50:02):
you know, Google is the numberone most used search tool in the
world, right?
But um YouTube is the secondmost.
And uh if you can tie Google andYouTube, I mean they're all
under the same parent companyregardless, but it just makes
sense that they kind of feedinto each other, right?
So um I have we have notlaunched our city page um
(50:27):
content yet.
It's it's still in development,but um I I I can't really answer
a whole lot on that one, but wedo have you know a number of
views on some of the some of theimpactful stuff that we've done
is just like the local stuff.
So I made a I made a video inregard to um like the area that
(50:48):
I live in here and the SouthShore area of the Tampa Bay,
right?
And um, so that basicallyincludes like Ruskin, Apollo
Beach, Riverview, things likethat.
Um and we we had fun with it,man.
Like we we we brought a friendof mine's kid in.
Um he was driving me around in agolf cart, uh, he ran me over
with the golf cart.
(51:09):
It was fun.
Um and and people laugh.
And um if you're not doingeducational content or you're
not doing content that peoplesearch for, if you can make them
laugh, it it does make them likeyou.
And like that kind of content isso impactful locally in the fact
(51:32):
that um, you know, like it ifpeople are posting that video in
like neighborhood groups andthings like that, right?
They'd be like, oh my gosh, thisguy lives right here.
Why would I not call him, right?
Um, so it it takes a littlewhile to kind of gain some
(51:52):
traction with it, but youcontinue to do it, um, it it
does definitely make adifference.
And uh I think now that we'reactually creating some content
that actually has like keywordsthat people are gonna search for
uh and actually tying videocontent directly to those search
(52:13):
terms, I think things are reallygonna take off.
SPEAKER_01 (52:16):
So yeah, there's a strategy there for sure.
Um what is you know what when wetalked before, you talked about
building uh creating a familyatmosphere at work.
How how do you do that inpractice?
SPEAKER_02 (52:31):
So this is probably a little um out of the name out
of the norm, I guess, but umlike we all we all have fun with
one another, you know.
I mean, we we we hang out withone another.
Like I uh I invest in them, likeI try to invite them to event
events and things like that.
(52:52):
Like just uh just last month inAugust, I took uh five of my
sales guys up to well, four ofmy sales guys and one of my site
supervisors up to Atlanta,Georgia for top rep event with
Chuck Toki.
Nice.
Um and and you know, end of theday, like we all learned
something new, right?
(53:12):
Um, but then on top of that,like the time that we all got to
spend together, like after thetraining event, like it just
brought us all closer together.
Like we we talk crap to eachother, uh especially in our
fantasy football league.
Um but I mean we we pick on eachother like we're family, you
(53:33):
know?
And um it's fun and and andtruly like like I can take the
hits just as just as easily as Ican give them out, right?
And uh that's that's one thingthat I think really makes our
culture unique in that you knowwe all end of the day, like we
(53:54):
all love each other, we all workwith one another, like we have
to deal with one another, andlike end of the day, like we're
all in each other's corner, andum we all know that, and uh
that's that's what really kindof sets us apart like internally
as well as you know out in frontof people.
SPEAKER_01 (54:14):
How do you how do you how do you keep growing that
culture as you're adding teammembers?
SPEAKER_02 (54:24):
So I've been pretty fortunate as far as like adding
team members because it seemslike they just kind of land on
my lap the moment uh I actuallyneed somebody.
So as these opportunities kindof pop up and things like as
long as they're a good fit forour team, our culture, and like
(54:44):
they don't come in here withlike these predetermined like
sort of ideas about like howthings should be done.
Um end of the day, you know, ifthey're coachable, we can work
with them.
And uh we have a lot of really,really good people.
Like not everybody takeseverything like not everybody
(55:10):
picks things up right away,right?
But you don't give up on thatperson unless they end up being
like a completely like wrong fitfor people.
Unfortunately, I haven't uh Ihaven't had that situation come
up too often.
Um I have had a few people thathaven't really fit you know what
we're looking for here.
(55:30):
Um but I've not had to let go ofanybody due to them being in the
wrong I I never brought somebodyin that was put in the wrong
seat.
I um I I've I've brought peoplein that maybe were just opposed
to kind of doing things the waythat we're supposed to do things
here.
(55:51):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (55:55):
It's a it it's hard, especially when you're growing.
It's uh so you've had a lot ofmaybe you've had some uh so uh
do you recruit externally?
Do you is the team recruiting inlike kind of their friends and
family?
Is it like how is that yeah?
SPEAKER_02 (56:12):
So um honestly, I mean, one of the one of the
biggest proponents of like howwe bring people in for to fill
certain roles is you know, a lotof the people that work with me
have been in the industry for ana length of time, and um they
may potentially know somebodythat may be looking for another
(56:34):
opportunity.
Um, I mean, sure.
Two of the people that I haveworking for me as project
specialists or estimators, theycame from another roofing
company.
Um my site operations manager,he uh he came from another
roofing company and things.
Um he knew a handful of peoplethat uh we have brought in.
(56:59):
And uh, you know, sticking withpeople, like I've I've never
been one to shy away fromfeedback.
Like if it has something to dowith the process or anything
like that that we couldpotentially improve, like I'm
all ears because I want to hearit.
Not every idea is gonna be agood idea, not even all the ones
(57:20):
that I come up with are gonna begreat ideas.
Like I scrap so many of thethings that I think about,
right?
Yeah, but I would be a fool tonot at least listen to you know
what the problem is and whattheir solution is for that
problem.
Um, and then same goes withhiring people, you know, to
bring in, right?
Like, hey, I know somebody thatwould be great for you know
(57:43):
welcoming customers, or youknow, maybe somebody that would
be great for polling permits, oryou name it.
Um the the gentleman that I havehere working um as our permit
coordinator, he's actually thecousin to one of our crews, um,
like the the lead foreman forour crews.
(58:05):
Um, and they said, you know,hey, we love working for you.
I he's driving to clear waterevery day.
He'd like to kind of be a littlebit more local.
Um if you have a need, and wedidn't initially have a need for
it, but we had the conversation,and then ultimately we did find
the need for it because we keptgetting busier and busier, and
(58:26):
we ended up bringing them onboard.
So recruiting's been prettyeasy, and I hope it stays that
way.
Um I I think my situation's alittle bit different than uh
what some people kind of gothrough, though.
SPEAKER_01 (58:40):
It it can be, but it but at the same time, it you
know, if you're building that aspart of the culture, it becomes
part of the culture.
So how do you think the roofingindustry is changing?
And where do you want steadfastpositioned?
SPEAKER_02 (58:58):
So um obviously it's gotten a lot slower here.
Um I I think last time I heardit was like down 38% from where
it was last year.
I don't know if there's anytruth to that or not, but I
mean, I I know that we've kindof like tapered off a bit to the
point where the jobs that we'reproducing every day are it's a
(59:23):
lot more stable and a lot easierto plan for, right?
Um so I think that's a good andwelcome change.
Um, but I do think that this isreally gonna test a lot of
companies.
Um the slowdowns have impacted alot of companies in this area.
I mean, I I know a big one uh upin Tampa that um, you know, ICE
(59:46):
has actually picked up um Ithink like 120 of their crew
members, which is insane.
Crazy.
Um but uh I I mean I I I docontinue to think that like
labor is going to be.
Be an issue.
Um I think there's a lot ofuncertainty right now.
So I I think that kind of leadsto some of the slowness.
(01:00:07):
But down here in my areaspecifically, I mean, we just
got hit three back-to-backhurricanes over the past three
years and things, right?
Um, there's a lot of new roofsin this area.
There's still a lot of peoplethat have tarps on their roofs
and things though, too.
Um, is it gonna completely godead?
No.
But uh the people that pay cashand things, like I I think it's
(01:00:34):
gonna be harder for them to kindof just jump to a decision.
So, like, we're we're kind ofshifting our strategy a bit to
kind of like you know push themto not have to kind of wait for
additional estimates and things,like trying to figure out like
get to the real objection.
And um that's Chuck Toki, youwent to top rep.
(01:00:56):
100%, man.
Like that guy is that guy is thegoat, like him and Robbie Webb
are like the two guys that uhpeople should 100% listen to
here in uh in our industry.
SPEAKER_01 (01:01:06):
Chuck.
Um Chuck's the man.
But yeah, you were just you werespeaking Chuck's love language
there.
Get rid of that.
SPEAKER_02 (01:01:12):
I I think but I mean, and another thing though,
too, like I mean, we we made achange where like we're not
walking out of that appointmentwithout having a follow-up set
with that, right?
Um, and that that soundssomething so simple, but it's
also so effective, right?
Um but um I I I think things aregonna kind of like continue to
(01:01:36):
kind of stay where they're at,they're gonna stay pretty flat
here, um, unless some sort ofsignificant storm event comes.
And like I don't think we'regonna see one of those this
year, though.
But it's really gonna be a testto a lot of companies that do
rely on storms and things, andthey're really gonna either need
to shift to more of a retailmodel or at least a hybrid
(01:01:57):
retail model.
Um and you know, insurance isgetting harder and harder.
Like, whenever I first got intoroofing down here in Florida, I
mean that was that was the wayto go.
Like everybody wanted to get theroof replaced through insurance.
Uh, I have come to actually hatethe insurance side of the
industry, and like I try to benearly 100% retail.
(01:02:21):
Um, now, yeah, we still run intocustomers that you know have
filed claims on their own andthings, but I personally don't
want to have any part of thatstuff, you know.
Um but um I future changes thatI kind of see and like how we
kind of stay on top of things isyou know, we are gonna need to
(01:02:41):
be more mindful of how we showup on top of AI searches and
things.
Um the Google's not going toalways be the end-all be-all for
everything, and we need tocapture things from every area
that we can.
And uh we need to get kind ofcreative in regard to how we get
(01:03:04):
there and what we do to stay topof mind with people.
And I'm I'm still trying tofigure that one out, but uh I'm
doing some things right now touh help us with you know video
search results and things.
I'm doing things right now tohelp us show up in retirement
communities.
(01:03:25):
Um, I'm doing some things rightnow to help us show up on AI
searches and things.
Um I'm really I have a I have ateam of VAs that helps me with
um you know all the toiletcontent, like Facebook and
things like that.
So um regardless, uh I just wantto be out and present in front
of as many people as I can.
(01:03:46):
That way they know, you know,that we're out there and
hopefully, you know, they'veseen us enough that we're their
first call that they miss.
And uh I'm just gonna continuedoing what I need to do to uh
maintain that.
SPEAKER_01 (01:03:59):
Yep, gotta keep evolving, keep trying the next
thing.
If you are if you're mentoring anew roofing company owner uh
today, what piece of advicewould you give them?
SPEAKER_02 (01:04:11):
Man, uh just work harder than anybody from the
very get-go, you know?
Um you don't need a big teambehind you.
All you need is a solid laborcrew and drive to kind of make
sure that you don't lose, right?
Um and doing things on your ownis like the scariest, but it's
(01:04:33):
also the most rewarding thingyou could you will ever do.
And the only reason you willever fail is because you let the
let your foot off the gas.
And uh, you know, if you putenough effort in and you hustle,
you will win.
Yeah.
That's it.
You don't need to spend a lot ofmoney on marketing from the very
(01:04:54):
get-go.
You just need to be very, verythorough and specific about how
you're gonna differentiateyourself from everybody else out
there.
Competition's not going away.
It's like, I mean, maybe it willwith uh with the slowdown the
industry has experienced, butlike we're always gonna be
(01:05:14):
competing against somebody.
How are you gonna stand outagainst them?
SPEAKER_01 (01:05:19):
Awesome, man.
Thanks for your time today.
This has been another episode ofthe Roofing Success Podcast.
Thank you for tuning in to theRoofing Success Podcast.
For more valuable content, visitRoofing SuccessPodcast.com.
While there, check out oursponsors for exclusive offers,
to stop promotion likes, andsign up for our newsletter for
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(01:05:41):
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insight.
The website link is in thedescription.
Thanks for listening.
So number one, the first probably fifty to a
hundred of those were literallyfrom repairs that I had been
doing before I even like reallywent full in on this thing,
right?
So that helped me build up abase.
But number two, I mean, reviewcapture from work that you do is
so important.
(00:20):
And so many people let off thegas with that one.
Um, but we have automations thatare built into our CRM that like
just hammers the heck out ofpeople.
SPEAKER_01 (00:34):
What if losing your IT job became the spark to build
one of Florida's fastest growingroofing companies with over 900
reviews in just three years?
In this episode, we talked withJohn Starry about building a
reputation first roofingcompany, why reviews are the new
currency of trust in the AI era,and how obsessive customer
(00:56):
communication feels real growth.
John is the founder of SteadfastRoofing, a company that grew out
of necessity and exploded withpurpose.
Known for his deep systemsthinking and authentic brand,
John has built a business wherecustomers wait months willingly
just to work with his team.
From launching with just a fewrepair jobs in a dream to
(01:17):
running an eight-figure roofingcompany, John's obsession with
detail, customer trust, andfollow-up automations has made
Steadfast unforgettable.
If you want to learn howreviews, automation, and care
can scale your roofing companyfast without sacrificing
integrity, this is the episodefor you.
Let's jump in with John Starryfrom Steadfast Roofing.
(01:40):
Welcome to the Roofing SuccessPodcast.
I'm Jim Aline and I'm here tobring you insights from top
leaders in the roofing industryto help you grow and scale your
roofing business.
(02:05):
It's how it goes, man.
How's sunny Florida?
SPEAKER_02 (02:10):
It has not been very sunny here lately, man.
We have had a lot of rain, butum I actually got a break from
it all last week.
Um my wife and I went out to ahome services conference out in
Vegas.
Um one that Tommy Mello had kindof put on.
SPEAKER_01 (02:28):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (02:29):
Yeah.
Home service freedom.
I'm I'm trying to kind of stepout of just attending roofing
conferences and things to try tobring something back that uh
that maybe's you know a littlemore profound or something that
nobody else is really doing anduh just didn't bring back as
(02:52):
much as I was hope was as I washoping to, you know.
Um, but I mean, end of the day,we're all serving the same
purpose, we're all trying toserve the people that we're in
front of.
And uh, you know, I I definitelytook back home a few things that
I am working on implementing,but um, and then I also heard of
(03:13):
some softwares that uh I reallywant to kind of like dig into a
little bit more, but um justtrying to break out of my
comfort zone a little bit, youknow?
SPEAKER_01 (03:22):
Yeah, it's great, it's great to go other places
for the ideas.
A lot of times you'll hear thesame thing in the in the roofing
industry.
I've heard that from a lot ofpeople.
Some of the some of the somepeople that I've had on the
podcast that have come fromother industries and brought
those types of the the thingsthat they did in other
industries into roofing, youknow, it it's a it's a
(03:44):
continuous evolution, right, ofprofessionalism in the trades.
And that's that that's a a greatthing.
And I know Tommy's event was oneof those types of events where
he puts on a good show for one,and and and he is one of those
guys.
I've had him on the podcast acouple times now, and like he's
one of those guys.
He he he's a veryforward-thinking uh individual,
(04:07):
we'll put it that way.
So yeah, so for the audiencehere we don't who don't don't
know who you are and don't knowhave not heard of steadfast
roofing, John, how do you getinto roofing, man?
SPEAKER_02 (04:20):
Oh man, I got into roofing because I felt like I
had to.
But um, back in uh back in theearly 2000s, I was actually in
IT and you know things were alittle rough there in the early
2000s.
I actually ended up getting laidoff.
Um and you know, I ended upgoing back to school and like
(04:42):
wasn't making the money I wasused to making and things.
So I actually started doing somework for a home improvement
contractor up in Pennsylvania.
We did a number of differentthings from like painting to
siding to roofing to decks, youname it.
Um and and I was doing that anychance that I got, and I
(05:03):
actually started to fall in lovewith a little bit, and then as I
moved down here to Florida, Ikind of made it my full-time
role, but not on the hard sideof things.
Like I'm not the best at thelabor side of things, man.
Like I I like to joke withpeople and tell them I'm a
little bit too pretty for allthat, but uh you you know I'm
(05:24):
not, but uh regardless, um thatis the side of things that I
actually enjoy.
I enjoy getting to get in frontof people, and I really just you
know tried to hone my craft abit to try to make us different
from everybody else that peopleare meeting up with and things,
you know.
And um with that, I mean, I Ithink we've created a pretty
(05:49):
darn unique organization overhere that um you know, people
really truly feel like we give adamn.
And they're not just a numberwith us, you know.
Um but again, I mean, I Istarted this whole thing out of
necessity and things.
Like I had worked for a numberof different contractors down
(06:09):
here in the Tampa Bay area.
Um some of them are really,really great, and most of them
just really don't do the rightthing whenever they're faced
with that kind of problem.
And uh I I didn't want to getlumped in with that, you know?
So for sure.
(06:30):
Here we are.
SPEAKER_01 (06:31):
It's hard to be different from others.
Some the same thing, right?
It's a very commoditizedindustry.
What were some of those earlythings that you did that you
saw, and you're like, these arethe things we're gonna start
with to differentiate ourselves?
SPEAKER_02 (06:47):
Yeah, so I mean, number one, I didn't just jump
in to start my own companybecause I wanted to.
Um it had been two years in themaking, you know, like I had
figured out what kind ofproducts I wanted to use, right?
I had I had figured out likewhat I wanted our sales
presentation to look like.
It it took me a long time toeven land on the name and things
(07:10):
because like I I didn't want itto be called starry roofing, you
know.
Um and the reason like why Ilanded on the name that I did is
because like it's mentioned sooften in the Bible, right?
The word steadfast.
Um, and then whenever youassociate that with a roof, I
mean you want your roof to be anunfailing source of your home or
(07:34):
uh an unfailing component ofyour home.
Because once that thing goes,everything else just kind of
starts to crumble too, you know?
But uh I did uh did work my lastname into it a little bit.
There's a little star in the Rright there.
So but uh that's that's that'swhere we are, man.
(07:54):
But um regardless, um I I didtake a lot of time to kind of
plan.
And uh whenever I got off theground and running and things,
like I I have been working withanother roofing contractor.
Um, I was very transparent uhfrom the very get-go, like what
my intentions were.
(08:16):
And uh I had been doing my ownrepairs and things just locally
and whatnot, building up a bitof a a review pipeline and like
some something to kind of clingon to.
And then before you know it, uhhurricane hit and we started
taking off.
(08:36):
And uh I had my own license atthat point.
So I was like, all right, well,if there's any time to do this,
the time is now, you know.
So off we went.
SPEAKER_01 (08:47):
A good storm will uh will kick off a company quickly,
right?
It definitely will.
Um it'll also crumble a companyquickly if you don't have if you
have your stuff together.
SPEAKER_02 (08:59):
We definitely ran into some growing pains for
sure.
Uh we we were not prepared forthe most recent round of
hurricanes that we got down herein the Tampa Bay area, but um
yeah, we definitely managed asbest we could.
Our reputation came outunscathed, which, you know, I
mean, end of the day, that alljust boils down to setting
(09:23):
realistic expectations withpeople.
And you know, when people trustyou, I mean, some of them are
okay with waiting three monthsto get their roof replaced uh
just because of the backlog wehad at one point.
And you know, cranking out nineto twelve roofs a day, it was
insane.
Um and I I'm I'm glad that theindustry as a whole has kind of
(09:47):
slowed down because it's gottento a point for us now where
things are a lot more manageablethan having to deal with nine to
twelve roof replacements a day.
Like there's a lot to kind ofkeep track of and um a lot of
running to do, especially ifit's all spread out, you know?
Yeah, for sure.
It it gets crazy.
SPEAKER_01 (10:07):
What uh so why Tampa?
Were you just had you had movedthere already?
Because you you started off inin Pennsylvania.
Why Tampa?
SPEAKER_02 (10:20):
So the funny thing about Tampa, I had never been
here before I decided to movehere, but ultimately I knew that
I wanted to end up somewherethat I wasn't dealing with the
gray skies that I was dealingwith in Pennsylvania, right?
Um and I mean not to get likeall weird about anything, but
(10:44):
um, you know, seasonaldepression like hits a lot of
people.
And um it it impacted me for abit too.
And I wanted to get away fromthat stuff, man.
Like I like being outdoors.
And whenever whenever theweather outside doesn't allow
that to happen, it it kind oftakes the wind out of my sails a
(11:06):
bit.
So I I knew that I wanted to besomewhere where the weather was
good, you know.
I I love going outside andseeing palm trees, like for
whatever reason, I just had thishuge attraction to palm trees
and stuff.
And I I knew that I wanted tolike be out this way.
Um, so just took a chance, umlanded a job with a managed
(11:31):
print service company to get medown here.
And uh the the owner of thatcompany and I just um we kind of
had different visions andwhatnot.
And I knew that that wasn'treally the role that I so again
got right back into roofing anduh just kept running with it
(11:52):
from there.
But uh no no real plan or anykind of indicator like why I
wanted to move to the Tampaarea.
Um football team's prettyawesome though.
But I'm I'm still an Eagles guy.
SPEAKER_01 (12:07):
Did they wait?
We just passed uh week one.
Did they pull that one off?
They pulled the they pulled offthat Baltimore win, didn't they?
Was it Baltimore?
Who'd they pull off?
SPEAKER_02 (12:20):
No, no, they uh they didn't play Baltimore, but uh
they they did pull off a win.
SPEAKER_01 (12:27):
Oh, that was the Bills in Baltimore.
That was the Bills in Baltimorethat got exciting at the end.
Yeah, one point game at the end.
That's right.
I uh my Vikings got a win thatin week one here.
So that's what that was that wasexciting.
Even if it was against theBears, it was it was a good uh
good indication of uh of gettingour hopes up for the year and
(12:48):
then letting us down later,which is usually what they do.
So unless they play the Eaglesand you know toss a nice one
into the end zone and we have toruin your season.
We have a fun little culturehere.
Before we carry on with theepisode, let's give a shout out
to one of our sponsors.
Roofers, let's get real.
(13:09):
You're great at building roofs,but are you great at building a
steady stream of leads?
That's where job numbersmarketing comes in.
They know the roofing industryinside and out, and they'll help
you dominate Google, Facebook,reputation management, and
everything in between.
If you want more quality leads,more book jobs, and more growth,
(13:30):
visit the link in thedescription or the sponsors page
on the Roofing Success Podcastwebsite.
Unless they play the Eagles andyou know, toss a nice one into
the end zone and we have to ruinruin your season.
SPEAKER_02 (13:45):
We have a fun little culture here um with the sales
team and things.
Um, we have a fantasy footballum draft going on and things,
and uh like we are talking somuch smack with one another, and
like for some reason, there'stwo people on my fantasy team
that that uh that are areCowboys fans, and it's just
(14:08):
like, man, what is wrong withyou guys?
I'm probably losing half youraudience right now.
SPEAKER_01 (14:14):
But uh that's all right.
Well, uh, so got down to Tampa,got into the roofing industry,
had home services before, workedin the roofing industry in
Tampa, wanted to be differentfrom others.
One of the things that you'vedifferentiated yourself with are
reviews.
(14:36):
Three years, 900 reviews.
I mean, if if your competitorslook at that, they'll probably
think you're buying reviews.
How do you you know what I mean?
Like, how do you how do you get900 reviews in three years?
You know what I mean?
Like that's a that's a hugejump, man.
SPEAKER_02 (14:53):
That's so number one, the first probably 50 to
100 of those were literally fromrepairs that I had been doing
before I even really went fullin on this thing, right?
So that helped me build up abase.
But yeah, number two, I mean,review capture from work that
you do is so important, and somany people let off the gas with
(15:18):
that one.
Um, but we have automations thatare built into our CRM that like
just hammers the heck out ofpeople.
And I'm gonna give a littleshout out to my my boys over at
ProLine because um, you know, II've been with them for several
years now.
Um they they truly take thefeedback that I provide.
(15:42):
I and you know, I mean,processes have changed and
things, and um, they have gottena lot bigger than what they were
whenever I had first startedwith them, right?
Yeah, um so the way to suggestimplementations and ideas and
things has changed a bit overthe years, but um they have
really taken something to thenext level from anything else
(16:06):
that I had used previously, andI I had been with a number of
different CRMs.
I'm not gonna bash any of thembecause end of the day, you
know, as the old saying is, youknow, you know, the the CRM that
you should use is the one thatworks for you, right?
But uh ProLine has just beenfantastic.
(16:27):
I can customize like all themessaging that goes out.
And like one of the takeawaysthat I took from like the Tommy
Mello conference that I justattended and things was like I
got a reminder um from anotherautomation company by the name
of Chirp that um it wassomething that I had written
(16:48):
down on my to-do that I justhadn't gotten around to yet, but
it it had to do with an ownerreach out.
So a few days after the actualappointment with the original
estimator, um, getting a messageto go out from me as the owner
directly to that customer andthings, right?
And it it sounds like such asmall little thing, but if it
(17:10):
makes even an ounce ofdifference where we get an
additional, you know, roofreplacement a month, like us, it
it took me 10 minutes toimplement that, you know?
But um so again, with the reviewgeneration and things, we're
trying to capture anything andeverything, even repairs and
things, you know.
We're not going out there tryingto make a million bucks on a
(17:32):
repair job just to get somebodythrough to the next storm.
But we are trying to leave asgood of an impression as we
possibly can with them.
That way, whenever it is timefor them to replace their roof,
we're gonna be the first andonly company that they actually
call, right?
Yeah, capturing those reviews onsite.
Um and then if they're notgetting captured on site,
(17:54):
hammering them with automationsby text and email to ensure that
we're capturing those reviews.
But then on top of that, um, weeven have photos um from another
software that we use to actuallymap to those reviews.
So, number one, it it screamslegitimacy with Google because
(18:17):
it is an actual true customerreview.
And on top of that, I mean if wetruly captured reviews from 100%
of the people that we that weactually served, we'd be way
beyond 900 right now, man.
Um that is still such a smalltidbit of what we could actually
be getting.
(18:37):
So we're still trying to honethat in to the point where we're
capturing more of those reviews.
So haters.
SPEAKER_01 (18:44):
I want to go back to this because this is something
that is going to be so impactfulfor contractors going forward.
It has been, if you don't know,your reviews matter.
If you're listening, yourreviews matter.
It's one of the most importantthings that you could do on a
day-to-day basis is get is getreviews for your company.
Right.
Moving into the age of AI,moving into AI search, trust is
(19:10):
going to be a much largerfactor.
And the only way that AI can,one of the ways that AI can read
trust is to read your reviewsacross the internet.
We've done experiments now inthe RSRA with with some of our
marketing uh sessions wherewe've done, you know, kind of
run some some searches and itand and then ask the AI, well,
(19:33):
why did you choose this companyversus this company?
Oh, well, they had greatreviews, is almost always.
It's time and business and greatreviews.
So those are the two things thatwe're seeing it say back to us
multiple times.
But it's not just saying Google,it's also saying for which which
I don't like because we've allfocused so hard on Google for
(19:56):
the because that's where weshould have should be focused,
right?
But uh I I I've had it kickback.
Well, I saw the reviews on Yelp,I saw the reviews on on other
places, and so so now uh youknow getting your reviews spread
out is going to have some impactalso, just something early that
we're seeing, but I want to gointo reviews.
(20:17):
It sounded like repairs lead toreviews for you.
Is that is that so like sohaving a doing repairs, which a
lot of contractors don't, right?
They have they they just do asubcontractor replacement model.
How you know being involved inthat from the beginning, having
(20:39):
that repair, doing that repair,getting the review.
You said your first 50 or 100 orso like reviews came from just
repair work, right?
Like just getting out theredoing repair work.
I think that's awesome.
Like that that's a fantasticidea for people, especially if
you're in the very early stages,and you and if you we I talked
(21:00):
about this on another podcastrecently.
Uh some we we determined thatthe golden number is a hundred
now.
Like if you don't have a hundredreviews, it's like you don't
exist, right?
Before, if it you know, it it'schanged a lot over the years,
but then there's guys like youthat are running up to you know,
you're pushing a thousand soon,you know what I mean?
So when you know, for foreveryone else in the inner man,
(21:22):
we gotta be getting thesereviews as much as possible.
So in the repair process, youknow, or let me let's walk walk
me through that on-site ask.
Because I I think that's missedso many times.
The on-site ask, who'sresponsible to ask for the
review?
What are they saying?
(21:43):
Do they have you know a QR codeor a you know, like what how are
you setting up your team to getthat review on site?
Before we carry on with theepisode, let's give a shout out
to one of our sponsors.
I talk to contractors every daythat feels stuck.
Not because they're not workinghard, but because they're
(22:03):
missing the structure to growwithout chaos.
Or their culture's falling apartbecause their team's unclear,
unaligned, or just burned out.
And when change hits, they'rereacting instead of leading
because time and prioritiesaren't under their control.
Day 41 Thrive helps to fix thatwith proven strategies for
(22:26):
growth, culture, and leadershipthat actually work.
Ready to thrive beyond thestorm?
Visit the link in thedescription or visit the Roofing
Success Podcast website on thesponsors page to start your
journey today.
Because I I think that's missedso many times.
(22:47):
The on-site ask, who'sresponsible to ask for the
review?
What are they saying?
Do they have you know a QR codeor a you know, like what how are
you setting up your team to getthat review on site?
SPEAKER_02 (23:03):
No, so uh that part's pretty simple.
Um number one, if we have theability to knock it out right
then and there, you know, whowouldn't want that?
Number two, if you're coming inat a at a very competitive price
and things, right?
Like if if one of my guysalready has the material in the
(23:24):
back of their truck, um, andthey can hop up there and just
take care of it for somebody,why wouldn't we just knock that
out?
You know?
Um so in in those circumstancesand things, like you're hitting
them with you know, we're notgouging the price um of the
(23:45):
repair.
Number two, we're incentivizingthem by allowing us to actually
get it done and getting rid ofthe issue right then and there
without them having to kick thecan down the road, right?
Um, the longer they have tothink about it, you know,
there's not much to think aboutwhen it comes to like a$500
repair, you know?
Um, whenever it means that that$500 repair is going to
(24:10):
alleviate the need for them toactually pay more to get their
interior repaired after thefact, right?
So um getting it done on site ifpossible, or even later that
day, we do have an in-houserepair guy, and in the event
that like it's it is outside ofthe scope of what these guys
would be able to do.
(24:31):
But um just giving them animmediate um fix, number one,
and number two, like, hey,listen, um I'm not charging you
a whole heck of a lot for this.
Um, our reputation online is isreally, really important to us.
It's how we get found.
Um since we're taking care ofthis for you, would you be so
(24:54):
kind as to leave us a review ona platform of your choice,
right?
Um, but I am super happy thatyou had actually brought up like
AI search and things becauselike one of the things that I
did learn um with this new ageof AI and things is like a lot
of those results are coming fromplaces like Yelp and BBB.
(25:16):
Those are two of the big onesthat are actually driving you
know your results on AI searchesand things.
Um, I did learn about anotherone that I'm gonna kind of keep
to myself until I get to test itout, but uh don't want to give
out too much of the secretsauce.
But uh regardless, um uh likegiving them a reason to actually
(25:39):
feel compelled to leave a reviewby us resolving an issue.
Um why why wouldn't they dothat?
Especially when they don't haveto go shop around after after
the fact or they don't have toworry about it after the fact
that you know they called us, wewere out, and we're able to fix
that in a super tight timeline.
SPEAKER_01 (26:01):
Yeah.
So now what that makes me thinkof, right, is now, you know, if
I'm another contractor, I'mthinking, well, man, now I gotta
I gotta make sure my sales guysknow how to, my inspectors, they
have to know how to do thisstuff, right?
And a lot of a lot of peoplehaven't built their their
business model that way.
(26:21):
It's salespeople sell, theydon't know how to do the work,
right?
They understand the componentsand what's wrong and how to
diagnose, um, but they don'tmaybe they don't know.
So, what is your process thenfor getting your team up to
speed to be able to execute thatsmall, even if it's just a small
repair, right?
And make sure that it's donewell.
(26:42):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (26:43):
Not not everybody on my sales team has the ability to
do that.
Got it.
Um there are a handful of peoplethough that you know have worked
on the labor side of thisindustry.
I even have a guy from Texasthat had actually owned his own
roofing company that um does hisown repairs oftentimes, right?
Yeah, um, and end of the day, Imean, I I really just set the
(27:05):
precedence with my team that,like, hey, um I'm not trying to
make a boatload of money on onrepairs.
Like that, that's not what thesethings are about.
But if you end up knocking itout, just make sure that you're
getting a review, you know.
Um end of the day though, um foranybody on my sales team that
(27:28):
does run into repair situationand things, they have like I
have a field operations managerthat schedules all the in-house
repairs with our in-house repairguy, right?
They have options to get thatquickly resolved and taken care
of for any customer they're infront of, even if they don't
have the ability to take care ofthat and handle that on their
(27:51):
own.
SPEAKER_01 (27:52):
So yeah, that's awesome.
And then so now we have theon-site.
I would assume if it's areplacement too, you're you're
working the same, you know,you're you're making sure that
someone on site is asking forthe review.
Project manager, super job sitesupervisor, what do you what's
that process for?
SPEAKER_02 (28:12):
What do you do there?
I mean, they're introduced toeverybody that is a part of
their project.
Um, from the moment that theyget their estimate to the moment
that materials are gettingordered.
Um, they're getting introducedto you know, my office staff
that's actually handlingmaterial ordering, polling
permits, things like that.
They know who they're workingwith.
(28:33):
They and the the bigger part ofthat is they also know who to
reach out to in the event thatsomething happens, right?
Or like maybe they need toreschedule their installation
date, um, things like that.
But they're gonna get introducedto the office staff, their
estimator, they're also gonnaget introduced to the the site
(28:54):
supervisor that's gonna be apart of their build that day.
Um, so they have multi- amultitude of contacts that if
they have questions aboutanything, it should always be
their sales, like theirestimator, first and foremost.
But in the event that it hassomething to do with scheduling,
they know who to reach out to.
(29:14):
If it has something to do withsomething going on, day of the
job, they know who to reach outto, right?
Um, but then on top of that,after the job is completed, um,
they're gonna do the originalestimator is gonna go do a final
walkthrough, make sure thateverything is the way that the
customer wants it to be.
They're 100% satisfied withanything.
(29:36):
If there's any punch out itemsthat need to be done, they're
knocked out.
And then once they're 100%happy, then we're hitting them
with holding our hand out forthe check and asking for that
review and also asking hey, doyou know anybody else that we
may be able to assist that maybe in the same sort of situation
(29:56):
that you were in, right?
Um So ultimately not only are wegetting a review, but hopefully
we're getting a referral out ofthe whole deal too.
SPEAKER_01 (30:07):
Yeah, for sure.
So you refer uh your sales repsare inspectors in your like is
that how you refer to them or Iguess in your or I refer to them
as project specialists.
SPEAKER_02 (30:17):
Project specialists, okay.
SPEAKER_01 (30:18):
I try to project sales out.
Yeah.
So your project specialists, umthey they're they're they're
they're managing thatcommunication with with the
customer.
Um how have you likeincentivized them or or have
held them accountable to askingfor those the the the referrals
(30:43):
and the reviews?
Because I feel like a lot ofcontractors struggle with that.
Like, man, my my team justdoesn't ask, and I can't get
them to ask.
This is it's such a struggle forme.
What have you done from amanagement perspective to
incentivize or or or you knowput it carrot or stick, right?
Like what have you what carrotsand sticks have worked in your
(31:05):
business?
SPEAKER_02 (31:06):
So all right.
Number one, when the when thejob is going on, right?
We schedule them to actually bepresent at their build for at
least an hour to you know getsome additional FaceTime with
the homeowner.
Hopefully they're actually thereduring the build, and they snap
a selfie with that homeowner aswell.
(31:26):
We use that for our socialplatforms, and then after we get
that review, guess what?
We can blast that out to allthose different channels and
things, right?
Um, if they're actually outthere and following the process,
the reviews just don't come.
Um, it it's kind of built intotheir DNA at this point, you
know.
So setting that properexpectation and letting them
(31:49):
know, you know, hey, this iswhat I want to see happen uh
when this is going on.
They do it enough times itbecomes a habit, you know?
SPEAKER_01 (32:00):
So yeah, nice.
How do you ensure the customerexperience stays consistent as
you scaled, right?
Especially when you you knowhave a big storm come through
and everything, you know, you'reoh man, you know what I mean?
Like what we did.
What things have what thingshave worked and what things, you
know, what lessons did youlearn, right?
(32:22):
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What things have worked and whatthings, you know, what lessons
did you learn, right?
Yeah, so um.
SPEAKER_02 (33:04):
So we we really leave it up to our crews, and as
we encounter issues and things,our crews know how to who uh who
to reach out to and things,right?
So as far as quality of theinstalls and things like that
go, um, that was never reallythat was never really a factor
throughout you know our seasonof busyness and whatnot.
(33:27):
Um but as we did get busier andum more and more things kind of
started falling into place.
And I I think one of the biggestreasons why we found success
whenever it was so busy isbecause we weren't coming off as
that pushy contractor that waslike asking, you know, like
(33:49):
forcing them to sign then andthere.
And I think a lot of peopleappreciated that about us.
Um, and and I'm not saying thatthere's things that we couldn't
have improved during that time,but I'd much rather have
somebody work with us becausethey choose to versus feeling
like they were forced to, right?
Um but we were we werecompletely understaffed at the
(34:15):
beginning of this whole thing.
Um, we didn't have enough peopleavailable to take calls.
Um we were at our peak, we weregetting 400 calls in a day.
Um, and a lot of those wererepair issues.
And a lot of those, so I mean,literally, we dedicated full
days just knocking out ourmultitude of repairs and things
(34:36):
from people that got impactedfrom the hurricane and whatnot.
Um, but in regard toreplacements and whatnot, um as
I said, at our peak, I mean, wewere doing nine to twelve roofs
a day, every day, Monday throughFriday, and wrapping up
anything, any kind of loose endsthat we didn't finish up on
(34:56):
Saturdays and Sundays andthings.
So, I mean, it was it was crazy.
But one of the biggest gaps thatI had discovered throughout all
that is, you know, when peoplewere waiting an extended period
of time.
Like I try to keep ourproduction calendar within like
a month.
I want people getting theirroofs replaced within a month of
(35:17):
signing.
Um but during that time, we hadsuch a multitude and a backlog
of work in our pipeline thatthere were people waiting for
three months until they gottheir roof replaced.
And the biggest gap that I hadnoticed is like, hey, they're
not really being communicatedwith a whole heck of a lot.
(35:40):
So again, throwing it back toProLine, I had built some
automations and things to keepthem informed um every week of
the status of their project.
And it might not have beenanything profound or anything
like crazy to update them on,but you know, just having that
(36:01):
touch point and letting themknow that, hey, um, here's where
you're at.
We have pulled your permit sofar.
Um, we have your materialsreserved or whatever we need to
say, right?
Um just having that touch pointevery week just lets them know
they're like, hey, you're on ourradar, we're gonna knock this
(36:22):
thing out and it's gonna beamazing.
Um but we didn't have thatinitially.
And I I I wanted to I wanted toavoid as much fallout from all
this as I could.
Like, I don't want to losecustomers that we've already
won.
And we actually came out ofthat, I think end of the day, we
only ended up losing about threejobs out of the whole deal.
(36:45):
And um, I mean, I I will takethat over you know what it could
have otherwise been had we nothad those communications going
out and keeping people informedand things.
So yeah, big thing like I Iwould just say in regard to
that, my biggest learning lessonis just keep in contact with
(37:06):
people always regularly andoften.
SPEAKER_01 (37:09):
And and automated uh automated messages work also.
Yeah.
Now the automated message couldbe a just an automated message
that is very candid standard,maybe personalized to that
person with a few different youknow variables or something, but
it all it also could be a taskto your team to make a phone
(37:32):
call.
It could be, you know, a textmessage going out, whatever it
is.
I I always say, John, youprobably I don't know if you've
heard this from me, but if yourcustomers are wondering, you're
losing.
Absolutely.
Like the second that they'rewondering, man, like the second
that they are wondering, anytime that you can take that what
(37:53):
it so from a customer'sperspective, you know, you could
go through that, you know, whileyou were sitting there, you were
doing this it, you know, kind ofwithout probably the the
specific intention.
Your your intention was tocommunicate with customers, but
as you went along, when youcreated that message that went
out saying this is what'shappening, like that's what you
(38:14):
were doing is you're re you'rerelieving them of wonder.
And and if you can do that anddo that through automation, it
it it's outrageously impactful.
Outrageously.
100%.
It's crazy, man.
Um, and and so many don't do it.
Uh the tools are out there,right?
The tools are out there.
(38:34):
Uh there's plenty of automatedtools out there that can that
can uh that can that can helpyou with this.
Takes some time to build it.
Yeah, right?
Like it takes some time and somethought to build it, but once
you once you get it structuredand built out the way you want,
how how often are you reviewingyour your customer journey, uh,
(39:00):
the automations in your customerjourney?
Are you reviewing that on aweekly basis, on a quarterly
basis, on a yearly basis?
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Oh man, on a weekly basis, on aquarterly basis, on a yearly
(40:05):
basis.
SPEAKER_02 (40:07):
Dude, I'm probably looking at that way more than I
should.
I'm if if somebody looked infrom the outside of this whole
thing, they'd probably think Iwas nuts.
But um I I literally just addedsome additional automation steps
just yesterday, and I justtweaked them again this morning.
So um I'm constantly looking atways that we can improve that
(40:31):
and things.
Uh but but again, I mean thetools that you have to use it,
they need to be easy to use,right?
Yes.
And but I I started using to-dolists and things on my phone
because sometimes I'm like outdriving and like I think of
something, and like if I don'tmake if if I don't take action
(40:54):
on that immediately, like itgoes straight out that window,
and I will never remember itagain until like months and
months down the road.
I'm like, damn.
So I started using to-do listsand things, and like it started
to get pretty long and things,but um, I started moving them
towards a priority list andthings, right?
Like, all right, this is gonnamake a really, really big
impact.
I want to do this, I want toknock this out.
(41:16):
This one can kind of like go onthe back burner for a little
bit, but um and then there'ssome that after I get back to it
and I think about it again, eh,I don't really think that's
gonna be a great idea.
Maybe I should just uh you knowshelf that one for a little bit,
you know?
SPEAKER_01 (41:31):
Yeah, but uh great to-do list, voice notes, like
anything that to get those ideasout of your head and and and and
and in a in a place where youcan maybe review them later
because they will get lost forsure.
SPEAKER_02 (41:47):
Um things get like traditionally they get a little
bit slow down here in Florida umafter school lets out, and then
after school goes back in,you'll typically start to see an
uptick in business and things,right?
So our slow season this year,like I completely revamped our
sales proposals.
(42:08):
Um, I gave everything a uniformlook.
Um, and and really, I mean, I'mlooking at what they were and
what they are now, and I'm justlike, wow, I cannot believe that
I made that.
And like I don't pay anybody todo that stuff either.
Like, we have so many tools atour disposal now as contract in
(42:29):
any industry, as like anyentrepreneur has the ability to
kind of access the same toolsthat I have access to, right?
Yep, and like I've designedeverything in Canada, like I'm
not a graphic design artist oranything like that, but my gosh,
man, you look at like what I puttogether and it is just like
(42:49):
holy cow, how did I do that, youknow?
But um and like that's somethingthat I've really found enjoyment
in as I've kind of like been inthis a few years on my own,
right?
Um I I shifted from like likingto meet people to actually just
(43:09):
like really being like on top oflike trying to have good organic
marketing, trying to come upwith like creative content for
videos, um trying to justdeliver the most polished
experiences possible to peopleand like like getting the same
uniform look from it, like oneof the latest automations that
(43:33):
we did was just sending outintro videos in front of the
vehicle that my estimatorsdrive, um, and just giving them
a quick video introduction,giving them a face of the name,
showing them what vehiclethey're gonna be pulling up to
their house in, right?
And it sounds so stupid andminuscule, but it has really
(43:55):
made a huge difference.
And we have gotten so muchpositive feedback from our
homeowners that you know theyget multiple quotes from other
contractors all the time.
And the reason why they continueto choose us over and over is
because the experience that theygot from the very beginning of
(44:16):
the appointment getting set andthe communication that that was
involved and all that up untilthey decided to sign with us has
just been like night and daycompared to anybody else that
I'm competing with around here.
And it's it's made it easy forus, you know.
So I'm gonna continue to honethat and make that even better
as time goes on.
(44:37):
And like that is like whatcurrently excites me in this
position, you know?
Um, just so tacking on thatpolish.
SPEAKER_01 (44:44):
So for people listen, listening though,
they're like, John, you were anIT guy.
Like you know how to use thecomputer and stuff, right?
Like you're that that's morefamiliar to you.
What what about what about thecontractor that came from the
install side or the businessowner that came from, hey man,
(45:05):
I'm a I'm a salesman.
Like I don't, I don't, I I couldenter my I could enter a contact
into the CRM and then let it gofrom there.
We know how salespeople are,right?
Like they're not, you know, sowhat what advice would you give
to that person in in, hey man,where do I start?
How do I start structuring this?
How do I start building thisout?
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SPEAKER_01 (45:57):
What what advice would you give to that person
in, hey man, where do I start?
How do I start structuring this?
How do I start building thisout?
SPEAKER_02 (46:06):
Yeah.
Nobody taught me how to do thatstuff, you know?
And end of the day, whenever itcomes to how you are portrayed
to people, um, nobody is gonnagive a damn more than what
you're gonna give a damn as anowner, right?
So the level of detail that youwould put into that versus
(46:29):
paying somebody to designsomething like that for you that
doesn't really have any trueinsights into your company, they
are not gonna be able to do itto the level that you would be
able to do it.
Um, if you just invest the timeto actually put into really
creating the experience that youwant to create, you can do
(46:50):
anything.
I mean, the fact that these guyshave started their own companies
and things, and like yeah,they're they're building a
business and things, like thatis way harder than anything that
I could ever do online or inCanva or any of that stuff.
And I I don't know everything,I'm a pretty dumb dude, you
know?
But um I'm I'm just structuredand driven to the point that
(47:15):
like I I want to do better thanothers, and um I I'm gonna keep
doing better and I'm gonna keepmaking things better, and I'm
not gonna give up thatrelentless pursuit of that until
like I decide that I've hadenough of all this, you know?
SPEAKER_01 (47:33):
Yeah, yeah.
And that's the that's thereality of it.
We we kind of we you you getgood at what what you what you
want, and and and so thesetools, I'm gonna summarize a
little bit, like the tools thatyou're using to automate this
the the the customer experience,your goal is to have an
exceptional customer experienceand your the fulfillment in
(47:57):
having a great customerexperience is what drives you to
learn the tools, right?
Like I'll learn the tool to man,I'm gonna take care of this
customer.
Like I want to take care of mycustomers, right?
And and if from an owner'sperspective, it man, if you have
that drive and that that likethat's your goal is to take care
of the customers, either you'regonna learn it or someone on
your team's gonna learn it,right?
(48:18):
Like let's let's go, but butdon't don't not do it.
It's crazy not to do it.
So um how is how's the adding avideo to the sales process been
for you guys?
You know, I know a lot ofcontractors struggle with that.
You know, they're we don't wantto be on the owner doesn't want
(48:39):
to be on video, the sales repsdon't want to be on video, no
one wants to be on video.
How has adding video to the tothe you know to the your
customer experience, what hasthe impact of that been?
And how have you got engagementfrom your team around that?
My team hates it.
SPEAKER_02 (48:59):
I hate it too.
Um but end of the day, like itis one of those necessary evils
that you know it it needs tohappen.
Um and I have really kind ofdriven my team to make their own
organic content and things, youknow, just getting a testimonial
(49:20):
video with a homeowner, likethat is so impactful.
Um, especially whenever likesomebody's watching that video
and they actually know who thatperson is, right?
Um, but as of right now, likeI'm I'm shifting our strategy a
little bit um with video contentto actually focus on city pages.
(49:41):
I'm actually um uh I'm workingwith Dima over at Roofing SEO
School to uh kind of producesome city specific content that
should drive some traffic to ourdirect city pages that impact
that, right?
And and the whole thoughtprocess behind that is that um,
(50:02):
you know, Google is the numberone most used search tool in the
world, right?
But um YouTube is the secondmost.
And uh if you can tie Google andYouTube, I mean they're all
under the same parent companyregardless, but it just makes
sense that they kind of feedinto each other, right?
So um I have we have notlaunched our city page um
(50:27):
content yet.
It's it's still in development,but um I I I can't really answer
a whole lot on that one, but wedo have you know a number of
views on some of the some of theimpactful stuff that we've done
is just like the local stuff.
So I made a I made a video inregard to um like the area that
(50:48):
I live in here and the SouthShore area of the Tampa Bay,
right?
And um, so that basicallyincludes like Ruskin, Apollo
Beach, Riverview, things likethat.
Um and we we had fun with it,man.
Like we we we brought a friendof mine's kid in.
Um he was driving me around in agolf cart, uh, he ran me over
with the golf cart.
(51:09):
It was fun.
Um and and people laugh.
And um if you're not doingeducational content or you're
not doing content that peoplesearch for, if you can make them
laugh, it it does make them likeyou.
And like that kind of content isso impactful locally in the fact
(51:32):
that um, you know, like it ifpeople are posting that video in
like neighborhood groups andthings like that, right?
They'd be like, oh my gosh, thisguy lives right here.
Why would I not call him, right?
Um, so it it takes a littlewhile to kind of gain some
(51:52):
traction with it, but youcontinue to do it, um, it it
does definitely make adifference.
And uh I think now that we'reactually creating some content
that actually has like keywordsthat people are gonna search for
uh and actually tying videocontent directly to those search
(52:13):
terms, I think things are reallygonna take off.
SPEAKER_01 (52:16):
So yeah, there's a strategy there for sure.
Um what is you know what when wetalked before, you talked about
building uh creating a familyatmosphere at work.
How how do you do that inpractice?
SPEAKER_02 (52:31):
So this is probably a little um out of the name out
of the norm, I guess, but umlike we all we all have fun with
one another, you know.
I mean, we we we hang out withone another.
Like I uh I invest in them, likeI try to invite them to event
events and things like that.
(52:52):
Like just uh just last month inAugust, I took uh five of my
sales guys up to well, four ofmy sales guys and one of my site
supervisors up to Atlanta,Georgia for top rep event with
Chuck Toki.
Nice.
Um and and you know, end of theday, like we all learned
something new, right?
(53:12):
Um, but then on top of that,like the time that we all got to
spend together, like after thetraining event, like it just
brought us all closer together.
Like we we talk crap to eachother, uh especially in our
fantasy football league.
Um but I mean we we pick on eachother like we're family, you
(53:33):
know?
And um it's fun and and andtruly like like I can take the
hits just as just as easily as Ican give them out, right?
And uh that's that's one thingthat I think really makes our
culture unique in that you knowwe all end of the day, like we
(53:54):
all love each other, we all workwith one another, like we have
to deal with one another, andlike end of the day, like we're
all in each other's corner, andum we all know that, and uh
that's that's what really kindof sets us apart like internally
as well as you know out in frontof people.
SPEAKER_01 (54:14):
How do you how do you how do you keep growing that
culture as you're adding teammembers?
SPEAKER_02 (54:24):
So I've been pretty fortunate as far as like adding
team members because it seemslike they just kind of land on
my lap the moment uh I actuallyneed somebody.
So as these opportunities kindof pop up and things like as
long as they're a good fit forour team, our culture, and like
(54:44):
they don't come in here withlike these predetermined like
sort of ideas about like howthings should be done.
Um end of the day, you know, ifthey're coachable, we can work
with them.
And uh we have a lot of really,really good people.
Like not everybody takeseverything like not everybody
(55:10):
picks things up right away,right?
But you don't give up on thatperson unless they end up being
like a completely like wrong fitfor people.
Unfortunately, I haven't uh Ihaven't had that situation come
up too often.
Um I have had a few people thathaven't really fit you know what
we're looking for here.
(55:30):
Um but I've not had to let go ofanybody due to them being in the
wrong I I never brought somebodyin that was put in the wrong
seat.
I um I I've I've brought peoplein that maybe were just opposed
to kind of doing things the waythat we're supposed to do things
here.
(55:51):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (55:55):
It's a it it's hard, especially when you're growing.
It's uh so you've had a lot ofmaybe you've had some uh so uh
do you recruit externally?
Do you is the team recruiting inlike kind of their friends and
family?
Is it like how is that yeah?
SPEAKER_02 (56:12):
So um honestly, I mean, one of the one of the
biggest proponents of like howwe bring people in for to fill
certain roles is you know, a lotof the people that work with me
have been in the industry for ana length of time, and um they
may potentially know somebodythat may be looking for another
(56:34):
opportunity.
Um, I mean, sure.
Two of the people that I haveworking for me as project
specialists or estimators, theycame from another roofing
company.
Um my site operations manager,he uh he came from another
roofing company and things.
Um he knew a handful of peoplethat uh we have brought in.
(56:59):
And uh, you know, sticking withpeople, like I've I've never
been one to shy away fromfeedback.
Like if it has something to dowith the process or anything
like that that we couldpotentially improve, like I'm
all ears because I want to hearit.
Not every idea is gonna be agood idea, not even all the ones
(57:20):
that I come up with are gonna begreat ideas.
Like I scrap so many of thethings that I think about,
right?
Yeah, but I would be a fool tonot at least listen to you know
what the problem is and whattheir solution is for that
problem.
Um, and then same goes withhiring people, you know, to
bring in, right?
Like, hey, I know somebody thatwould be great for you know
(57:43):
welcoming customers, or youknow, maybe somebody that would
be great for polling permits, oryou name it.
Um the the gentleman that I havehere working um as our permit
coordinator, he's actually thecousin to one of our crews, um,
like the the lead foreman forour crews.
(58:05):
Um, and they said, you know,hey, we love working for you.
I he's driving to clear waterevery day.
He'd like to kind of be a littlebit more local.
Um if you have a need, and wedidn't initially have a need for
it, but we had the conversation,and then ultimately we did find
the need for it because we keptgetting busier and busier, and
(58:26):
we ended up bringing them onboard.
So recruiting's been prettyeasy, and I hope it stays that
way.
Um I I think my situation's alittle bit different than uh
what some people kind of gothrough, though.
SPEAKER_01 (58:40):
It it can be, but it but at the same time, it you
know, if you're building that aspart of the culture, it becomes
part of the culture.
So how do you think the roofingindustry is changing?
And where do you want steadfastpositioned?
SPEAKER_02 (58:58):
So um obviously it's gotten a lot slower here.
Um I I think last time I heardit was like down 38% from where
it was last year.
I don't know if there's anytruth to that or not, but I
mean, I I know that we've kindof like tapered off a bit to the
point where the jobs that we'reproducing every day are it's a
(59:23):
lot more stable and a lot easierto plan for, right?
Um so I think that's a good andwelcome change.
Um, but I do think that this isreally gonna test a lot of
companies.
Um the slowdowns have impacted alot of companies in this area.
I mean, I I know a big one uh upin Tampa that um, you know, ICE
(59:46):
has actually picked up um Ithink like 120 of their crew
members, which is insane.
Crazy.
Um but uh I I mean I I I docontinue to think that like
labor is going to be.
Be an issue.
Um I think there's a lot ofuncertainty right now.
So I I think that kind of leadsto some of the slowness.
(01:00:07):
But down here in my areaspecifically, I mean, we just
got hit three back-to-backhurricanes over the past three
years and things, right?
Um, there's a lot of new roofsin this area.
There's still a lot of peoplethat have tarps on their roofs
and things though, too.
Um, is it gonna completely godead?
No.
But uh the people that pay cashand things, like I I think it's
(01:00:34):
gonna be harder for them to kindof just jump to a decision.
So, like, we're we're kind ofshifting our strategy a bit to
kind of like you know push themto not have to kind of wait for
additional estimates and things,like trying to figure out like
get to the real objection.
And um that's Chuck Toki, youwent to top rep.
(01:00:56):
100%, man.
Like that guy is that guy is thegoat, like him and Robbie Webb
are like the two guys that uhpeople should 100% listen to
here in uh in our industry.
SPEAKER_01 (01:01:06):
Chuck.
Um Chuck's the man.
But yeah, you were just you werespeaking Chuck's love language
there.
Get rid of that.
SPEAKER_02 (01:01:12):
I I think but I mean, and another thing though,
too, like I mean, we we made achange where like we're not
walking out of that appointmentwithout having a follow-up set
with that, right?
Um, and that that soundssomething so simple, but it's
also so effective, right?
Um but um I I I think things aregonna kind of like continue to
(01:01:36):
kind of stay where they're at,they're gonna stay pretty flat
here, um, unless some sort ofsignificant storm event comes.
And like I don't think we'regonna see one of those this
year, though.
But it's really gonna be a testto a lot of companies that do
rely on storms and things, andthey're really gonna either need
to shift to more of a retailmodel or at least a hybrid
(01:01:57):
retail model.
Um and you know, insurance isgetting harder and harder.
Like, whenever I first got intoroofing down here in Florida, I
mean that was that was the wayto go.
Like everybody wanted to get theroof replaced through insurance.
Uh, I have come to actually hatethe insurance side of the
industry, and like I try to benearly 100% retail.
(01:02:21):
Um, now, yeah, we still run intocustomers that you know have
filed claims on their own andthings, but I personally don't
want to have any part of thatstuff, you know.
Um but um I future changes thatI kind of see and like how we
kind of stay on top of things isyou know, we are gonna need to
(01:02:41):
be more mindful of how we showup on top of AI searches and
things.
Um the Google's not going toalways be the end-all be-all for
everything, and we need tocapture things from every area
that we can.
And uh we need to get kind ofcreative in regard to how we get
(01:03:04):
there and what we do to stay topof mind with people.
And I'm I'm still trying tofigure that one out, but uh I'm
doing some things right now touh help us with you know video
search results and things.
I'm doing things right now tohelp us show up in retirement
communities.
(01:03:25):
Um, I'm doing some things rightnow to help us show up on AI
searches and things.
Um I'm really I have a I have ateam of VAs that helps me with
um you know all the toiletcontent, like Facebook and
things like that.
So um regardless, uh I just wantto be out and present in front
of as many people as I can.
(01:03:46):
That way they know, you know,that we're out there and
hopefully, you know, they'veseen us enough that we're their
first call that they miss.
And uh I'm just gonna continuedoing what I need to do to uh
maintain that.
SPEAKER_01 (01:03:59):
Yep, gotta keep evolving, keep trying the next
thing.
If you are if you're mentoring anew roofing company owner uh
today, what piece of advicewould you give them?
SPEAKER_02 (01:04:11):
Man, uh just work harder than anybody from the
very get-go, you know?
Um you don't need a big teambehind you.
All you need is a solid laborcrew and drive to kind of make
sure that you don't lose, right?
Um and doing things on your ownis like the scariest, but it's
(01:04:33):
also the most rewarding thingyou could you will ever do.
And the only reason you willever fail is because you let the
let your foot off the gas.
And uh, you know, if you putenough effort in and you hustle,
you will win.
Yeah.
That's it.
You don't need to spend a lot ofmoney on marketing from the very
(01:04:54):
get-go.
You just need to be very, verythorough and specific about how
you're gonna differentiateyourself from everybody else out
there.
Competition's not going away.
It's like, I mean, maybe it willwith uh with the slowdown the
industry has experienced, butlike we're always gonna be
(01:05:14):
competing against somebody.
How are you gonna stand outagainst them?
SPEAKER_01 (01:05:19):
Awesome, man.
Thanks for your time today.
This has been another episode ofthe Roofing Success Podcast.
Thank you for tuning in to theRoofing Success Podcast.
For more valuable content, visitRoofing SuccessPodcast.com.
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(01:05:41):
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