Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What happens when a
22-year-old with no local
connections, no office and nosafety net launches a roofing
company from a stranger's couchand ends up dominating high-end
neighborhoods within months?
In this episode, we're breakingdown how Jordan White built
Seek One Roofing into one of themost exciting new names in the
(00:20):
industry.
We dive deep into how customercommunication, culture and
structure fuel scalable growthwithout compromising experience.
Jordan is the 26-year-oldco-founder of Seek One Roofing,
a rapidly growing roofingcompany known for its elite
service in affluent markets likeFranklin and Brentwood,
(00:42):
tennessee.
Jordan's systems-drivenapproach, aggressive leadership
and faith-forward culture haveallowed SeekOne to scale across
multiple markets without losingits edge.
What sets Jordan apart is hisobsession with the in-between
moments the four weeks beforethe build and the four weeks
after, from drop-off gifts todashboards that track every
(01:06):
dollar in delay.
Seekone is engineered forconsistency, loyalty and
world-class execution.
If you want to learn how toscale fast while keeping your
team tight and your customerstalking, this is the blueprint.
Let's dive in with Jordan Whitefrom SeekOne Roofing.
Welcome to the Roofing SuccessPodcast.
(01:26):
I'm Jim Alleyne and I'm here tobring you insights from top
leaders in the roofing industryto help you grow and scale your
roofing business.
Jordan White, seek One Roofing.
How are you, man, doing well?
How are you Doing well?
How are you?
I'm wonderful, you're one ofthe up-and-coming roofers in the
(01:49):
game, right, one of the younggeneration.
How?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
old are you man, for
sure?
Well, thanks for having me onfirst of all, and good morning.
Yeah, I'm 26 years old.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I love it, man.
I've had a few guys on thathave uh, that that are part of
the.
I don't know, man.
It's the new generation ofroofing and I love the.
I love the visions that thatpeople have and the way that
they're.
They're doing thingsdifferently, um, with a focus on
quality and a focus on customerexperience, and um had a
conversation with you and, andand really enjoyed it, so wanted
(02:24):
to have you on, tell us alittle bit about your journey
into roofing and starting SeekOne.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Yeah, of course, man.
What a journey it's been.
Yeah, four years ago I decidedto chase a dream and I moved up
to Nashville from Atlanta,started Seek One Roofing Company
.
Had nothing but just a visionand a will to win, came up here,
ended up dropping off my stuffand in a storage unit, slept on
(02:52):
a guy's couch for the firstmonth, two months, three months,
figuring it out.
Didn't know a road, didn't knowvery, very aggressively within
that first year.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Were you doing
roofing sales down in Atlanta
before this?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
I was.
I was at the right place at theright time to be fortunate
enough to work for a company inAtlanta that scaled to nine
locations within about six yearsand was able to reach about a
hundred million dollars inrevenue.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Nice.
So you saw, you got to see thepotential firsthand.
Is that a good way to put it?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yes, sir, yeah,
that's exactly what went down.
I saw exactly what not to doand what to do, and my partner
and I we both came from thatbusiness and I think we had a
playbook of exactly how toexecute from watching extreme
growth within a short amount oftime.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Yeah, because that is
a short.
Like how fast did they go to100?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
million Within about
six to seven years.
Yeah, yeah, that's moving.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Within about six to
seven years.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Yeah, yeah, that's a
that's a that's moving, so we
were able to take you know, alot of that and integrate that
into our own business.
But I think more than what wetook that was working was what
didn't work.
How do we?
You know, find the gap in thegame that they had, solve that
and then kind of bulletproof ourown operation.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Well let's start with
that that and then kind of
bulletproof our own operation.
Well, let's start with that.
What was the thing that you sawin a company scaling that fast?
That didn't work.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
I think the customer
experience and customer journey
was just dropped and I thinkthat communication is everything
in construction Seekorn RoofingCompany.
We have a couple of differentsayings, but one of ours is
construction's broken and we'rejust fixing it.
Uh, I don't think that theactual construction side of it
is broken.
Uh, I think that it's thecommunication and that's what
we're really honed in on.
(04:53):
Is, you know, hey, when you'rebuilding, you know a hundred
roofs a month, you know up to200 roofs a month, up to 300
roofs a month.
How do you maintain thatcustomer experience and journey?
Because we all do the samething.
You know, a lot of people willsay my crews are, you know,
elite or craftsmanship's there,and I'm sure it is.
And I mean everyone vets theircrews and goes through and finds
(05:14):
the sweet spot.
But I think, in all reality,from the initial inspection all
the way to the last nail, youknow that's what separates a
roofing company nowadays is notso much the actual quality
craftsmanship, because I thinkthat that should be there, no
matter what Like, why are we onsite if we don't have the right
people?
(05:34):
And I think that so many peoplefocus on, you know, the actual
just build and not that, hey,look, you know when that last
nail's put in.
I say that the job starts whenthe job's done because I think
that a lot of people move afterthat job's done, you know, and
they go on to the next andthey're not they kind of you
know, leave that customerwaiting for that check, and you
(05:55):
know, hey, just let me know whenyou get it.
And I think that you can reallyexcel in that last.
You know, two, three, fourweeks post build, where, where
you're firing them off.
A survey, monkey, that says howwas your experience with Seek
One?
Maybe a survey on how was ourproject management and our
communication, a referral link,a walkthrough?
I think that the job startswhen the job's done and for most
(06:18):
people I think they just go tothe next.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
I see that a lot.
I see that a lot.
It's always onto the next oneand, and I think a lot of times
from a sales perspective, that'swhat it is right Like it's.
It's, man, let's, let's keepthis thing going, let's go to
the next thing, let's go to thenext thing.
Where did the communicationbreak down in the big company
(06:42):
and what did you do?
Like?
You mentioned a few things, butwhat was the thing that you
started with?
Like that, with seek one, likeokay, this is where we saw the
communication breakdown mostoften.
This is what we.
This is the first thing wefocused on yeah, no for sure.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
I think that roofing
is a really spread out, um, you
know, from the initialinspection week one, to an
adjustment, week two.
You know to a scope, week threeto a contract, week four.
And then I noticed, well, guesswhat A successful company is
going to be about four or five,six weeks out on that schedule.
If a company is only one weekout, are they really in a high
demand in their market?
(07:21):
You know to be, you know used,you know for for roofing
projects in the community?
I don't think so.
And so for me, when I see thatwait a second that customer has
already gone through four orfive, six weeks just to get to
the contract, to hand over andcheck, pick the shingle color
and pursue, you know, the nextsteps, well, how are you going
to communicate with that personfrom you know the contract to
(07:42):
the bill?
I think it's very crucial toremind them each week, you know.
And so for us, you know that'swhat we noticed was the gap was
hey, look, you know the reps,he's going to communicate when,
when is the you know adjustmentwith the insurance carrier, and
have you received your firstcheck?
And hey, can we do a contract?
But I think that there needs tobe even more communication
after that contract, whensomeone just you know agreed to
(08:05):
do a high ticket deal with youat 30, 40, 50, 000, to let them
know each week hey, we've gotyou, you're on our list, you're
a top priority within ourcompany.
This is our estimated startdate.
Is there anything that you needin between for us?
You know, like just reallyfilling in that that three, four
week period before the buildand and then like I said the
(08:26):
three, four weeks after thebuild, when they're waiting on
that check, don't just move tothe next.
At SeekOne, we send surveys.
At SeekOne we send automatedtext messages before the build
and after the build to maintainthat good customer communication
and experience.
And then also, I think it's notforgetting the little things.
I focus here at Sequel andRoofing Company on hey, if we
(08:46):
can compound the little things,that we can be great at most
things.
And so for me it's like hey,look after that build, go do a
walk through that customer.
Hey, after that build, sendthem some photos and a little
video of their project toshowcase their house.
Hey, after that build, you know, please go through and figure
out.
You know a small gift, rather,it's a $20 bottle of wine,
(09:09):
whatever it is, how can we fillin?
You know what other people areand just doing those little
things to compound an amazing.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Let's start with
filling the gaps that your reps
leave, because I think that's abig one right there.
You know, from signed contractto build, it disappears off
their radar a lot of times,right, and so they're not.
What have been some of the gapsthat you filled?
You mentioned a couple of them.
What have been the mostimpactful there?
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Yeah, I really do
think that you know, I mean you
got to realize that thesecustomers, these clients,
they've got families, they'vegot kids I mean it's right now
summer, come on.
They've got VBS, they've gotcamps, They've got sporting
events, they've got, you know,trips, you know beach trips,
like they're all over the place.
And for that sales rep, he'sgoing to remember right, because
(10:00):
he's really focused on hey look, I need this build, I need to
get paid on this.
What is it going to work for me?
Well, for us.
I think that we've just ownedthe fact that, hey look, to not
have that gap, we need to have acustomer person, service person
within our office staff that'sgoing to communicate through
automations every other day, ifnot for sure every week.
(10:20):
So I think we've just, fromhome base, said hey look, we're
going to control that and makesure that we don't have any.
What does that?
Speaker 1 (10:27):
what does that role
look like?
Is that?
Is that a specific role tocustomer communication?
Is it just one of the one ofthe team in the office?
Does the does, does thecommunication get split up
between multiple team members inthe office?
How does that work for you?
Speaker 2 (10:41):
It does.
It goes from department todepartment all the way.
We all use a platform I think alot of people are familiar with
called Podium.
We're able to go through anduse automations.
A lot of these are templates,don't get me wrong, but it's
just having that pulse, lettingthat homeowner hear from you hey
, your job has moved frompost-contract into supplemental
(11:02):
phase.
Hey, your job's moved fromsupplemental phase to, you know,
pre-build.
And a reminder you know yourbuilds next week.
Hey, you know, week of thebuild.
You know, just a couple ofyears, 10 reminders of what to
do move your cars before.
Hey, we're going to start thatproject at 630 in the morning.
Hey, you're.
You know a superintendent.
Here's his name, here's hisinformation.
(11:22):
So it's just really every weekjust continuously letting them
know that.
Hey, look, we're on top of it.
And I think the more effortthat we put into that, the less
questions we get on the back endand, from an accounting
standpoint, collections, likewhen we ask for something these
people follow because we've beennotifying them the entire
process of what our expectationsare.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
What have you found?
The best ways to communicatehave been Are you just doing
emails?
Are you doing emails, texts,phone calls?
What's the communication mixthat you guys have found?
And I'm sure it's ever evolving, but what are you doing most of
the time?
Speaker 2 (11:57):
For sure.
I think the email is tough, Ithink that phone calls are tough
, just with where we're located,like Sequin Head headquarters
is out of Franklin and Brentwood, which is a very high end area,
this market and understanding.
You know our audience, you knowthese are fast paced people.
These are very successfulpeople.
They don't want the email andthey don't want a phone call.
So I honestly think that thetext messages have been great
(12:19):
for us.
You know they opt in and thenthey get notified the entire
time.
So I really took that from heylook, let's see what the
customers want to do with theinsurance carrier on the front
end when that claims initiated.
You know the claims rep sayshey look, you know, to notify
you throughout this process.
Would you like to be email,would you like to have text or
would you like to have phonecall?
(12:39):
So I saw that firsthand over,you know, 10 years of you know
the customers always saying text, text.
So that's where we just kind of, you know, took that in.
And implemented it.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Okay, and then now
you've built out these
automations, or at least asequence of communication that
gets done in the pre-buildprocess up to the build Boy.
That's different on the otherside, and that's the loyalty
(13:13):
phase.
To me, right like when we'retalking about the customer
journey, that loyalty phase is amissed opportunity a lot of
times.
So let's talk about that.
Three to four weeks, two tofour weeks post build of what
you're doing.
What's that communication cyclelike?
Speaker 2 (13:24):
yeah, yeah,
post-build.
Like I said, I mean, we're justsimply saying thank you so much
for choosing SeekOne.
Tell us more about yourexperience.
Here's a link, here's a survey.
You know we, at this point intime now we have, you know, a
build contract specialist thatruns every single contract.
We don't want 20, 30 sales guysall over promising and under
delivering.
So you know we, we have one guythat goes out and he runs
(13:46):
contracts all day, every day,sun up, the sun down.
So what we do is we take himand we put him to the back end
of it and he goes and drops offa bag that just has our Seek One
target on it.
Our logo says blessed, focused,committed.
A coffee cup.
You know a little flyer thathas a thank you and then also
kind of tells who we are at SeekOne.
You know what we stand for, ourvision, our core values, and
(14:07):
then a review link.
Obviously you know.
So I think it's the post-build.
You know, hey, your materialshave been picked up.
Hey, post-build survey.
Hey, post-build gift.
Hey, post-build walkthrough.
Like we have seen that not onlyhas this created an amazing
opportunity for the brand andfor referrals and for references
, and just to build a base ofcheerleaders, of people that are
like hey, I'll talk about seekone, you know, no matter what to
(14:30):
anyone.
But I also think that it'shelped so much and every roofing
business I see that just AR,you know, accounts receivables
is just from 30 days to 60 daysto 90 days.
It's drug out and I think thatwhen you do these things and you
execute, you got to give to get.
I preach that.
And when we give what we give,I think that we can get what we
need, which is that final check.
(14:51):
You know it's an easy layover.
They're going here it is.
Or hey, look, you know I don'thave it, but my adjuster called
me it's coming Like we now haveflipped the variables to where
they're communicating with us ona high level, and that's.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
I didn't think of it
from an AR perspective, but that
.
So what you're saying is youfound that there's been, that
you have a better collectionsprocess because of the amount of
communication that you have, isit?
Do you think like it's justthat they're used to
communicating with you?
At that point in time They'vegotten so much communication
that, oh, it's just anothercontact or just more
(15:28):
communication.
What do you think is?
And if you have measured it,what has the tangible difference
been?
Speaker 2 (15:37):
I think it's both.
I really do.
I think when we're communicatingon a high level, they
reciprocate, they turn that backand they say we're going to
communicate, but at the sametime I also think that when you
update and you just continuouslyhave a portal for them to see
where their job's at and what'sgoing on, right, like they, they
want to help you because you'vehelped them.
(15:59):
Like when they're we, I meanlet's step it back for a second.
I forgot to say, but when we aclient, obviously we're already
communicating, like seek one,but we have a custom roadmap,
like, let's be creative here andbe different than just an
automated text message, right,so we give them a tangible
roadmap with, like you know,step one, two, three, four, five
(16:21):
, six, seven, eight.
What does this look like?
Right, and in our text messagescan actually be tied back to.
Hey, you know, when justin gaveyou the roadmap, when you first
, you know, decided to go asequin roofing company, we're on
step three, uh, here's what itis, but also you have that um,
so it's just real easy to tie itback to, to that so it starts
(16:41):
with this roadmap.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
I love that you're
giving them the kind of here.
This is these are theexpectations that you have along
the way.
Now we're communicating throughthat roadmap, through the
expectations, and one thing thatyou mentioned is that even at
the end, you're giving themsomething that talks about the
company core values.
(17:03):
You know, that makes me thinkwell, why didn't you do that up
front, right, like what are youdoing there?
How are you thinking about that?
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(17:24):
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Even at the end, you're givingthem something that talks about
(18:07):
the company core values.
That makes me think, well, whydidn't you do that up front?
What are you doing there?
How are you thinking about that?
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Well, at the end of
the day, I think that we always
just want to come back when theythink we're done.
Another step when we sign thatclaim, they're thinking they're
not going to see us till thatadjustment.
So it's like, wait a second,let's hit them with with some
some messages now.
Then it's like, after thecontract, they think they're not
going to hear from about SeekOne Roofing Company.
So if I give it all to them atthe beginning, right, then I
(18:51):
don't have enough to be able toconsistently, you know, impress
them the entire time.
Like I don't want to give themeverything about Seek One and
how great we are.
I want to show it to you and Ithink that when we wait to do
some of those things on the back, they're like wait a second,
this is a faith-based company,Wait a second.
Their core values are blessed,focused, committed Like I
shouldn't have to sell you onthat and I teach and train and
(19:15):
develop our team on the factthat, hey, if we execute and we
live it out, then guess what?
They're just going to have theaha moment at the end when they
see all of what we really standfor.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Got it.
I like that.
So what when you're, when, whenyou're kind of providing this
context to the company, at theend it's like, oh, that makes
sense.
They really do.
They do this.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that'sawesome you did about quick.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
You said hey, look go
for it.
Things you know that you sawthat missed, and I said client
communication within thescalability of that last company
that I previously worked with,right, yeah, one other that I
just want to touch on real fastis just you know the love and
the appreciation for the guysthat do it.
Okay, like when you go from fivesales reps, that's where the
(20:08):
team dinners are and that'swhere the you know who run the
hip and the meetings are.
You know real active and you'rereally involved, and then you
get to 10 reps and then you knowthat starts to die off a little
bit and then you get up to 15reps and then it's we're too big
for this.
And then all of a sudden youknow you're at 20 reps, 25 reps,
and I think that I saw that youjust became a person and you
(20:29):
know another name on the boardand I also think that your jobs
became another job on the boardand I think that what we've
separated ourselves through andthe gap that I was able to note
and really implement here atSeekOne is client communication.
When you scale is veryimportant and to maintain that
but also being able to show theappreciation for the people that
(20:50):
make it happen.
You know, I still, to this day,as the owner of this company.
As an owner, you know, I have apartner, but I handle the sales
, the branding, the marketing,the vision, you know, the energy
, and I feel like, when theystart to feel you remove
yourself and distance yourself,that that culture and that
(21:10):
atmosphere and that, followingall those steps that we just
talked about, starts to, youknow, go down a little bit.
And for me, I think that we'reactually the opposite.
I think that you know, through,as I told you, I think that
we're actually the opposite.
I think that you know through,as I told you, we do four
massive trips a year.
You know, and, and, and wereally invest in these people
and you know it's like hey, Iasked for all of that
(21:36):
communication and for thatcustomer experience and journey
to be that way, but at the sametime, I give it to you.
We make sure that we don't justgive our guys, you know, two
shirts and a hat, right, like Iwant to make sure that my guys
have backpacks.
That they've got, you know, thegear that they've got.
You know, all of us are, are,are in sync and in uniform and
look the part, you know, andthat we've got, you know, really
nice vests and really nicehoodies and really nice jackets
(21:58):
and hats, and folders andliterature and all of the pieces
to equip our guys to be able tobe as successful as possible.
And we do that like everysingle other month.
It's something new.
Last week, we passed out allnight's Nike backpacks to the
entire sales team for them.
You know, two weeks before that, three, four weeks before that
it was custom polos that we wentthrough.
(22:19):
You know, and I think that it'slike hey, look, like we want
you to look a certain way and wewant you to play the part a
certain way.
We're not going to require youto follow all these steps and
processes and systems withoutgiving you and showing you by,
you know, having a Monday salesmeeting every week, having a
Friday sales meeting every week,having our team leader meetings
with their teams everyWednesday, having their huddles
(22:42):
daily.
The structure, I think, is thathey, look.
You know, I said it earlier,but too much is given, much is
required, and so I think we canrequire a lot here.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
How are you keeping
that connection?
Because what are you guys onyour third location now, I think
, is, if I'm, if I'm notmistaken, how are you?
You know, how are you?
You know that mistake or orsomething that could be improved
upon, that you saw at the othercompany where it was just the
name on the board, it justanother sales rep, and that
distance between the leadershipand the sales team.
(23:15):
You know how, you know you.
You talked about some meetingsand and the and the, the, this,
you know company swag and anddifferent things.
But like, how are you stayingconnected?
How are you and Connor stayingconnected to, you know, to the
team?
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Yeah, great question.
I think that you know, for us,we're here every day.
A lot of times we're the firsthere and the last to leave, and
you know that doesn't gounnoticed.
I think one big piece is isthat Connor, I both, you know
it's a very unique situation.
Connor, you know, handles theproduction, the production, the
(23:52):
operations, the books, thefinances.
He manages the entire officestaff and all the departments.
And guess what?
Connor's worked for multipleroofing companies.
Connor worked for SRS.
Connor's a general contractor.
Connor has done every sectionand part of the job, and so have
I, from a sales standpoint, towhere, when we say what we need
(24:13):
and what we want and we pointthe finger, we're not saying to
go do something to any teammember that we don't do
ourselves or haven't done.
And so I think that we onceagain can demand a lot, because
not only are we really engagedand involved at a high level
within the day-to-day and theweek-to to week and all the
meetings and all the structure,but also, I think there's a lot
(24:34):
of respect for the fact that youknow if I say that this is what
we need to do and how we needto do it, well, guess what I'm
doing that too, and so I hear Ihear, I hear, high standards for
the team.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Yeah Right, like they
have high standards for the
team.
Yeah Right, for sure they havehigh standards for the team.
How are you tracking thosestandards?
Are you looking at certain KPIs?
Are you looking at, like,what're we're?
(25:15):
We're getting off track here.
You're not meeting thestandards of seek one roofing.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Yeah, I'm really glad
you asked that.
This is kind of my forte andkind of what fires me up.
So, um, you know, I reallybelieve that what doesn't get
measured doesn't get moved.
So you said, how do we measurethat?
Well, I'll tell you once again,because I came from this and I
saw what needed to be done.
This was another variable ofwhat I didn't see and didn't
(25:43):
have where I came from, which is, you know, I should be able to
know how many customers, what myaverage ticket is, what my
average approval rating is, whatmy scope amount is with what
insurance carrier, what are theupgrades sold on all my jobs.
When are all my builds?
Where are all my builds inrepair?
(26:03):
Where are all my builds in thecollection stage, you know.
So I think what we did was weinvested in a early stage of
seek one into a data it uhindividual.
So his role, uh alan, is tomake sure that we have the right
(26:23):
you know platforms to be ableto relay all that information
and and so at Seek One, we'veactually built out a custom
platform that is, a you knowdashboard for every single
department, and so in our office, if you walk in, within 30
seconds, you can tell whereevery section of this business
is, and it's tracked to a pennyand down to the minute.
(26:45):
And so we have one massive TVthat has the production, how
many builds, whose builds,what's the average ticket, when
are they, where are they located, what crew, what
superintendents on that build.
And we've got that rolled outfor the next 30 days, weather
pending.
You then go to another TV andit's going to show you all the
customers that are in repairsand when those repairs are
(27:07):
supposed to take place after thebuild to be able to collect,
and when those repairs aresupposed to take place after the
build to be able to collect.
You know.
We have another TV that has aleadership you know board of
where all the leaders are withinthe sales, a leader board that
shows you know first place, allthe way to last.
You know where they're at inrevenue.
We break that down from withinthe week, within the month,
(27:27):
within the quarter and withinthe year, and so we track all of
that.
You know who has the you knowthe largest, you know project,
who has, you know, the mostprojects you know.
So we've got everything youcould think of.
Then we have another board thatbreaks down the teams within the
team.
So we have team leaders, seekone roofing company, and in that
(27:47):
way it's not just, you know,one or two guys and then all the
sales reps.
So what we've done is we'veseparated 20 sales reps roughly
and we up you know it goes backand forth, seasonality, some
ebbs and flows, but that's wherewe're generally sitting, and so
we're able to break that intoabout four or five team leaders
and so we have the you know,where is just their team, you
(28:07):
know and revenue and approval.
So I, I think that you know torequire all of what I asked for
and what we want and to set thatstrong standard.
Once again, we're giving it.
You know, too much is requiredand much is given, or too much
is given, much is required, andwe give them everything they
need to be able to be successfuland to understand why we're
(28:29):
asking for it to be done.
If for a company that does nottrack data at that level.
Where do they start?
Well, I think that you can juststart in your CRM.
At least make sure that you'vegot a reporting dashboard that
just shows scope, amounts andrevenue per rep.
You know an AccuInks, jobnimbus, giddyup, whatever it is.
(28:53):
I mean, they all have somedashboard.
We feel as if that doesn't dowhat we need to at all, like we
want to track every variablepossible in every single
department, and more so.
For us it was like, hey, let'sbuild out a custom platform and
being able to go in and seeevery single section of this
business.
(29:13):
But I think, just starting withyou know, or accepting I think
the biggest thing is justacceptance of knowing, hey, look
, I need this, my guys need this, let's do something.
Rather it's an Excel sheet,rather it's you know, through
the CRM, but you've got to givethem something I really do?
I think so.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Yeah know, through
the crm, but god, you gotta give
them something.
I really do, I think so, yeah,for sure.
And then, when do you what?
What's the turning point orwhat's the the?
When do you go from okay, wehave something, to we, we need
everything?
Speaker 2 (29:45):
great question.
I think that just depends onwhen are you really want to put
scale to the test?
Because when you scale, you'vegot to have it.
Okay, you know to scale it, yougot to nail it, and you know to
nail it, you've got to haveeverything you know tracked and
measured.
And I don't think that peoplestart putting up a hundred
thousand, you know, to $250,000marketing campaigns per month
(30:08):
when they're not trackingeverything.
And if you are, then I thinkyou're really running before you
walk.
So I think that, to answer yourquestion, when you decide that,
hey, this isn't a $2 million,$4 million, $6 million operation
, you're trying to go from 10,20, 30, 40, 50, and you're
really trying to grow 100%, 200%a year, to be able to grow,
(30:29):
you've got it.
Now, yeah, what are the mostimportant metrics on that
dashboard for you?
It's funny you say that so.
I actually have my own dashboard.
It's called Jordan's VIP Staff.
I am not a numbers person and Ialso think that that plays.
A part of why we're successfulhere is that I stay in my lane.
(30:55):
I tell our guys in this entirestaff that, hey, when you go to
a bowling alley, there's 30lanes but you only get a play in
one, and I think that I've keptmy bumpers up and I've said,
hey, look, I'm going to own mylane and so I have a great team
and amazing people here.
Um, and when, you can put ourbookkeeper together and you can
put our data analysts togetherand you can, you know, continue
to compound all these numbers,I've been able to say, hey, I
(31:18):
don't understand and I don'tneed to track everything.
So for me, can we track?
You know certain KPIs that aregoing to play into me, out in my
lane, and so for me, those KPIsa couple of them would be hey,
look, what is our currentrevenue for the year?
What is our revenue, you know,for the month?
What's our revenue for the week?
(31:39):
How many signings, you know,contingencies for the insurance
carrier do we have per week, permonth, per year, how many
approvals and how many builds,and then what's our average
ticket?
The average ticket really helpsbecause I know right now that
we're running.
I can look at the TV in frontof me and tell you our average
scope right now is $26,287.
(32:00):
So if I know that we've gotthis many approvals or this many
contingencies, I'm able to dosimple math and it really helps
me and it honestly keeps me calm.
You know, when I you know, dayto day, week to week, just being
able, as a business owner,there's so much stuff that gets
(32:22):
done, there's just so muchstress and, like right now in
Nashville, it's mother nature,like it is literally raining
every other day.
So because we track all of that, we're able to call a meeting,
being able to really understand.
Hey look, we signed 300 dealsin the last 45 days.
We had a storm hit.
So our average, our approvalrating, sits at 86.
So I can take 300 times 86.
(32:43):
And then I know our averageticket is 26, 287.
So I can say, okay, we'reanticipating around $8 million
of revenue coming in.
And hey, you know ourproduction board.
It tells me how many builds wecan put into the ground, how
many superintendents we have tobe able to maintain that
experience that we want you know.
(33:05):
And so when you can put allthat data together, you can
really really, really nail itand scale it?
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Yeah, for sure, and I
think one of the things that
you said that's important forpeople to know is it's what data
is most important to you.
You're tracking all kinds ofdata, but you have to have your
view of that data.
Your production manager has tohave their view of the data.
Your sales managers, your teamleads whoever like they have to
have their, their vision of theview of that data.
Also, you know Brentwood andFranklin.
(33:41):
You'd mentioned more high-endneighborhoods, high-end areas.
How did you break into thehigh-end neighborhoods and win
the trust in those markets?
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Brentwood and Franklin you'dmentioned more high-end
neighborhoods, high-end areas.
(34:50):
How did you break into thehigh-end neighborhoods and win
the trust in those markets?
Speaker 2 (34:58):
Yeah, that kind of
came back from just in very
early stages and I think mypartner realized kind of, hey,
we'd worked together for twoyears at that previous company
and we had channels to where wecould post all of our signings
and approvals and what was goingon.
And you know, I think he sawthat, hey, look, I have a strong
skillset in being able to goout and win a customer and
(35:22):
really make a name within themost challenging and intricate
systems in the entire community.
So you know, he knew that, hey,I was going to go in and I was
going to go out that first yearand go sell the largest projects
, the 150, 200, 250 squaresdraped in copper, standing seams
(35:42):
, flat locks, all kinds of halfround gutter systems.
And hey, if we can just executeat a very high level on those
first 50 projects, 100 projects,then we can make a name for
ourselves and rattle and createa lot of noise within this
industry and within this markethere.
And so, to answer your question,man, I went into your Laurel
(36:03):
Brook, your Governor's Club,your Annandale, your Hidden
River, your Two Rivers, thesebig time country clubs where all
the artists and all thewell-known people live, and so
it was kind of like a not justyou know who did your roof, you
know, and if they're working inhere then they must be great but
also setting the tone andsetting that standard of, no,
(36:24):
not only are we in here, but,more so, not even making that
image and creating thatatmosphere for for the customers
and for within thatneighborhood, but letting the
other competitors in this marketthat had the market share know
that, hey, we're here, we'regoing to make a name and we're
moving fast.
So I think that we gained a lotof respect very fast from all
(36:46):
the suppliers, from all thevendors, from all the shingle
manufacturers, from all thecompetitors that, hey look, seek
, one can do it and they'regoing to do it.
And it wasn't ever anopportunity of, just like you
know, hey look, we can put in aprice and we can put in a bid
and they may go with the guywho's been a business 30 years,
right, like I knew that I wasgoing to be able to set myself
(37:09):
apart, coming in here early onand building in this upper
echelon of you know, five to tenmillion dollar homes, and so
that's what I think reallyhelped create the brand, create
the name and, um, you know,allowed everything to kind of
compound from there was justaggressively coming in and
working in areas in this marketthat most people don't work in
for for 20 years.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
Yeah, what gave you
the confidence to do that?
Because I mean, that seems likeyou know that that's what is
lacking maybe in some otherpeople in like I don't know if I
want to go there yet, right.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Well, I always tell
my guys I say, hey, look, you
know the roof size varies, youknow it may be steeper, it may
be bigger, but the front door isalways the same.
So for me, you know, and beinga young company and being
somewhere new and needing toreally, really really build up
and create that name fast,without having departments,
(38:06):
without having an office,without having reviews, without
having a website, right, like Ihad to go in there and knock
down those projects to be able,you know, to scale a little bit
quicker, because I had to comefrom the approach that, hey,
less is more, right, like Icouldn't go out and go sign 40
(38:26):
jobs that were all 30, 40squares, because we didn't have
the manpower, we didn't have thebandwidthpower, we didn't have
the bandwidth to be able tosupport all of that.
So for me it was, you know, uh,quality not quantity.
I'd rather have 10, you know,six figure plus jobs that would
make up a million dollars inrevenue.
That I would, you know, uh,let's just call it 40, 50,
(38:48):
$20,000 jobs.
And so for me, it was kind of Iwas forced into that Number one.
I like it and you know I'm afast paced, aggressive sales guy
that kind of likes the hey look, I want to come in here and if
I'm going to do this I might aswell go work with the best of
the best and the biggest.
But I also think that I was alittle bit kind of driven to go
do that because it was lesswriting investments, less
(39:12):
material orders, less projectmanaging, you know.
But then on the other side was,you know, creating a bigger
name faster.
So I think it all just kind ofwas the right recipe out the
gate was doing less jobs butdoing, you know, more complex.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
All right.
And now now, over the years,though from that year one, you
know, more complex, all right.
And now now, over the years,though from that year one, you
know, yet you're moving at moreof a scale.
How did you approach buildingyour team?
Uh, you know, as you've grownthere.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
Yeah, and back to
what I said, you know, a little
bit ago.
Like you know, I don't I thinkmy team really respects me
because I've done every end ofthis.
I'm not telling them to go dropoff that client gift or to go,
you know, to the build and dothis, or you know, to
communicate at this high of alevel, or to wear this you know
uniform, or to you know makesure the truck looks a certain
way, uh, without me doing thatmyself, right?
(40:07):
So I think that they kind offollowed that hey, look like
seek, one roofing company is badin the building, does the big
projects, and so I think theyall come in here and have to
start somewhere.
But I think the goal is hey,look, I want to do what seek
one's been able to do by, youknow, taking care of these large
scale projects.
I think they've kind offollowed suit in that, because
(40:27):
the brand carries that name ofcomplexity nice, nice.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
And then, as you've
been scaling the team, what
lessons have you learned abouthiring the right people?
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Well, I think that's
a big note that we took from the
previous company of one of theyou know.
You know to not do was.
You know in our book and thatplaybook was hey look man, they
had people that were full timerecruiters, that sat in that
office, that had our headset on,that were on a Zoom call, hop
on one Zoom to tell what the jobis and what the company stands
(41:15):
for and how they operate andwhat it looks like.
And so for me it's never been alet's hire as many people as we
can, throw it at the wall andsee what sticks.
Let's put them in the field andsee if they sink or swim.
It's never been that way.
Let's tie it back to thecommunity here.
I understand where I work, right, I understand this market.
(41:35):
It's not just some small townand you can have whoever or
whatever representing your brand.
I have to have elite level,educated, very, very organized
individuals.
So for us, what have we beenable to do?
I've taken the approach fromsome other mentors of mine you
know of hey look like we wantthe athletes right, because I
(41:59):
feel like athletes are dedicated, I feel like they're committed,
I feel like they buy into thebigger mission and vision or our
team player and understand whycertain things are taking place.
So for us, I was actually ableto go hire a lot of young guys,
you know, that came from eitherplaying high school sports or
college sports, and then youknow, not even just a sports,
(42:20):
but man, I'd say more than halfof our team, if not
three-fourths, is collegeeducated, from big schools, from
the SEC schools, from your OleMiss to your Alabama, to the
University of Georgia, to UT.
Like we hire, I think, upperlevel people, and I think we've
been able to do so because ofwhere we're located.
So we realized wait a second,these people are here and
(42:41):
they're not in the roofing space.
If we can go take those people,put them in the roofing space,
coach, develop and mold theseindividuals, then I think that
we can go back to that customerexperience of realizing where
we're located and what thesepeople are owed and that we can
really actually do somethingspecial and do something
(43:01):
different.
So at sequin roofing company,all guys are just there.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
these are top-notch
people, these are people you
want to be around and you wantto do business with I was
talking about this on a on anrsra call late recently, where
you know you, you find your andwe think about it in marketing.
It's a your buyer avatar, youryour customer avatar.
It's like man, you have anemployee avatar too and it
(43:26):
sounds like you've started todefine that employee avatar,
educated.
You know this, that, how haveyou?
What are, what are some of thecharacteristics of that employee
avatar from the salesperspective?
Let's start with sales and thenmaybe we'll also speak to the
operation side and productionside of things.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
Yeah.
So I say this all the time.
It's a quote from Nick Saban.
You know, mediocre people don'tlike high achievers and high
achievers don't like mediocrepeople, and I think that's
what's taking place at Sequin.
I think that when you walk inthis office, there's just
something different within thosecustomers.
(44:07):
You know we don't want to haveto tell them that we're
faith-based, or you know wedon't want to have to tell them
our core values, because we wantto show them, I want to live
them out, and I think thatthat's what we do here.
Like there's just somethingdifferent in the air in this
office.
Everyone knows it when theywalk in here and I think that
you know these guys, when theycome and they just from the
second week on board, theyunderstand that they're
(44:32):
committed right, like we've gottheir gear, we've got their
folders, we've got theiragreements, we've got their
six-week sequence sales trainingacademy, and what are those
expectations?
And I want you to initial rightnow week one all the way to
week six, and we're going to sitdown each week and we're going
to go over that.
And so I think that from theday and the moment that they
start here, they understand that, hey, this isn't just a, you
(44:55):
know, do I?
Is this gonna work?
You know I might try this.
You know I was telling, you know, one of our vp of sales the
other day I said, look, I saidif we give them a little, it's a
lot easier for them to give usa little, and when we give them
a lot I took this from a guy,tommy Mello.
You know he owns a garage doorsand I've had many conversations
(45:19):
with him and I listened to apodcast a home service expert.
You know that he runs, you know, and I've listened to a lot of
them.
But the other week he actuallyhad an A1 employee on and her
role was just simply onboardingand training.
She runs a full on trainingdepartment.
She's got six trainers belowher.
And she said it's now at apoint in time, tommy, where
(45:42):
they're removing themselves andthey're saying the word sorry,
and we would have never thoughtthat in a million years.
And it's because we're givingthem so much that they feel bad
raving.
And I thought about it and I waslike, wait a second, in these
home service business jobsrather it's 1099, w-2, whatever
(46:06):
door-to-door positions, sales Ithink everyone's mentality is
I'm going to come in and trythis, I'm going to come in and
try this.
They've turned that now towhere at A1 and from day one,
this will be the last time youever onboard someone and I think
that when you can mentally andpsychologically get them to
(46:27):
understand that, hey, like we'restarting this, we're doing this
and we're not going to quit,we're not going to back off,
like if you just follow anddon't give them the month, don't
give them the year, simply,week by week.
Have that team leader, havethat inside director of sales,
have that VP of sales sittingdown with them every week, two
(46:49):
or three times a week.
Going over what is it thatyou've got to do this week?
And making it clear I don'tthink that people leave.
Our retention rate at Seekroofing company is absolutely
one of the most impressivethings that we've got.
It really is and it works withthat ride along.
When he gets assigned to a teamand he's in the truck, you know
(47:10):
, they, that that moment that'ssome synergy.
They're gonna talk what's thatguy gonna do?
That's starting out.
He's gonna ask all thequestions that we're talking
about.
Right, how long have you workedhere?
What do you really like aboutsuper?
What do you not like aboutsuper?
And what do they do?
Great, you know.
And and when my guy is able tolook at him and say I've worked
here for four years and I don'tplan to go anywhere else, that's
(47:33):
they need to hear it from ourpeople, not from us, you know.
And so I think that whenthey're in these day-to-day
conversations, week to week,month to month within this team,
and they get in, you know, theyrealize, hey look, this place
is special, these people aretaken care of.
When they hear thoseconversations of, hey look, man,
(47:54):
you know I don't know how elseto paint the picture for you
that this company will dowhatever it takes, you know, if
you need an advance on a projectand it makes sense, we'll do it
.
If you're tired, goes out andwe'll do it.
Hey, if you need two monthsrent, you know to be able to
figure it out, to get.
We're going to do it.
You know like.
We're here to serve our peopleso that they'll serve us and in
return we can do something greattogether and I think it's a
(48:15):
partnership here.
Speaker 1 (48:16):
It's not that they
work or seek one.
I love that mindset.
You know you talked about thecompany that had the recruiter
on the phone doing interviewsover and over again, do you guys
?
I feel like there's arecruiting versus hiring
mentality.
Do you guys have a recruitingor hiring mentality?
(48:38):
I know you're enjoying theepisode, but let's give a shout
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Speaker 1 (49:11):
Do you guys have a
recruiting or hiring mentality?
Speaker 2 (49:15):
Man, it's at this
point in time it's kind of, you
know, who comes here is going tocome here because I'm right
here, and so at this point we'vedone such a great job, man, of
really just building such agreat atmosphere and a strong
brand.
And you know, we sponsor allthe golf courses here and we
sponsor a lot of restaurants andwe host a lot of trivias.
And we know, and I think justand I really, really, you know,
(49:40):
want to hone in on this yourreviews aren't for your
customers, they're for thepeople that are going to come
here and work for for sequel,like I think that we have so
many people that didn't even seean ad that were like wait a
second.
I wanted to join roofing salesbecause I've heard about how
(50:00):
great it is and how successfulyou can be in a short amount of
time.
And simply I just looked up onGoogle the roofing companies
near me and when I saw 500 fivestar reviews not 4.5, 4.7, but
five stars I realized, wait asecond.
This is a place I want to bebecause they take care of their
people and if you're going totake care of your customers at
(50:22):
that level, you're going to takecare of your people.
There's no question.
So for us, you know to answerthe.
You know, are we recruiting orare we hiring?
We've just taken such greatcare of the people that are here
that they've brought theirpeople.
So you know the brand's doingits job, the brand is doing the
(50:42):
recruiting.
Our customers bring people tous.
So I don't know exactly how toanswer.
Is it recruiting or hiring?
I honestly think it's just.
Hey, look, we serve our people,our customers and the people
inside this wall, these walls,at such a high level that I
think that they're coming fromevery which way.
Speaker 1 (51:04):
Yeah, and that's that
.
That.
That's that recruitingmentality, because to recruit
someone, you, you're marketingto them in a way, right, Like
you're, you're, you're marketing, you're marketing the brand and
and it just like a customerwould refer someone, an employee
refers someone in, an employeerefers like it, it, it, it, it's
a.
It's a great cycle that canhappen if you do the right
(51:26):
things for your team.
Why did you, why'd you, chooseto start expanding out?
Speaker 2 (51:35):
Yeah, yeah, I, I
honestly we've, just we've,
we've, we're dominating thismarket in middle tennessee, like
absolutely crushing it.
And you know we've got a a lotof heavy hitters.
We've got a lot of guys thatsell you know, a million dollars
in the first quarter, you know,does that mean he's gonna go
(51:57):
sell four million, sell.
You know, a million dollars inthe first quarter, you know,
does that mean he's going to gosell four million?
No, but you know he's going tosell 2.75.
And with that being said, youknow I want to offer
opportunities to the people thatare giving us everything
they've got, and it's my mission, it's Connor and I's dream is
that we're here to build aplatform to be able to shape
winners, both personally andprofessionally, and so I think
(52:20):
that we've just created such awinning atmosphere where we've
got enough guys sitting on thesidelines ready to go run an
operation, and if we don't, theymight go do it.
And so I was talking to one ortwo of them the other day.
I brought in that you knowthey're not there right this
second, but they're gonna be ourguy, and so I just wanted to
(52:41):
sit them down and say you areabsolutely murdering the game,
like you are doing everything weask for and I can't thank you
enough and I owe it to you tolet you know and see a little
bit of the vision in the futureto buy in that, hey, look, if
you can stay patient and you cankeep serving your people with
excellence, I can tell you rightnow you will be a partner with
(53:04):
me and we will go expand.
And I think that when they'velearned our systems and they've
learned our processes andthey've learned every area of
how we operate and they're notjust one dimensional, that's the
biggest peaks, cause I see alot of guys that can go sell to
two and a half million dollarsworth of roofs, but they're not
a leader, they're not going toguide and direct the people the
(53:25):
right way.
And so I think for us, we wereable to shift through our team
leader program.
Hey, if you can prove to methat you can manage five, six,
seven, eight guys, that they canrun their meetings the right
way, that they're on time, thatthey're doing everything that we
ask, that hey, this is astepping stone to being able to
go run a market.
And so I think that we've justhad that opportunity where I've
(53:48):
had some guys like Chase, forexample.
He's a general manager over inHuntsville and you know, chase,
he's everything you could wantand it's a combination of being
able to develop that individualand, at the same time, being
able to grow where we don't feelthe burn or an impact of that
guy not being in this market.
So I think it's a dual edge.
(54:08):
You know, sword, where it'slike, you know you can go,
leverage that person and givethem more opportunity, you know,
and at the same time we don'tfeel the burn here.
Right, and so we've.
We've been able to do that andwe want to continue to do the
green fielding and we want to go, you know, expand to Louisville
, kentucky and Knoxville hereshortly, and I've got two or
(54:31):
three guys on the batter's boxsitting here ready to roll.
I think it just shows careerpath.
In all reality I really do it.
You know a lot of guys willcome in and they'll sell a lot
and they'll be really excited.
Then they think they'vemastered it and that they know
everything you know.
And then when you give themthat team leader position, and
now they feel the bone ofkeeping up with other people's
numbers and you know, having themeetings and okay, wait a
(54:52):
second, now I've got lot moreresponsibility and then being
able to go from that team leaderto then being a general manager
, I think that we've got a clearladder here.
Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (55:05):
What do you think has
been the single biggest factor
in your rapid growth so far?
Speaker 2 (55:13):
I'd say, oh man.
I'd say, oh man, um, you know,I I've said that if you can go
through a chick-fil-a drive-thruand they can code, develop and
build a 16, 17 and 18 year oldto serve the people better than
we can, we've got a problem.
And so I think that I'm gonnato go back to it.
(55:33):
Man, that customer experience,that customer journey, right,
like when you call Amazon forabout 10 years, their opening
line was the customer's alwaysright.
How can we help Chick-fil-A?
It's my pleasure.
What else can I get you?
Hey, if we can remove the moneyand we can remove, you know,
(56:00):
the, we don't have to do this.
And realizing that, hey, if wedo this, that we might just
become great.
I think that's what it is.
I think that we've realizedthat, hey, look, if we can do
all the little things, then wecan be great.
And then I also think that, man, we just serve our people, we.
Then I also think that, man, wejust serve our people.
We really do.
I think that we serve ourpeople.
We bust our tails, we treatevery job as if it's the same.
(56:23):
I treat the guy who's soldsells $100,000 a month versus
the guy that sells a half amillion dollars a month.
The exact same, and I thinkthat when you can put all that,
you can tie all that together.
Speaker 1 (56:41):
I think that it
creates.
I think it creates somethingspecial.
I really do Awesome, jordan man.
Thanks for your time today.
Speaker 4 (56:47):
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