When an award-winning home improvement TV series asks your roofing company to be in an episode to share your expertise, you’re doing something right.

After interviewing multiple roofing companies, “Designing Spaces” on Lifetime chose Eustis Roofing out of Florida to serve as a roofing industry expert and educate homeowners on what to look for in a roofing contractor. With its emphasis on customer service and use of state-of-the-art equipment and technology, it’s not a surprise Eustis Roofing made the cut.

“At the end of the day, you have to just be confident in what you’re doing, and know that it works for you,” said Jason Reisman, general manager.

Tuning Up the Business

Joe Driggers established Eustis Roofing in 1959. When Rod Reisman, Jason’s father, moved to Lake County in 1982, Eustis Roofing hired him on as a ground clean-up laborer. He worked his way up to be an installer, a crew leader, and a sales manager before finally purchasing the company in 1989.

The business truly became family owned and operated, with Rod as CEO and members of the Reisman family serving in leadership roles. Jason’s journey began at the age of 15 when he ran the gutter department, but at the age of 18 he moved to North Carolina to pursue a career in the racing industry.

Upon graduating from college, he landed a job with NASCAR, working as a fabricator, mechanic and car chief. He even worked in the pit crew as a jack man. After meeting and marrying his wife, the couple decided to settle down and start a family, so Reisman hung up his racing gear after 10 years and they moved back to Florida.

Reisman assumed the role of general manager at Eustis Roofing and transformed the small company with what he learned from his racing career.

“What I brought from NASCAR was (managing) your image, the team effort — the organization of NASCAR is unbelievable — so I brought that into a roofing company,” he said.

Over the next several years, Eustis Roofing expanded from a 10-person company to become a full-service roofing operation. Jason said this was a long, arduous process, taking years to properly build the company’s foundation and branding. Yet it’s what helped it become the recognized name that it is today.

“If you’re going to go out and tell people you’re a five-star company, you’ve got to be able to back it up,” he said.

The company’s claim to fame is fiberglass shingles and metal roofing, thanks to its in-house CNC machines and standing seam roll forms. But the machines aren’t the only equipment Eustis Roofing boasts. Each team that leaves for a job is provided with an Equipter self-propelled, hydraulic-lift debris collection machine. Taking a page from NASCAR, each Equipter is covered with Eustis Roofing logos.

“It’s just transformed our business. One of the biggest benefits is, when you’re working with an Equipter and another company isn’t, their guys want to come work for you, because you make the job easier … we got better people, and in this day and age, it’s all about people.”

Designing Success

Of course, equipment is only as good as the people using it. The company organized its employees into teams that include the metal crew, residential reroofing teams, a repair team and office staff.

“We operate our business almost like a NASCAR team: We’re all team members, we have our crew chiefs that are in charge of the job, we have the guys that watch all of it, and it’s all in-house employees, and that makes us really rare,” Jason said.

Establishing a strong in-house crew leads to building a strong network of customers. Jason said the company believes in building relationships before, during and after the job.

“Ninety percent of our work is referrals. When neighbors in communities see the team effort and equipment, combined with our dedication to the job, we don’t need to sell at that point, we just provide them with scope and info on the process,” he said.

To hold itself accountable to those customers, Eustis Roofing belongs to the Roofing Insights directory, meaning customers gain access to a $20,000 guarantee that backs up roofing services.

Eustis Roofing took all this expertise and began creating “Roof Talk” videos to post on its website and social media, aiming to inform customers about roofing. The marketing caught the attention of “Designing Spaces,” and ultimately helped seal the deal for their choosing Eustis. In the episode, which aired June 13, Jason details everything from the types of roofs they install to the software and technology that allows them to serve customers better.

“It’s been great for everybody, even the employees, they all watched it and everybody was energized,” he said. “We let the community know that there’s options out there, look into what you’re doing, get some advice, get multiple estimates — it’s an awareness that there are professional roofing companies out there, you just have to find them.”

Between its recognition, reputation and working with companies like Beacon and CertainTeed, the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t slowed down business for Eustis, but it has been tough adapting. In addition to social distancing and sanitation policies, Jason said its CRM and other technology enables every employee to work from their phone in some capacity.

“We communicate a lot more through texting. This is not our first choice, but it has been popular among homeowners and customers,” Jason said.

The pandemic also inspired the company to adjust its annual No Roof Left Behind campaign. This year, it plans on donating a roof to someone affected by COVID-19.

“It has been amazing to be able to give back to the community. It really promotes our culture of serving others,” Jason said.